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Live in an apartment; alternatives to Cox?

posted 11 years ago by jloper
4 replies | jump to latest

I've just about had it with Cox Communications. In the past 6 months, I've had 6 timer recordings ruined. My DVD recorder is a Panasonic DMR-E55. What would happen is, I'd set a timer recording for overnight when I was away. When I'd scan through the program, a good way through the program (from 45 min. up), a white box would pop up that said something like "Press select [sel] or channel may temporarily go off air." A couple of minutes later the whole screen would turn white with a message reading "[channel #] is temporarily off" air and stay that way for the rest of the recording. This has happened to three channels: Turner Classic Movies (TCM), Showtime Beyond, and one of the CBS sports channels.

This problem does not occur when I do a normal attended recording, that is, if I put a disk in, press record, then press stop at the end of the program.

I reported the problem to Cox. The rep said she was sure the problem wasn't with Cox or its signal, but with Panasonic's machine, and gave me an 800 number to call at Panasonic. The guy at Panasonic said he was sure the problem wasn't with my machine, and recommended I talk to Cox again. I talked to Cox again (different rep) and got the same run-around.

I live in an apartment, and asked my manager what option I have other than Cox. She said the owners don't want satellite dishes or anything else on top of the apartment building, and that that leaves out DirecTV. Somebody else suggested AT & T, and something called U-Verse.

Anybody on the board got any advice?

[–] hiddenagenda1 10 years ago

I highly recommend AT&T and U-Verse.

Volker Flenske: (While torturing David) I don't know why you're doing this to yourself!

[–] Speed_Daemon 10 years ago

If your main problem is with the cable company-supplied DVR, the best solution IME is to go out and buy a TiVo DVR to replace it. You'll have to get a CableCard and possibly a tuning adapter from Cox to make it work, but after it's set up you'll be in full control of your DVR functions.

I bought my first TiVo in 200, and the first for DTV in 2007, and while my experiences with cable technicians have varied widely, my TiVo boxes rarely let me down. My 7+ year old ones sometimes spontaneously reboot, but my newest, a Roamio Pro, is rock steady so far.

U-verse is AT&T's DSL service. It's a 6Mbps DSL line, which is positively stone age compared to the 60Mbps that my cable provider offers. Any and all DTV signals go over that pathetic 6Mbps line! In comparison, a standard ATSC TV channel gives 18Mbps, which is typically used for one HD channel and one or two SD channels. Because U-verse is bandwidth poor, they downscale everything to an oddball EDTV resolution for transmission, and it can't compare to real HDTV.

If you live close enough to the local TV transmitter sites, you might be able to pull in the local ATSC TV channels over the air with an indoor antenna (many DVR makers support this). If Cox offers high speed Internet, use then as your ISP only, and buy a Roku or similar streaming Internet box to get your "cable" content.

Whatever you do, don't waste your time with AT&T! It's a ROTTEN company with high prices and poor service. I can't possibly exaggerate how awful they are.

[–] carfan2-138-379844 10 years ago

Federal Law prohibits landlords from denying you access to Satellite TV. There are many options from them to mount a dish for you.

[–] Speed_Daemon 10 years ago

That's not true.

First of all, OTARD only applies to areas granted exclusively to the renter under the lease. A tenant cannot force a landlord to put a dish up on a roof or other common area. If it's a historic building, OTARD does not apply.

http://www.fcc.gov/guides/installing-consumer-owned-antennas-and-satel lite-dishes

If the lessee has a balcony and can install a dish without violating the terms of the lease (that includes doing damage like drilling holes), the lessee may install a dish on their own. If they (or the installer) damages something, the lessee is 100% liable. If their balcony doesn't face a part of the sky where the satellites are, too bad.

Another thing to consider is that most leases are for a year, and the landlord doesn't have to renew the lease. Don't expect the FCC to send lawyers, guns and money to help if you aren't renewed.