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International Channels Equipment Update Required?
Just got a letter in the mail saying need to update my equipment or may loose access to my international channels (TFC/GMA). At the bottom of the letter it says on March 24, 2020 these channels will be moved to channels 3100-3299 and will no longer be available on equipment with 3 digit displayed channels.
I chatted with xfinity rep and he thinks it's my 3 cable card devices, and suggested I just need to take my 3 cable cards in and swap them for "the latest ones". Except, right now, my cable card tuners can see four digit channels all the way up to ch 1995. Are there really other newer cable cards required to get channels 3100-3299?
I am trying to avoid going to my local xfinity customer service center, because they are completely clueless regarding cable cards. It's always a big waste of time because they seem to not even know what they are or will just tell me that they have no cable cards.
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CCAndrew
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5 years ago
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CCAndrew
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tzr916
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194 Messages
6 years ago
Wow are they legally allowed to suddenly force international channel subscribers to use their X1 hardware in order to continue to get those channels? Is there not some kind of law requiring all channels to be available on cable cards?
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CCAndrew
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asklee
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6 years ago
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CCAndrew
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tzr916
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194 Messages
6 years ago
"Asklee" mentioned Tivo, but I never did. I have 3 cable cards and 3 cable card network tuners, for a total of 9 tuners, that I can record to PC, feed my whole home and watch anywhere on the planet. I also have one 4k X1 DVR, that I have not touched except for the first few weeks that the 4k olympics were on.
My cable card PC can indeed watch/record the 4 digit 1000's channels. So, what I currently have is:
TFC ch 367 available on cable cards and my 4k X1 dvr.
GMA ch 369 available on cable cards and my 4k X1 dvr.
then
TFC ch 3194 available only on "www.xfinity.com/stream" and the xfinity app on my android phones.
GMA ch 3195 available only on "www.xfinity.com/stream" and the xfinity app on my android phones.
Seems like when they kill 367/369 I won't be able to record them on cable card anymore. They have not yet put 3194/3195 on my 4k X1 DVR.... Guess that's coming early next year. I assume one can record the 3194/3195 IP channels on the X1 dvr, then playback on the xfinity android and roku apps?
The hard decision will come the end of next year, when my 2 year commitment ends, and they will want me to start paying monthly rent for the 4k X1 dvr.
Seems like every year they keep finding ways to increase my bill. Last year it was increasing my cable card fees from $7.50 for the first card and the other two were free, to $9.95 each with a $7.50 credit... an increase of $14.85/mo. Come end of next year, it will be another $19.95/mo to keep my 4k X1 dvr.
At that point it will be costing me too much to keep the international channels, and I will be forced to ditch the 4k X1 dvr and just get a stand alone streaming box directly from TFC for $22.95/mo.
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ThatDonGuy
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836 Messages
6 years ago
If there is, then somebody forgot to tell AT&T; U-Verse and DirecTV don't work with CableCards at all. (There is a way to use TiVo with DirecTV, but you need to buy a TiVo box built specifically for use with DirecTV.)
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asklee
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tzr916
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194 Messages
5 years ago
Coming up on due date for move of TFC/GMA from ch367/ch369 to 3000 "IP channels", and my 4k X1 DVR is still not showing the new channels. There are some other 3000 channels showing but not my channels.
Online chat on Jan 24, said channels are supposed to be 3194/3195. They sent a refresh signal, I rebooted the DVR, waited 2 days, rebooted again, channels still not showing.
Just did a refresh in the DVR menu, waited an hour, rebooted, channels still not showing. Old channels 367/369 are still working, guess I just wait and see what happens because customer service seems to have no clue.
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CCAndrew
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tzr916
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CCAndrew
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tzr916
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5 years ago
Latest EMAIL regarding International channels, now puts the date at FEB 25. That's FOUR days from now and I do NOT have my channels in the upper 3000 range on my 4k X1 dvr!
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tzr916
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194 Messages
5 years ago
After another support chat, and another "refresh", the 3194/3195 channels still do NOT appear in my guide on the X1... But if I type the channel number in manually, the channel(s) will play. We NEVER watch live tv, so recording is a MUST, and right now I can set a recording via the stream website or app, BUT the resulting show says it was recorded on the 376 channel NOT the 3194 channel. So is recording on IP channels going to work on the X1 box? Hmmm....
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