TV & Home Theater

[odafry]

just got a new smart fire tv.  I still have the coaxial cable connection for my cable which I hooked up.  How do I get my basic cable channels?  Food network , Discovery etc?  I went to settings and tried to find last input in display screen- actually did not find it under any of the screens.  Just want to view the cable channels  Help

[bobberuchi]

You should need a cable box that you get from your cable provider

[hockeycanuckjc Community Veteran]

To echo what bobberuchi said, the cable companies have now encrypted many of the channels on cable systems and as a result a QAM tuner is no longer sufficient even for basic channels. If the standard channels are all you need, consider getting a basic box that tunes in digitally to these stations but your ability to get premium channels may go away.

One other thing if there are specific networks you like, download those networks to your TV as your cable or sattelite provider will give you free access to watch those channels live over WIFI if you log in.

Please be aware ISPs may have Data Caps so if you watch hours on any given day, you could rack up bandwidth usage in a hurry 

[odafry]

so I looked and I have a cable box from Comcast that is working and the coaxial cable comes in from wall to back and another cable goes to tv.  It is an old box for sure- is this maybe the problem?  I need to upgrade?

[hockeycanuckjc Community Veteran]

If the box still works it would be treated as an analog cable connection. In this case a channel scan according to the user manual might be in order. 

Does the TV and box have Red , White and Yellow inputs? If scanning fails and you have those connections you may wish to get a pair of AV cables for a quick fix. Then select AV from the Input Menu on the tv. 

I strongly suggest getting a new box if you're able to, however Comcast may increase your bill depending on the type of box you get. If DVR is not your cup of cake for recording get a non DVR box.

Just curious do you have one of those older Motorola or Arris cable boxes? The wide rectangle one that does digital cable only? 

[odafry]

So I went to xfinity got a new cable box. Connected it to cable with the coaxial Jack's and activated the jack. No cable. Tried with hdmi cable same nothing. I guess it might be the tv?

[hockeycanuckjc Community Veteran]

Who is the manufacturer  of the fire tv ? We may be able to provide you with a link to get help for it. 

[bobberuchi]

did you go into settings and make sure it was set for cable input and not antenna