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Think I'm about to irritate Spectrum Cable...
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Author:  jaylach [ Sat May 04, 2019 7:45 pm ]
Post subject:  Think I'm about to irritate Spectrum Cable...

I'm about to drop ~$12.00 per month off of my cable bill and actually gain functionality by turning in my cable box. Right now I have the food channel on my second monitor with the cable box turned off. Spectrum also has streaming video through their site that is part of any package. It is called Spectrum Live TV and offers capabilities not available through their cable box.

As is probably known I built a 'monster system' for games and media. This system is not only my main system but, also, my entertainment system with two HDTV's connected. Using the cable box I can have video on either or both screens but only one channel. Without the cable box, and using Spectrum Live TV, I can have a different channel on each screen just by opening two different browser windows.

So why would I want to have two channels on at the same time? The simple answer is sports. I normally watch NFL Red Zone to be up to date as to what is going on with all games while listening to my Cleveland Browns' radio broadcast. Using Spectrum Live TV I can still have Red Zone on while listening to the Browns but can, also, have another game going on a different screen. Normally I have had Red Zone muted as to audio with the Browns' radio audio enabled. With what I'm thinking I can have three sources going and just use a universal clicker to select what audio feed is enabled. Since, if I turn in my cable box, I will also have to turn in the remote which is set to handle both screens, cable and my Yamaha sound system, I would need to get a universal remote but they are cheap. Well, I would not NEED to get a universal remote as I have remotes for all devices, but it is easier to not have a bunch of clickers when one will do the job. ;)

Just seems like a win - win situation for me. I actually gain functionality and save some money. :) Sigh, to be honest, I don't actually gain except for the cost savings as I can already use Spectrum Live TV to do what I intend. ;)

LOL! I wonder how hard they will try to convince me that I won't be able to watch shows without the cable box. ;)

I just don't see any down side from my end...

Author:  sboots [ Sat May 04, 2019 9:28 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Think I'm about to irritate Spectrum Cable...

I abhor cable companies. :-) They are, however, a necessary evil for Internet connectivity. Good luck.

Author:  dvair [ Sun May 05, 2019 12:48 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Think I'm about to irritate Spectrum Cable...

I dropped their cable modem a couple of years ago, $10.00 less a month.

Author:  jaylach [ Sun May 05, 2019 11:46 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Think I'm about to irritate Spectrum Cable...

David, did you mean cable modem or cable box? If cable modem what did you do, buy a modem outright?

Author:  dvair [ Sun May 05, 2019 1:36 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Think I'm about to irritate Spectrum Cable...

Yes cable modem (Internet) bought an Arris SB6141 at the time but now I have a SB6183. Had a SB6190 but found out about issues with it's chipset after I bought it so I got the 6183. Bought modem right from Walmart. I just called Spectrum up give them my MAC address, they do some magic on their side and all is up and running.

You will need to check what plan you have with them, some plans they charge for the modem, some they don't.

Author:  jaylach [ Sun May 05, 2019 1:42 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Think I'm about to irritate Spectrum Cable...

OK, thanks. :)

Author:  jaylach [ Wed May 15, 2019 8:32 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Think I'm about to irritate Spectrum Cable...

Noticed an odd thing when playing to see if I really want to give up my cable box and strictly stream.

First, I watch the Food Channel a lot and through the cable box it is often so pixelated that it is unwatchable. I have not experienced this issue yet when streaming.

Second, Microsoft browsers and Spectrum don't seem to get along well. Normally I tend to use Firefox for normal browsing and Edge for streaming such as my baseball games. With both Edge and Internet Explorer Spectrum WILL stream but there is a thin vertical red line through the middle of the broadcast on any channel. It is thin enough that you can easily watch but IS irritating. It is also NOT monitor specific as it does the same on either of my connected HDTV's. Firefox does not have this issue at all and the stream is clean. Just seems odd... BTW, Edge does NOT have this issue when used through MLB or NFL when viewing baseball or football games.

Author:  dvair [ Thu May 16, 2019 12:44 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Think I'm about to irritate Spectrum Cable...

Try the New Edge that is Chromium based, see if it behaves better.

https://www.microsoftedgeinsider.com/en-us/

Author:  jaylach [ Thu May 16, 2019 11:49 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Think I'm about to irritate Spectrum Cable...

Nope, the 'New Edge' has the same red line. No big deal as Firefox is fine. :)

<edit>
For grins I also installed Chrome, Vivaldi and Opera. Chrome, Vivaldi and Opera all also have the vertical red line. Firefox is the only one that is 'clean'. :dunno:

Author:  jaylach [ Thu May 16, 2019 7:07 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Think I'm about to irritate Spectrum Cable...

Red vertical line solved...

Went to watch my Cleveland Indians in Edge as usual and the danged red line was there. Since it was fine two days ago (Indians were off yesterday) it was time to think of what changes I made yesterday. The answer is that I updated my video drivers. Since I always do a clean install of video drivers I could not roll back so I removed the new and re-installed the previous version. The red line is gone in all aforementioned browsers with Spectrum and baseball.

Another factor that made me think drivers was that a friend was over to see my system and I launched a movie, the red line was there in the VLC player. The red line is also gone in VLC. :)

In all fairness I can't blame AMD/Sapphire for the driver glitch. When I get a notification that there is a video driver update I always have the option for a 'mainstream driver' (not their term) and an 'optional driver' (read optional as beta). I tend to do the optional.

Bottom line is that all is now good but I'd love to know why Firefox was immune as to the red line... That one will probably never be answered. :dunno: :mrgreen:

This does bring up a true fact though. When something goes wrong with a system the first thing to look at is what did I possibly change before the issue raised its ugly head. :idea:

Author:  sboots [ Thu May 16, 2019 8:21 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Think I'm about to irritate Spectrum Cable...

Very interesting! Nice to see you solved it. Did you report it to AMD/Sapphire?

Author:  jaylach [ Thu May 16, 2019 8:35 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Think I'm about to irritate Spectrum Cable...

sboots wrote:
Very interesting! Nice to see you solved it. Did you report it to AMD/Sapphire?

Yes, I did report the issue. When I uninstalled the newest drivers and software it asked for feedback as to why. I reported my experience.

Author:  sboots [ Thu May 16, 2019 11:10 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Think I'm about to irritate Spectrum Cable...

Excellent. :-)

Author:  jaylach [ Fri May 17, 2019 3:18 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Think I'm about to irritate Spectrum Cable...

Well, now that I have the red line solved I think I'm about ready to turn in the cable box.

I have three browsers setup. I have Firefox as my main browser, Edge for Spectrum TV and Opera for baseball streaming. Ya, I know, I could use just one browser just selecting what I want from my Bookmarks but decided to go this way for "complex simplicity". :mrgreen: I set each browser's home page as to its purpose. Opera's home page is Spectrum Live TV and Edge is set directly for the baseball streaming game menu. I started out with Opera for baseball and Edge for Spectrum but Opera works better with Spectrum. With Edge I cannot view directly from my favorites channel list; have to click 'Live TV' to view after selecting. With Opera I have the option to view directly from favorites.

The only issue I seem to be having is that I can't maintain my favorite channel list. I set my favorites but, if I close the browser and open, all channels show as favorites. I THINK it MAY be due to my going back and forth between browsers.

Author:  jaylach [ Sun May 19, 2019 6:05 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Think I'm about to irritate Spectrum Cable...

Cancel the whole idea... :( I did what I should have done first and checked to see how much it would actually save me to drop the cable. I would only save me about $7.00/month which is not worth the loss of convenience. I was under the impression it would save me twice that. The thing is that the on-line streaming is not free, it just seems that way. The cost for streaming is included in the box cost.

Still not a total loss as I'm now set up where I can watch multiple sporting events at the same time. :mrgreen: I also learned a few things which is always good.

Still may look at buying an Arris modem and drop Spectrum's but need to find out for fact if I'm paying for the Spectrum modem as it does not show on a billing statement. If I am paying the problem with buying a modem is it is a pretty high initial cost. Just a modem is not a cost problem at all but I need one with a phone connection. On a short search through those carried by Walmart it looks like an initial cost of close to $200.00. Since I don't carry a cell phone it just isn't economical to start carrying and dropping Spectrum's phone service. Cheapest unlimited phone service I can see is $45.00/month and I only pay $29.00/month for my Spectrum land line.

Author:  dvair [ Sun May 19, 2019 6:44 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Think I'm about to irritate Spectrum Cable...

Jay, I bought a modem for Internet but kept the Spectrum one for phone. I have a coax line running to each one. They don't charge for the modem for phone use.

Author:  jaylach [ Sun May 19, 2019 6:49 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Think I'm about to irritate Spectrum Cable...

dvair wrote:
Jay, I bought a modem for Internet but kept the Spectrum one for phone. I have a coax line running to each one. They don't charge for the modem for phone use.

Thanks for that info David. :)

Author:  dvair [ Sun May 19, 2019 11:16 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Think I'm about to irritate Spectrum Cable...

I paid $69.00 for the one I am using so it pays for itself in less than a year.

Author:  jaylach [ Sun May 19, 2019 11:19 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Think I'm about to irritate Spectrum Cable...

That's the same price I saw for just a modem. :)

Author:  jaylach [ Tue May 21, 2019 7:41 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Think I'm about to irritate Spectrum Cable...

Hey David, what modem would you recommend? I'm looking at an even cheaper price by going refurbished through New Egg. I don't know what you think about refurbished/reconditioned but I have had excellent luck with my 8 year old Asus laptop and 1-2 year old Belkin router.

My current modem is an Arris TM 802.

First is an Arris Motorola SURFboard SB6183 Docsis 3.0 Cable Modem which seems to be what you have. This is just a modem. Refurbished I can get for $49.99 saving $20.00.
https://www.newegg.com/arris-motorola-s ... -_-Product

This is an Arris TM1602 / TM1602A Docsis 3.0 Telephony Cable Modem that also includes 2 phone ports. The cost would be $59.99 saving $10.00 over a new SB6183. I know that you said that I could get the SB6183 and keep the current modem just for phone without cost but I'd sort of prefer to not add another electronics unit to the 'stack' if I don't need to do so. I would have to contact Spectrum to see if this one is compatible with their service as it is only listed as proven compatible with Optimum, Cablevision.

Any thoughts/advice?

Author:  dvair [ Wed May 22, 2019 3:15 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Think I'm about to irritate Spectrum Cable...

Yep, I have the SB6183. You would need to check with them as far as the phone side goes.

They use the 1602 as one that they hand out to customers so maybe that would work for you.

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