Help with Ceton InfiniTV 4, not receiving premium channels.

Hello,

I recently replaced my Verizon cable box with a Ceton InfiniTv 4 PCIe Tuner that I installed in my computer. I contacted Verizon and after some acrobatics, I managed to get it paired correctly and its showing that the CableCard has been validated by Verizon. I'm fairly certain that Verizon has done everything they can do, but I am still not receiving HBO or Cinemax. I can, however, receive all of the other stations in my cable package (TV Prime HD). The message I keep getting when I tune to any of the HBO or Cinemax channels is "Weak TV Signal." I don't think there is anything Verizon can do at this point, but I wanted to see if anyone else had any suggestion. And the other part is I just want to make sure its possible to get those channels through this tuner.

There is one last thing I want to mention, when I turn to channel 131, I keep getting a notification to download PlayReady. I've tried it several times but I keep getting a message that says the download was incomplete. I've tried to go through and delete the DRM files to do a clean install, but it doesn't seem to work. I have been given some directions for another way to go about it from Ceton, which I have not yet tried. So as of this morning I was still getting the "PlayReady Incomplete" message.

Thank you.

System Specs

- Motherboard: MSI FM2-A55M-E33 FM2
- CPU: AMD A6-5400K Trinity 3.6GHz (3.8GHz Turbo)
- TV Tuner: Ceton Infinitv 4
- Case: Rosewill MicroATX Mini Tower Computer Case FBM-01
- Memory: Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600 MHz
- SSD: OCZ Vertex 3 128Gb
- HDD: 500Gb Seagate Barracuda 7200rpm

- Optical Drive: HP12x Blu-Ray Burner

Accepted answers

Insufficient

I've had it working for a few weeks now and it turned out it had nothing to do with signal quality. The issue was DRM. When I finally managed to update PlayReady on Windows Media Center the weak signal issue went away and I was able to access all of the channels despite Ceton's indication that PlayReady was not the problem.

All comments

walt178

One option you might try for help on this product is Amazon's customer reviews. Popular electronic products often have some very detailed and helpful reviews. If scanning the reviews doesn't provide an answer, you can ask your question there.

prisaz

Are you directly off of the splitter from the ONT? What is your coax configuration? I have been reading Multi Dwelling Units have issues with signal loss, So I am not sure of your setup.

There are many google posts regarding this issue.

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&gl=us&tbm=&q=InfiniTV+4+weak+tv+signal&oq=InfiniTV+4+weak+tv+signal&gs_l=news-cc.1.1.43j43i400.3266.10548.0.13427.16.1.0.15.0.0.41.41.1.1.0...0.0...1ac.2j1.RPbsRjYpdaM

I now have two InfiniTV PCIe Cards for a total of eight tuners. They say you can have three cards for 12 tuners. But that would be over kill for me. I do run a 2TB storage drive though. Ultimate HD with Cinemax, but no HBO. My splitter is 2ft from the ONT, and then both COAX cables are about 30FT from the splitter, to the cards. Gigabit everywhere.

Look into your coax configuration and splitters. SNR and SL is important. If you have ang RG59 coax, get rid of it, and use RG6. All my cable is RG6.

Good luck and long live MCE!

Prisaz

Insufficient

Thanks. I'll look into getting a new cable. At the moment my card is hooked directly to the wall outlet through the coax cable. Its an older cable I've been recycling for a few years and is pretty long. I guess its possible thats part of the problem.

Insufficient

I also went ahead and decided to pick up a low pass filter. At this point I am just running with the assumption that HBO and Cinemax aren't locked out because of the card (and the weak TV signal is just a stand in message), but rather there really is a signal issue. Thank you again for the suggestion. Hopefully the hardware tweak will fix the problem.

Insufficient

Update:

I picked up an RG6 cable to install from the wall outlet directly to my computer and installed a low pass filter (on the coax adapter on my computer to the cable). Unfortunately the Weak TV Signal problem is persisting. Again it is a problem only on the premium channels (899-931 HBO and Cinemax). The weak tv signal error will pop up during recorded shows that were recorded while the computer was asleep but if I pause and fast forward a bit the error goes away.

prisaz

@Insufficient wrote:
Update:
I picked up an RG6 cable to install from the wall outlet directly to my computer and installed a low pass filter (on the coax adapter on my computer to the cable). Unfortunately the Weak TV Signal problem is persisting. Again it is a problem only on the premium channels (899-931 HBO and Cinemax). The weak tv signal error will pop up during recorded shows that were recorded while the computer was asleep but if I pause and fast forward a bit the error goes away.

It could be the cable in the wall. Are you in a single family home, or multi dewlling unit. If you have pre installed cables in the wall, the loss could be there. I had a tech out to check cable card activation, and the first thing he did was connect a signal meter. Not my signal. Cable card was programmed in less than 15 min. Operator error. It was not this operator either. But when I talked to them the night befor, a tech was out the next morning. It had gone on for a week, after I had read the numbers over and ove on the phone. He and I read the numbers, and he pushed the button on his smart phone and bilink blink online!

I have not always been a strong supported of IHA, but since the software was installed in the STB or DVR, it does help some things, and show quality of signal strength. Check the customer support on the box and try that. It may be a bad connection in the wall and not from your wall.Where the In Home Agent would show a poor or weak signal.

Sorry! We are talking Ceton here. If you have a Verizon box, place that box at the location where you are having issues, remove the filter, and then do the testing.

Insufficient