If you live in Ohio, and have Time Warner Cable, you should have those new mini converter boxes, or mini adaptors, by now.
Time Warner is ending analog TV later this month, so that it can use the bandwith for more digital channels and faster internet speeds.
But a number of 9 on Your Side viewers, including one West Chester man, are not very happy with the change.
Boxes Go Out, Require Reboot
Chris Miltiades is frustrated.
Like thousands of other Time Warner Cable customers in Southwest Ohio, he ordered 3 mini adaptor boxes so his TV's would still work with the end of analog signals.
But, he says, "as I set one up, the other one went out, and I reset it, it went out, so I finally called Time Warner."
He says a repairman came out to reset them, and now, he says "they seem to be working, but every once in a while they just go black. Yesterday our kitchen TV went completely black, and I had to unplug the TV, unplug the box and reboot everything".
"Now it seems to be working. But so far it has been a nightmare," he said.
One complaint we are hearing from him and other customers is that their new high definition TV's were advertised as"cable ready." But now you have to have another box and another remote (unless you are using an XBox or Samsung Smart TV).
"I bought a TV that was cable ready, and now I have to put a box on it," Miltiades said.
Time Warner Offers Solutions
A Time Warner spokesman tells 9 on Your Side there are several reasons you now need the boxes:
- They allow viewers to see dozens of channels in high definition, which you could not do before.
- They also free up space on your cable line so that you can get faster internet.
He said most problems are due to:
- Older, poor quality cables inside homes (that may have been purchased in discount stores and don't have the correct bandwith), or...
- Cable runs that are too long, which can cause signal drop out.
- Loose cable connections in your home that need to be tightened
Time Warner says with a low definition analog picture you would not have noticed a problem if you had a weak signal. Now you will.
Chris Miltiades just misses the days he could run the cable right into his TV.
What You Can Do
Time Warner says if you call, you can call, and if they cannot fix your issue over the phone, they can schedule a repairman to come out to your house to check your signal.
They may run some new wires or install a signal booster to fix the issues.
That way you get a good signal and you don't waste your money.
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