How to Make Comcast DVR Work on Brighthouse
Both Comcast and Brighthouse provide a variety of DVRs to their subscribers. The DVR that a customer receives is dependent upon the location they reside in. If you previously had a DVR through Comcast and switched to Brighthouse, you may be able to keep your existing DVR without having to pay their monthly rental fees for another one. To make a DVR previously used on a different provider work, you will need to perform a full factory reset on the device. This clears the Comcast firmware from the device and downloads all new firmware from Brighthouse.
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Instructions
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Contact Brighthouse and ask if the DVR you have will work on its service, before doing anything. As of late 2011, the Motorola brand of DVRs is the only brand that is highly distributed on both networks. Be honest and explain the DVR was previously used on Comcast. Advise Brighthouse that you intend to perform a factory reset on the device. Provide the model number listed on the front or rear of the DVR. You will be asked for this information when you call. In some cases, the technician may even be able to reset the device remotely for you.
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Leave the DVR unplugged from the power source. Connect your audio and video cables between the back of the DVR and your television, and then connect the coaxial cable from your Brighthouse service to the back of the DVR.
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Press and hold the “Power” and “Menu” buttons on the front of the DVR and keep holding both buttons down while simultaneously plugging the device into a power outlet. The LEDs on the front of the DVR will read “Boot” if this was done properly. You may have to temporarily move the DVR near the power outlet or have an assistant help you so that you can do both tasks simultaneously.
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Release the “Power” and “Menu” buttons at the same time. Press the “Up-Arrow” button on the DVR box until you see “N DL” on the LED display. Press the “OK” button on the DVR to confirm. This will download and install the firmware from Brighthouse. This process can take up to a couple hours to complete. You can confirm it is working by seeing a square repeatedly draw on the LED next to “N DL.”
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Confirm the installation has completed by watching for your DVR to reboot automatically and front LED change from “N DL” to a clock display. Once the DVR is providing the clock display, you can now use the DVR exactly as you did on Comcast. However, at this point, the interactive guide may still be missing a lot of information. It could take several hours for all of the guide information to materialize.
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Tips & Warnings
If the brand of your Comcast DVR is not a Motorola, you can still call Brighthouse to ask if it is compatible. In some network areas, there is support for some of the Scientific Atlanta and Cisco devices. In these cases, the company would likely need to reset these devices remotely after they are connected to the cable line.
Do not interrupt the restore process.
Previously recorded shows may no longer work after resetting the Motorola DVR.
