The Quest for Cable
Apr. 13th, 2007 10:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shirenomadI got a high def TV for Christmas. This is all well and good, except the house I'm renting from didn't have high def TV channels on their plan. Well, Time Warner offers them for just five bucks more a month, so I asked the landlady if she could up my rent by five bucks a month; she said sure and ordered the channels.
Now things get a little complicated (as evidenced by the fact that I am writing about this four months after Christmas). For those who are unaware of this, you need a special computer-like device (here-after referred to as The Box) to read HD TV. The local Time Warner will gladly provide the first for free with your order of HD channels, and since I'm the only one in the house with an HD TV, I get it by default. Except the local Time Warner didn't have any boxes when we made the request. Okay, okay, when you get one, you can hand it over and we'll activate the channels then.
Four months later, we get a call that they have The Box. And there was much rejoicing.
But it's not over yet! Complication #2: they need to come over and hook it up. Since this is my deal, I'm designated as the one who has to wait for them. They tell us the guy will arrive at 8:30 am and be gone by 9; having never actually dealt with the cable company before, I foolishly believe them.
Arrival time was actually 10. I'd gone to work (I'd neglected to set myself a reminder to wait, because hey, he'd be there before I left, right?) Bree calls and tells me Cable Techie Dude is here; come back and deal with him. It's a slow work day, so I excuse myself and say I'll be gone for an hour tops. (Look, I said I've never dealt with the cable company before, alright?)
Okay, so Cable Dude hooks it all up, calls in to activate the new channels (they put him on hold!), and... hmm. Still just the normal stuff. The HD channels aren't showing at all. Also, they've killed my local channels. That can't be right.
Now, I happen to know that the line to my room is a bit odd. When I moved in, the cable was actually ripped; I got a new end plug from Radio Shack and spliced it in myself, and it worked okay (if a little fuzzy sometimes), but I wasn't willing to rule out that my emergency first aid wasn't cutting it for HD transmissions. So I ask, could it be the cable line? He assures me that no, the box is getting certain bits of information that mean the problem is either with the box or on Time Warner's end. So he reboots the box, and he calls HQ a couple times, and I sit around annoyedly. You sure it isn't the cable line? Because I did some fix-it work on it earlier... No, that's crazy talk. Am I sure the TV is HD-capable? Yes, it says so right there on the side. Reboot. Nothing.
Hey, he asks, is this here for a reason? He's pointing to the line splitter. (I'd gotten my hands on a spare cable modem for free and had tried hooking up my computer directly to the system so I wouldn't have to bother with the wireless. This of course did not work because we already had the wireless -- one cable modem to a house, please. I'd left the line splitter in place, though, rather than bother unscrewing everything and putting it back.) I told him no, it's not doing anything, it's just there due to laziness. He removes it, and lo, he sees a bit of improvement. Not enough, but a bit. The splitter, he informs me, was weakening the signal...
So, wait, transmission strength through the line could be the problem? I drag him over to my fix-it work, which he examines for two seconds... Sweet Giant Anteater of Santa Anita! He runs out to his truck for some equipment. 15 minutes later I've got a much more professional splice job... and still no HD.
He informs me that he's going to pick up a replacement box -- maybe this one's faulty -- and leaves. It's well past noon by now. I call the office and ask if it's okay to use some paid time off, they say sure, I say I'll be in when I can be in. I notice that in his hurry Cable Dude left some of his tools, which is reassuring, as it means he'll have to come back. Maybe I'll hold the tools hostage. I make lunch and start the laundry; at this point part of me suspects that I won't make it back to the office at all today. Part of me is right.
About 2pm: Cable Dude returns with a new box and backup, in the form of Cable Dude #2. They hook up the new box, with still no results. Okay, maybe the problem is with the transmission to the house. They take both boxes to the TV in the living room -- not HD capable, but they can still check whether anything is getting through there. And lo! We get signal! Okay, that means the problem's exclusive to my room. Cable Dude #2 gets a better look at my line, which even with the new splice is apparently failing me. He follows it around the house a bit... huh.
As it turns out, the situation is far worse than I or anyone else thought; the entire line to the room was put in very amateurly. I've been ragging on Time Warner up to now, but I will give them this: I find it highly unlikely that they were the one to run that line to the room originally, but they were the ones who stayed for over an hour (calling in Cable Dude #3, no less) to do it right the second time. New cable line, new connector, new everything. Result: not only are the HD channels getting through clear, but even the non-HD channels are vastly improved.
Just wish it didn't have to take all day...
Now things get a little complicated (as evidenced by the fact that I am writing about this four months after Christmas). For those who are unaware of this, you need a special computer-like device (here-after referred to as The Box) to read HD TV. The local Time Warner will gladly provide the first for free with your order of HD channels, and since I'm the only one in the house with an HD TV, I get it by default. Except the local Time Warner didn't have any boxes when we made the request. Okay, okay, when you get one, you can hand it over and we'll activate the channels then.
Four months later, we get a call that they have The Box. And there was much rejoicing.
But it's not over yet! Complication #2: they need to come over and hook it up. Since this is my deal, I'm designated as the one who has to wait for them. They tell us the guy will arrive at 8:30 am and be gone by 9; having never actually dealt with the cable company before, I foolishly believe them.
Arrival time was actually 10. I'd gone to work (I'd neglected to set myself a reminder to wait, because hey, he'd be there before I left, right?) Bree calls and tells me Cable Techie Dude is here; come back and deal with him. It's a slow work day, so I excuse myself and say I'll be gone for an hour tops. (Look, I said I've never dealt with the cable company before, alright?)
Okay, so Cable Dude hooks it all up, calls in to activate the new channels (they put him on hold!), and... hmm. Still just the normal stuff. The HD channels aren't showing at all. Also, they've killed my local channels. That can't be right.
Now, I happen to know that the line to my room is a bit odd. When I moved in, the cable was actually ripped; I got a new end plug from Radio Shack and spliced it in myself, and it worked okay (if a little fuzzy sometimes), but I wasn't willing to rule out that my emergency first aid wasn't cutting it for HD transmissions. So I ask, could it be the cable line? He assures me that no, the box is getting certain bits of information that mean the problem is either with the box or on Time Warner's end. So he reboots the box, and he calls HQ a couple times, and I sit around annoyedly. You sure it isn't the cable line? Because I did some fix-it work on it earlier... No, that's crazy talk. Am I sure the TV is HD-capable? Yes, it says so right there on the side. Reboot. Nothing.
Hey, he asks, is this here for a reason? He's pointing to the line splitter. (I'd gotten my hands on a spare cable modem for free and had tried hooking up my computer directly to the system so I wouldn't have to bother with the wireless. This of course did not work because we already had the wireless -- one cable modem to a house, please. I'd left the line splitter in place, though, rather than bother unscrewing everything and putting it back.) I told him no, it's not doing anything, it's just there due to laziness. He removes it, and lo, he sees a bit of improvement. Not enough, but a bit. The splitter, he informs me, was weakening the signal...
So, wait, transmission strength through the line could be the problem? I drag him over to my fix-it work, which he examines for two seconds... Sweet Giant Anteater of Santa Anita! He runs out to his truck for some equipment. 15 minutes later I've got a much more professional splice job... and still no HD.
He informs me that he's going to pick up a replacement box -- maybe this one's faulty -- and leaves. It's well past noon by now. I call the office and ask if it's okay to use some paid time off, they say sure, I say I'll be in when I can be in. I notice that in his hurry Cable Dude left some of his tools, which is reassuring, as it means he'll have to come back. Maybe I'll hold the tools hostage. I make lunch and start the laundry; at this point part of me suspects that I won't make it back to the office at all today. Part of me is right.
About 2pm: Cable Dude returns with a new box and backup, in the form of Cable Dude #2. They hook up the new box, with still no results. Okay, maybe the problem is with the transmission to the house. They take both boxes to the TV in the living room -- not HD capable, but they can still check whether anything is getting through there. And lo! We get signal! Okay, that means the problem's exclusive to my room. Cable Dude #2 gets a better look at my line, which even with the new splice is apparently failing me. He follows it around the house a bit... huh.
As it turns out, the situation is far worse than I or anyone else thought; the entire line to the room was put in very amateurly. I've been ragging on Time Warner up to now, but I will give them this: I find it highly unlikely that they were the one to run that line to the room originally, but they were the ones who stayed for over an hour (calling in Cable Dude #3, no less) to do it right the second time. New cable line, new connector, new everything. Result: not only are the HD channels getting through clear, but even the non-HD channels are vastly improved.
Just wish it didn't have to take all day...
