Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with cable

EarthLink? WTF? OMG!

DecemberBoy — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:34:50 -0800

So I recently moved, and as I always do, got an account with Time Warner (who are pretty much the only option in the part of Austin where I live). I noticed that my IP was resolving as either "earthlink.net" or "mindspring.com" when it should be "austin.rr.com", but didn't think much of it. However, today I found a letter in the mail containing "important information about your EarthLink account." Wot's, uh, the deal? I didn't sign a contract with EarthLink and wouldn't, due to their Scientology connections. This is on top of the fact that my down speed is about half what it was not 15 miles from here.

Elegant solution or jury-rigged joke?

longsleeves — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 10:49:57 -0800

Is it common to remove a utility pole but leave a small chunk of it still in use twenty feet up? This is all that's left of the utility pole that used to grace the corner my house sits on. Public Works re-did the street several months ago and the project included new sidewalks. The corner was reengineered while the workers and all the heavy equipment were tearing up the old and installing the new, the utility pole was removed and not replaced. At first we thought this slice of old pole would soon be replaced with either a new pole or at least a new connector or anchoring thingy, yet here it remains, looking a bit like it belongs on a joke picture blog. I've never seen this anywhere else.

It certainly appears secure enough but it sure looks a little weird. I've even heard passersby comment that it looks like a birthday cake caught in some wires. Will it be safe in the long term? Have you ever seen this? I'm also curious if there is electric power transmission involved.

Breaking the News

unSane — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:23:39 -0800

I'm trying to compile a list of stories that cable news went insane for. OJ, Elizabeth Smart, Jon Benet Ramsay, Di's death, balloon boy, 9/11, Chandra Levy, Clinton/Lewinsky, Katrina . What other breaking stories have provoked saturation coverage on CNN/Fox/MSNBC, even if only for a couple of days?

Help, I need a stronger wifi signal!

OuttaHere — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 07:53:19 -0800

Help! I live in a basement and need a stronger Wi-Fi Connection! I live in a Basement of a townhome and pay for internet which my landlord provides via Wi-Fi.

The problem is that he has the router on the third floor of the house, and I am in the basement. It probably doesn't help that it is an old building, so there is a lot of brick and mortar. Anyways, he uses Comcast so in order for us to have a land line in our residence we would have to pay for a completely new cable package/modem etc.

In my room I am getting like 25% signal, 2 bars out of 5 pretty much, and get a really shitty and slow connection. If I move my computer out to the main room my speed and connection increases 10 fold.

Anyway, I'm not the greatest with this kind of tech stuff so I was wondering if people out there had options for me. I haven't talked to my landlord about it but wanted to confront him with some options.

Anyone have ideas, especially if you are familiar with comcast. Are those "Range Extenders" worth it? Can you add a router to a lower level somehow to increase the range? Is there anything comcast can do?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Need cable tv in Toronto (Bell and Rogers need not apply).

jmmpangaea — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 06:27:06 -0800

Torontofilter: Can anyone recommend a good cable tv provider that is not Bell or Rogers? I've finally had it with Rogers and Bell. Their customer service is appalling. I did a metafilter search on internet providers and found a good company, now I need to find someone that can handle cable tv.
HD, is not necessary, but would be a bonus if they provide it.

Will I get a a refund for the time spent lauching a new satellite?

Jimbob — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 04:44:41 -0800

What happens when the satellite my pay-tv satellite-dish is pointing at dies? Like tens of thousands of people in my part of the world, I get my "cable" TV via a satellite dish on my roof, pointing at a geostationary satellite. By my understanding, satellites have a limited life-span - am I right in thinking that this is probably more relevant to orbital satellites that will eventually fall out of orbit? - but in any case, a stray rock might hit my Austar satellite and render it useless.

Will my cable company then devote itself visiting every subscriber and pointing their dish at a new satellite? Is there any precedent for this?

Ready for CableCards?

medarby — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 10:14:47 -0800

What is the current state of CableCards? Is it worth adding to my HTPC? I came across this article on Gizmodo regarding CableCards. I've only done cursory reading on the tech as it always seemed to be not well supported (or promoted) or mature enough yet. Is this still the case, or is it time to start looking into it? Anyone have any experience with CableCards or a primer for us newbs that they'd like to share?

How to get this new stupid Comcast box to work with my Tivo?

mingodingo — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 19:31:43 -0800

Comcast filter: Will the new Comcast adapter box work with my Series 2 Tivo? If not (or if its a hassle), should I change cable/internet providers (and what's a good alternative in the Bay Area)? So, Comcast advertisements fed current customers this lie that if you were with Comcast, you wouldn't have to do anything for the digital conversion--now they want us to go get these converter boxes.

I am not good with hooking this sort of thing up, especially when a Tivo's involved. Will these boxes even work with a Series 2 Tivo? If so, can you explain to me (in a "Comcast boxes + Tivos for Dummies" kind of way) how to hook this up?

And if not, or if it's going to be a huge pain, any suggestions for alternative cable companies in the Bay Area I could switch to that don't require this extra equipment? Right now, I'm getting my extended basic cable and internet from Comcast for under $50, and I'd like to stay in that price range.

Thanks!

Building my own DVR with Linux and Comcast

dcrocha — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 01:03:17 -0800

I want to build my own Linux-based DVR. Need some help on the specs and interop with Comcast Digital Starter Cable. Hi all,

I have decided to build my own Linux-based DVR to record and play the shows I get with Comcast Digital Starter cable package. I have read quite a few tutorials and all seems "easy" at first. However I would like to double-check with the hivemind on a few things.

My setup:

- Standard Dell destkop computer with 160 GB of Hard Drive and 2 GB of RAM
- Linux Ubuntu 9.04
- Comcast Digital Starter package with Motorola DCH70 set-top box. no HiDef channels.

1) I understand that I must buy a TV tuner card to receive the digital cable signal. Given my hw/sw setup, will this one do? Does it have a Linux driver?

2) Most tutorials and articles speak of "clear" vs "encrypted" cable signals. Why is that important? I "kind of" understood that encrypted = HD. However I don't have HD definition currently, and don't plan to get it. Will the TV tuner card mentioned above receive correctly the signal from Comcast?

3) The same articles say "plug the cable to your computer as you'd to your TV". However my cable doesn't plug directly into the TV. It goes first into the DCH70 box then there's another cable from there to the TV. Does that mean that I have to keep the set-top box and plug the cable going out of it (RF out) to the computer, then from the computer to the TV? Or should I insert the computer between the wall cable and the DCH70?

4) Using one of the standard DVR softwares for Linux (MythTV, Sage TV) will I be able to record more than one channel at the same time? How about watching a channel live and recording another at the same time?

I got excited about this DIY project and I feel like going through with it, but would like a little help from MeFi so I don't shell out some bucks just to find out that the setup doesn't work because Comcast blocks something or the setup is somehow incompatible with it.

What's the best cable company/ISP in NYC?

soonertbone — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 10:24:25 -0800

Moving to NYC and have my choice of cable companies. Which one should I choose to minimize stress and annoyance? My new building doesn't have an agreement with any particular cable company, so I can use whatever I want. Satellite is out, though, so I'm looking for a company that can provide me with cable (HD is important) and internet.

I've heard nothing but terrible things about TimeWarner, so I'm wondering if there's some other company out there that's good. Or, if you've had positive experiences with TW, let me know those too!

(Apologies if this has been answered before. I tried searching and only came up with options for other large cities, not NY.)

Programming a Universal Remote for Secret Cable?

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:22:00 -0800

Help with programming a universal remote for cable with no cable box? Comcast has installed our internet and the man who installed it was kind enough to give us free cable (for which I did not ask nor did I decline). We don't have a cable box so I'm wondering if there is a way to program our universal remote to access the cable menu and guide.

Anonymous because it is secret cable and I feel less sketchy as it was provided to us by someone actually from Comcast but none-the-less we are not paying for it.

Budget home theater

bove — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:07:16 -0800

Help me design a budget HD home theater. I am planning on upgrading to HD. I have a small room and a few constraints. The size of the room dictates a 42" TV. I have about $2000 to spend on everything (this is slightly flexible). I currently have a Tivo (Series 2) and love it. I have Cox cable and will probably switch to their digital/HD service. Help me figure out where to best spend my money. Possible components:

HDTV (no preference for plasma or LCD currently)
HD DVR. Preference is Tivo (or is it worth living with the Cox box?) I am under the impression that with HD Tivo is the only option, I can't build a media center PC
Blu-ray player. I have Netflix and could switch to their Blu-ray plan. Although I am also considering relying primarily on services like Amazon on Demand, Cinemanow, etc.
Speakers/Sound. Major constraint here is I cannot have a full surround sound system. I can't run wires and I can't mount rear speakers. I am thinking about a "virtual" surround sound system.
Universal Remote

Any components I have forgotten? Anything I should do without? Can I build a good setup and stay close to my budget?

I don't want my MTV.

nushustu — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 10:42:25 -0800

I want to dump cable, but I still want to be able to watch particular shows. Can I do this? I don't want to pay for cable any more, but I still want to watch Mad Men and a few other shows on my tv. Plus, I'd like to be able to record certain shows from the networks. But I'm completely overwhelmed with the possibilities on how to do this. I would rather not shell out thousands for an HTPC, nor do I have the time to build my own for cheap.

If I hook up a new non-apple laptop with internet access to my SDTV, will I be able to watch hulu, or shows I've purchased via Amazon, etc.? Also, if I wanted to record shows off of PBS without a VCR, would I be able to subscribe to tivo and have that happen without cable access? Will the quality of these shows suck? Again, we're only talking standard definition tv right now. I just want to be able to watch shows w/out jaggy, stuttery playback. Should I buy an Apple TV?

I'm completely flummoxed by the possibilities. If someone has a step-by-step guide on how to do this, I'd appreciate it.

HD TV needs an antenna

radiosilents — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:11:58 -0800

We have an HD TV, but no cable subscription. antenna advice, please! Degree of difficuly : we live in an apartment, and do not have roof access.

I've seen discussions pro and con about the viability of indoor antennas, but wanted to ask the hivemind their thoughts. used one? had any luck? which one would you recommend? are there particular features to look out for? etc.

The TV itself (no external antenna attached) doesn't find any broadcast channels when we ask it to search for signals.

Picking a good plan

pulled_levers — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 20:10:11 -0800

In need of a cheap high speed internet/cable package shared among 7 college girls in MD and not sure where to start. Help! Six other girls and I will be moving into a house in College Park, MD 20740. A friend of mine has looked into Verizon for a plan. Unfortunately, she says that that particular plan only works with flatscreen TVs which we do not have.

I have looked at comcast as well as reviews of comcast saying that they are overpriced with not-so-great customer service.

After looking at some DSL vs Cable sites, it seems that cable is pricier but has faster connection. Because the internet will be shared among seven girls, I wanted to know whether or not paying for cable will become a necessity and if we should go for a package that has a minimum of X MBPS.

I would prefer a high-speed internet service coupled with a fairly basic TV cable plan. I am worried about internet being too slow if shared between so many girls. I am also bringing a wireless router to the house (will the internet company I choose help me install that at all?).

I am feeling slightly overwhelmed because we are moving in in two days and classes start on Monday. Any input would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

Is there such a thing as an HD DVR?

jackypaper — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 17:55:13 -0800

My HD cable channels route through a DVR. I have an HD TV. Do I need an HD DVR to take full advantage of HD? Is there such a thing? Thanks!

Rogers or Bell for cable tv (Cake or death? Death or death?)

maudlin — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 08:43:57 -0800

Toronto cable tv frustration: should I dump Rogers for Bell? I have a basic cable package with Rogers and have added on a few extra channels, like BBC World News. I'm pretty fine with the selection of channels that I have.

However, dealing with Rogers for any kind of service or billing issue is incredibly frustrating. I just got off the phone with my third different CSR regarding a switch of a couple of the extra channels that resulted in additional fees despite being told explicitly by an earlier CSR that no additional fees would be applied. The fees were finally removed today, but it's not the first time I've had to make multiple calls to resolve something.

So I'm looking at Bell and have found a comparable package that I could live with. But in your experience, is Bell generally more or less frustrating than Rogers when it comes to billing, support and installation? Are there any obvious benefits or drawbacks to making the switch that I should know about?

What you call "free AMC access" was invented by guys like me to sell nylons.

zoomorphic — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 11:59:27 -0800

I am crazy-excited about Mad Men season 3 airing this week. Unfortunately, my friends and I are frugal New Yorkers who don't get extra channels like AMC. Are there any bars in NYC that play Mad Men where we could actually hear the show? Or are there places where we could rent a TV and a room without going broke? Last year I bought all the seasons on iTunes and watched (agape!) on my little laptop, but I'd love to see season 3 episodes a) the night they air, and b) on a larger teevee screen. This is mainly because I want to gather loads of friends together who are equally obsessed, and maybe have a dress-up theme party.

I know that Times Square is playing the first episode this Sunday, but that only takes care of the first episode. Bars often play certain shows if you request them, but the TVs are usually small and in loud areas.

This hope seems a little dim, but I thought I'd invoke the Hive before I resigned myself to my small, lonely laptop screen. If anyone figures out this conundrum, I will take your secret identity to the grave.

please tell there is an alternative to Future Shop...

hector horace — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:10:17 -0800

Anyone know where I can get an HDMI cable in Montreal for under $30? I really don't want to pay Future Shop or Canadian Tire $30 for what I know is a $10 HDMI cable. Does anyone know a brick and mortar shop in Montreal that fits the bill? (Yes, I know I can get it for cheaper online but my new TV is getting here TODAY!)

thanks

What is the Name of This Tornado Doc?

LeeJay — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 10:33:09 -0800

Inspired by this thread, I am trying to remember the name of a tornado special that aired, I think, on HBO several years ago. Around six or seven years ago (I believe, it might be older) I saw a documentary on HBO (again, I could be wrong about the channel but it definitely aired on a premium, no-commercials movie channel) about F4 and F5 tornadoes in the United States. It was made up mostly of interviews with eyewitnesses, rescuers and survivors and almost all of the storms profiled were relatively recent. There are several bits that I remember clearly but the story that stands out most is the story told by a rescuer who found an elderly woman in wreckage. He had a cell phone on him and was able to contact the victim's family so she could speak to them one last time. There was also a story about a nurse who lost her son and a church that was totally destroyed except for one hallway which was where the church's occupants chose to ride out the storm.

Thinking about it now, it could have been originally produced for public television but if memory serves there was plenty of language that wasn't censored so I'm thinking it really was a cable production.

I've searched and searched but I cannot for the life of me seem to find it. Anyone remember what it was called?

DirecTV, DishNetwork or uVerse?

tippiedog — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:00:56 -0800

Dish Network, DirecTV or uVerse? We are a family of four living in suburban Austin, Texas. Our local cable service has changed hands two times in the last few years and is now owned by Suddenlink. We've had cable (with their provided DVR, a Motorola 6400 series) and internet with them for years, and have not been particularly unhappy until recently. With one of the buyouts, they removed some channels that we like (BBC America primarily) from our package and we really don't want to pay more for them.

But here's the big problem: I knew the DVR was not anywhere close to TiVo in functionality, but it did the job. In the last two weeks, however, they REPLACED the OS on the DVR (and cable box for our non-DVR TV, but that has less of an impact) and as a result, our DVR has lost some significant functionality and is practically unusable. That really pisses me off!

We're thinking of going elsewhere for TV and I would like your feedback.

NOTE: Our neighborhood was recently wired for AT&T uVerse, so that's an option, in addition to satellite.

Based on recent threads, it looks like MeFites generally prefer DirecTV over Dish, but Uverse is so new, I'm not seeing much about it on the green.

Here is some relevant info about us:

I'm not unhappy with my cable internet service; I don't see any reason to change it from Suddenlink unless there's a big bundling advantage

We have landline phone service with AT&T; we have tried Vonage and Suddenlink's VoIP but had voice quality problems (which may indicate that our internet service isn't that great; see first bullet item above)

We don't care a whit about sports on TV

We currently subscribe to basic cable + the big package of miscellaneous stuff: SciFi, Discovery, Comedy, TBS, etc., which is about what we would like to keep

We live by the DVR, so it's a must whichever way we go. Obviously, DVR usability is an issue

We get movies via NetFlix, so don't want to want to pay for premium movie channels

We watch primarily PBS, documentaries, some re-run sitcoms, etc.

We have one HDTV (with the DVR) where we do about 95% of our TV watching. We have a second, small analog TV in a study that hardly gets used for anything but gaming; we don't need a DVR for it

Coil-me-up.

ostranenie — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:25:24 -0800

Does this cable wind-up tool exist? And where can I buy one? I asked a question a while back about winding up cable. TomMelee provided this helpful comment but I was unable to locate anything that matches this description:

Have you tried looking for one of the wire-wrappers as seen in Lowes/Home Despot? They're generally blue, have a center depression and "wings" on the sides. You start your cable in, flop up the wings, wind wind wind, then flop the wings down and slide the cable off.

Just one problem: nobody at any hardware store I've been to has heard of these devices being sold there. I got a few "that would be useful! but no, sorry, we don't sell those" responses and I can't find anything like it online (that cost less than $700, anyway).

So before I go and build one (a hinge-winged cylinder on a bearing on a stand), do they exist in the wild?

Cable please!

katrielalex — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:10:27 -0800

Is there any way I can get cable to my house even though it's listed as "not in a cable area"? It's very near one! I live at the end of a little driveway, maybe 10m long (in the UK). When I check my postcode with BT or Virgin, both list the house and the two others on the driveway as "not in a cable area". Unfortunately, it's also miles from the exchange, so the DSL we get instead runs at maybe 400Kb/s (absolute maximum 1Mb/s and I've only ever seen that once), which is really annoying, especially when coming back from a nice speedy JANET connection. So far so good.

The thing is, I've checked the house down the end of the driveway, literally 10m away from our front garden, and they have cable, which leads me to think that there's a nice fast cable running down the road but which doesn't quite reach our house. There is a ditch by the side of the driveway, and from there a nice easy path through the front garden to the house itself. One catch: apparently some time ago (10 years, maybe?) the company offered to lay a cable. Unfortunately, when they turned up they tried to run it through our neighbour's front garden, which she wasn't too happy about. So we told them not to lay the cable and they left. This seems to have left our house as 'unconnectable'.

So, the question: is there any way we can get cable? I'm guessing we'd have to pay for it ourselves, any idea how to do this or how much it would cost? Thanks in advance folks!

Why do so many audio (and video) cables have the same connector on both ends?

RustyBrooks — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 19:12:40 -0800

Why do so many audio (and video) cables have the same connector on both ends? After painting our living and installing new floors, I'm putting the whole A/V system back together and started to wonder why almost all video and audio connectors are the same on both ends (usually both male). RCA, coax, hdmi, fiber audio (OK this is probably a technical issue since you probably can't easily join these end to end anyway), maybe svideo I don't have on on hand to check.

There doesn't *really* seem to be an advantage to it, because in most cases a cord goes from an output on one device to an input on another. In the computer world, most cables seem to be male on one and end female on the other (parallel, serial, usb, firewire, vga, ps/2, etc)

The primary advantage of one male/one female is that you can easily make longer cables by joining shorter ones end-to-end. I can't think of any real advantages to both-ends-male. Is there one?

Can I use a set of high-quality Component video cables as high-quality compsite video cables?

ManInSuit — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 11:46:47 -0800

Can I use a set of high-quality Component video cables as high-quality compsite video cables? I need to buy three component video cables. I want ones of reasonably good quality. A store near my house is selling a set of decent-looking component video cables (Monster Ultra 600). To my untrained eye, the component video cable set looks a lot like three composite video cables in one box.

Would it make sense to buy those, instead of separate composite cables ? Or is there some way in which component video and composite video cables are different from each other?