[Kungpow]

Hi,

Been a long time Optik customer and have gone through a few "upgrades" along the way. I'm currently hooked up with a Actiontec V1000H modem. It's been hit and miss for a number of years but lately has been very poor. Considered changing the modem and upgrading the PVR and boxes to the newer ones.

I see Telus offers a home self-install kit which is great. I'm rarely home during regular working hours and prefer not to wait around for a technician on one of my days off.

I was wondering if it was technically possible to:

1. Swap my V1000H modem out for their newer ones T3200M without getting a technician to come out.
2. Swap my old Cisco 430 PVR and 330 boxes for the newer boxes through the home kit.

I see people selling the newer modems on CL so I figure it is possible. My plan would be to ask Telus to send me one while I bring the old one back to one of their retail stores. Is this possible without a tech? Any insight appreciated.

My last experience with Telus was about a year ago. It was a cold call asking if I was interested in upgrading to the newer boxes. I indicated yes and asked for a home install kit. The person on the phone insisted they don't have such a thing. I was confused because I was staring at their home install kit webpage while talking to them. The person on other side insisted on sending a tech so, rather than push, I declined. I'm not sure what process we have to go through to qualify to get a home install kit...


Thanks!

 

[pioneer PVR]

I've had Optik since Oct 2011 (almost as long as you have) and still have the original Actiontec V1000H modem. It has been an amazing workhorse for both Internet 25 and TV. The 430 PVR and 330 box were a different story. By Sept 2015 (after suffering through stuttering and failed recordings for awhile) I got them to swap them out for the new (in 2015) boxes. The tech looked at my modem and said there was no need to swap that out, since I was staying with Internet 25.

Were they cold calling to upgrade to 4K boxes? (I can't believe they'd be trying to "upgrade" you to the 2015 HD boxes). 4K will of course require minimum Internet 50 and the T3200M. I see the self-install kits
https://www.telus.com/en/bc/support/article/optik-tv-self-install
assume you already have a suitable modem, so I guess that means you need a tech visit just for that (kind of defeats the purpose of "self-install").

For my part, since I have a 2015 55" 1080p Bravia I am still very happy with, I have no interest in upgrades to 4K (which to me is still in it's infancy for content and reliability). Besides, with the Telus Internet/TV price war with Shaw (detailed in a years long RedFlagDeals thread) it's been easy to get "Loyalty Credits" by calling in. Internet 25 regular rate is overpriced vs Internet 50, but I'll stay with it as long as the "Loyalty Credits" are still there.

 

[Kungpow]

Thanks for your reply, Pioneer. When you say swap out, did you mean change for a new 430 and 330? Does that mean you technically could have swapped for a newer modem without changing the boxes from a 430 and 330? That’s my interpretation from your comments but am I interpreting it correctly?

In my situation, my v1000h has not been very reliable. I frequently have to unplug and plug back in to access it. No way I can access it using the IP as it seems to be congested or stuck doing something. That’s the reason I was looking to change to a newer modem.

I’m not in the market for 4K content as none of my TVs can make use of it. However, I didn’t realize we had to upgrade our plan to make the 4K boxes work. I guess we do need higher bandwidth and higher cap limits to make 4K content feasible.... It’s not highly on my priority, but if it meant I need to get these boxes to get a newer modem then I’ll consider it. I also have some loyalty perks for being a long time customer so I can see how much mileage I can squeeze out of that if I were to do an upgrade.

 

[pioneer PVR]

https://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/18...657-when-will-there-new-optiktv-hardware.html
This thread covers when the 430 and 330 started being replaced by the 7050 and 7500 (the PVR has a 500gb HDD, an improvement over the 320gb with the original). I waited until I was sure they had retired the old boxes (by Sept 2015) since I didn't want the old models again. I also didn't want the wireless version of the new boxes (which requires the wireless access point).
Yes, if the issues I was having could have been proven to be modem related (not Optik box) they would have replaced the modem (but my internet has been problem-free the whole time).
3 years later, the V1000H is now obsolete, so I think the standard modem for new Optik installs is now the T3200M. (For both HD and 4K Optik). When I talked with a CSR back in June, she said Internet 50 and higher require the T3200M.

 

[Kungpow]

Hi Pioneer. Thanks for the link - that's good info. So it looks like I lived through one generation of boxes since the 430. Encouraging to know you could've swapped your modem out no problem so in my situation, I should be able to swap my modem out without too much hassle with communicating to the old boxes.

Do their retail stores carry any modems? For example, if I bring my actiontec modem in, can they look me up and do a swap? I can purchase outside of Telus as well, but cleaner if I can ask Telus to provide a new modem.

On the PVR hardware side, it seems the newer one is the 6015. I'm not sure if that's a wired box or their wireless box. All I can see on their website are the wireless boxes.

 

[pioneer PVR]

The extent of my dealings with a Telus Retail Outlet was about 1 minute back in Sept 2011. I went there to look at the PVR back connections, then I did all the order over the phone. So I have no idea about what their capabilities are now.

I know Telus never allowed any modems other than their branded ones in the past (and only grudgingly tolerated a non-Telus router), but they might have softened that position in recent years. That's a good question for a front line tech (probably not a CSR).

The 6015 is the wireless PVR that replaced the 7150, the first wireless PVR (that had lots of problems). Since you can't buy boxes at BestBuy and London Drugs anymore (just the silly little Pik boxes), Telus has changed their marketing strategy.

One thing if you are thinking of keeping your old 430 and 330 boxes going (which I see you purchased, so it's probably an incentive to hang onto them), is that you are probably going well beyond what most get out of them. As Techguy8 said in Nov 2016 in the "NEW Optik Hardware" thread:

For the last 2 weeks, my old CIS430 had signal lost very frequently. Technician came this morning and change it with a IPV-6015. As everyone said, it is a better and faster PVR. This box can handle up to 5 HD streams.
The tech told me that the recent firmware upgrade broke the CIS430. He said I was lucky that I still have video after the upgrade. Some of the CIS430 upgrade made it a door stops. If you have a CIS430, you may get a new box soon.

Good luck (and don't keep a lot of recordings on your PVR that you will regret suddenly losing them).

 

[Kungpow]

Hi Pioneer. Thanks for the reply. As an update and to close things off on my original thread. I purchased a new Telus T3200M from someone. Upon plugging it in, I basically lost communication between my CIS430 and 330 boxes and new router. After researching, I realized it has to do with incompatibility between the old HPNA standard on the old router vs the newer MOCA standard, which my old boxes don’t support. Fortunately, I have gigabit powerline adapters near my router and boxes so I simply disconnected the coaxial cables and plugged in ethernet cables between my boxes and adapters. That seemed to have resolved my connection issues. My WiFi and connection is very good now so I have no regrets changing to a newer router.