Issue with Channel 845 on the Comcast TIVO Box Fixed

The issue that I have been experiencing with my Comcast / TIVO box skipping channel 845 and going to channel 245 appears to be fixed. I called Comcast back in August about the issue and was told that they would be sending out an update to the Guide software on August 26th that would fix the issue. August 26th came and went and the issue was not corrected.

I kind of forgot about the issue for a while until last week when my OnDemand and TIVO stopped working. I got on the phone with Comcast again and while my box was rebooting I mentioned the channel 845 issue. The support guy I was talking to was one of the TIVO support guys and I always like talking to them as they seem to be a bit more knowledgeable. He told me that he had not heard about the issue but would ask around and give me a call back the following evening.

I never got a call the following evening and again I kind of forgot about the issue until this week when I was scrolling through my HD channels and the channel 845 issue has disappeared. At this point I am not sure if the support guy did something to fix it or there was another guide software update sent that fixed. At this point I don't really care, I am just glad it is fixed.

Comcast Adds More High Definition Channels in Boston?

There was some news floating around the Internet this week that Comcast will be adding a bunch of new High Definition Channels in Boston. The list is as Follows...

Encore HD (785)
Fox Business HD (789)
Hallmark Movie HD (790)
Toon Disney HD (792)
Fuse HD (793)
Bravo HD (794)
CNBC HD (795)
ESPNews HD (796)
Biography Channel HD (797)
Independent Film HD (798)
Women's Entertainment HD (799)
MGM HD (819), FX HD (830)
FOX News HD (841)
Starz Edge HD (873)
Starz Kids HD (874)
Starz Comedy HD (876)
Big Ten Netowrk HD (885)

As of October 26, 2008 these channels have not been added in the suburbs north of Boston, not sure if they have just added them in the city. Something to look forward to at least.

More on Comcast Bandwidth Limits

A few months back there were some press releases that Comcast was going to start limiting the monthly bandwidth of their users to 250 GB per month. This week Comcast sent out an email to all of their customers informing them that the limits will be implemented on October 1, 2008. The contents of that email is below:

Dear Comcast High-Speed Internet Customer,
We appreciate your business and strive to provide you with the best online experience possible. One of the ways we do this is through our Acceptable Use Policy (AUP). The AUP outlines acceptable use of our service as well as steps we take to protect our customers from things that can negatively impact their experience online. This policy has been in place for many years and we update it periodically to keep it current with our customers' use of our service.On October 1, 2008, we will post an updated AUP that will go into effect at that time.In the updated AUP, we clarify that monthly data (or bandwidth) usage of more than 250 Gigabytes (GB) is the specific threshold that defines excessive use of our service. We have an excessive use policy because a fraction of one percent of our customers use such a disproportionate amount of bandwidth every month that they may degrade the online experience of other customers.250 GB/month is an extremely large amount of bandwidth and it's very likely that your monthly data usage doesn't even come close to that amount. In fact, the threshold is approximately 100 times greater than the typical or median residential customer usage, which is 2 to 3 GB/month. To put it in perspective, to reach 250 GB of data usage in one month a customer would have to do any one of the following:* Send more than 50 million plain text emails (at 5 KB/email);* Download 62,500 songs (at 4 MB/song); or* Download 125 standard definition movies (at 2 GB/movie).And online gamers should know that even the heaviest multi- or single-player gaming activity would not typically come close to this threshold over the course of a month.In addition to modifying the excessive use policy, the updated AUP contains other clarifications of terms concerning reporting violations, newsgroups, and network management. To read some helpful FAQs, please visit http://help.comcast.net/content/faq/Frequently-Asked-Questions-about-Excessive-Use.Thank you again for choosing Comcast as your high-speed Internet provider.

Interestingly this week Comcast also sent out an email regarding a new feature called FanCast where you can watch TV shows from most of the major networks as well as movies. In their listing I noticed many of the shows that started recently such as Heros and The Office. Most of the movies they had available were pretty obscure and seem to have commercials every 15 minutes or so so I can't really see myself watching them. It does seem contrary to their new bandwidth limits to offer all of these new TV shows and movies.

I got another email from Comcast this week offering an upgrade in Internet Speed to 16 Mbps for and extra $10 month. I wonder if this service is what they will offer the high bandwidth users when they exceed the 250 GB threshold. The link to the offer is here. It says nothing about bandwidth limits but I would assume if you are paying more they will also raise the limits.

Comcast Limits Monthly Bandwidth Usage

There have been rumors floating around for a while that Comcast has been sending letters to high bandwidth usage customers warning them that if they do no curb their usage their accounts will be suspended. The problem is these customers had no idea how much usage was too much and no way to track how much bandwidth they are using.

This week Comcast announced here that as of October 1, 2008 they will be amending their acceptable usage policy to establish a maximum monthly usage threshold for all users. They are setting this threshold at 250 Gigabytes per month. As they point out in the article 250 Gigs is quite a bit of bandwidth and their average customer uses around 2 -3 Gigs per month. It is estimated that the limits will only affect 0.1% of Comcast's customers. As the Comcast announcement points out at 4MB per song the thresholds will allow you to download 62,500 songs. I assume the customers that are most affected are the ones downloading lots of movies.

Some have surmised that Comcast is putting the threshold in place because if customers are downloading movies for free then they are not buying them though the Comcast OnDemand service. While I guess that is possible I think it is more likely they are trying to prevent a few users to slow down the network for everyone.

I think this is a trend that we will be seeing not only with our ISPs but also with our workplaces. I work as a software consultant and one of my clients has recently implemented software that will allow them to (among other things) track employees who are using the most bandwidth. With more software applications moving to the web companies can't afford to have their networks slowed down by users streaming music or videos on their lunch break.

It seems like the plan is for Comcast to allow customers one month over 250 Gig and then they may send the a letter warning them to curb their usage but it does not really say what will happen if they don't. I don't think Comcast is going to risk losing a customer like me who purchases cable, Internet and phone. Overall I am not too concerned about the new limits, I don't download lots of movies so I am pretty sure I am well below the threshold. The few thousand customers that are affected are probably downloading movies illegally anyway so Comcast is probably glad to get rid of them as customers.

Issue with Channel 845 on the Comcast TIVO Box

A few weeks ago when Comcast added a few new High Definition channels I started noticing an issue when scrolling through the HD channels. When scrolling through the HD channels using the up arrow button on the remote or cable box when it should be going to channel 845 (which is Weatherscan) it jumps down to channel 245 (which is the non HD version of Weatherscan).

The workaround is to just use the numbers to enter the next number (846) or the guide to navigate to the next number. It is not really a huge issue but it does get a bit annoying if you forget and suddenly find yourself in the 200s and forgot what channel you were last on.

I tried rebooting the box hoping that would fix the issue but it didn't. I was out for lunch with a friend the other day who also has Comcast/Tivo and asked him about the issue and he said he had noticed the same thing. That made me feel a little better as hopefully it was something Comcast is aware of and is working on.

Tonight I decided to call Comcast support and report the issue and see if there was anything they could tell me. After a short wait I was connected to a rep and reported the problem. The rep told me that this is a known issue and is something they are working with Tivo on to get fixed. She also told me that they will be releasing a fix for the Guide software on August 26th that they hope will resolve the issue. So I guess we will wait and see.

Comcast Adds 7 New HD Channels in New England

I read an article in a TV forum earlier this week that Comcast was adding some new High Definition channels to their lineup. Sure enough when I got home tonight and checked the new channels were there. They are Disney HD, ABC Family HD, TLC HD, AMC HD, Science Channel HD, The Movie Channel HD and Showtime 2 HD. My total HD lineup is now:

PBS
CBS
ABC
NBC
WMUR
National Geographic
Discovery Channel
Fox
MTV
TBS
HGTV
TNT
USA
A & E
WSBK
HD Theater
CNN
Weatherscan
Golf / Versus
ESPN
ESPN2
NESN
Comcast Sports Network New England
NFLHD
Food Network
WLVI
Sci Fi
Animal Planet
Cinemax
HBO
History Channel
Starz
Showtime
MOJO
Disney
ABC Family
TLC
AMC
Science Channel
The Movie Channel
Showtime 2

That brings the total number of available HD channels in my area to 41. The Movie Channel and Showtime 2 are subscription only and I do not subscribe to those channels but I did see them in the guide. Also Disney and ABC Family did not appear to be broadcasting HD Programs or they weren't when I looked earlier. This seems to be the case when many of the HD channels first go on-line. They start with just a couple programs in HD and slowly add programming over the months.

I don't understand why Comcast doesn't make an announcement when adding new channels. It seems you either have to find them accidentally while flipping through the channels or read TV and HD forums. A simple email to their HD customers would be nice. But I am always happy to see them add new channels. I don't regularly watch any of the new channels but it is great the Comcast is constantly adding to their HD lineup.

DCT700

Over the past few months we have been having some problems with the TV in our bedroom. Intermittently the signal was dropping and it wasn't the normal pixelization that you sometimes see on the digital boxes. This isn't my High Def TV where I have the DVR installed. It is just a basic 27" Panasonic tube that I have owned for over 10 years. I was really hoping it was the TV that was going as I would love to get an LCD for the bedroom but I just couldn't justify it if the TV was still working fine.

So I figured the problem was most likely with the box so I popped over to the local Comcast office to get a replacement box. I was a little surprised when the tech brought out one of these:

It is another Motorola box: model number DCT700. What surprised me about it is the size. It is 5-1/2 inches wide 6-1/2 inches long and under 2 inches high. The specs say that it has the same features as the larger basic digital boxes. The obvious difference is there is no readout on the front for channel or time which has taken us a little getting used to as we used our cable box as a clock in the morning. I also noticed that the box emits a high frequency buzz. I can hear it but my wife cannot so maybe it is just me.

Overall though I am pretty happy with it. The size allows us to save some space on the shelf and I am not having the signal dropping problems that I was having with the old box. So I guess I am stuck with my 27" tube for a few more years.