How to use TiVo with Time Warner Cable
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Rob Pegoraro, Special for USA TODAY 4:45 a.m. EDT June 29, 2014 TiVo boxes.(Photo: TiVo)Q. Can I use a TiVo with my Time Warner Cable service?A. This seemingly simple question had a complicated answer.Time Warner Cable employs a compression system called Switched Digital Video that adds a layer of complexity to CableCard modules already required by third-party hardware like TiVo digital video recorders[1].A TWC FAQ[2] calls the compression system "an exciting bandwidth-management breakthrough." It sends some channels to your TV when you request them — sort of the way streaming video works online, but without the usual waiting or buffering. It's usually reserved for less-popular channels that aren't likely to see continuous viewing by a large chunk of a cable service's customers.If you rent a cable box, this change should be invisible. But a TiVo can't do this switching by itself, even after you pop in the CableCard that helps it log into the cable service, so you need to plug a small tuner box between the DVR and the wall cable outlet.Fortunately, this doesn't cost extra at Time Warner, although the CableCard will run $2.50 a month. That's also the case at other cable operators that use SDV, including Charter, Cox and Optimum. (Comcast, the largest cable firm in the U.S., opted not to use the technology after running a couple of tests.)But one smaller cable service,…
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