# Self-install if I have a multistream CC already?



## jgerry (Aug 29, 2001)

I currently have an Tivo HD, S3, with a multistream cablecard from Comcast. If I buy the new Roamio (terrible name!) will I be able to just put that card in the Roamio and activate without having a tech come out to the house? I've tried calling TiVo to ask but they must be quite busy.


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## BiloxiGeek (Nov 18, 2001)

You should be able to, according to current FCC rules the major cable companies aren't supposed to require a truck roll just to pair up a cablecard with a consumer device. That being said, your experience may vary. When I wanted to swap out single stream cards for multi stream cards in my two Tivo-HD's CableOne gave me quite a bit of grief over the phone about it, I stuck to my guns, kept referencing the FCC rules and they finally figured it out. From what I hear from friends in the area CableOne has gotten a lot better about it recently. You should get similar treatment from Comcast.


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## monkeydust (Dec 12, 2004)

I called brighthouse yesterday and they told me I could pick up a CC and install myself and then call them to finish the installation over the phone. Doing that today so we'll see how it goes.


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## Scooby Doo (Dec 18, 2002)

I have moved cards from one Tivo to another on Comcast a few times and never had to do more than make a phone call. If you do have any problems, its better to talk to the Comcast people in the stores than the monkeys in the call center.


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## JohnnyO (Nov 3, 2002)

jgerry said:


> I currently have an Tivo HD, S3, with a multistream cablecard from Comcast. If I buy the new Roamio will I be able to just put that card in the Roamio and activate without having a tech come out to the house? I've tried calling TiVo to ask but they must be quite busy.


I have the same question. I'm also on Comcast (in Minnesota). I was also wondering if it is better to try to move the CableCard from my TiVoHD to the Roamio, or to acquire a new CableCard, and after everything is set up, then return the older CC.

I haven't had to mess with my CableCards since the initial installation in 2008. At that time it required a truck roll. Hopefully now I could do it myself.

John


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## jgerry (Aug 29, 2001)

I'm going to give it a try -- Roamio Plus purchased. We'll see how it goes.

Bought from Weaknees via Amazon -- says it could be up to three weeks for delivery. :down:


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## billhelm (Nov 26, 2009)

JohnnyO said:


> I have the same question. I'm also on Comcast (in Minnesota). I was also wondering if it is better to try to move the CableCard from my TiVoHD to the Roamio, or to acquire a new CableCard, and after everything is set up, then return the older CC.
> 
> I haven't had to mess with my CableCards since the initial installation in 2008. At that time it required a truck roll. Hopefully now I could do it myself.
> 
> John


In Minnesota on Comcast as well. Either way you go they should be able to pair it over the phone. I've done several over the phone after picking up a new card at a Comcast store or transferring from one unit to another and never had any issues.


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## Big Boy Laroux (Oct 10, 2006)

jgerry said:


> I'm going to give it a try -- Roamio Plus purchased. We'll see how it goes.
> 
> Bought from Weaknees via Amazon -- says it could be up to three weeks for delivery. :down:


why not buy from weaknees directly? They say shipping 8/22. and also get $25 off.

I was going to buy from amazon (and get Prime shipping) until they were out of stock


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## jgerry (Aug 29, 2001)

I would think both orders would be equal in Weaknees eyes, I'm going to give them a call and ask.


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## brentil (Sep 9, 2011)

(BrightHouse) When our S3 died and we got a S4 I was able to call in and transfer both the CC & SDV to the new TiVo myself.


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## jgerry (Aug 29, 2001)

Yeah my Amazon order also says shipping on 8/22:



> SHIPPING ESTIMATE THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2013 - FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013
> DELIVERY ESTIMATE: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2013 - FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013 BY 8:00PM


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## MScottC (Sep 11, 2004)

Does anyone have the most current number for Comcast's Cablecard Pairing Center? I tried to call the number I had on hand, but I get a "disconnected" message.


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## andyf (Feb 23, 2000)

The # I have is 877-405-2298


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## MScottC (Sep 11, 2004)

andyf said:


> The # I have is 877-405-2298


Thanks, I had 887 as the area code.


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## jfh3 (Apr 15, 2004)

Yes, you can move the card yourself. Most channels will probably work off the bat, but you should call the cable company to get your card re-paired and re-validated. This is a trivial process if you get someone on the phone that knows what they are doing.

If anyone insists you need a truck roll, hang up and call again. All the installer is going to do is call and read the same numbers over the phone. There is NOTHING that requires an on site visit.


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## miller890 (Feb 15, 2002)

TROUBLESHOOTING : XFINITY On Demand for TiVo Premiere 

This page shows the same ComCast CableCard support number. 877-405-2298

I am replacing 2 Series-3 units, so my plan it to say I have a replacement; please pair it. Then return the 3 Mutli-stream cards. With one Premier on the account and two S-3's to be removed. Without the two S-3's I can drop one of the $7.45 (digital additional) fees and both of the (2nd Cablecard) same outlet fees [email protected]$1.00 and one of the $1.99 (Additional Outlet) fees. Possible $11.44 a month in savings.


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## Big Boy Laroux (Oct 10, 2006)

jfh3 said:


> Yes, you can move the card yourself. Most channels will probably work off the bat, but you should call the cable company to get your card re-paired and re-validated. This is a trivial process if you get someone on the phone that knows what they are doing.
> 
> If anyone insists you need a truck roll, hang up and call again. All the installer is going to do is call and read the same numbers over the phone. There is NOTHING that requires an on site visit.


I called comcast the other day, and they had an automated system for "sending a hit" to the card. hopefully that's all it takes! Comcast CSRs are the WORST.


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## rainwater (Sep 21, 2004)

Big Boy Laroux said:


> I called comcast the other day, and they had an automated system for "sending a hit" to the card. hopefully that's all it takes! Comcast CSRs are the WORST.


When you move to a new device it gets new host id. So you will have to give Comcast the serial #, host id, and data id for them to re-pair the card.


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## Big Boy Laroux (Oct 10, 2006)

rainwater said:


> When you move to a new device it gets new host id. So you will have to give Comcast the serial #, host id, and data id for them to re-pair the card.


Thanks. I truly hate dealing with comcast. it is 100% my least favorite thing to do on this earth.


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## MScottC (Sep 11, 2004)

Big Boy Laroux said:


> Thanks. I truly hate dealing with comcast. it is 100% my least favorite thing to do on this earth.


My wife used to jokingly hide the cable bills from me because every time one would come there was a new charge, add-on or some other crazy **** that would have me on the phone with them for hours. Fortunately, now that they've codified the cablecard policies through a lot of their accounting systems things have calmed down.


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## monkeydust (Dec 12, 2004)

Well, I tried the self install. I had some SDV channels coming in until they tried to fix the rest of them. Now I get none. Got a guy coming out tomorrow to try to fix.


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## rainwater (Sep 21, 2004)

monkeydust said:


> Well, I tried the self install. I had some SDV channels coming in until they tried to fix the rest of them. Now I get none. Got a guy coming out tomorrow to try to fix.


Is your tuning adapter working (solid light)? If it is (and it should be since they should NOT be changing any tuning adapter settings on their side), then it is probably your card that isn't paired. I would just call them back and try again.


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## monkeydust (Dec 12, 2004)

Yeah, the card doesn't appear paired although they tried a couple times and everything works fine on their side.


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## monkeydust (Dec 12, 2004)

monkeydust said:


> Yeah, the card doesn't appear paired although they tried a couple times and everything works fine on their side.


Cable guy was here for two hours today trying to get all the channels working. It would alternate which ones worked and which didn't. They'd then all work and then some would either get black screen and no message or not authorized. Switched cable cards and tuning adapters and it was still acting flakey. He scheduled a more experienced tech tomorrow but now all seems to be working. I hate dealing with cable cards and tuning adapters.

EDIT: Still some channels are working one minute and then back to black screen when I try again a minute later.


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## monkeydust (Dec 12, 2004)

So, it looks like one stream is not getting a channel and I switch to another and it will consistently get the channel. Anybody have this issue before?


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## rainwater (Sep 21, 2004)

monkeydust said:


> So, it looks like one stream is not getting a channel and I switch to another and it will consistently get the channel. Anybody have this issue before?


Well, it can be tricky especially with more tuners to actually re-tune a channel. For instance, if one tuner is on channel 10 and then on the active tuner you change to channel 10, it actually just switches tuners and doesn't re-tune the channel. I usually try to put all the tuners on a inactive channel and then channel through all the channels on the active tuner to test the channels.


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## monkeydust (Dec 12, 2004)

rainwater said:


> Well, it can be tricky especially with more tuners to actually re-tune a channel. For instance, if one tuner is on channel 10 and then on the active tuner you change to channel 10, it actually just switches tuners and doesn't re-tune the channel. I usually try to put all the tuners on a inactive channel and then channel through all the channels on the active tuner to test the channels.


I had 4 tuners recording leaving me with two. I would move one tuner to a channel out of the way so I won't cross with the other tuner. I would switch to the other tuner and see which channels I get then make sure that one is out of the way. Then I would move that tuner up/down through some channels and make note of which channels that one would get and make sure my other tuner stayed on the channel where I left it. What I would find is that there would be a channel or two on each tuner that would not come in but would on the other tuner. I have never noticed this behavior before and I think (not positive because I didn't do testing earlier) that I was having the same behavior with a different CC and different TA (TA that I have been using on other TV).

So, with these symptoms, I'm trying to determine if issue is with CC, TA, or TiVo unit.


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## Old Hickory (Jan 13, 2011)

andyf said:


> The # I have is 877-405-2298


Does this work nationwide?


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## miller890 (Feb 15, 2002)

Old Hickory said:


> Does this work nationwide?


Yes. TiVo's website references this number for all of ComCast.
http://support.tivo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2261

I had called my local ComCast and was bounced all over because no one could correctly pair the device and cards. I was finally given this same number and they had me working in minutes after I supplied some information from my tivo's cablecard information.


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## jgerry (Aug 29, 2001)

This thread is a great resource! Thanks everyone. 

Let's all keep updating our experiences here to share the wealth. There's still a huge lack of knowledge about these things and it's very frustrating. My first cablecard install 6 years ago took 5 truck rolls! Let's hope it's better now.

My Roamio arrives on Tuesday!!


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