HD channels terribly inconsistent

[thunderstruck67]

Hello,

I am in Edmonton. I have the original Motorola HD box (I think it's the DCT6200). It was originally used at my apartment in Clareview with no problems except for the occasional VOD outage. I have since moved into a house in Beverly for a few months. For the first week or two, it was fine, no problems, worked great. Then a few of the channels would not work at all (Global, Fox, CTV, Movie Central, HBO, plus a few more). They would simply say "Please Wait, this channel will be available shortly" (or someting similar). The guide for these channels would not update either. I called Shaw and they reset the box to no change. They sent out a tech, who did some messing around in the basement where the cable comes in. He re-ended a few cables as well.

I thought things were good, I tested the channels that weren't working and they were working. I should have tested them longer because after the tech left, I tried them and they were working, but they were skipping as if there was a bandwidth problem. Movie Central and HBO were unwatchable, just blockies and skipping galore. This was in December. Most of the channels have been working okay since then...Global, Fox, CTV all seemed to get better, no skipping.

Some days it works perfectly, some days every channel is skipping or having bandwidth problems that render the channel unwatchable. A couple of days even the SD channels were skipping and blocky.

We had a guy out yesterday to change our phone over to Shaw Digital Phone, he changed something again with the wires when I mentioned my HD not working well. It was fine all day yesterday but today none of the channels are watchable.

I called Shaw after the December tech left, and they said nothing can be done. Issue with the older area and that they would post my problem on some kind of forum and someone would get back to me.

Is there anything I can do? I'm moving to a new area in May so it's not a huge, huge deal, but I would like to know that I can watch the SuperBowl and shows that I like in HD without problem until then.

[Anonimz]

It is definately something to do with the wiring/signal level. Phone in for another service call, this time ask for a senior tech who might be able to troubleshoot the problem easier or at least escalate it to an appropriate crew.

[Its_Dave]

You can call in and do that, if you your able to and willing I would go to your basement and try trail and error and figure out which cable is your HD box cable and connect it to either the incoming line or the first splitter and see if it improves, this would give you the best signal and you would be disconnecting everything and probably your phone as well just so your know, but it would answer your question which then you can give that information to Shaw.

Just need some time try some different cables and need a 7/16 wrench as the connection are usually tight or a pair of pliers

But like said above sounds like a signal issue so you may need a splitter config, or you have bad connection or just need more signal.

[thunderstruck67]

I am pretty sure it is already on the first splitter. I belive it's currently line-in, splitter, then HD box and cable modem, then splits again and one goes to the upstairs digital cable box and to the digital phone box...

[thunderstruck67]

I haven't bothered to call Shaw again, because they said last time that there is nothing left to do.

Some days it works fine, some days it's terrible. Last night (Superbowl Sunday)...it was working fine in the AM, then for a few minutes, everything went kaput, no channels worked at all. They would just have a black screen or "this channel will be available momentarily." A few minutes later, everything came back normally. This happened once more during the SuperBowl and again after a few minutes, the channels returned.

Thing is, it's happening upstairs now, on the normal digital receiver too. Before, the upstairs TV/digial box had no problems.

However, after the SuperBowl was over, HD versions HBO/Movie Central/CTV/FOX/CBS/Global were once again blocky, choppy and having issues that made them unwatchable. I wonder if I need an amplifier/signal booster.

Anybody know what was happening the two times everything went away and then came back? It feels like maybe Shaw was rebooting some hardware...if that's all it takes, I'll take 2-3 reboots a day to have proper performance.

I think the next thing for me to try...is when I'm having the issue...I'll take my HD box into the basement and run the first cable directly to it and I'll just use my computer monitor so I don't have to move my TV and see what happens.

[Nanuuk]

Sounds likes something local in your neighbourhood. I'd have Shaw come out again. Not all Tech's are created equal and the fact that there is a second call-out will indicate the problem was not resolved.

[Yoginess]

This is a strange one, like many other people I have a couple HD channels that aren't working (well apparently they will be available shortly....) in this case it's 3 channels that usually work fine. CTV, TSN, and TSN2. (210,212,213). Sportsnet (211) works just fine, as do all other HD channels.

Now here's the kicker, we have a second HD Box upstairs. All channels work fine. What's the dealio?

[Anonimz]

Obviously the wiring to that outlet, signal is too low and those channels are below the threshold to work. Most likely they are carried higher in the spectrum and fall off more than the others.

[spicypeppers]

I've had the same problem since the first week of the olympics. The channel would get all blocky and then worst and then the please wait message. Called tech support and they did the usual, unplug cable, reset box. Finally I just cancelled HD Plus, if I'm not getting the channels, why pay for it. Now a couple of the free channels is still saying Please wait. At least I save $9 and when I have time, I'll let them check the hardware, till then, oh well...might even opt for Bell if they ever gave a good deal.

[Shaw Guru]

Why not have Shaw come out and fix it for free since service calls are included at no extra cost????