question about setting up Spectrum remote

[QueBert]

I Googled, didn't find anything that helps me. Neighbors Spectrum remote stopped working so they got a new one. I'm trying to help them set it up. Their box is in a closet down the hall and there's a long HDMI cable. I can't get behind the TV to check stuff out how everything's hooked up. I went thru the Spectrum remote menu, and I'm not seeing anything about CEC. If I open the closet and point the remote it controls the cable, if I try to do it from the living room the remote no longer controls the box. Since it worked with the old remote and nothing else has changed, I'm trying to figure out what I need to setup. The remote does turn the TV on and off and the volume of the sound bar.

I'm not finding anything on Google about configuring CEC on the cable box, but since the old remote worked I know it will work. Does anyone have a suggestion? I'm out of ideas. The box is a Spectrum 210t if that helps anyone.

 

[mindless1]

I could be wrong, but the search I did, suggests the 201-t is made by Technicolor and the older, more common remote is an IR remote that will work with it (line of sight, since it's an IR only remote, but the box supports both IR and RF), but the newer remote is RF (radio frequency) based using the ZigBee RF4CE standard. So I suspect that it previously working wasn't based on CEC, rather that the replacement remote is the older style without RF, or if it is the newer RF remote then see below about pairing. I have no idea if the IR and RF remotes both look the same.

https://www.irblaster.info/manuals/spectrum/spectrum_201.pdf

Another possibility is that some Technicolor RF remotes have to be paired to the box. Here are two examples, where this page reads Pairing Your Remote Using Radio Frequency:

Spectrum.net

Sign in to your Spectrum account for the easiest way to view and pay your bill, watch TV, manage your account and more.

www.spectrum.net

And this PDF where page 12 reads "If it becomes necessary to re-pair the unit". I'm not suggesting this is the correct manual for the 201-t, just another way a technicolor box might be set up:

https://www.technicolor.com/sites/default/files/medialib/document/MCSDocLib/technicolor_dci401mcs_manual.pdf

 

[mindless1]

I just had hands on some similar equipment today. Tuning adapter box was a Technicolor DCI401TWC2 (TWC as-in Time Warner Cable's old area/equipment, but now Spectrum owned) and the RF (plus still has infrared) remote was a URC branded Pulse URC2068.

I called their (Spectrum cable's) tech line, got no help except was told remote "should've already been paired", which it clearly wasn't. To clarify the remote came with that tuner box (the pair was replacing a failed box), was not a replacement remote for the same box that formerly used a different one.

Looked around the web till I saw this page:

Site Maintenance in progress

It suggested that I needed to hold the SETUP button and the setup code button 3 (for DCI401) simultaneously for 5-7 seconds but that didn't work. Next I tried SETUP button and setup code 1, which did work. So apparently there are a few different programs for different ISPs and equipment programming, so I'd try 1, 2, 3, 4, etc in succession until you maybe find one that works.

I'd also looked on URC's site for a device code for the tuning adapter box but couldn't find one, nor did it work to hold in the menu middle button (whatever it's labeled) to have it cycle through all the TV codes, or else I got tired of waiting, holding the button down for a few minutes letting it do that.

 

[Fallen Kell]

Welcome to why I hate URC. They are the worst remote company out there by far due to being completely useless to actual customers. They want everyone to go through their custom installers so they can nickle and dime you to death for anything and everything.

 

[mindless1]

Ironically once I got it working so could further examine its capablities, the DCI401 is best left as a last resort for very old TVs with analog-tuner-only input, as it won't even do 1080p over HDMI or tune any channels past #999 so had them exchange for something else from Arris... I forget the model #, but it came with a different,
UR5U-8790L remote and worked on the first try.