ROKU, HBO GO

Today, I CANCELLED my Comcast Xfinity service. And for just one reason- because I can't access HBO GO on my ROKU. I was excited to have HBO GO, even though it meant paying $100 a month for my bundle.  Accessing HBO GO on my ROKU was the only reason I signed up in the first place; I didn't know it wasn't supported.

Comcast- you're losing business because of your stance on ROKU!!!

It looks like Comcast has taken the route of partnering with Apple TV and ignoring us Roku fans:  http://forums.comcast.com/t5/XfinityTV-Website/HBO-Go-via-Apple-TV/m-p/1724093#M25092

Comcast absolutely sucks, they have ZERO customer service skills and that is what its all about in this competitive consumer world. I loathe Comcast, and definitely make sure to tell everyone this, all because of this Roku issue. I also bought it mainly for HBOGO, and think its massive bullsh*t to make us now get an Apple thing to watch HBOGO. What makes this suck the most is the monopoly they have in my area, either them or Dish, and unfortunately my TV addiction outweighs my righteous indignation and need to cancel on principle.

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@SJ2360 wrote:

Comcast absolutely sucks, they have ZERO customer service skills and that is what its all about in this competitive consumer world. I loathe Comcast, and definitely make sure to tell everyone this, all because of this Roku issue. I also bought it mainly for HBOGO, and think its massive bullsh*t to make us now get an Apple thing to watch HBOGO. What makes this suck the most is the monopoly they have in my area, either them or Dish, and unfortunately my TV addiction outweighs my righteous indignation and need to cancel on principle.

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Dish is working pretty good for me. Better programming, significantly cheaper, and wayyy better customer service. And they install free.

I just received an HBO Go promotional email to my comcast.net email address which stated the following: "HBO GO is available to you as part of your HBO subscription from Comcast's XFINITY TV."  I couldn't find the part which says, "unless you use Roku, in which case you're screwed."

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@Zordar wrote:
I'm on the cusp of calling my local Dish installer. Could you tell me why "pretty good" as opposed to "great" or excellent?

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Cons:

1. The local networks (NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX), TNT, and Showtime are not available in the on demand lineup. However, they do have their Prime Time Anytime recordings on the Hoppers that uses one of the three available tuners to record the prime time shows every night, you can set series to save and it will keep those shows on the DVR until you delete them. The others just "fall off" after 8 days. I also have Hulu Plus (had it for years) and that covers pretty much any other gaps.
2.  Can't view On Demand programming through the iPhone or Droid apps, however it is available on PC.
3. We live in Florida. About once or twice every couple of months, the signal gets blocked for a few minutes by heavy clouds. It is not a common event, but can be aggravating if at a critical point in a show. Unless it is a "big 4", I can re-record a show later to catch it or hit it on Hulu in a day or so.

Pros:

1. With the Sling adapter (built into the Hopper DVR), I can truly stream live or recorded programming to my iPhone, PC, or tablet anywhere I can get an internet connection, including 3G. When I say live programming, I mean exactly that--the app or browser is connected to the DVR via the internet, and I am streaming live television on the iphone while riding (not driving) in the car down I95 on the way to or from my son's house.

2. Whole home DVR is exactly that.  I can pause, rewind, set recordings, manage recordings, and view recordings from any television in the house that is hooked up to either a Hopper or Joey (linked to the Hopper).

3. While HBOgo is available on the Roku, unless I am travelling, I don't need it. The entire HBOgo library is available through On Demand.

4. Addressable remotes. We have two televisions in the living room (think hubby and sports and car/motor shows). Each remote is addressed to the appropriate receiver, and when changing the channel on one device, only that device is affected. (With Comcast, when he would change channels, mine would change too).

5. I currently have over 290 HD recordings on one of my Hoppers (the entire season of several series, and a dozen or so movies, we like to "marathon" them when the season is over--and the drive is only 58% full. I can also put an external drive on it if I want, and probably will this fall, JUST in case of equipment failure--I'll move my recordings that I need to "save" onto the drive.

There are many, many more things I could list about what I like about it. Other things to be aware of:

1. Each Hopper has three tuners and can be connected to a maximum of 2 Joeys. With the exception of the Prime Time Anytime recording, which uses one tuner to record the "big 4", leaving 2 others available during prime time. Multiple televisions can be watching the same show at the same time using a single tuner, but if you have more than 2 televisions (or have 2 and are DVR hogs as my husband and I are), you may want to get 2 Hoppers (we did) for a total of 6 tuners. Every television can access recordings on any of the Hoppers or Joeys in the house. The only limitation is that I can view or delete recordings on the second Hopper while using the first one, one Hopper can't set a recording on the other Hopper. (BTW, some installers are not aware the Hoppers themselves can "talk" to each other.)

2. I would call Dish directly to see what kind of deal you can get. I don't know if they are still offering it, but they were just recently offering a iPad to new Hopper customers (you can download recorded shows to the iPad for offline viewing, not available on droids yet, dangit). My installation was free, and to upgrade to a second Hopper does incur a one time fee (worth it to us).

If you want any more info, let me know.

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@CyberDorkster wrote:

I am screwed as well.

 

HBOGO from my laptop works, and that has an HDMI port, but the clarity is poor and it's a pain.  I figured I'd buy a new Roku for 1080p.... well, it is not supported with Comcast.  Showtime works no problem, but HBOgo is a noGo.

 

How could a company this large, be this bad and inept.

 

And why does it take so long for FIOS to get to my house.

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Can you tell me what channel you are using to get Showtime Anytime on the Roku? When I search the Channel Store all I see is the Preview channel

HBO Go has been available on Apple TV for less than a month and Comcast is already allowing authentication. Oh how I wish they did not have a monopoly in my City.

I just looked into Dish and I think I'm going to pull the trigger.  It seems it would be about $40/month cheaper ($65/month cheaper for the 1st year), and that's for more DVRs with more capability and capacity including muti-room.  It also has a much better interface- Comcast's looks like it's from the 90s.  I'll keep the phone and Internet until FIOS comes to the neighborhood.  They already are on the other side of town.

I too would LOVE it if Comcast stepped into this century of technology and I was able to watch HBO Go on the Roku box... 😞 Sad that Comcast is dragging its feet...

I just saw a TV ad about a new interface for Xfinity.  Anyone know about it?  I'm sure it will turn out like their TIVO thinkg which was tested in a bout 100 homes then failed.

I originally had luck watching HBO GO on the Roku3 with the PlayOn app but that hasn't been working the past two weeks either.  However, I did watch the live Atlanta Braves/Phillies game this evening on the new Aereo live TV/internet service in the Atlanta area.  Outstanding picture quality (maybe not technically HD but pretty close to it...definitely a ton better than Comcast SD on the same TV) and yet another variable threatening the vaunted Comcast monopoly...  

In the Atlanta area we can now get live TV broadcast over the Internet for all OTA channels in your local area for $8/month - no blackouts or anything - everything you'd get with an HD attenna (more actually if you live in a marginal rooftop antenna area like me).   Pretty cool brand new technology - once I find a way to watch the live ESPN channels without a dependency on Comcast I'll cut the cord...

Randerto

You need to update your Playon Server software and redo your HBOGO set up in the Channels section of the server, 
I just had to do the same and it;'s working fine again