[mythtv-users] Astound Unencrypted Channels

[Brad DerManouelian]

On Nov 20, 2007, at 9:33 AM, Gabe Rubin wrote:

> On Nov 20, 2007 12:52 AM, Yeechang Lee <ylee at pobox.com> wrote:
>> Brad DerManouelian <myth at dermanouelian.com> says:
>>> I'm in San Francisco and considering a move from DirecTV to Astound
>>> cable.
>>
> reportedly do), and is why I originally chose RCN over Comcast.
>>
>> Two caveats:
>>
>
> I would add one more caveat.  Astound is about to add channels for the
> former-RCN lineups.  This was supposed to happen around the end of
> August, pushed back to October/November, and now, who knows when (they
> never give me a definitive answer when I speak to them).  When this
> happens, and they match the lineups for former-RCN customers to be
> like what the lineup for other Astound customers receive, it is
> anyones guess as to what will go over firewire.
>
> In the meantime, go for it, you will get lets of channels over
> firewire.  The HD channels available are less than what is available
> from comcast, but of course, very few of those on comcast are
> available via firewire.

I refuse to encourage Comcast to continue to stay in business by  
paying them for service of any kind. That pushes Astound ahead in the  
race. :)

> One other thing is the quality of Astound is somewhat lacking.  I get
> weird glitches when watching from my RCN-provided STB to my TV (not
> using myth), where the pic can scamble (particularly true of NBC in
> HD), my STB runs real hot, and the firewire is not so reliable.

I'll be relying on OTA for HD stuff aside from HDNet, HDNet Movies,  
Discovery HD and National Geographic HD. In fact, I'm considering  
deleting the broadcast stations from the firewire lineup. It would  
irritate me to watch compressed cable HD when OTA is available. I  
think I'll be keeping the STB in the nice cool garage with the rest of  
my servers, so the heat shouldn't bother me.

The bottom line is that I will be paying about $10 more for cable over  
DirecTV while increasing my myth inputs from 3 to 6 so I think it's  
worth a go. Thanks for everyone's advice.