TheGreenButton - Windows Media Center Forums

hi all,

I've been using a ceton infinitv4 pcie tuner for quite a long time now, the current one in my HTPC is 8 years old, to be exact. The pixelation and degradation of both live tv & DVR recordings over the past 2 weeks or so has made them almost unwatchable...

someone is selling a ceton InfiniTV 6 ETH local to me for dirt cheap. I thought about trying this out rather than moving on to a TiVo Roamio Pro or renting a DVR box from verzon fios...

is it worth trying? if I switch from the infinitv 4 to the infinitv 6, will WMC 7 retain my guide & DVR recording schedule?

if anyone has any other suggestions, I'd gladly welcome them!


Thanks!

Replace the CableCard first before you do anything else.

Also consider having the cable company test your line for signal strength and quality. Last time I experienced that, they came out and ran a new line from the junction box and it cured the pixelation and tuner not available/no signal problems I was having with my Ceton.

Scallica wrote: ↑Thu Mar 12, 2020 11:31 pm Replace the CableCard first before you do anything else.

not a bad idea. I'm not even sure where my local verizon office is...I'll have to look into that, or see if they can send me a replacement.

unclebun wrote: ↑Fri Mar 13, 2020 3:22 am Also consider having the cable company test your line for signal strength and quality. Last time I experienced that, they came out and ran a new line from the junction box and it cured the pixelation and tuner not available/no signal problems I was having with my Ceton.

yeah, I'll get on their chat line in the next day or so to see if they can send out a truck to test the line. I hardly ever call them so rolling a truck shouldn't be a big deal!

I also ordered a new splitter just to see if the one currently on my line (same as the one I just ordered) is going bad or not - it's certainly quite old, though inside my basement and kept out of the elements. here's the splitter I picked up: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00V6WI78I

oddly enough, the few shows that the DVR recorded tonight did not have any pixelation or degradation issues whatsoever..

Also, locate every cable splitter in your house and make sure the connections are tight. If the splitter is a generic brand, replace the splitter with Antronix splitter.

https://www.amazon.com/Antronix-CMC2002 ... 524&sr=8-6

Scallica wrote: ↑Fri Mar 13, 2020 11:05 am Also, locate every cable splitter in your house and make sure the connections are tight. If the splitter is a generic brand, replace the splitter with Antronix splitter.

https://www.amazon.com/Antronix-CMC2002 ... 524&sr=8-6

only 1 splitter in my house that I'm aware of, the same model that I'm replacing it with, an extreme splitter: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00V6WI78I

I'm pretty sure some years ago, a cable guy gave me the splitter that I'm currently using.

got my new splitter in today from amazon and swapped it out tonight - no change in the pixelation issue. I guess I'll have to give verizon a call on Tuesday afternoon to see if they can roll a truck to test my line as well as supplying a new cable card.

I've been eying up the TiVo Roamio Pro DVR 3TB with a lifetime subscription on ebay as a replacement for my htpc if the tv tuner is what's going bad in my set up.

verizon made it out to my house this afternoon. after showing the tech the pixelation on a live channel, he wanted to check out the ONT box in my basement...seeing how old the box was (he'd estimate at least 9+ years old), he decided to just swap that out entirely. after getting the new box installed and working, we checked the same live channel that had a bit of pixelation from earlier - didn't seem quite as bad, but not a clean signal.

we then moved on to replacing the cablecard with a brand new one...once he had it provisioned on his end and I refreshed the ceton utility a few times to make sure it was reading the new card, we tried the same channel as before and it seemed fine - no pixelation or degradation during the 2-3 minutes we watched it. I'll see how it goes over the next few days..

I may still look to move on to the tivo roamio pro of hdhomerun prime 6 (if it ever comes out) in the near future regardless.

andrewjs18 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 18, 2020 10:42 pm we then moved on to replacing the cablecard with a brand new one...once he had it provisioned on his end and I refreshed the ceton utility a few times to make sure it was reading the new card, we tried the same channel as before and it seemed fine - no pixelation or degradation during the 2-3 minutes we watched it. I'll see how it goes over the next few days..

Thanks for following up. Always replace your service provider's equipment before replacing your own!

Tivo is a great product. However, the most economical choice is to find a good deal on a used one on eBay with a lifetime subscription.
Otherwise, you will have to pay $14.99/month