# Tivo Premiere For Canadians???



## scrutman (Mar 15, 2006)

Hey everyone. 

Is there any way at all that this box will work in Canada. Series 3 came and went with no support for Canada... really it was the other way around with the lack of support for CableCards by the major cable companies in Canada.

I really don't want to wait till the Series 17 comes out that we'll finally get HD Tivo's available somehow in Canada. I know the service works here as I have a series 2 but with the new Premiere, any indication that SOMEHOW it will work? OTA is not an option as well as Vancouver has maybe 3-4 HD channels only. Not cool.

What do you think?


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## LifeIsABeach (Feb 28, 2001)

Tivo Premiere uses cablecards so I don't see how it would be any more usable than a Series 3.


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## LADYBUGBLUE2002 (Sep 7, 2003)

This is really disappointing. We have so little competition here in Canada and I was hoping at some point Tivo would come up with a solution that would work here. Tivo Series 2s are almost all sold out here in Canada so it looks like Tivo came in and then is just abandoning the Canadian market two years after arriving officially.


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

Dave Zatz mentioned in his Ustream chat last night, he thought they mentioned they were looking into a Canadian TiVo but nothing yet on it.


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

Canadian support is out of TiVos hands. All they can do really is provide guide data.

It is up to the Canadain providers to voluntarily support cablecard, or the regulators to obligate the providers do same. There is, TMK, no signh the regulators know, or even care of the issue. A few small poviders are beginning to use Cablecard boxes, at least one with TiVo HD.

The other issue is the online content providers, whom speicifically disclude Canadians from their offerings. Again, not TiVo's problem. TiVo would have to work with them or Canadian content providers. Since there is no drive for their primary use as a cable DVR, being Cablecard isn't widely available, there is no point seeking Canadian content providers to include on the platform. The OTA market is pretty small too, not worth trying.


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## LADYBUGBLUE2002 (Sep 7, 2003)

classicsat said:


> Canadian support is out of TiVos hands. All they can do really is provide guide data.
> 
> It is up to the Canadain providers to voluntarily support cablecard, or the regulators to obligate the providers do same. There is, TMK, no signh the regulators know, or even care of the issue. A few small poviders are beginning to use Cablecard boxes, at least one with TiVo HD.
> 
> The other issue is the online content providers, whom speicifically disclude Canadians from their offerings. Again, not TiVo's problem. TiVo would have to work with them or Canadian content providers. Since there is no drive for their primary use as a cable DVR, being Cablecard isn't widely available, there is no point seeking Canadian content providers to include on the platform. The OTA market is pretty small too, not worth trying.


I don't agree. Tivo has specific boxes for Australia and New Zealand that are not available anywhere else. Why can't they do the same for Canada? If they didn't want to stay in Canada why even introduce the series 2 if they would completely abandon the market only two years later? It makes no sense to me at all.

Saying that Tivo is not at fault to me is a complete cop-out. They are not completely responsible for their relationships but they not without some fault here. Like I said why come to Canada to abandon the market two years later?


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

Those boxes are OTA boxes though. 

Digital OTA has a very small penetration here, and only coverage in major cities and border regions. Not TiVo's fault.

Most people get TV from a pay service (myself included), with HD growing.

I can only guess that TiVo launched service becasue they wanted to get people from guide service emulation service theft. I don't know how much of a problem that is. Maybe they fixed it to their satisfaction, therefore TiVo is no more concern to them in Canada.


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## Andrel (Oct 19, 2000)

What I personnally want to know is if the postal code can be entered in the premiere, have access to analog cable and be able to stream videos, pictures and musics (DLNA compatible would be perfect). Sad we cannot access any of the services such as netflix but this is not tivo`s fault, really.

I would like to use the new box for media player and also as a DVR for basic channels to replace my S2.

Andre


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## Sapphire (Sep 10, 2002)

If you want TiVo in Canada tell the CRTC you want CableCARD.


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## Andrel (Oct 19, 2000)

Raj said:


> If you want TiVo in Canada tell the CRTC you want CableCARD.


Happy to see the smiley face! There are other solutions. I do not think cablecard will ever happened in Canada. There is one small cable provider in Ontario that started using the HD Tivo. I think it is more if Tivo wants to be in Canada. I have been supporting Tivo since Oct 2000. however HDTV is becoming quite important in Canada and I can barely live with the Shaw cable HD DVR (moto 3416) as it is very limited.

I know I am in the minority of users that think that way (same as in the US).

Andre


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## LADYBUGBLUE2002 (Sep 7, 2003)

Raj said:


> If you want TiVo in Canada tell the CRTC you want CableCARD.


I already contacted the CRTC and I got a call back from someone at the CRTC. They did not think that Tivo is legal in Canada and that I shouldn't even be hooking up the Series 2 to my cable box as it might be "hazardous". I gave up after that phone call as they are completely clueless. The person also indicated that cannot approve other devices as Shaw is the provider and they do not want a lot of outside competition. I didn't think that made sense but they said since Canada is so big the infrastructure that Shaw and other companies created have to be paid back to Shaw and not to other providers. Basically they don't want additional competition to Canadian companies.


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

Andrel said:


> What I personnally want to know is if the postal code can be entered in the premiere, have access to analog cable and be able to stream videos, pictures and musics (DLNA compatible would be perfect). Sad we cannot access any of the services such as netflix but this is not tivo`s fault, really.
> 
> I would like to use the new box for media player and also as a DVR for basic channels to replace my S2.
> 
> Andre


I personally don't see why not. It would be an expensive investment though, unless you are in one of the markets that has digital OTA broadcast available, where it might have some value.


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## jdroberts (Dec 28, 2008)

We've upgraded our home to HD and pretty well rendered our Series 2 obsolete. I am pleased with the Premiere announcement - though miffed with our backward ass country for allowing several cable companies to dictate the service. Despite that, I do plan to buy a Premiere and use OTA.

A small group of us began the push to get TiVo service into Canada in the early 2000's by badgering TiVo Inc. over many years. We banded together and hacked the TiVo box in some creative ways to give us all free service. I don't want to go down that route again. I am pleased to be a subscriber. Though, I would like to be able to use the online features in Canada and am praying that the new Premiere network setup now allows for proxying. This will allow me to proxy through my US-based server.

I'm afraid we're not going to win the cablecard battle in Canada. If TiVo has another solution thereby allowing us to use the output from a Digital Cable box as input to TiVo then bring it on!


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## pvanb (May 21, 2007)

LADYBUGBLUE2002 said:


> Tivo Series 2s are almost all sold out here in Canada so it looks like Tivo came in and then is just abandoning the Canadian market two years after arriving officially.


Well they had to dump their old Series 2 TiVos somewhere ;-)

Compton Cable in Uxbridge supports the TiVo HD. I don't know if they use CableCard or have special TiVo units, but CableCard seems most likely.


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## LADYBUGBLUE2002 (Sep 7, 2003)

pvanb said:


> Well they had to dump their old Series 2 TiVos somewhere ;-)
> 
> Compton Cable in Uxbridge supports the TiVo HD. I don't know if they use CableCard or have special TiVo units, but CableCard seems most likely.


Right they have the cable card Tivos, but that is like 3000 kilometers away from where I live, so that doesn't really help. There are no other providers in Canada that use the Tivos HD and if you seen what we get from our cable providers you would cry.


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## pvanb (May 21, 2007)

LADYBUGBLUE2002 said:


> Right they have the cable card Tivos, but that is like 3000 kilometers away from where I live, so that doesn't really help. There are no other providers in Canada that use the Tivos HD and if you seen what we get from our cable providers you would cry.


My point really is that it's technically possible, but there's no incentive for the big cable companies (Rogers, Cogeco, Shaw, etc.) to support CableCard  they've got a captive market to sell/rent their craptacular DVRs to. I'm in Canada too and feel your frustration.


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## holly-s (Nov 5, 2010)

jdroberts said:


> We've upgraded our home to HD and pretty well rendered our Series 2 obsolete. I am pleased with the Premiere announcement - though miffed with our backward ass country for allowing several cable companies to dictate the service. Despite that, I do plan to buy a Premiere and use OTA.
> 
> A small group of us began the push to get TiVo service into Canada in the early 2000's by badgering TiVo Inc. over many years. We banded together and hacked the TiVo box in some creative ways to give us all free service. I don't want to go down that route again. I am pleased to be a subscriber. Though, I would like to be able to use the online features in Canada and am praying that the new Premiere network setup now allows for proxying. This will allow me to proxy through my US-based server.
> 
> I'm afraid we're not going to win the cablecard battle in Canada. If TiVo has another solution thereby allowing us to use the output from a Digital Cable box as input to TiVo then bring it on!


I'm wondering about how much success you've achieved with the TiVo Premiere and OTA signal in Toronto, did you end up doing it? Do you still need to subscribe to the TiVo service (I'm guessing yes). Thank you.


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## yuki-nagato (Nov 2, 2010)

holly-s said:


> I'm wondering about how much success you've achieved with the TiVo Premiere and OTA signal in Toronto, did you end up doing it? Do you still need to subscribe to the TiVo service (I'm guessing yes). Thank you.


It isn't just the cable cards that are the problem, if anyone wonders why Leo Wyoming is the default location for canadians it is because tivo's registration systems don't accept canadian zipcodes in any form. that's also why canadians can't purchase tivo desktop plus. Oh and Leo Wyoming is near uninhabited so there's not much chance of an address conflict.


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## Andrel (Oct 19, 2000)

yuki-nagato said:


> It isn't just the cable cards that are the problem, if anyone wonders why Leo Wyoming is the default location for canadians it is because tivo's registration systems don't accept canadian zipcodes in any form. that's also why canadians can't purchase tivo desktop plus. Oh and Leo Wyoming is near uninhabited so there's not much chance of an address conflict.


I don't get your statement "cant purchase Tivo desktop plus"? I bought that and quite a few people I know bought it too !

holly-s:

Tivo does not officially support the premiere although they provide the OTA DTV guide. This means they do not support nor give Canadians access to Netflix, Youtube, Amazon, Pandora and even direct access to video podcast.

All that said, if you can get all your programming using OTA, their PVR is way better than many (if not all) of their Canadian competitors.


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## Worf (Sep 15, 2000)

TiVo has long supported Canadian postal codes - the Wyoming thing is long gone. 

TiVo came to canada around 2-3 years ago with the Series 2. There's still somer series 2 on store shelves.

But the real reason is the fact that the CRTC is in the telecommunications company's pockets. If you think the FCC is bad - just think what happens when you have to buy cableboxes that only work on one provider's system (they won't activate anywhere else), no unencrypted QAM, no must-carry, no CableCARDs, etc.


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## yuki-nagato (Nov 2, 2010)

Worf said:


> TiVo has long supported Canadian postal codes - the Wyoming thing is long gone.
> etc.


Check the support page. Tivo's accounting systems only take 5 digit zips. Candian zips in addition to having 6 digits are alphabet soup as well. If you don't believe me try it out. the sad part about tivo plus is that although tivo can bill you for service, the same can not be said about tivo desktop plus as the system used to bill for service and the system used for tivo desktop plus keys are not linked. If you have a credit card that is located out of the US then you can get the plus key.


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## Eamus Catuli (Aug 9, 2010)

I signed up for TiVo service in June 2010 with my Canadian Postal Code! :up: I have program guide data all my regular channels and nearly all my OTA tropo channels.

In short, TiVo Premiere works fine in Canada with the exception for digital cable due to lack of cable cards (the Premiere is overkill for analog cable/analog OTA). It's works great if you live in a place like I do with over 20 digital OTA channels.

There is one EXCEPTION I know of - Compton Communications, a small cable company in the Port Perry and Uxbridge Ontario region, does provide cable cards.


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## holly-s (Nov 5, 2010)

Eamus Catuli said:


> In short, TiVo Premiere works fine in Canada with the exception for digital cable due to lack of cable cards (the Premiere is overkill for analog cable/analog OTA). It's works great if you live in a place like I do with over 20 digital OTA channels.


Which TiVo do you have? I have a Series 2, and it was my understand that it wouldn't work for OTA recording. Whichever TiVo you have, could you please explain how it connects/works for OTA recording? I assume you've subscribed to the TiVo guide to be able to record OTA as well?

Thank you!
Holly


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## segaily (Aug 3, 2003)

The series 2 duel tuner also called the series 2 DT will not work over the air. Most if not all other series 2 tivos with a single tuner could record analog over the air broadcasts. I have no idea if Canada still has analog over the air broadcasts however. 

I think you can also use a series 2 TiVo to control some of the digital to analog boxes that were made to allow people with old TVs still get over the air shows after the states went to all digital over the air. No idea if those boxes work in Canada however.


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## holly-s (Nov 5, 2010)

segaily said:


> The series 2 duel tuner also called the series 2 DT will not work over the air. Most if not all other series 2 tivos with a single tuner could record analog over the air broadcasts. I have no idea if Canada still has analog over the air broadcasts however.
> 
> I think you can also use a series 2 TiVo to control some of the digital to analog boxes that were made to allow people with old TVs still get over the air shows after the states went to all digital over the air. No idea if those boxes work in Canada however.


In Canada we still have analog OTA broadcasts, system switches to digital on Aug. 21/11 (I believe). Here's my dilemma. Have had a TiVo Series 2 since March 2008, purchased a three year plan from TiVo. A few weeks ago I thought my current TiVo was dying/dead, but (for the moment) it seems to have revived. But this pushed me to consider what to do come March when my current TiVo plan runs out. I don't really want to reinvest in TiVo because of the incompatibility between the US and Canada (us not having cable cards limits use of TiVo).

Since we recently purchased the Apple TV2, I decided that we would cut off cable, and go the way of steamed/downloaded content for our viewing. But I also thought it would be worth investing in an OTA antenna so we can watch some live tv (breaking news, elections, oscars, etc.). Then I read here that TiVo can work with OTA channels...so, thinking it might be worthwhile to have a new TiVo just for recording OTA shows, so we don't have to wait to stream/download a favourite show, also to allow for paused/rewind/FF on live shows we may be watching.

To make a long story short, I would like to know which TiVo's would work in Canada for OTA broadcast (and what is the implication when it switches to digital later this year), how they connect/work for OTA as well.

Thank you so much for your help!
Holly


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## Andrel (Oct 19, 2000)

Both the Premiere (Series 4) and HD (Series 3)have independent Antenna and Cable Input. I am using the premiere to receive both Analog and digital OTA. The OTA reception on the Premiere is less sensitive than the HD Tivo and may cause some issues if your reception is not optimal. Depending where you live, it may be well worth it to invest in a High Definition Tivo. I don't think your 3 yrs plan is Tivo hardware specific and you may be able to replace it with a new box for what's left on it.

Tivo does not support the Hi-def tivos in Canada. This mean that the guide is ok but other functionalities may not work (amazon, Netflix, Youtube, etc)

P.S. Some cable providers have switched their cable box to use cablecards(such as shaw). They just don't allow use of the cable card for 3rd party hardware.


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## segaily (Aug 3, 2003)

Canada is using the same over the air standard for digital TV as the states. That means you should be able to get a digital to analog converter box that will work with your TiVo to allow you to keep getting over the air shows after the transition. 

I am not at all sure I would go that route however. The converter box would I am guessing cost you $70 and your TiVo sounds like it is getting old. You might try just using your current box until the transition or it dies which ever is first. If it is not the dual tuner box it should work hooked to an antenna until the transition all you would have to do is rerun guided setup. After the transition it will not work without the converter box. 

If you bought a TiVo HD or TiVo Premiere it will be able to record 2 simultaneous digital over the air channels in HD by just hooking it to an antenna so either would be all set after the transition. Getting a TiVo HD instead of a premiere should cost you a less and I am guessing that most of the online added features the premiere will end up with will never make it to Canada anyway. It is possible however now that netflix is available in Canada that the premiere will someday support that.


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## holly-s (Nov 5, 2010)

segaily said:


> Canada is using the same over the air standard for digital TV as the states. That means you should be able to get a digital to analog converter box that will work with your TiVo to allow you to keep getting over the air shows after the transition.
> 
> I am not at all sure I would go that route however. The converter box would I am guessing cost you $70 and your TiVo sounds like it is getting old. You might try just using your current box until the transition or it dies which ever is first. If it is not the dual tuner box it should work hooked to an antenna until the transition all you would have to do is rerun guided setup. After the transition it will not work without the converter box.
> 
> If you bought a TiVo HD or TiVo Premiere it will be able to record 2 simultaneous digital over the air channels in HD by just hooking it to an antenna so either would be all set after the transition. Getting a TiVo HD instead of a premiere should cost you a less and I am guessing that most of the online added features the premiere will end up with will never make it to Canada anyway. It is possible however now that netflix is available in Canada that the premiere will someday support that.


My Series 2 is the dual tuner one, so it won't work for OTA. Currently have cable, but plan to drop it once my current TiVo service runs out in March. Will download/stream content and would only use the TiVo for recording some shows OTA. I don't want to get a converter box for analog to digital, so might just wait until after the transition before possibly upgrading to a TiVo that would work OTA. Would this TiVo work for OTA?

http://www.abesofmaine.com/itemB.do...LIATE&kbid=zJPtW_u7gvE-CzdKNnZ7juzYVhy8glUcFg

It's difficult to find a supplier that will ship to Canada.

Thanks for your help!
Holly


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## segaily (Aug 3, 2003)

Yes the link is pointing to a TiVo-HD so it should work fine for over the air as long as you have TiVo service.



Eamus Catuli said:


> I signed up for TiVo service in June 2010 with my Canadian Postal Code! :up: I have program guide data all my regular channels and nearly all my OTA tropo channels.


I do not know how good TiVo guide is for over the air in Canada for getting all your channels but based on this comment you should be all set.


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## Eamus Catuli (Aug 9, 2010)

holly-s said:


> My Series 2 is the dual tuner one, so it won't work for OTA. Currently have cable, but plan to drop it once my current TiVo service runs out in March. Will download/stream content and would only use the TiVo for recording some shows OTA. I don't want to get a converter box for analog to digital, so might just wait until after the transition before possibly upgrading to a TiVo that would work OTA. Would this TiVo work for OTA?
> 
> http://www.abesofmaine.com/itemB.do...LIATE&kbid=zJPtW_u7gvE-CzdKNnZ7juzYVhy8glUcFg
> 
> ...


Holly, I bought mine (Premiere) on a trip to the US this summer. I know there is one company that will ship it up here, but for the cost it was a much better deal to just go get it myself. And if you are away for more than 48 hours, no fees at the border.

So to recap, either the TiVo HD or Premiere will work with OTA for you. And if you are in Toronto, take a look at postal code M8Z3M1 on zap2it which is the same data source TiVo gets its data from. I bet it has all or nearly all everything you get (both digital OTA and analogs while they continue to exist).

As mentioned by Andrel, you just need to screw on the coaxial cable (hopefully you'll use RG6) from the antenna onto the "Antenna" coax input on the TiVo then run the guided setup - it really is that simple.


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## holly-s (Nov 5, 2010)

Thanks for the feedback everyone, but I think I've decided to go another route, rather then getting a new TiVo. I'm going to set up a Mac Mini as a media centre and use an elgato.com product to record straight to the HD.


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## JACKASTOR (May 26, 2011)

hey just a heads up you can order a motorola cable card from ebay. its called an m-card. I ordered two from ebay and paid about 30 dollars shipping included. called cogeco and got them to activate it. its does activate as provisioning for the dct2000 a motorola stb basically thats how they have to activate it as. works good. get all the channels i pay for. dont have hbo or super channel but i may add them later. you might have to insist on speaking to a supervisor! it can be done and it works. im very happy with it btw!
good luck
jack



scrutman said:


> Hey everyone.
> 
> Is there any way at all that this box will work in Canada. Series 3 came and went with no support for Canada... really it was the other way around with the lack of support for CableCards by the major cable companies in Canada.
> 
> ...


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## JACKASTOR (May 26, 2011)

I ORDERED MY CABLE CARD FROM EBAY. MOTOROLA HAS TO BE THAT BRAND AS THE OTHER ONES ARE NOT COMPAITABLE WITH OUR SYSTEMS HERE. ITS A MULTI STREAM M-CARD EBAY LINK IS http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150600376075&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

SELLER IS SCOTT4744

HE SHIPPED IT VIA USPS TOOK ABOUT 10 DAYS TO GET HERE CLEARING CUSTOMS. ADDED IT TO MY TIVO PREMIERE I ALSO BOUGHT BRAND NEW OFF EBAY.

CALLED COGECO HAD TO ARGUE A BIT FINALLY GOT TO SOMEONE WHO WANTED TO HELP ME. HE PASSED ME ON TO JENN THE LADY WHO WAS ABLE TO ACTIVATE IT. MOTOROLA MADE THIS CARD TO LOOK LIKE A DCT2000 SO MAKE SURE YOU TELL THEM THAT. ALSO MAKE SURE YOU TELL THEM TO FLIP THE HD ON OR YOU WONT GET THEM CAUSE THE DCT2OOO IS NOT A HD BOX BUT THE TIVO IS AND THE CARD DECRYPTS THE HD FOR YOU SO MAKE SURE YOU GET IT. ALSO HAVE THEM GO OVER ALL YOUR CHANNELS THEY MAY HAVE TO FLIP THEM ALL ON. THEY MAY ASK FOR A GI NUMBER BUT ITS THE MA NUMBER AND UA NUMBERS THEY NEED. BECAUSE ITS NOT OFFICIALLY SUPPORTED THEY CAN NOT PAIR WITH TIVO BUT THAT MEANS YOU CAN PASS IT AROUND FROM DEVICE TO DEVICE IN HOME. REGARDLESS THIS UNIT WORKS PERFECTLY! AND YES YOU CAN DO IT TOO. SO FAR GUYS IM VERY HAPPY WITH THIS SYSTEM AND I RECOOMEND YOU GUYS GO FOR IT. OH YEAH ONE LAST THING YOU HAVE MENTION ITS ONE WAY ONLY SO NO VOD ON TIVO FROM COGECO OR WHO EVER YOU HAVE FOR CABLE HERE IN CANADA.. HONESTLY THOUGH YOU WONT MISS IT. BTW I THINK IM THE FIRST CANADIAN WITH A TIVO AND CABLE CARD... AND THIS LAST THING WHILE I THINK IT ABOUT IT YOU HAVE TO GET A MULTISTREAM MOTOROLA CARD SO M-CARDS ONLY!

GOOD LUCK AND HAPPY TIVOING

JACK


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## pjwlk (Oct 21, 2005)

JACKASTOR said:


> CALLED COGECO HAD TO ARGUE A BIT FINALLY GOT TO SOMEONE WHO WANTED TO HELP ME. HE PASSED ME ON TO JENN THE LADY WHO WAS ABLE TO ACTIVATE IT. MOTOROLA MADE THIS CARD TO LOOK LIKE A DCT2000 SO MAKE SURE YOU TELL THEM THAT.


Hi Jack. I'm a Cogeco customer. Just to clarify. Did you tell them it was a DCT2000 or did they know it was a cable card acting like a DCT2000?

Either way I'm surprised that they would hook you up seeing that it would cut into their own business renting boxes.

Does the CRTC mandate that Cogeco must allow third party devices?


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## Worf (Sep 15, 2000)

No. Shaw refuses to activate third-party devices these days. They used to, but not anymore. 

I just wish we had something with balls like the FCC.


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

Worf said:


> No. Shaw refuses to activate third-party devices these days. They used to, but not anymore.
> 
> I just wish we had something with balls like the FCC.


The FCC's balls aren't as big as you think they are.


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## Worf (Sep 15, 2000)

True, but at least the FCC mandate of CableCARDs, or even just forcing the Firewire port ensures you guys get lots of good stuff. Like TiVos. (The firewire port of our cableboxes are SD only. IF they work - they've apparently been disabled in some areas).

The CRTC we have is basically owned by all the telecommunications companies. It was the CRTC that implemented the whole UBB thing until they got slapped by the government and consumer revolts put it back into "needs more study".

So we have cable companies who insist you buy their equipment, their equipment is useless outside of their system, etc.


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