Cable Co does 'HD upgrade', now I have lost 4 of my TV channels

[John Galt III]

A few days ago my cable co did an 'HD upgrade' and at least 4 of my channels now get some error code, and do not display. Also, the names of the affected channels have changed. cspn1 (cspan one) has become cpnh1.

I called up customer service. They 'resent' my signal, which didn't help. They next suggested I exchange my converter box for a new one and that that should fix it. I just did that, drove over to their office and got a new box, and it doesn't fix anything. Same problem. (Have not had them resend the signal, however, to new box. Maybe that is needed?)

These 4 channels went bad on the same day they did the 'upgrade'.

Customer Service says I am not alone. Many other customers lost some channels also, but different channels, and that replacing the box solved their problems. I don't believe that, actually, lol.

I thought it might be my old tube TV causing the problem, so I hooked up a much newer TV, a flat screen about 5 years old, and the same problem exists.

The only thing that changed when this problem started was the 'HD upgrade'.

It is not wifi. Just a coax going into the box, then into the TV. A splitter in the basement splits off one line to a computer (also not wifi) and one line into a TV. no wifi anywhere.

I am asking for clues here before I begin struggling with tech support, to get ideas ahead of time. Usually I have to help the tech fix the problem, using clues I have garnered beforehand. I have a visit from a tech scheduled for this coming Monday, six days away.

Clues welcome ! Questions welcome ! Thanks

 

[2HOTinPHX]

Can you check with any neighbors? See if they have the same channels missing?

Have you done an online search? There maybe a forum out there discussing same situation. Example would be Roku TV has a forum and there are discussions regarding connection issues there.

 

[Jimmie]

Can you check with any neighbors? See if they have the same channels missing?

Have you done an online search? There maybe a forum out there discussing same situation. Example would be Roku TV has a forum and there are discussions regarding connection issues there.

The neighbor idea is a good one to see if they are having missing channels issues. If they aren't having issues, then take your converter box to their house and see if the problem of your two missing channels repeats itself there. If the missing channels issue doesn't reappear, then you know for sure it's not the converter box. Since you've discovered it's not a TV set issue, then the only thing left is to check out the coax cables. Ask your neighbor if you could borrow their coax cable that runs from the converter box to their TV. If problem still exists, then you need to evaluate the coax cable that run from the cable's neighborhood service to your house and the coax cable from where it connects to the cable's service at your house to the converter box. If your coax cables are really old, you may need to buy new, high quality RG6 coax cables.

 

[John Galt III]

Thanks for the replies. I don't know the neighbors well enough to ask them about their cable tv. Or I'm just shy.

I suppose there could be something different about the 'new' signal coming in since the 'upgrade' that requires better cables on my part ? The outside cable connection at my house is the original from 38 years ago. (But it was good enough for everything until this 'upgrade', lol.

I started a thread on Reddit about the problem.

 

[Jerry1]

Have the cable company send out a repair person. Should be free if it’s not your equipment and I don’t see how it could be your equipment.

 

[John Galt III]

Have the cable company send out a repair person. Should be free if it’s not your equipment and I don’t see how it could be your equipment.

Yes, I have a visit from a tech set up for Monday next week. They said it would be free. I hope they can fix it because if not, I'll have the unwanted drama of trying to get a discounted monthly rate due to not receiving all channels I am paying for. Not into that scene at all, lol.

 

[Jerry1]

Yes, I have a visit from a tech set up for Monday next week. They said it would be free. I hope they can fix it because if not, I'll have the unwanted drama of trying to get a discounted monthly rate due to not receiving all channels I am paying for. Not into that scene at all, lol.

It is definitely a pain. I have a friend who is into networking and he showed me some tests to run to isolate a problem I was having. It clearly showed that the issue came before it hit my equipment. Still, they continued to focus on my router and wanted me to reset my stuff. No thank you. A couple months later, it somehow just fixed itself. Good luck.

 

[Koolau]

My cable co. forced me to change cable boxes. No longer supported. So my recorded DVR shows are all gone. Not only that but I ended up with fewer channels to chose from and all shows are now HD so I can only store about half the number of shows on my DVR. Other than that - I despise the cable company but what else is new?

 

[triangle]

The cable company has probably moved channels around to better utilize their spectrum/bandwidth within their distribution network. Maybe even using some of the more marginal parts of the spectrum as it relates to the signal sent to your home. IMO there is not much you can do or should worry about, other than let the tech come out with a new set top box and troubleshoot. The new box may have a better receiver/filter or they may find some problem with your cable connection. Years ago I had a problem viewing some stations and the cable tech tested the cable connection from the street to the home and found that it was noisy and marginal. Another person came out the next day and installed a new cable from the street to fix the issue.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Who's your cable company and is it possible that they may have changed their channel lineup and no longer carry some channels?

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

If you have SECTV, there is a post on Facebook about it.

Letter was mailed and an email. They did some changes. You just need to drop the 500. 503 is just now 3 etc.

Starting today (Wednesday, February 12th), we'll be upgrading to an HD channel lineup in our Lehigh Valley system. As part of this change, all channels in the 500s (and select channels in the 600s and 700s) will be relocated to new dial positions. Ex: Channel 502 (SEN HD) will now be on Channel 2 in HD.

For more details, please refer to the letter and lineup card included with your December statement or visit our website starting February 12th to view and print the updated channel lineup. Be sure to update your series recordings with the new dial positions.

 

[John Galt III]

Update. And Thanks for the replies! The cable co (Service Electric) gave me a new box to try out (free). I drove down to pick it up. Didn't fix the problem. From posts on the internet (yes, I saw the Facebook thread) different folks are having different channels disappear. Yes, some channel numbers changed. But the channels I am missing did not change. Some are having no problems at all. Some said the problem fixed itself after a few days.

At this point, I am just going to wait until Monday when the tech comes out. He says he can fix the problem , probably by replacing a cable or two. Stress free until Monday, if I can just stop obsessing over it, lol. (Underground TV cable here, so I don't think they are going to dig it up. Might just clip the ends off and splice new connectors on, if necessary) Splitter in basement is accessible, night get replaced. Outside connection at house is accessible, might get replaced. All original parts, 38 years old.

 

[Koolau]

^^^^^^^

Best luck. Here is hoping for a final resolution!

 

[JoeWras]

Update. And Thanks for the replies! The cable co (Service Electric) gave me a new box to try out (free). I drove down to pick it up. Didn't fix the problem. From posts on the internet (yes, I saw the Facebook thread) different folks are having different channels disappear. Yes, some channel numbers changed. But the channels I am missing did not change. Some are having no problems at all. Some said the problem fixed itself after a few days.

At this point, I am just going to wait until Monday when the tech comes out. He says he can fix the problem , probably by replacing a cable or two. Stress free until Monday, if I can just stop obsessing over it, lol. (Underground TV cable here, so I don't think they are going to dig it up. Might just clip the ends off and splice new connectors on, if necessary) Splitter in basement is accessible, night get replaced. Outside connection at house is accessible, might get replaced. All original parts, 38 years old.

Your connection could be marginal and having problems with different frequencies, if it is an old coax cable. A little nick somewhere, or an old spec cable can cause weird problems.

Usually what a tech will do in these cases is just lay a new cable from the box to your house. It will lay on top of the ground until someone else buries it. They almost never just replace the connectors. The old buried cable will stay and be dead. I have 8 dead cables of various types leading to my house. LOL.

 

[Car-Guy]

Move, it may be your house.

Are there other providers in your area?

 

[CaptTom]

Ahh, the joys of dealing with monopoly cable companies. The day I saw the guys stringing fiber up my street will probably forever be one of my happiest.

Now I enjoy getting expensive-looking, glossy ads from the cable company a few times a week. The last one, addressed to me by name, says I've "been identified as a preferred customer."

This is the same company which is threatening to send me to collection for a bill they told me on the phone I didn't owe.

 

[John Galt III]

If they want to put a cable across the ground they would have to go across 3 other driveways to get to my place, so I would refuse that option. The big metal box with 'catv' on it is 3 doors down, on someone's front lawn.
Maybe there is a connection near the street in front of my house, underground that they will dig down to, to make the connection with the new cable, which will only go across my driveway, sidewalk, and lawn. That would be better, but if it goes across a sidewalk, that would be unacceptable, of course. We'll see.

 

[Peter]

The coax cable to our house was in a buried conduit. All the tech had to do was pull the new cable through. No digging.

 

[5Miler]

When I converted from cable to fiber, the new fiber connection box was in my yard on the other side of the driveway. The AT&T contractor used a large machine to bore under the driveway with no noticeable damage to my lawn if that is your concern.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Your connection could be marginal and having problems with different frequencies, if it is an old coax cable. A little nick somewhere, or an old spec cable can cause weird problems.

Usually what a tech will do in these cases is just lay a new cable from the box to your house. It will lay on top of the ground until someone else buries it. They almost never just replace the connectors. The old buried cable will stay and be dead. I have 8 dead cables of various types leading to my house. LOL.

Yep, that happened to me back in 2013 when they upgraded their service, my existing cable was laid in 1992. It was a quick fix to lay it across the surface to get me service and then when the underground grew came back later they just had to pull the new cable though the underground pipe from the street to the house utility box.

 

[JoeWras]

If they want to put a cable across the ground they would have to go across 3 other driveways to get to my place, so I would refuse that option. The big metal box with 'catv' on it is 3 doors down, on someone's front lawn.
Maybe there is a connection near the street in front of my house, underground that they will dig down to, to make the connection with the new cable, which will only go across my driveway, sidewalk, and lawn. That would be better, but if it goes across a sidewalk, that would be unacceptable, of course. We'll see.

You may not have an option if it is in the easement that is under their control. See discussion above about monopoly behavior.

What I've seen around here is they lay a strongly adhesive strip over the cable that lands on the driveways, so cars and freely run over it. Remember, it should be only for a few days until they get the dig crew in.

It will be interesting to see what happens. Let us know.

 

[John Galt III]

Wow. Who knew ?

If it's only a few days wait for an underground crew, I would be OK with waiting the few days for them to show up, I guess, instead of putting a cable across my neighbors' driveways, just to get 4 channels back immediately. Drama avoidance is often a good option, if available, imo.

Heck, it might only be the cable from the outside wall connection to the inside basement connection. Will update when I know more.

 

[JoeWras]

Heck, it might only be the cable from the outside wall connection to the inside basement connection. Will update when I know more.

It might be! The tech should have a meter to measure. Hopefully that's all it is.

I'll be really interested to see if they would do something like replace end connectors. My experience is if they see something degraded from your wall to the box, the standard is "replace the entire end run from box to house." This is true for fiber too. I had a problem one time with a new fiber run (few weeks old) to the house and asked the tech if he could just polish the ends and try again. Nope. "Sir, we run a new fiber if it is not up to spec." OK. Your dime, buddy. Add them to the other 7 dead cables in my front yard.

BTW, the dig crews around here do their job from 2 days to 2 months. I hope you are on the short end of that scale. Years ago we had a pastor at our church who became a local celebrity after the cable company couldn't figure out a way to bury his end-run cable. (It wasn't physical, it was bureaucratic nonsense.) He was on TV a few times. Took almost a year. He had to test his patience and not "lose his religion," as we say around here. Hope that doesn't happen to you. My buries have always been within the week.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

It might be! The tech should have a meter to measure. Hopefully that's all it is.

I'll be really interested to see if they would do something like replace end connectors. My experience is if they see something degraded from your wall to the box, the standard is "replace the entire end run from box to house." This is true for fiber too. I had a problem one time with a new fiber run (few weeks old) to the house and asked the tech if he could just polish the ends and try again. Nope. "Sir, we run a new fiber if it is not up to spec." OK. Your dime, buddy. Add them to the other 7 dead cables in my front yard.

BTW, the dig crews around here do their job from 2 days to 2 months. I hope you are on the short end of that scale. Years ago we had a pastor at our church who became a local celebrity after the cable company couldn't figure out a way to bury his end-run cable. (It wasn't physical, it was bureaucratic nonsense.) He was on TV a few times. Took almost a year. He had to test his patience and not "lose his religion," as we say around here. Hope that doesn't happen to you. My buries have always been within the wee

My neighbor ordered Fios in August, cable was ran across my yard and then no one showed up to bury it or even do the Fios install. I have a feeling my neighbor cancelled it but he kept denying it but never contacted them to resolve it. After 2 months I got on Facebook and PM'd Frontier with photos and dates and threatened to cut the cable if they didn't deal with the problem. Less than ten minutes later they had opened a case and assigned me a case manager. Still took a few weeks since they couldn't contact the neighbor but finally he texted me to say he had set up his installation date and once that was complete someone finally someone came out and buried it. I was so upset and the cable was laying on my rocks when we had 110 degrees every day. I've found that complaining on social media gets results far faster than trying to deal with local offices. Hopefully John won't have any problems, mine was definitely an unusual situation and I'm 100% sure my neighbor was the cause, he's just a very strange guy.

 

[Koolau]

Ahh, the joys of dealing with monopoly cable companies. The day I saw the guys stringing fiber up my street will probably forever be one of my happiest.

Now I enjoy getting expensive-looking, glossy ads from the cable company a few times a week. The last one, addressed to me by name, says I've "been identified as a preferred customer."

This is the same company which is threatening to send me to collection for a bill they told me on the phone I didn't owe.

Yes, all my old cell phone carriers keep offering me fantastic inducements to come back. Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.