(no subject)

[jamiesquared.livejournal.com]

Just figured I would share my story in case anyone else has an issue like mine.

My husband and I decided to buy a new TV for christmas instead of presents for each other. We got a great deal and have this amazing TV now. We get it home...manage to lift it onto the stand and hook everything up. We watch TV for awhile and its great.

Then, the screen goes black. We can still hear the show yet see nothing. I call RCN (our cable provider) and explain the problem. They walk me through a ton of coding stuff and said it should be all set. It happens again, and again and again. Two days of this and I was extremely frustrated. I call Sony (where we got the TV) and explain. They want us to return the TV or have a repair person look at it first to see why its doing it.

The repair man calls us and talks to me on the phone and explains that all the new LCD/Plasma TVs have new HDMI coding and require a new HD coded box...apparently the older HD boxes will have the problem were having because it isnt coded for the new HDMI input stuff. He tells me to call RCN back.

RCN insists that the guy doesnt know what he is talking about and there is no "new" coded boxes. Finally after many calls we get a guy out to our house. The first thing out of his mouth is that the older HD boxes arent coded right and we need a new HD coded box however they dont carry them...they need to special order one. Which we do.

Two days later we now have our new coded HD box. The man was really nice and told us all about how RCN is going to slowly phase out the older HD Boxes because of this problem however as of right now they only ordered 3! Crazy.

So I just wanted to pass along the story that if you happen to get a new TV you will need a new coded box and RCN will run you in circles...so insist! I figure this relates to the community since RCN serves this area :)

Comments

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Everything's gone to hell because they moved up the HD broadcasting timeframe. Now it's 2009 instead of 2012, and that's causing all sorts of panic.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

This has simply nothing to do with Davis Square.

[ron_newman]

I disagree, because it's about a utility company serving Somerville. We have plenty of other posts about NStar, Comcast, RCN, Verizon, etc., tagged "utilities".

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

Of extremely limited interest. You'd have to have a particular cable provider with a particular level of service with a very new TV.

[watchamacallit.livejournal.com]

I know someone in NY who had this same problem. It took over a month for the service guy and the cable company to finally understand each other.

[jamiesquared.livejournal.com]

Maybe it doesnt affect you but there may be others that it will affect.

[jamiesquared.livejournal.com]

Exactly. Its a big pain but at least it is fixed now :)

Is Fios here yet?

[http://users.livejournal.com/_mattt/]

The call to RCN to cancel my service will be a happy one.

Re: Is Fios here yet?

[jamiesquared.livejournal.com]

Its not available at my house yet..not sure if that means all of somerville or just where I am (closer to teele sq).

I am in the same boat. I cant wait to get rid of RCN. Lasy spring I almost switched to Comcast just to be rid of them but they then offered us a deal that couldnt be beat for a year. Hopefully Fios is here by the time the year rate is up.

Re: Is Fios here yet?

[thespian.livejournal.com]

we ditched it after less than a month of service. it was out for over 24 hours at least weekly during the 3-4 weeks we had it. Comcast costs more, but when we call them and say, 'hey, there's an issue', they know what's wrong in seconds, and fix it immediately, unlike RCN which kept saying, 'oh, huh. Well, maybe it's you?'

[teko.livejournal.com]

I disagree actually. As a very unhappy Comcast customer, I've been considering switching to the only other cable provider for the Davis Square area despite their terrible reputation for service. This post tells me all I need to know about RCN -- I'll stick with Comcast.

[grapefruiteater.livejournal.com]

I've actually had very good experiences with RCN, in contrast to the terrible things I've heard about Comcast from just about everyone I know. My two cents.

Re: Is Fios here yet?

[autumnsshadow.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't hold your breath.

[jamiesquared.livejournal.com]

I guess it depends on what your issues are.

I dont think RCN is as bad as Comcast. Their customer service typically sucks but you do get people who care once in awhile. The people who come out to the house are always nice and very helpful. I think our internet service is wonderful compared to Comcast. Digital TV services...could use some help. The ondemand SUCKS since they upgraded last Winter.

Re: Is Fios here yet?

[jamiesquared.livejournal.com]

really? why do you say that?

Re: Is Fios here yet?

[dominika-kretek.livejournal.com]

FWIW, I don't love RCN (though I have no complaints either), but I'll never give either Comcast or Verizon another cent as long as I live. Both did obnoxious things with billing that involved them admitting it was messed up but failing to rectify it until I called multiple times and read them the riot act, presumably in hopes that I would just give up.

During that time, I discovered the complaint procedure for such matters in Somerville, but I've lost it since. Anyone know what it is? Is it on the city website?

Re: Is Fios here yet?

[jamiesquared.livejournal.com]

I mostly agree. I find RCN to be the lesser of the evils for cable options around here.

Re: Is Fios here yet?

[rethcir.livejournal.com]

The way I heard it, in areas such as here, and Cambridge, and Boston proper that have a lot of business customers, Verizon isn't going out of their way to offer FIOS Verizon because that way, they can happily charge small businesses $600/mo for a T1 phone/internet line, as opposed to $70/mo for a connection that may in some instances be faster.

That, and the wierd regulations regarding what cable providers can provide in which community. I'm not sure I know what the reasoning is behind having these regulations, other than maybe it has to do with them having to lay cable and fiber and infrastructure and whatnot.

[koloratur.livejournal.com]

Don't be so hasty! RCN is much, much cheaper, and their customer service has always been better for me. It sounds like they were eventually responsive to the OP's situation, whereas Comcast probably would have told them tough noogies :)

[jamiesquared.livejournal.com]

I was making this post to only bring attn to the fact that newer TVs will need newer coded HD boxes. Not to hate on RCN...because in fact I would take what I have now over Comcast/Verizon any day.

we will not get FiOS

[mattdm.livejournal.com]

Because of equal-access laws, telecom/cable companies can't pick and choose wealthy neighborhoods to provide service to -- it's all-or-nothing for each city. So, they're choosing entire cities where they think they'll get a better return on investment. Verizon might decide that Davis Square is a good bet, but they don't want to wire up East Somerville. So we get nothin'.

On the one hand, I like the principle of the access-for-all idea, but in practice, it clearly doesn't work out so well. The privately-run-for-profit-but-gov't-granted-and-regulated-monopoly thing seems to end up giving us the worst features of both.

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

It does if you're planning on getting a new TV. I know Somerville is kind of crunchy-granola and artsy, but I don't think so much so that a majority of people don't watch television.

It has simply nothing to do with you is what you're saying. But it actually has as much to do with this community as, say, question about snow emergencies and parking.

Which, according to you, I should complain about "having nothing to do with" this community or being of "extremely limited interest" since I don't drive, don't own a car, and couldn't give a damn what happens to parking when it snows.

[srakkt.livejournal.com]

at least for our internet connection, we're having the exact opposite problem. Comcast fails on us two or three times a month (unacceptable when two of us work from home and a third does on occasion) and gives us the "It must be your router" line when we call.

[koloratur.livejournal.com]

Oh, I know! I didn't want Teko to think this was all there is to RCN. It actually sounds like they handled your situation fairly well - and hopefully, will know better now that a few people have had the same HD experience.

Recent RCN HD installation works

[303-5.livejournal.com]

We just had RCN HD cable and internet installed this past Friday (not an upgrade but a new installation). We have a Toshiba Regza LCD TV (in case that matters) and have been able to receive HD and regular programming without any problems. I am not sure what model receiver they gave us (or whether it's the "new HD coded box").

The internet connection is fast, though we have had a couple of short outages.

Re: Is Fios here yet?

[autumnsshadow.livejournal.com]

What rethcir said.

I've been waiting for FIOS in both Cambridge and Somerville for over a year and availability hasn't really changed much in the area in that time.

It is *possible* that could change though, as Comcast has(lazily) begun taking corporate customers in the Cambridge area. Comcast makes it sort of painful though, because you have to actually sign up for multiple connections and manage them yourself to get a full T1(last I checked anyway) - which ends up actually being something like 12Mbps downstream and one or two Mbps upstream the way their packages work...and I was told they technically wouldn't support doing that. That was as of a couple months ago.

Re: we will not get FiOS

[tomchampion.livejournal.com]

Gosh, folks, so much material here:

1. RCN's license is up for renegotiation. Asking them to smooth the ramp-up to HDTV is a legitimate item to include in our discussions and I will do so. I didn't know about this issue before and am glad to learn of it.

2. I am an RCN customer (full bundle, incl. HD) and agree with the comments here that: A. Customer service has been pretty good, and B. The new on-demand portal (which RCN outsourced) has been a big step back in quality and reliability.

3. Please take it from me that it is extremely unlikely that Verizon's FIOS will show up in Somerville anytime soon, if ever. Somerville is the home of cable competition (first in the nation to have more than one provider), and they could have a license here on an expedited basis, but they haven't responded to our repeated offers to begin talks. That's because Verizon simply doesn't want to have to play by the same rules as the other cable companies -- not just on their commitment to serve entire communities (instead of cherry-picking certain neighborhoods)but also because they don't want to contribute to the cost of supporting public access cable channels, or to set aside a certain number of cable drops for public buildings like courthouses and senior centers. Instead, they're mounting a campaign at both the national ands state level to have a one-size-fits-all, permanent, non-negotiation license process that lets them cherry-pick, avoid community access contributions and fix the amount they pay to the local communities -- FOREVER. As Prez of the Mass Mayors Assoc. and Chair of its Telecommunications Task Force, Mayor Curtatone has been fighting Verizon tooth and nail on this. You can check out his speech to a packed state house hearing on this subject here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0l49nLetVc
You can also get more info on this issue here:
http://www.keepitlocalma.com/

The barriers to new cable service providers are minimal. We'd be happy to see FIOS here. But we're opposed to digital red-lining and we don't think Verizon should get special treatment.

[xuth.livejournal.com]

Looking at all of the above snarking about the values of service between comcast, rcn and even verizon, I wonder why the real problem never shows up (though it's decidedly non-local) that we are being pushed into a broken standard that is HDMI. It is a standard that is designed and updated semi regularly not to upgrade capabilities but to control what types of devices can work with high def video. The data signal is encrypted and any licensed device must shut down or degrade it's data feed (per the license) if it detects a non-compliant device attached, which is what's going on in the case of the OP. The spec is occasionally modified (as people reverse engineer the system) forcing either a hardware or firmware upgrade to work at all with new equipment. This has already happened with HDMI, and both next gen dvd formats and stands to continue to occur semi regularly with all of these technologies.

[ron_newman]

I'd say that a post about television in general doesn't belong here, but a post about problems with a local utility does.

Re: Is Fios here yet?

[lissie930.livejournal.com]

've been waiting for FIOS in both Cambridge and Somerville for over a year and availability hasn't really changed much in the area in that time.

Not that I actually know anything about it, but this seems so odd to me! I'm about to move to Littleton (aka almost the Country) and we'll have Fios out there, since SpeakEasy doesn't service that town!

Re: Is Fios here yet?

[autumnsshadow.livejournal.com]

I think it's actually available in a lot of areas in the suburbs. Basically it boils down to: Verizon would have no excuse against offering better prices for T1 speeds if the area were wired for FIOS. The suburbs have less concentrated areas of business customers.

Either way - enjoy! =)

[jamiesquared.livejournal.com]

I dont really understand a lot of what you just said :/

Re: we will not get FiOS

[jamiesquared.livejournal.com]

thanks for the info!

Re: Recent RCN HD installation works

[jamiesquared.livejournal.com]

when did you buy your tv?

[xuth.livejournal.com]

Basically I'm saying that HDMI was designed for content and major hardware manufacturers first with customer interests second. The supreme court has said that anyone is allowed to make devices to interoperate with your hardware and that people are allowed to make personal copies of, for instance, a tv show so that you can watch it at a different time or on a different device (suppose you want to watch the tv show that aired while you were asleep on your ipod on the train to work). Legally no one can stop you from doing this. What HDMI is designed to do is make it so that no one can do this except under controlled (by the HDMI licensees, not the consumers) circumstances. You just can't buy an HDMI based recorder because no one that knows enough about HDMI is allowed to sell one per contract.
The problem comes when someone figures out how to get around it or when the FCC changes regulations saying to what can and can't be legally put into a new television, the spec must change. The former case is exactly what happened with hddvd and blueray (and why some players need to be updated before they'll play recent movies). I don't know what caused the hdmi spec to change recently.

[rxrfrx.livejournal.com]

what does "coded" mean in this instance?

[nowalmart.livejournal.com]

Careful - you are confusing HDMI with HDCP.

HDMI is a perfectly good standard (although you might knock it for not having USB). It is basically DVI + optical audio.

HDCP is the copyright protection that is OPTIONAL on HDMI. HDMI does not imply HDCP (although HDCP does imply HDMI). There are hundreds of things wrong with HDCP, agreed.

Re: Recent RCN HD installation works

[303-5.livejournal.com]

I should have noted that. It's brand new--ordered from Amazon and delivered this past Thursday. The receiver is from Motorolla and labeled "HDTV Capable" on the front.

Re: we will not get FiOS

[alphacygni]

Dude! Cambridge needs its own Tom Champion! I'm jealous!

Re: we will not get FiOS

[nungnung.livejournal.com]

EVERY town needs its own Tom Champion!!!

RCN vs Comcast in Davis Sq

[buckturgidsen.livejournal.com]

We shifted our service away from RCN six months ago. We had a persistent service outage for inbound calls -- even though we could make outgoing calls with no problem, everyone who tried to call us got nothing but silence. We would go 2 months with no inbound calls (hey, not such a bad thing!!) and then suddenly it would start working again for a week and we'd think it was fixed only to have it break all over again a week later. From a service perspective RCN was *very* nice about it -- they admitted it was a problem in their network, refunded most of our money retroactively, and seemed to be working earnestly to figure it out. But at some point (after over a year) we had to give up and switch phone service to Verizon and cable/internet to Comcast. Haven't had a problem since.

Comcast is expensive and their service is a mixed bag. When we first switched over, they sent a subcontractor (read: "the B Team") to install our high speed internet and he caused more problems than he fixed. It took a second visit from the regular Comcast guy to clean up the mess. But we were happy this week when we called to set up a tech visit (to hook up a new box we bought) and they were able to squeeze us in within 36 hours.

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

But why would Sony sell a TV that doesn't support the older HD standard just because it does support the new HDMI?

Re: we will not get FiOS

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

He really is the aptly-named Tom Champion.

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

Well, yes...that was my point. And around here you need the local utilities to even get any television to watch; when I first moved here, before the cable got switched on, I could only get about 1½ channels.

[ron_newman]

Might depend on topography. In the flatland where I live, between Davis Square and Mass. Ave., I could get all of the major Boston broadcast channels with an indoor antenna.

my condolences to any RCN customer

[shortandhappier.livejournal.com]

I used to have RCN but changed to Comcast because of how difficult it was to deal with RCN. None of them are great but after sampling several cable co.s I think RCN is just a little worse than the rest.

Re: we will not get FiOS

[cold-type.livejournal.com]

Any reason why RCN Corp. isn't required to serve the entire town? I tried to get RCN service several times, but was told the company doesn't serve my neighborhood (near Davis Square).

I

Re: we will not get FiOS

[tomchampion.livejournal.com]

RCN should NOT be telling you they can't serve you if you are a resident of Somerville. Their license requires them to serve the entire city.

Please send me an message at my city hall email(tchampion@somervillema.gov)
with your address, the dates that you called them to request service, and more info about what they told you.

I will follow up with you offline - and if there's a general problem, I'll let DSLJers know what's happening.