Ceton infinitv 4 pixelation and degradation issue

[andrewjs18]

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!

[Scallica]

Replace the CableCard first before you do anything else.

[unclebun]

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.

[andrewjs18]

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.

[andrewjs18]

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..

[Scallica]

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

[andrewjs18]

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.

[andrewjs18]

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.

[andrewjs18]

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.

[Scallica]

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