[zcaveman]

Originally Posted by vabeachers

On November 1, Comcast in The Villages went to all digital. Comcast claims that they notified customers via bill inserts as well as making announcements via advertisements on various channels. However, I spoke with several Comcast customers, and none were aware of the switch-over and necessary customer actions until they lost the higher numbered channels.

The Comcast office on Hwy 441 in the shopping center across from Walmart was distributing the required Digital Transport Adapter (DTA) boxes in a self-installation kit. A DTA is required to receive the higher-numbered channels for all TVs that do not have a set-top box. (At least one TV in your home will have a set-top box - mine is Motorola - provided by Comcast. You can obtain as many boxes as you have activated connections in your home. It is my understanding that the first two are provided at no charge, but additional ones incur a charge - I don't know how much.

When you go to the aforementioned service location, signs will direct you to the other end of the shopping center, where a couple of Comcast trucks/vans are parked, with a table set up outside a vacant shore where two representatives are issuing the DTA boxes. At least that's how it was set up on Friday, 11/4. You'll need only some form of ID - driver's license, Comcast bill, etc. and will sign for receipt of the boxes. Instructions inside the boxes show you how to connect the DTA to you cable input and TV, and provide a toll-free number to activate them. However, it's not quite that simple.

If you have only two TVs - one with the set-top box plus one other to which the DTA will be connected, the process is pretty straightforward. You connect the DTA per the instructions, program the provided remote to control your TV (on/off, volume. channel; instructions also included), and call the toll-free number to activate.

But if you have more than one additional TV, OR IF YOU ARE USING TIVO OR ANOTHER DIGITAL VIDEO RECEIVER/RECORDER, you are going to have problems. The automated toll-free number to activate the DTAs does not have a provision (at least that I could discern) for multiple DTA activations, and nowhere does Comcast mention what to do for TIVO.

After much discussion with technicians in various departments at various locations around the world and on line, here's what I learned.
1. If you have TIVO or another Digital Receiver, do not connect a DTA to that outlet. You need to install a cable card into your receiver and activate it with a different telephone number than that used for the DTAs. Or you can schedule a service call to have Comcast do it for you at a charge of either $29.95 or $42.95 - I got both quotes from different Comcast support technicians. But do not schedule a service call for that until you have installed and activated all DTAs on your other connections.
2. The automated line for DTA activation is not "user-friendly" if you have more than one DTA to activate. I had a problem because of that and had to go online to the support page "chat" to get my DTAs activated. My suggestion for the telephone activation is to do one at a time.

3. For online activation, go to the Comcast web site, click on My Account and log in. In the Search box, type "chat now" (no quotes) and click on Search. Then click on the Live Chat link. That will open a chat window, and a technician will come on. Tell him or her that you want to activate one or more DTAs. In addition to your account info (name, customer #, service address and telephone number), you'll need the serial numbers of the DTAs.

4. Getting back to TIVO, because I couldn't get a consistent answer about the charge, I elected to go with self-installation. That means I need to contact the local support office to verify they have a cable card compatible with TIVO, then go pick it up and install it. I'll do that Monday (11/7/11). Wish me luck.

Good luck with your DTA installation.

Or you can go to https://digitalnow.comcast.com/ and activate the DTA boxes without calling Comcast.

If fact, I have activated DTA boxes for neighbors that do not have a computer by hooking them up and then coming home and activating them from my PC. All I needed was the DTA box serial numbers and a copy of their Comcast bill to get the necessary information. It only takes a few minutes.

Z