ShowMeBlog

Charter is back working

  About 0900 hours today the cable was still messed up.

Then about 0930 the channels were back and no buffering.
It is great to have all the cable TV channels working again.
Not sure what the cause was about TV is back.

Still Charter Cable problems

  I was trying to watch TV last night.  At about 2345 hours Charter  sent a signal to boot the digital box.  When it came back up I was thinking they might have fixed their problems.
  I saw, I think, less buffering problems but still many channels just are not there.  None of the HBO channels, except 777 HBO HD, between 500 and 555 are working. 
  It looks like about half of the Digital View Plus channels are missing.

  I still think it has something to do with the changes they are making nation wide.  Then been moving in other areas all their channels around and adding 24 new HD channels.
  I think that has messed things up for them here.
  But what the heck to I know.
  It may just be some items of hardware have gone wrong in the Fort Worth area.

  As long as I get Internet I can make it.
  So far Internet is working great.  I just did www.speedtest.net and
I got 36.35 Mbps down and 4.17 Mbps up.  I am happy with that speed.

  I wish I had a desktop computer with more memory and a real nice video card. 
Or I guess I should just boot up into Ubuntu (Linux).  A not very powerful computer becomes a super computer when you run Ubuntu.

Charter Cable problems

  Charter Cable has been having problems.  I am not sure what is going on with them.  I suspect it has something to do with the changes that they are making to their service.  They are making improvements and adding 29 HD channels.
  Those changes have not been put into effect yet here in Fort Worth but I think they may be getting ready for the changes or the changes they made in other areas are effecting this area.

  But for the last few days.. many channels have been buffering real bad. So bad that you can not watch the channel.
  The last day or two a lot of the channel you can not even receive. 
  It looks like all the local channels come in OK.  But when you get up to the digital channels many of them just are not there now. 
  None of my HBO channels are working today.

  I called Charter Cable and got a recorded message saying that they knew that they were having problems in this area and that they were working on the problem.

  I got a lot of channels so there is stuff I can watch but right now I think about half the channels are missing.
  I been very happy with Charter Cable.  I have phone service with them and Internet service with them.

  My phone is working and I am getting Internet speeds right now have 40.74 Mbps down and 4.14 Mbps up.  If I lost my Internet service THEN I would be very upset. 

2 Broke Girl$

  I am enjoying "2 Broke Girls" on TV.  

"2 Broke Girls (stylized as 2 BROKE GIRL$) is an American television sitcom that debuted on CBS during the 2011–12 television season. The series follows the misadventures of roommates Max and Caroline, both financially poor, and their efforts to start a cupcake business in the Williamsburg area of Brooklyn, New York. The first episode aired at 9:30 pm (E/P) after Two and a Half Men on September 19, 2011. Later episodes followed How I Met Your Mother on Monday nights at 8:30 pm (E/P).^[1] The series was created by Michael Patrick King and Whitney Cummings for Warner Bros. Television. On October 5, 2011 CBS gave a full-season order to the freshman comedy.^[2]"

On March 14, 2012, CBS announced that 2 Broke Girls would return for a second season during the 2012–2013 television season.^[3]

 

Charter to add 28 HD Channels soon

  I turned on my cable TV and could not get any channels.  There was just a message saying Your Digital Service has been disconnected and to call 1-888-438-2427.
  I checked and my Internet service and phone service was still working.
  I knew I had paid my Charter Cable bill but I logged into Charter just to make sure.  I am all paid up.

  So I called the number and got a live person and they sent a signal to my box and fixed the problem.  Odd problem.  I have never seen that problem in the past.

  I checked everything and everything seems to be working.
I did notice that now EPIX 490 has the normal sort of screen that you see when you don’t get a pay channel.  The one that tells you that you can upgrade and how much it cost a month ($10).
 
  You will remember that I blogged about their free three day demo and that it lasted longer that three days but the entire time the channel would be buffering all the time and you could not watch anything on it. 
  Not sure what is going on with EXIP. 

  I see that in some areas of the United States that Charter is moving their channels around.  I suspect that Charter is getting ready to add new channels or do something and that they are making changes. 
 

  OK I just did a search again and it looks like Charter is adding 28 new HD channels and when they do that they appear to be moving channels around.
  They are doing that in MO and other areas so it will come to Dallas/Fort Worth soon I am sure.
 

EPIX fail

  EPIX over the weekend had free access on Charter.  The idea being to get people to take the channel.  I just checked and they are still offering the free service today (Tuesday)! 

  Well they have major buffering problems on the channel.  I attempted to watch some movies and had to give up because of the buffering. 

  The re-buffers again made watching the movies something you could not do.   They sure are not going to get new customers and if they have any customers they are going to lose those.

  I wonder if the Epix free weekend was never turned on?  I never tune to channel 490 so I do not know what they send when the service is not turned on.  I would think it is the standard display and logo telling you to contact Charter and how much it cost per month.

 

“Epix (pronounced "epics") is an American premium television channel that is operated by Studio 3 Partners—a joint venture among Viacom (specifically its subdivision Paramount Pictures), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and Lionsgate. Viacom handles operational support, including marketing and affiliate services for the service through its MTV Networks division.

Epix offers a companion video on demand service. In order to access online on-demand program content, subscribers must have a digital box…^”

I now have Charter Phone service

  The Charter guy (Hugo) got here today first thing and hooked up the phone service for me.  He was very nice and friendly.  He has worked for them three years.
  I had gone out and got a $15 Emerson wired phone.  Just so he would have something to hook up and make sure it worked.  I will order some nice coreless phones on Wednesday.
  The Emerson Slimline Caller ID phone has a “Lighten Ringer” which is a red led that flashed. 
The phone requires 4 AA batteries to operate caller ID and memory functions.  But the display is so small and so dim that I can not read it.  Pretty poor phone even for $15.00 but like I said  it is just something to have until I get a couple of cordless phones.

  I think I have just about ever service that Charter has to offer now. 
  They do offer a cloud back up service for $5.00 a month I may think about signing up for that.

Got the Charter Bundle

  I called Charter and took their preferred bundle package so I could lock in the prices for 24 months.

  So I am keeping everything that I have now from them.  But I am getting HBO/Cinemax and telephone service and the price remains what I may paying now.  I pay now $124.69 and the new price will be $124.97 (plus tax). 
  So a good deal for me.  The price will be this price for 24 months.

  I talked to them on the phone.  After I got off the phone HBO and Cinemax was working on my TV set.
  They will come out Monday and hook up the phone service.
  I went out to CVS and got a $15.00 wired phone.  Later I will order a cordless phone from Amazon.
  I use Skype for phone service now so I will not renew the phone number with them and cancel the out going calling.  Or I will try to cancel you know how that goes often with those sort of services.  I am not sure how much I will save by cancelling with them.  They have a number of different charges.

  Well I am glad I got HBO and Cinemax service now.
  I am seeing a lot of things I would like to watch on HBO.

The Medtronic CareLink Monitor

  I had a Medtronic pacemaker put in about a year and a half ago.  I been using the CareLink Monitor to send data to their network about each three months.  The device looks like a telephone answering machine.  When it connects it sounds like a 1200 baud modem.
  I do not have a landline (standard) phone service.  I use Skype for my phone service.
  So when I send the data I go over to the apartment office and they let me use their phone line.

  I think I am going to let Charter Cable hook me up with their phone service.  They been trying to get me to add the service. They want to own me.    I take the cable Internet service and their cable television service so they want me to add phone service.
  I wonder if my CareLink Monitor will see the phone service as a normal phone service or will it still see it as a Skype like digital service?
  Anyone know?  I can call the Medtronic Patient Services 1-800 number and ask them.

  Sure would be nice if they had a device that worked with the computer.  Have a CareLink Monitor device that you plug into the USB port of your computer and you send the data that way.
 

  I should have a phone service that I can use at anytime for the CareLink Monitor.
  I use the device to send the data from the pacemaker each three months and I do not have to go to the doctor’s office. 
  But if I ever started having problems I could hook up and send the data to them but I would need a real phone line.  So it would be a good idea to have access to a real phone service.

   I just did a search and a Charter site says that Charter Phone works though regular telephone jacks and phones.  I bet the CareLink Monitor will work just great with Charter phone service.

Charter Internet 100 Mbps

  I posted here the other day about the offer for “Preferred Charter Customers” to lock in a lower price for 2 years.  I said I wanted to do that because my bill will increase by $38.40 soon when a couple of my offers expire.
  We got 30 Mbps down now.  I do not need that high of a speed.  Russell loves the speed. 

  Well I went to Charter site and they now offer 100 Mbps and the price is $59.99 a month for 12 months when you bundle.  So I am thinking they will also give me that price for the special offer they sent me in the mail and I hope they will do it for 24 months.
 
  The speeds they offer are Lite 3 Mbps $19.99 a month,  Express 15 Mbps $19.99 a month, Plus 30 Mbps $29.99 and Ultra 100 Mbps $59.99 a month. We have the Plus service right now.  I want the “ULTRA” the idea give me an erection. 

  By the way I pay now $39.99 for Internet service and after 12 months it will increase by $15.00 so I need to take this Charter Bundle offer ( promo code 515671) so in the new bundle deal it seems to me like I should get the 100 Mbps for about $30.00 extra a month.  That is only $1.00 a day to have 100 Mbps.  I wish I had a faster computer.
  
  One thing you need to check on if you are thinking about getting faster cable is will your cable modem support those faster speeds.   We got our own cable modem and it does support 100 Mbps and even faster speeds.

  Just think at one time I was using the phone line at 300 baud.  I can remember when I got a 1200 baud modem and could log into Howard’s Notebook at 1200 baud.  Now I have 30 Mbps and I am wanting 100 Mbps.