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DVR/remote has slow response when using fast forward, rewind, pause or play
Got home on Friday after being away for five days and my non-cloud Arris/Motorola DVR cable box (DCX3501M DCX-3500 Series) had the message on it that tells me Spectrum has done something that made the DVR drop. It started up fine. Spectrum did some type of upgrade on April 9th. Since then my remote (model 1060BC2/1060BC3) has very slow responses when I fast forward or rewind a recording or live TV. When I push pause or play it also takes about a second or more to pause/play. It was almost instantaneous before this issue. When I push FF four times to get to the fastest FF speed (60) it can take several seconds before it starts to fast forward and seconds to stop when I press pause/play. Very frustrating.
My first thought was that the remote batteries were low. I put in new batteries and the same issue continued. I tested them with my battery tester to confirm they were fresh batteries. I also have one of the “Spectrum Guide” remotes and the problem still occurs when using that one with fresh batteries. I then unplugged the DVR and plugged it back in after a couple of minutes and the problem continues.
Support wants to replace the DVR/cable box. But losing all of my favorite TV stations, DVR settings, recordings, recurring recording, etc, etc, is a real pain to setup with a new DVR box. I asked it they could open up a ticket for second level support to look at this and I was told that this was not an option. It’s just too coincidental that Spectrum did an update last Wednesday and the first time I use the FF and rewind functions afterward there are problems.
Does anyone have any other ideas on how to resolve this issue without getting a new box?
Answers
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Good Evening @sprill
It sounds like you have already done all the troubleshooting with the rebooting, fresh batteries, and everything. My question is, how do you know that Spectrum did an update? Was there something different other than the slower response time? Or did you just assume that because of the slower response time that an update had been done?
1.) The first thing I would do would be power off everything and unplug the cable box for at least five minutes to get everything cleared out. My concern is that if this brings things back up to speed with that remote is that it will only be a temporary fix. If it works.
2.) Next thing I would do would be to order a Clickr Backlite remote from Amazon. They are better than the newer remotes. In fact I have the Spectrum Guide World Box (no clock) and the tech gave us a Clickr Backlite remote and it is better than the Spectrum Guide remote. I even ordered a spare from Amazon, because I want to keep that brand of remote as long as possible. Here's an Amazon link to the remote that people like better than the Spectrum Guide remote:
3.) Call for a signal and drop line test. Let the tech check your cable line and outlets. There might be something that could be old wiring or sometimes a maintenance upgrade may make something slower. Tell the tech you don;t want a different box. Or see if he/she has that same model of box on his/her truck. That's gonna be a long shot though.
4.) The next step if the tech can't do anything is live with the slowdown until the box dies. What is your DVR percentage at? If it is above 75% the boxes can start to slow down. Maybe deleting some series that you don't watch anymore might speed things up with the remote.
5.) Lastly, bite the bullet and get a new box. The Clicr Backlite will work with a new box. The only way to save your recordings on box swaps is change your account to a XUMO streaming box and either Cloud DVR service, (store 50 shows in the cloud for 90 days) or get DVR Plus, (Best value) store 100 DVR shows in the cloud for a year. But there is a learning curve with XUMO's box and guide, Personally, I would not go with the XUMO route.
Hopefully somewhere within steps 1-3 this gets fixed.
Satch
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Satch,
Thanks for the detailed response. You are amazing.
I noticed today that the recorded items on my DVR were sorted A-Z instead of by "Recorded Date". I knew then that the update last week messed with my DVR. I just got off the phone with support again. Fortunately, the rep I spoke with is having the exact same problem with her DVR and has received calls from others about various issues with their DVR since the update. She reported my issue but could not give me any time for a fix or a ticket number so I have no clue if/when this will be fixed or if I will hear from someone. I am glad I didn't go by yesterdays rep and had someone come out and replace my DVR.
Thanks again for your response.
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Well the saga continues. Received a call from Spectrum upper level support yesterday. The rep did some additional testing and said she needs to send a tech out to look at things. I told her about my call with the tech who said she had the same problem and had heard from others with this issue. She said that she does not see any other complaints like mine. I asked her if she could contact the rep I spoke to. She said she can message her but thats it and seemed reluctant to do so. The tech came out today and replaced a cable connector and reset the cable box/DVR to factory. I lost all my favorites but everything else was fine. The problem was still there. He said it can take some time for he reset to get fully completed. Its been several hours and it is not fixed. Looks like I need a new box. I'm like Satch and love my DVR. However, one of my reluctancies of moving to streaming was that it did not have the abliilty to pause live TV, rewind and fast forward live TV, and pause one channel go to another channel and pause it then go back and forth between the two so you never have to watch a commercial. The tech lives near by and says all if this is now avalilalbe with streaming. I have my doubts. Its looking like I need to replace the DVR box.
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The Good News @sprill ,
Pausing live TV is now available with XUMO as well as preview/review Windows. It was added in an update.
You also don't have to take a Xumo box. You can get a Spectrum Guide World Box. Tell the tech you want a standard DVR box if you don't want a XUMO
Here are the pros and cons of Xumo Streaming Boxes:
There are pros and cons to streaming boxes, but this is the new route in technology that all the TV vendors are gradually moving to as they rely more and more on Internet and streaming technology. The XUMO moves the customer from a cable TV box experience to a streaming box experience. There is a learning cure with the guide and remote being different. Let me provide some pros and cons of XUMO boxes.
Pros:
1.) TV services stay exactly the same.
2.) The old cable box channels and streaming apps are all in one place.
3.) Shows are stored online in the cloud with two DVR options from Spectrum:
A.) Cloud DVR- Store 50 shows for 90 days.
B.) Cloud DVR Plus- Store 100 shows for a year. (Best value)
4.) Because shows are stored in the cloud, you don't lose them if you have to trade in your XUMO Streaming box.
5.) The cost is cheaper than a traditional box or DVR.
Cons:
1.) The Guide interface and buttons are very very different, and some say too basic compared to the box concerning guide data descriptions.
2.) The new system takes more steps to do tasks that on a standard DVR box you could do with shorter steps.
3.) Old School cable TV people and elderly people have reported frustrations in using the XUMO box concerning usage and navigation.
4. Standard) DVR's in general can be more reliable that streaming boxes/cloud DVR's because they are hardware-based. Streaming boxes depend solely on the quality of your signals and Internet WIFI.
5.) No previous channel recall button on Xumo remotes.
6.) Subscribers who subscribe to Spectrum Voice (Landline Phone) will lose the Caller ID on TV prompt on a XUMO box.
Satch
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Hi Satch,
Another great detailed post. I don't understand why they would not have a previous channel recall button. I use it daily with my current box.
Thank you - Steve
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Satch - Do you know if I were to try the streaming method if I could return to the old DVR/cable box if I didn't like it?
Thanks again—
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Satch - Do you know if I were to try the streaming method if I could return to the old DVR/cable box if I didn't like it?
Thanks again—
Hi Steve,
I am sure you can do that. A moderator might be able to provide additional suggestions. But the pros and cons above, I complied from researching many sources. I feel badly that two CSR reps gave you completely different contradictory information about your standard DVR.
A question I have. Well two actually, how old is that DVR box? It is definitely a much older model.
The other thing, what is your DVR storage percentage at. If you are above 75% you might get some slowdown problems. Remember on the physical DVR, it is not a permanent storage device. I try to watch everything on it within two weeks to a maximum of a months' time. Your DVR percentage may not go down right away. It may take a couple hours. With the delay in FF/RW/Play there might be a hardware response relay mechanism that is wearing out on the hard drive. I had a box that had to be rebooted to get in back up to speed about every two weeks to three weeks. Eventually it would not boot up anymore and I got the World Box (no clock) 4 tuner DVR. The Arris 210. The old box was about five or six years old.
You will have to sign up for a Cloud DVR service plan if you get an XUMO streaming box, if you want cloud DVR service. (50 show storage for 90 days or for a slightly larger fee 100 shows for a year.) If you stay with a traditional DVR, you will have physical hardware storage and 4-tuners instead of 2 on the older box.
Satch
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Steve,
Here is a YouTube video to try if your remote buttons have lagged response times. Some of the comments say that this works. Can't hurt:
I still think that your issue is cable box related. But i found this video so give it a shot. I only recommend trying this when all other methods have failed.
Satch
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Hi Satch,
Thanks again for responding. My box is only about a year old. However, the service tech that was out yesterday said most of these DVR's are used when they install them and are not even checked when customers return them and mine was probably used when they installed it last year. Unfortumately, we cannot get the 4-tuner DVR's in this area. I have been asking about them for several years.
My DVR only has a couple of recording on it at any time. Right now it is empty of recordings.
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