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CraigR's avatar
CraigR
New Contributor

No ESPN Signal

I have not had an ESPN signal since before Christmas.  I have spoken to technicians on numerous occasions about this.  A service tech came out to my house and checked every connection in the house to no avail.  He said the problem was on Cox's end and for me to call them back.  I did that and the best answer that I could get was that several people in my locale reported the same problem and that Cox and ESPN were working to resolve the issue - this was between Christmas and New Years (Major College Bowl weekend all on ESPN).  The last call I made was this past Thursday, Jan. 19.  They scheduled a tech supervisor (Cox employee - not a vendor) to come to my home for the second time on Friday (the next day) between 5:00 & 7:00 PM.  We received an automated call earlier in the day to remind us of the scheduled visit.  He did not show and did not even call to say he was not coming.  I have all other stations including ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network, etc., but no ESPN on either my DVR box or the mini box to this day.  This has become very frustrating to me to the point that I don't even want to speak to anyone from Cox!  I'm not sure how the contract between Cox and ESPN reads, but I'm getting the feeling that the contract is limited to a certain number of subscribers and Cox exceeded that number and some of us got "bumped off".  Otherwise, what would take so long to get this issue resolved.  I'm not sure what else the response "Cox and ESPN were working to resolve the issue" can mean.  Are they trying to agree on a price to add additional subscribers?  I have been a loyal customer for over 24 years in my current home and for several years prior to that.  I have never had this poor service before now.  It makes me want to look for a different provider.  Bottom line - I want the ESPN signal!  I don't want a call to reboot the boxes - that has been done repeatedly and did no good.  Obviously, I do not have the signal coming to my house!

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  • Tecknowhelp's avatar
    Tecknowhelp
    Valued Contributor II

    "He said the problem was on Cox's end and for me to call them back."

    Dead give away that he was a filthy contractor.  Why didn't HE call Cox? 

    " the feeling that the contract is limited to a certain number of subscribers and Cox exceeded that number and some of us got "bumped off"."

    Nope. Cox pays per Cox user, even if they don't get ESPN. Also,  the strength of the channel or it's quality, is not based on how many people are watching it. 1 person or a million, the signal coming through the cable line is exactly the same.  

    "Otherwise, what would take so long to get this issue resolved"

    Incompetency and red tape. It could be they are trying to find where the ESPN channel signal is degrading, or if it's a feed issue, trying to get ESPN to fix it. 

  • ColleenD's avatar
    ColleenD
    Moderator
    CraigR,

    Let me look at this for you. Please email cox.help@cox.com with the details, your account information and a reference to this thread.

  • Maw's avatar
    Maw
    New Contributor

    I've been having the same problem, not just ESPN though, about a dozen other channels come and go, but most don't work at night and in the morning, two contractors came out and changed some connections inside and outside but didn't help.  I have two Tivo boxes and they suggested I change out the cable cards and tuning adapters even though I was pretty sure that wasn't the problem, so I switched those out and now I get nothing, no channels at all.

    So then on Saturday two actual Cox technicians came out and figured out that the problem has nothing to do with the house or the hardware, but with the signal coming from the mainline at the street, one of the guys had his tester hooked up and actually saw the signal take a huge dip, they think it may have something to do with the colder temperatures at night and in the morning affecting the equipment.  They think that problem is also keeping my Tivo cable cards that I replaced from starting up.  They said a maintenance team will have to come out and see what's going on, and someone will come back on Tuesday to see if they can get my Tivo cable cards working, assuming the signal issue is fixed.  

    The two cox guys though were very helpful and stayed late trying everything they could do in their power to get things working.  The two contractors that came previously were useless.  I just hope that when they come back on Tuesday they can get my Tivos working again, because I've had no TV since Fridaday.  Also, going forward, I will assume that the cox people know less about my Tivos than I do.

  • Becky's avatar
    Becky
    Moderator
    Hi Maw,

    Thanks for reaching out here and via Twitter. Let us know if you have any difficulties after you swap out the cards this evening!

  • Maw's avatar
    Maw
    New Contributor

    Success!  I brought home the new cable cards, installed them, and called the cable card support line and my Tivos now are working with all channels.

  • MichaelJ's avatar
    MichaelJ
    Moderator
    That is great news to hear Maw! I am happy to hear that your TiVo's are working now.
  • Maw's avatar
    Maw
    New Contributor

    My Tivos are now working with all channels but one piece of advice for Tivo owners and Cox technicians, the diagram that the Cox store supplied for the tuning adapter installation is incorrect, at least for my model of Tivo (Premier).  Below is a link to the same diagram online.  After I got my cable cards working I noticed one of my Tivos I wasn't getting all channels so I checked the wiring and found that one of the techs had rewired it according to this diagram, but it's incorrect.  After rewiring the tuning adapter correctly I started to get all channels.

    I have always wired my tuning adapter without a splitter, instead the cable from the wall goes into the Cable In port on the TA, then another line goes from the Cable Out port of the TA to the Cable In port on the Tivo.  Maybe the method on the diagram is for other cable card devices or other Tivo models, but it is incorrect for the Tivo Premier.

    https://www.cox.com/content/dam/cox/residential/support/tv/print_media/Tuning_Adapter_Self_InstallGuide_Motorola.pdf