# Sticky  Offical CableCARD threads



## Dan203

This is a simple list of discussions of CableCARD experiences for the various MSOs. Please post to these threads first if you have any experience, or problems, you want to share pertaining to your cable company and CableCARD.

*Comcast*
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=316310

*Time Warner*
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=316313

*Cox*
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=315836

*Charter*
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=316903

*CableVision*
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=315932

*RCN*
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=316405

*Verizon FiOS*
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=315826

*Mediacom*
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=317212

*Adelphia*
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=318351

*Brighthouse*
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=315837

*WOW*
http://tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=320180

*Astound*
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=383789

If I missed your cable provider simply post a link to the offical CableCARD thread for that provider below and I'll add it to the list.

Dan


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## acvthree

Is there Verizon Fios official thread? I couldn't find it.

Al


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## Dan203

I don't see one, but if you want to start one I'll gladly add it to the list.

Dan


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## tunnelengineer

Awesome list Dan. Thanks for stickying this and linking everything.


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## joegarrett

Dan203,

I didn't find one so I started a Verizon FIOS CC Info thread.

Thanks

Found it, thanks http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=315826


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## PPC1

Would Brighthouse be under Time Warner, or does it deserve its own thread?


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## TiVoToo

PPC1 said:


> Would Brighthouse be under Time Warner, or does it deserve its own thread?


I would vote for a separate thread.


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## gthassell

I've tried searching for the post with the number to call TiVo for support with your cable company on the install, but haven't been able to locate it. Could someone who knows it post it here?

Still trying to get a second card installed and working...


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## megazone

You call the standard support number and follow the prompts.


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## Ames

Mediacom

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=317212


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## fredtwd

I started one for Adelphia:

thread t=318351

(sorry, 2nd post so I cannot include URLs in my post yet).


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## trlyka

My provider is Patriot Media Communications in Central NJ. Please add to the list. 

The forum won't allow me to insert the link  

t=319079

Thanks


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## MichaelK

trlyka said:


> My provider is Patriot Media Communications in Central NJ. Please add to the list.
> 
> The forum won't allow me to insert the link
> 
> t=319079
> 
> Thanks


patriot thread:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=319079


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## Dan203

I'm not sure such a small provider warrants a listing in this thread. However if more Patriot customers crop up I'll add it to the list.

Dan


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## MichaelK

I dont think it can hurt. Maybe not worth the bother of the first post, but it's nice to have it in the thread itself so life is good as is- if nothing but to give people a hit when they search to minimize duplicates.


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## thanna

Wide Open West is coming out to install my cable cards on Wednesday (providing I don't have to return my S3 - I'm having a bit of technical difficulty with it). I'll start a thread when they come out.


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## samual.icky

My Wide Open West (WOW) experience (short and to the point)

http://tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=320180


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## cassiusdrow

Dan203 said:


> I'm not sure such a small provider warrants a listing in this thread. However if more Patriot customers crop up I'll add it to the list.
> 
> Dan


I am also a Patriot Media customer.


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## thanna

Maybe we can make samual.icky's thread the official WOW thread? I'm going to post there anyhow.


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## gwtamblin

I've been told by the cable company that they only have one way cable cards and since I am in a two way area they won't work. I was also told that it may be a few years before Motorola provides them with working two way cable cards. 

I just talked to the TiVo S3 setup person. He said it sounds like a bluff and to ask for the supervisor.

Does anybody have any other information?


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## Dan203

There is no such thing as a "two way area". There is a technology called Switched Digital Video which is not compatible with CableCARDs, but right now the only company using it is Time Warner and they only use it on a couple of lesser watched channels and the oposite coast feeds of premium channels like HBO.

This was definitely a bluff to try to scare you away from CableCARD.

Dan


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## sCir

I don't see a thread for Bresnan Communications - Could you add one?


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## gwtamblin

Thanks Dan ~ The person I first talked to said with the "one way card" I wouldn't be able to watch video on demand or pay per view. That didn't bother me since I have netflix and never used it. Is that true what he said? Gary


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## ccongdon

Speaking of bluffs - and maybe someone can help clear the air for me.

I have Insight Communications. They say that CableCARDS are available in my area. The operator said that they can't be used to record anything (obviously trying to push me into their DVR). I mentioned that the Tivo was a recorder by itself and just needed CableCARDS to work. She put me on hold to ask her supervisor a question. She came back and said that recording can't occur while using CableCARDS.

Is that possible? I thought the whole way Tivo worked was by recording whatever signal came through....

Chris


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## Dan203

gwtamblin said:


> Thanks Dan ~ The person I first talked to said with the "one way card" I wouldn't be able to watch video on demand or pay per view. That didn't bother me since I have netflix and never used it. Is that true what he said? Gary


That is true! VOD and PPV require bidirectional communication technology which does not exist as an open standard yet. The cable companies are working on a CableCARD 2.0 technology that will enable those technologies, but it's not yet approved and probably still a year or more away from deployment.

Dan


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## Dan203

ccongdon said:


> I have Insight Communications. They say that CableCARDS are available in my area. The operator said that they can't be used to record anything (obviously trying to push me into their DVR). I mentioned that the Tivo was a recorder by itself and just needed CableCARDS to work. She put me on hold to ask her supervisor a question. She came back and said that recording can't occur while using CableCARDS.
> 
> Is that possible? I thought the whole way Tivo worked was by recording whatever signal came through....


She's just misinformed. Up until now CableCARDs were used primarily in TVs, so she just doesn't understand the way TiVo uses them to record. Your best bet is to just order the cards and give them as little information about what you'll be doing with them as possible.

Dan


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## MichaelK

Dan203 said:


> She's just misinformed. Up until now CableCARDs were used primarily in TVs, so she just doesn't understand the way TiVo uses them to record. Your best bet is to just order the cards and give them as little information about what you'll be doing with them as possible.
> 
> Dan


scarily the CSR may have been correct (although it is questionable if that is legal)- seems some cable providers have all the HD channels to 90minute hold time only and then the recorded programs self destuct. My provider for instance is doing it on about 2/3rds of the non boradcast HD channels and even screws up and nails sporadic programs on the broadcast channels with the wrong flag.

BTW- anyone have a link to the legality of this. I'm 99.9% sure it's illegal but before i go screamign at the cable people I want to have the law/regulation/ruling in my hand to show them so they quickly remedy the situation adn dont jerk me around. I believe they are only premitted to use the 90minute self descruct flag for VOD and PPV- but i cant find a ruling or regulation (or even the text of the NCTA/CEA plug and play agreement where it seems to have started from) to point to.


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## gwtamblin

I just talked with a supervisor at Starstream. His story is that the cable cards are not working with their system and until they figure it out they are not providing the cards.


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## Dan203

MichaelK said:


> scarily the CSR may have been correct (although it is questionable if that is legal)- seems some cable providers have all the HD channels to 90minute hold time only and then the recorded programs self destuct. My provider for instance is doing it on about 2/3rds of the non boradcast HD channels and even screws up and nails sporadic programs on the broadcast channels with the wrong flag.
> 
> BTW- anyone have a link to the legality of this. I'm 99.9% sure it's illegal but before i go screamign at the cable people I want to have the law/regulation/ruling in my hand to show them so they quickly remedy the situation adn dont jerk me around. I believe they are only premitted to use the 90minute self descruct flag for VOD and PPV- but i cant find a ruling or regulation (or even the text of the NCTA/CEA plug and play agreement where it seems to have started from) to point to.


The 90 minute Copy Never flag is only legal for use on VOB and PPV. Premium channels like HBO can be set to Copy Once, which means that they can be recorded on the TiVo but not transfered, but they're not supose to be set to Copy Never. And broadcast programming is supose to be set to Copy Freely at all times.

If you're having a problem with this then either your cable company has something set up wrong or you have a defective CableCARD. In either case this problem would not be a problem on a CableCARD TV, so this goes to prove my point that cable companies are still in the mentality that CableCARDs go in TVs and nothing else.

Dan


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## Dan203

gwtamblin said:


> I just talked with a supervisor at Starstream. His story is that the cable cards are not working with their system and until they figure it out they are not providing the cards.


That sucks. Unfortunately if the provider is small enough it's possible for them to get an exemption from the CableCARD mandate, so there is probably nothing you can do. However it might be worth a call to the local franchise authority just to see.

Dan


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## MichaelK

Dan203 said:


> The 90 minute Copy Never flag is only legal for use on VOB and PPV. Premium channels like HBO can be set to Copy Once, which means that they can be recorded on the TiVo but not transfered, but they're not supose to be set to Copy Never. And broadcast programming is supose to be set to Copy Freely at all times.
> 
> If you're having a problem with this then either your cable company has something set up wrong or you have a defective CableCARD. In either case this problem would not be a problem on a CableCARD TV, so this goes to prove my point that cable companies are still in the mentality that CableCARDs go in TVs and nothing else.
> 
> Dan


yup- DT_DC was kind enough to aim me to the regulation in question that says exactly what you posted here. Now I have some amunition to beat my cable compnay with.

I dont think there is anysuch thing as bad cablecard that would just on it's own reandomly set those flags wrong. But it's just my opinion. It's just taking like 8 bits out of the stream- what are the odds that a card is screwing up the same 8-bits over and over again yet works fine for everythign else?

In my case though i'm sure it's the provider as others have posted the same problem on the same channels so I dont think it's a technical issue- rather I would bet someone set a bad parameter someplace.


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## want_series3

where i live the only option for television is through directv, i was getting ready to purchase the series3 when i realized it does not support directv. i just want to make sure i try everything possible before i give in and don't get the series3. so my question is, does anyone know of any way i can get the series3 and while having directv?? does directv make a "cablecard" that would support this??


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## Dan203

No the Series3 will NOT work with DirecTV. Not only does DirecTV not offer CableCARD but they use a completely different tuner technology then cable. So it's actually impossible for any company to make a box which is compatible with both DirecTV and digital cable. (with the exception of devices like the S2 units which take an analog signal from any source and reencodes it to digital format)

Dan


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## moonjockey

Forget BellSouth cable (Americast) they told me they have a waiver from the FCC.


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## Sapphire

I started one for SECTV of NJ which is a small cable provider in NW NJ and they also serve PA.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=322297


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## pashasurf7873

Aloha, 
I was about to buy my series 3 after having tivo since 2000 was excited to go HD. when asked about pricing, my local TIME WARNER sent me this:

Exchange with Time Warner 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is the email message string this afternoon with TW. Go figure.

Aloha!


1. as I stated previously, the Duplicate service charge does not include
the HD Entertainment Package. The Duplicate service charge only includes
the equipment rental fee, digital cable service, and any premium movie 
channels in your subscription. Each device that is receiving the HD 
Entertainment Package is billed for that package.


2. Yes, we are aware of the current limitations of the technology. You 
can install a single CableCard in your Tivo and only record one channel 
at a time. 


3. The CableCards are billed for each device, each CableCard is a 
separate device. You could obtain the HD DVR without the duplicate 
service charge, however you would still be billed for the HD 
Entertainment package which is required to have any HD cable box. 


You could also rent the CableCards for $3.10 each, however they would 
only be able to receive the Standard Cable Service. They would not 
receive the authorization to receive the HD Entertainment Package, the 
Digital Cable Package, nor the HBO or Showtime.


4. Because that is how the company decided to do the billing.


5. Everything is NOT going HD. That is a common misconception. HD and 
Digital are two very different things. The FCC is only requiring a 
change to Digital, not HD.


6. I am sorry, but it does not appear the same from our point of view. 
We bill per device that receives premium programming in the home. If you
TiVo requires 2 of those devices then the account should be charged for 
each one.




If you have any further questions, please feel free to e-mail us again 
or contact our Customer Care Department at the appropriate number below.
When replying to this e-mail, please include this message as well as all
previous correspondence regarding this issue.


Cable TV or Internet:
Billing: 643-2100
Sales: 643-2337
Repair: 643-2300


Digital Phones:
Billing: 643-3333
Sales: 643-3663
Repair: 611 from your digital phone or 643-6611


Thank you,
Nick S.
Oceanic Time Warner Cable


----- So, to sum it up: to use a Tivo S3 in Hawaii it will cost us $36.10 extra a month....PLUS Tivo monthly fee.

Any advice?


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## gwtamblin

*I finally got a good answer from the cable company regarding CableCards:*

Thank you for your email regarding cable cards. We apologize for any inconvenience and confusion you have encountered when calling our customer service department. Starstream is currently in the testing phases of cable card deployment. Currently cable cards currently are only a one-way service, meaning that VOD, PPV and advanced services will not work with them. PPV is available by calling our automated PPV system. Cable cards also do not provide any type of program guide like digital converters do. We have encountered several issues within the testing phases of these cards regarding device compatibilities, etc. which has delayed widespread deployment of them. Starstream is currently working with our hardware vendors to resolve such technical issues. Once testing has been successful with cable cards within the Starstream system, we can contact you to arrange for an installation. As of this time, there is no ETA of when testing will be completed. Starstream does however offer HD DVD cable boxes that do have dual tuners for recording multiple shows. This eliminates the need for extra equipment, along with the need for a phone line to download Tivo program information. Please contact our customer support department at 916-630-7111 if you are interested in a HD DVR box.

Thank You,

Starstream Communications


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## windracer

I don't see an "official" Brighthouse Networks thread, but this one is the closest so far:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=315837


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## Dan Clarke

I have 2 S2's and the Cable Co's DVR. I thought about getting a Series 3 but then I looked at my Cable Co's Rate Card...

http://www.metrocastcablevision.com/digital_ratecard.cfm

Yes folks, that's $149.95 PER CARD!

At least installation is included.


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## mercurial

Well, at an average of $2.00/month/card plus ~$40 for installation, you'd have to keep them a little over 2 years to break even with the rest of us..  Not as bad as it appears on first glance.


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## monkeydust

pashasurf7873 said:


> You could also rent the CableCards for $3.10 each, however they would
> only be able to receive the Standard Cable Service. They would not
> receive the authorization to receive the HD Entertainment Package, the
> Digital Cable Package, nor the HBO or Showtime.


I don't understand why they couldn't receive those packages/channels.


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## MichaelK

Dan Clarke said:


> I have 2 S2's and the Cable Co's DVR. I thought about getting a Series 3 but then I looked at my Cable Co's Rate Card...
> 
> http://www.metrocastcablevision.com/digital_ratecard.cfm
> 
> Yes folks, that's $149.95 PER CARD!
> 
> At least installation is included.


Interesting- But then you OWN it. I don't recall ever seeing other providers doing that. Awfully LONG payback compared to teh typicle less than $2/mpnth rental of the device itself.


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## MichaelK

mercurial said:


> Well, at an average of $2.00/month/card plus ~$40 for installation, you'd have to keep them a little over 2 years to break even with the rest of us..  Not as bad as it appears on first glance.


I forgot installation...


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## paulsan

Official Eatel Installation Thread

In Ascension Parish (County) Louisiana there is a company called Eatel that has traditionally been the phone company. They now have fiber installed to most houses and the new FiberEdge product provides phone, TV and Internet service. They offer the SA8300 which I have used for 2 years now. I was concerned that they would not have cable cards but they do.

The cable cards are offered without installation and can be picked up at one of their two locations. They have them in stock and it takes about 5 minutes to complete the transaction. They charge $3.50/month per card and there is no additional outlet fee for them. I have not discussed lowering the price based on the fact they are in a single device.

Installation was fairly easy. You put the cards in and then have to call to get them activated. Their repair department in open until 10:00pm 7 days/week so you can get them activated on the weekend. The first card activated immediately, but the second one required 2 additional phone calls to get setup. I get the impression that they are somewhat familiar with the cards but have not had a lot of them installed. The technicians I spoke with did not know about the Series 3.

Both tuners and cards are working fine. You are able to get all of the analog and digital regular channels, all of the HD channels and all of the premium channels. You can not get the new video on demand (as expected). You can get pay previews including Tigervision (for LSU Sports).

I'm happy to finally be back onto a Tivo. My wife loved the Eatel but missed the Tivo.

Paul


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## spenserj

gwtamblin said:


> *I finally got a good answer from the cable company regarding CableCards:*
> 
> Thank you for your email regarding cable cards. We apologize for any inconvenience and confusion you have encountered when calling our customer service department. Starstream is currently in the testing phases of cable card deployment. Currently cable cards currently are only a one-way service, meaning that VOD, PPV and advanced services will not work with them. PPV is available by calling our automated PPV system. Cable cards also do not provide any type of program guide like digital converters do. We have encountered several issues within the testing phases of these cards regarding device compatibilities, etc. which has delayed widespread deployment of them. Starstream is currently working with our hardware vendors to resolve such technical issues. Once testing has been successful with cable cards within the Starstream system, we can contact you to arrange for an installation. As of this time, there is no ETA of when testing will be completed. Starstream does however offer HD DVD cable boxes that do have dual tuners for recording multiple shows. This eliminates the need for extra equipment, along with the need for a phone line to download Tivo program information. Please contact our customer support department at 916-630-7111 if you are interested in a HD DVR box.
> 
> Thank You,
> 
> Starstream Communications


I was just on the phone with a Starstream rep and they are just a couple weeks away from having CableCards available - they have finished testing and just need to get the cards and service into their system. It does not appear that they have tested with a Series 3 so I may be the first guinea pig as I have scheduled a Dec 11 install date. I'll post my experience.


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## Cyclops

I had my two CC installed yesterday with no problem. The cable guy said afterward it was his first Tivo although when he was doing it he acted like he did them all the time. I made it extremely easy for him-- I turned the Tivo around and had it on the right menu, etc. He seemed to know his way around a Tivo, though.

What surprised me was that I did not have a standard config leading up to my Tivo. I had a bypass filter that chops out channels 75-80 so that I can keep a Tivo in the basement and broadcast it on channel 78 and the HD Tivo was on the other side of this bypass and yet the install still worked. Unfortunately with frequency harmonics, a bypass filter for 75-80 also knocks out channel 750 which is HBOHD so I still had to bypass the bypass filter for the HDTivo directly to the outside world. (The other TV's still get the basement Tivo)

The cable guy said the reason why CCs had such a bad rep was that the cable companies were forced to provide them, so they were rushed into service and the first wave didn't work very well and all he could do was call in the numbers and wait for the other end to figure out the problem.


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## midnightgirl

Cable Company: Insight Communications - Northern Illinois

Well bought my tivo last sunday. Took several calls before I could get them to send anyone out at all. But finally I did get an appt.

Tonight I had an Insight Communication installer out. He had never installed cards in a Tivo before but was very helpful. We got to the point where he was to call and activate the cards and when he got on the phone with them, he mentioned he was installing into a Tivo. The guy on the other end basically said right away we don't work with Tivos. I'm sorry it doesn't work. And I can't activate it.

So, the installer radio'd his boss who said yes there was a memo and we don't work with tivo. You must not have been there that day. I asked if I could speak to him and I asked him if we could not please just try and if it didn't work, that would be ok. He said I'm sorry ma'am even if I wanted to I have no authority over the people who would authorize it and they won't do it. He suggested I get the cable pvr but I told him I did not want to do that. I liked tivo and I was willing to pay to rent the cards, I just wanted to use my own equipment. He apologized but again the tivo was not compatible with their cards.

So after begging them to call them back and say its a tv and being told no, the installer left with his cards. After not really attempting anything.

So, after years of waiting for Tivo and deciding to go with cable even though I'd prefer Dish Network so i could keep my tivo...having less hd channels but keeping Tivo features...I was going to give in and get dish's pvr. 

I called Tivo - to assure that the receiver was cancelled. I got a nice rep named Jeremy. I explained what happened. He asked what cable company I had and put me on hold. Then he came back and said we're going to call your cable company with you o nthe phone if that is ok. I said sure. 

My cable rep got on the phone and Jeremy said Hi I'm jeremy from Tivo, and sue is a customer of ours. You are familiar with Tivo aren't you? she said yes. We explained the situation that happened with the rep who just left... and she said can you hold while I talk with my supervisor. Then she gets back on the phone and apologizes and says I'd like to set up another service call and send another rep out there for you to install the cards.

So this saturday we'll try again.


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## midnightgirl

spenserj said:


> I was just on the phone with a Starstream rep and they are just a couple weeks away from having CableCards available - they have finished testing and just need to get the cards and service into their system. It does not appear that they have tested with a Series 3 so I may be the first guinea pig as I have scheduled a Dec 11 install date. I'll post my experience.


Read my experience with Insight. You may want to call Tivo and see if they can help you and your cable installer.


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## mercurial

I think the key is, when you get this crap form CableCos, is to just ask for a suprvisor and tell them nicely that you're going to double check with the FCC about their lack of cable card support and see how quickly their tone changes. Unless they're so small they have an exemption, that should get their attention pretty quickly.


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## colin1497

Just added a thread to discuss experiences with Allegiance Communications:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=329363


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## IDSmoker

Just added another new thread:

*CableONE*
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=330158


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## gwtamblin

spenserj said:


> I was just on the phone with a Starstream rep and they are just a couple weeks away from having CableCards available - they have finished testing and just need to get the cards and service into their system. It does not appear that they have tested with a Series 3 so I may be the first guinea pig as I have scheduled a Dec 11 install date. I'll post my experience.


I recently heard from them and they said the cable cards are ready. I've ordered my S3 and will order cable card installation when the S3 arrives. My email is gwtamblinATyahoo. Let me know how it goes with you and I'll do the same.


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## gwtamblin

My S3 arrived last week. Set it up over the weekend. The cable guy installed the cards yesterday. Everything is working GREAT! :up: I am their first install.


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## ssctv

Gwtamblin,

Thank you for allowing me to come to your home to install your S3 Tivo w/Cable Cards. Please contact me via email if you have any problems. Enjoy your new Tivo!

Spencerj,

Please contact Starstream offices via phone, ask for Ken J. to arrange for install of your cable card. In reading this forum, you stated you had an install arranged for December 11th, however i do not believe that your card was installed. Please let me know if this is the case, and we can get a card out to you for your Tivo.

Thanks,
Ken J.
Network Administrator
Starstream Communications


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## gtars

I just posted one for Grande Communications:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=4701661#post4701661


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## tdogg

Hi, I would also like to see a thread for Bresnan, they seem to be confused as to what cable cards are here in Cheyenne, Wy


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## bkhowson

Just in case anyone wanted to share their cablecard feedback directly with Tivo:

http://www.tivo.com/series3hdDvr_cc.asp

(One failed install today, next try Sunday...)


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## hookbill

I just got a letter from TWC saying they are increasing prices 5% across the board. Cable card price went from 1.75 first card 4.75 each additional to 2.50 first card and 5.50 each additional.

Also they have lowered the price of their DVR by 1.00.


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## dsmegma

I just hooked up my tivo 3 with 2 cards. I also have the hd cable box with card and tivo 2 hppked to that. I haven't checked the recording on my tivo 3 yet but my tivo 2 now records only audio and the video is blocked? I do ahve the hdmi hooked up direct to the back of my sony lcd tv but NOT to the cable box. Is there any renmedy to this crap? I mean why did I bother getting an Hd recorder if I cant record in Hd? How is giving me the run around cable of woodbury LI or Tivo? ANYONE please help or give any direction...


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## crumley

I just posted a thread for US Cable:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=4756966#post4756966


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## kjmcdonald

Here's an interesting Article on the unequal footing that CableCARDs have, and it has a link to send your comments to the FCC.

http://www.eff.org/IP/pnp/cablewp.php


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## edge64

Dan, please add Knology to your cable provider list. My recent experience with Series 3 cable card install.

- Ordered 2 cable cards on 2 Jan 2007. Knology initially wanted to charged for an additonal equipment install for second card but relented. Costs would be $16.95 for digital tier; $9.95 for HD package (not inc HBOHD or StarzHD) and $1.95 for each of the two cards.

- Tech showed at appointed time on Jan 9 but had no cards and wanted to install STB. I said no I ordered cards.

- Different Tech showed on next appointment, Jan 22, same story as first tech. I said do you have cards or not. He made a phone call and assured me he would show the next day with cards.

- Tech showed as promised on Jan 23 and had no experience with Tivo Series 3. He wanted to initially install both cards simulatenously but I stopped to follow Tivo provided instructions. First card worked in about 15 minutes. Second card would not install and he had no more cards. He came back next day and installed card 2 and it worked in 15 minutes.

- So far so good, basic analog good, digital and HD great!

- I will now check the first bill to ensure that the charges agreed to are followed.

Thanks Dan for what you are doing.

Don


----------



## Mike Farrington

edge64 said:


> Dan, please add Knology to your cable provider list. My recent experience with Series 3 cable card install.


According to the first post, I think you're supposed to create a thread titled "Official Knowlogy Cable Thread", post your story there, then provide Dan203 the link to that story so he can put it into his list of official threads.


----------



## gtars

Does Dan read this thread or do we need to send him a PM? I posted a link to my Grande Communications thread some time ago, but it hasn't been added to the original post yet.

Thanks,
Glenn


----------



## eluckie

QUESTION for EDGE64...What did you end up with your Knology charges being for both cards? I am in Montgomery and they are coming out Tomorrow (1/26) to install 2 cards in my S3. I have been told a number of things but the latest is that they will not charge me the digital tier price for either card, but they will charge $9.95 for High Def and $1.95 for each cable card. This means each card is going to cost me $11.90 per card per month.

That does seem steep and I may downgrade to just one card if we end up not recording a lot of HD shows at the same time.

Just curious what you ended up with. I too have had multiple trips to my house where they were supposed to install cablecards only to have them arrive empty handed. I have "fussed" enough that I now have the cell phone number of an Installation Manager and the direct number to a Billing Manager. Hopefully between the two things will get better tomorrow!!


----------



## Unfocused

Please add Official Buckeye Cablesystem CableCARD thread:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=4817486#post4817486


----------



## edge64

Dan

Please add Knology to your list.


----------



## edge64

Eluckie: My bill has not been finalized yet since I am still working card issues. I am expecting another visit this week. I had 2 cards installed and got intermittant channel drop on channels 911-919. I have now pulled card 2 out and the channels have stopped dropping for now. My intent is to have them reinstall a card 2 and then test. They have told me the cost would be:

$16.95 for digital tier
9.95 for HD tier
3.90 ($1.95x2 for cards)
______
$30.80 Total (email me @ edge273)


----------



## edge64

Mike, tell me how to create the link.


----------



## edge64

Official Knology Cable Thread

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=4811622&&#post4811622


----------



## Mike Farrington

edge64 said:


> Official Knology Cable Thread
> 
> http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=4811622&&#post4811622


No. Don't link to your post within THIS thread. You need to create a whole new thread, then a link to that thread in this thread.


----------



## edge64

Link to Knology Cable Card Thread

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=339203


----------



## edge64

Thanks Mike for your suggestion. I had not created a link before. Hope I got it right.


----------



## lgbalch

Re Insight. My experience with them in N Illinois (Rockford) was completely different from Midnightgirl's. They installed 2 CCs in by first Series 3 on Oct 2, and in my 2nd Series 3 on 3 Jan. Each time I called and ordered 2 cards without telling them what they were for. The installer in Oct had never seen a Series 3, of course. When he made his phone calls as per the TiVo installation sheet I gave him, there seemed to be a little confusion on the other end of the phone for a while, but eventually everything worked, and he asked for a copy of the installation sheet to take with him. He was here about 30 min. The second installer hadn't done a Series 3, either, but he had no difficulties (and seemed to be familiar with the TiVo remote and menu). Less than 30 min total time, installation cost was zero in October, $23.92 in Jan. (??) All 4 cards rent for $1.99 each per month. So I have nothing to criticize about Insight. But what a relief to get rid of the terrible Motorola DVRs they are using!


----------



## Diesel

Posted to the wrong forum...please ignore.


----------



## ilw-00

If you read today's Wall Street Journal, it appears new cable cards are coming. The last few lines are 

With a cable card-enabled TV, minimalists can hang their TVs on the wall and don't have to find a place to stash the cable box. The problem with the first generation of products has been that the TVs couldn't access video on demand or other functions that require two-way TV with just a cable card.

The new generation of cards and products has overcome that limitation, but TV makers so far aren't all that excited about the market since most consumers don't consider cable cards an important issue when buying a television set.

The full article is interesting.



Set-top cable TV boxes from different companies should soon be interchangeable,
thanks to a FCC initiative. This means that the boxes are likely to take on
different functions and could start cropping up in retail stores.

(as this forum states I can't post link, check it out. Thank you.)


----------



## MsUnderstood

I had to get Comcast cards up and working and in the process found this link which I was hoping could be edited into the first post:

http://techdigs.net/content/view/46/42/

It teachs YOU all about the cable card screens so you can teach your tech!


----------



## akhtar

My local provider is Phonoscope Cable in Houston TX. At first they said they would provide cable cards, but now they just say they have no plans to offer them.

I dont have any other choice, and im stuck with an s3 box which doesnt do much.

What can i do?


----------



## pl1

akhtar said:


> My local provider is Phonoscope Cable in Houston TX. At first they said they would provide cable cards, but now they just say they have no plans to offer them. I dont have any other choice, and im stuck with an s3 box which doesnt do much. What can i do?


You can still plug in the cableco's coax cable if you have cable and get all of the analog stations. And, if you are one of the lucky ones, you may be able to get digital HD channels over the air with a regular TV antenna. Pick up one at Radio Shack (so you can return it if you get nothing) and do a channel scan.


----------



## CharlesH

akhtar said:


> My local provider is Phonoscope Cable in Houston TX. At first they said they would provide cable cards, but now they just say they have no plans to offer them.


I thought that the early exemptions for smaller cablecos had expired, and now ALL cable companies were required to provide CableCards?  Maybe the cablecard support group at TiVo can help.


----------



## OneGr8Mick

I appologise if I am in the wrong forum, but im doing a cable card swap on Thurs. What is the best way to do it, i your opinion. Do a clear and delete, pull the cards run guided setup then run again once new cards are in, or just pull out the old put in the new and then run guided setup.

Thanks in advance

Micki


----------



## windracer

OneGr8Mick said:


> or just pull out the old put in the new and then run guided setup


That should be all you need to do.


----------



## OneGr8Mick

Windracer Thanks for the heads-up. Its much appreciated.

Micki


----------



## Jerry Wilson

Hi: I voluntered my time and Series 3 to get my local Cable Company up and rolling. I spent most of the day fooling around with this to no avail. I did everything except pull the cards, maybe after tomorrow I'll try that. My Series 3 see's the cards but they are not getting data from the cable company.

I wonder how one can post links/jpegs here? I see them on other pages.

Thanxxx


----------



## Jerry Wilson

What date is the Cable Card Mandate?


----------



## DocNo

Jerry Wilson said:


> What date is the Cable Card Mandate?


7/1/07


----------



## Razorbak

Dan203 said:


> If I missed your cable provider simply post a link to the offical CableCARD thread for that provider below and I'll add it to the list.
> 
> Dan





samual.icky said:


> My Wide Open West (WOW) experience (short and to the point)
> 
> http://tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=320180


Dan: Please add samual.icky's thread to the list at the top of this thread for WideOpenWest (WoW) subscribers. Thanks.


----------



## cryptmagic

Anyone know when cable companies will roll out M-Card multistream cable cards? I would love to know when Time Warner will be doing it.


----------



## megazone

Some, if not most, have M-Card now. But roll-outs tend to be region by region.


----------



## pattont

even if your company has them, does the S3 officially support them? I know the new charter 8300HD has a M-Card in the back of it, but it has a tamper sticker and its covered with a plastic piece thats screwed in. They said they wouldn't have the M-Cards available at least here till like 08' I know one of the senior techs here locally that does most of the cards installs he is going to bring me one asap when they get one 

Travis


----------



## megazone

The original S3 can only use M-Cards like an S-Card today, you'd still need two cards. The TiVo HD has full M-Card support.


----------



## sbiller

megazone said:


> Some, if not most, have M-Card now. But roll-outs tend to be region by region.


I have an M-Card install into my new TiVoHD scheduled for next Tuesday afternoon. I am with Brighthouse Networks Tampa, a subsidiary of TWC.


----------



## JoeSchueller

TWC In Cincinnati has m-cards in their own STB's, but will not supply them for TiVo customers. My FCC complaint goes in tomorrow.


----------



## sbiller

sbiller said:


> I have an M-Card install into my new TiVoHD scheduled for next Tuesday afternoon. I am with Brighthouse Networks Tampa, a subsidiary of TWC.


Brighthouse just showed up with an S-Card, SA Part #: PKM600 instead of the M-Card that I was supposed to receive. I have one stream working. The installer was, of course, clueless on the whole issue. I'm calling Brighthouse now to get a second S-Card or try for an M-Card again.


----------



## sbiller

sbiller said:


> Brighthouse just showed up with an S-Card, SA Part #: PKM600 instead of the M-Card that I was supposed to receive. I have one stream working. The installer was, of course, clueless on the whole issue. I'm calling Brighthouse now to get a second S-Card or try for an M-Card again.


I spoke with a Sales Associate for quite some time and she basically didn't think they had more than one kind of CableCARD. Anyway, I'm waiting on a call back from a tech.

Also found the fly sheet for the M-Card --> SA Product Sheets

The M-Card is the PKM800. The S-Card is the PKM600.


----------



## sbiller

FWIW, following in the footsteps of another TiVo community user who filed a complaint with the FCC, I filed the following letter to the FCC at [email protected] and the City of Tampa at City of Tampa Cable TV Complaints :

To whom it may concern,

My name is XXXX. I am a resident of Hillsborough County at XXXX. I am a current subscriber to cable television with Bright House Networks. I have two Tivo Series 3 Digital Video Recorders, which require two single-stream cableCARDS or one multi-stream cableCARD to receive digital cable television.

Bright House Networks recently raised its CableCARD monthly fee to $3.95 per card resulting in a monthly charge of $8.90 per TiVo unit to receive digital cable. This is $1.95 more than the monthly fee that Bright House Networks charges for one of their own HDTV cable boxes which is $6.95.

I feel that this is unfair, predatory pricing by Bright House Networks since the cableCARDS are required in the cable box for which they are charging less money. They are clearly trying to discourage the use of 3rd party devices like the TiVo or televisions equipped with cableCARD slots.

Since I have invested in TiVo hardware which requires cableCARDS to be fully functional, I have given up some of my rights as a consumer to choose TV service providers, in the hope that my local cable company (Bright House Networks) would provide a fair service at a fair price, and I must say I am very disappointed. Since there does not appear to be any other viable cable competition to Bright House Networks in my residence, I'm writing to you, hoping that the FCC is aware of, and can put a stop to these unfair pricing practices by Bright House Networks towards CableCARD users.

Sincerely yours,

XXXX

I know many of you pay more than $3.95 per card but $3.95 is clearly excessive pricing by Bright House.


----------



## magnum68

The comcast tech came over this morning with two cablecards and one of them did not work. To make matters worse, the comcast tech had never installed one in a Series 3 unit. He did not know what to do. He'll be back on Tuesday with the second cablecard. And now I can't get any channels over 25. Called comcast and they told me that the card has been activated but he has no idea how the Tivo unit works. This sucks big times. Anybody here have any idea on how I can get these channels to work? 


magnum68


----------



## marcsorel

magnum68 said:


> Called comcast and they told me that the card has been activated but he has no idea how the Tivo unit works. This sucks big times. Anybody here have any idea on how I can get these channels to work?


I'm in the same boat with Charter. The guy left me a couple of CableCards and then said he'd call me when I could put them in the TiVo- he called about 30 mins later and said they were activated, I put them in the S3 and nothing...

I've called the Charter 800 number a few times but no one seems to know anything- they just know that it's activated and should be working, and all I can get them to do is reconfirm the serial #s on the outside of the cards....

This just in- I got the first guy who gave me the cards to come back, and now he's on the phone with someone who wants things like Card ID #'s and Host #'s etc. I'm guessing we're headed in the right direction, but now on their end my main card says pair failed and my second seems stuck on pair pending and no one has any idea what to do.

Does anyone here have any advice/ideas? (It's quite sad that both the tech and the person at Charter have no clue what to do now)


----------



## magnum68

Comcast is sending another tech to my home tomorrow morning. I'm going to show him about cablecards on Tivo's website. There's some sort of instruction for installing the cablecards. Hopefully we'll be able to get it going.


magnum68


----------



## cody_dingo

TWC Kansas City just told me they are expecting to roll M-Cards out next week sometime. Two weeks at the latest. The guy told me he is testing "two kinds of tivo units" right now and "things look promising."

Just wanted to give the forum an FYI what I was told today.


----------



## magnum68

magnum68 said:


> Comcast is sending another tech to my home tomorrow morning. I'm going to show him about cablecards on Tivo's website. There's some sort of instruction for installing the cablecards. Hopefully we'll be able to get it going.
> 
> magnum68


No luck, two guys came. One of them had tivo experience. Brought three extra cards and he was on the phone with dispatch for a while and dispatch told him that all cards were bad. Even the tech didn't buy that. I just gave up and asked him if they had a dual tuner DVR in thier truck. They did so I'm going to use that for now. Way too much of a headache with these cablecards. Sorry Tivo but I will not use the series 3 until this cablecard dilema goes away. I am happy with Comcats's dual tuner DVR, for now!


----------



## CharlesH

marcsorel said:


> now on their end my main card says pair failed and my second seems stuck on pair pending and no one has any idea what to do


Since there is no communication path from the cablecards in the TiVo back to the cable system, I wonder how their end knows anything about the state of the cards?  Unless it is actually instead talking about some sort of internal consistency check in their databases?


----------



## srjtr7

Just got 4 cable cards for my 2 Tivo HD's

I have Fios in Arlington, MA. 

Tech showed up, put in 1 card in each. Broke out his laptop and entered the cards.

Checked the cannels.

Put in 2nd cards...registered on laptop and tested channels.

Ran the guided setup ...and everything went perfect.

I have not seen an pixels yet. What channels should I look on??


----------



## andrewket

I've got 3 TivoHDs up and running with 5 S-cable cards. The first card we tried to install was bad, and we had a few typos inputting all the data onto Verizon's provisioning system, but after that was rectified all went smoothly.

It's so nice to have my Tivos back. Now if Verizon would just get M-cards I would be happy.

Andrew


----------



## dubluv

just a headsup about two-way streaming capability for cc 1.0

here's my original link
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=364663


----------



## holligl

magnum68 said:


> No luck, two guys came. One of them had tivo experience. Brought three extra cards and he was on the phone with dispatch for a while and dispatch told him that all cards were bad. Even the tech didn't buy that. I just gave up and asked him if they had a dual tuner DVR in thier truck. They did so I'm going to use that for now. Way too much of a headache with these cablecards. Sorry Tivo but I will not use the series 3 until this cablecard dilema goes away. I am happy with Comcats's dual tuner DVR, for now!


Did you take it back through a Guided set-up? I had a Comcast setup last Saturday (suburban Chicago). The tech showed up without any cable cards, even though I told Comcast on the order I needed 1 M-card, and a Standard cable card for my Mitsubishi 231. After explaining what was needed, he left and came back with three M-cards. After several hours (their techs apparently wait in the phone queue just like we do) he still could not get all the channels or HD. (We tried one of the M-Cards in the Mitsubishi, which seems to recognize it, but it would not raise the Cable Card Menu to do the pairing. Plan to exchange and try a standard card.)

At this point he is checking all the cable signals, replaced some splitters, and left me another one for the attic. He is indicating the signal isn't good enough for digital, and I will have to get an amplifier.

He leaves, I run the Guided Set-up, and low and behold all the TiVo channels are working perfectly. I don't know if Comcast gave it another hit, or the Guided set-up was all that was needed. (Don't touch anything!)


----------



## ChromeAce

Please add Atlantic Broadband to your list.


----------



## aaronwt

I just had 4 Motorola cablecards installed in two TiVo HD boxes with FIOS TV. It took some time but they are working. At least the tech was able to do everything from his noteook pc. With Comcast they had to keep relaying info over the phone. Anyway it's working great so far. I'll be looking forward to December when I get my Series 3 boxes switched from Comcast to FIOS. I might do it sooner if everything works out OK for the rest of the month.


----------



## magnum68

I am thinking of buying a cablecard, maybe off ebay. I've had two bad experiences with the comcast techs not being able to get their cards working with my S3. So I don't want to waste my time with them. Has anyone ever bought their own cablecard and contacted comcast to have it activated? If so, was it successful? 


Magnum68


----------



## TheMightyTick

After waiting 3 days shy of one month for SuddenLink to get a shipment of cable cards, I have a successful cablecard install on my TiVo HD on the first attempt. They used Motorola S cards. It took about 1.5 hours. Here are some quick notes:

The first card installed and was activated, but when I would test the channels, I would get the channel names, but no video or audio on any channel. Not knowing what to do we went on to the next card, hoping that the audio and video would show up later on the first card. The second card was installed and activated but would never show the channel names. The installer had the cable company hit the cards again. Then both cards got stuck on channel 3.

The installer said this was a good sign as he sees this happen on the cable provided DVRs and cable boxes he installs. He said that once the order is closed out then everything typically works. It was late on a Friday and he had to go and just suggested I wait and see if it would work at some point over the weekend and if not, call for help Monday. I didn't like being left, but the installer was not solving the problem so I understood. He made a comment that when installers get a job to install a cablecard, they usually try to push it off onto another installer. He said it could take anywhere from 15 minutes to 3 hours!

After he left I waited maybe 10 minutes and got nothing. The cablecard statuses were all OK, so I decided to simply choose to restart the TiVo HD from the menus. Once it rebooted, everything started working perfectly.

I think if I had known that a reboot was required, it could have cut the install time in half or even less (since the installer reworked some of my cable splitters). At one point the installer wanted me to get out of the cablecard channel test screen and use the reguler TiVo channel tuning. I didn't think it was a good idea because it must connect and get all the program guide and such, but he insisted. It ended up taking maybe 20 to 25 minutes!! And you cannot cancel it!

I did get really annoyed that I asked for cablecards to be installed in my TiVo HD on Aug 10 and was told that as a policy, SuddenLink only supports installing cablecards in TVs and their own equipment. I told them that that policy would probably make me not be a customer of theirs soon. Then that night I found out about the FCC cablecard mandate and went back the next day. They promptly scheduled an install for 2 days later. Got a call on install day, 10 minutes after the window opened, from the installer saying that they were all out of cards and it would be 2 or 3 days to get some more in. After waiting 1 week I heard nothing and called and they said they are still on order. I was beginning to worry about them just delaying things to avoid installing in my TiVo HD.

I waited 1 more week and heard nothing and called and was told they were still on order and then I demanded to know when they would be expected to arrive and was told Aug 31. I went on Aug 30 to the cable office to complain and such and luckily the warehouse manager showed up to say that the cablecards had arrived the day before. The scheduled the install for Sep 7, which was successful, thankfully.


----------



## clcbmason

Time Warner Cable- Chapel Hill

So I got my HD from Amazon and made and appt. to have the cards installed. I asked the woman who books appts. to have the guy bring two S cards and an M card just in case. He got to my house and told me that he had never heard of M cards and neither had the guy at the place where he picks up equipment for jobs. He DID bring two S cards so I thought that we would be good to go. He puts them in and calls TW to get them activated and is surprised when the supervisor of the techs asks to speak with me. So I get on the techs cell phone and this guy proceeds to tell me that I should have specified that these were going in a Tivo HD ( I did) and that the FCC has started fining them because they have been using S cards in the Tivos. I was floored. He had no answers as to why they would single out Tivo owners...yada yada yada!
Long story short he said that they would "track down an M card" and make another appt. So that is where I stand. This is getting frustrating to say the least. They said they would call me first thing Monday the 17th although I am not holding my breath. I did get a hold of a customer service supervisor and the install will be free b/c of the screwup.

BTW I called Tivo to see what they thought of the FCC thing and the tech said it was horses**t.


----------



## johnb73

Note on Cablecards and Tivo3 problems:

Just to have my experience written down for the record, and hopefully this is a good place for it.

I was having what I thought were problems with TWC cable in NY. On the 2nd tuner, with 2 SA cards installed, I would get what I thought was the usual pixelation/macroblocking issues that I read about all over these forums. However, it wasnt until a Wikipedia visit that I realized I was not having pixelation or macroblocking, but simple video data errors. I had lived with this problem since installation, mostly attributing it to "bad channels" because the video corruption/audio loss seems to be occurring on certain cable channels that we frequented. The funny thing was that the 1st tuner was fine, and both cards where the exact same SA cards. I also thought for a while that it was a signal strength problem, because the Tivo meter showed 99% on the 1tuner and sometimes 89% on the "bad channels". But, once I realized that it was just simple data errors, I recalled the cablecard setup screen. 

When you configure the cablecard, there is the SP diganostic screen (the first screen viewable on the list). This had a field for "Decryption". On the 1st card, it said "OK" and on the second it said "No ECM detected" or something close. Now, of course, my tech knowledge told me ECM = error correcting module. Ah-a! Did I feel silly after almost a year of living with the corruption. So I just ejected the card and reinserted it until the 2nd card read "Decryption=OK" and I have been ok since. I might get an artifact once per show, but the improvement is dramatic making all shows watchable once more. Hopefully this helps people out there like me who have been combing these forms for months upon months trying to find the solution.

some key words for those google searchers;
tivo3 HD pixelation corrupt video error audio loss


----------



## Patranus

Well,

Had 2 cable cards installed Wed. Didn't work. Tech came on Friday, 1 worked 90% of the channels, the other worked with 10% of the channels.

Just got off the phone with Comcast. Have to have a 3rd tech come out.

I was also informed that they will be taking away some HD channels which were "grandfathered" into my plan and still charge me the same amount per month.

Kinda wish I never bought my TiVo and switched to Direct TV - But now love my TiVo and would never consider getting ride of it. ARRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## t-shady

For those of you that have Service Electric of Lehigh Valley, PA (SECTV)

I picked up my 2 cablecards for my HD Tivo with no issues. They are $2.95/mo to rent and require a $25/ea deposit. I didn't realize, but they are multi-cards so you only need 1 of them for your HD Tivo. I will have to return my un-used card.

Installation was incredibly painless. I popped the card in and called the service department to activate the card (they provide the card number on your receipt). I was up and running in less than 5 minutes. SECTV does not provide onDemand, but you can still order pay-per-view with the cablecard.

-t


----------



## George Cifranci

JoeSchueller said:


> TWC In Cincinnati has m-cards in their own STB's, but will not supply them for TiVo customers. My FCC complaint goes in tomorrow.


For what its worth TWC in Columbus, Ohio has M-Cards and installed one in my Tivo Series 3 (to replace a S-Card that went bad). Still running in S-Card in slot 2 though. So at least they have no issues with putting M-Cards in Tivo's.

However, there seems to be an issue with Scientific Atlanta M-Cards and the Tivo Series 3 that I am working with a CableCard guru at TW Columbus with (they have a Tivo Series 3 in their shop as well).


----------



## ji0005

Just an FYI, I called today to setup an appointment for a cable card install for my new Tivo HD, and they informed me that all Chicago offices (not sure about burbs) will now allow the customer to pickup cards. So I headed over and grabbed one.


----------



## mrdazzo7

Man i WISH Cablevision did the same thing... I hate the idea of having an installer come, because not only do I have to wait around for a 'window' of four hours, but I don't own the house I live in so I hate having random people come in to do stuff to my TV (haha). Would so much rather pick up the cards and activate myself, since I can follow the Tivo directions and get it done, unlike some of the cocky techs who refuse to read then spend two hours getting no where. Hopefully my experience isn't that bad.


----------



## johnnylundy

My Comcast tech had two comments:

1. "Hey, I didn't know you had to insert the cards one at a time."

2. "I'm on a CableCARD job. I really kind of hate these things because they usually don't work."

No wonder they "don't work" if he doesn't know how to install them.

I insisted that he follow the TiVo directions. It worked fine.


----------



## Joybob

What's the point?

I just got my S3 box and it's so much better than the box the cable company gives.

That aside, I stole the M-card from the cable companies box and stuck it in the tivo and it works fine. My question is; is there any point to having an M-card vs. a S-card. I thought a S3 couldn't handle multi-stream from 1 card. If that's the case why is it so much more expensive than the Tivo HD? Is this something they can fix with an update?


----------



## magnum68

Joybob said:


> What's the point?
> 
> I just got my S3 box and it's so much better than the box the cable company gives.
> 
> That aside, I stole the M-card from the cable companies box and stuck it in the tivo and it works fine. My question is; is there any point to having an M-card vs. a S-card. I thought a S3 couldn't handle multi-stream from 1 card. If that's the case why is it so much more expensive than the Tivo HD? Is this something they can fix with an update?


So you stole the cablecard that belongs to the cable company? You must be a great role model to your kids.


----------



## roofnron

JetBroadband


----------



## Joybob

Is there any chance at all of Multi-stream capability being enabled on the S3? I don't understand why the premium Tivo should require us to go through the hassle of paying for two CC's every month.


----------



## cryptmagic

Hey Does any Manhattan Time Warner subscribers know if Time Warner is offering M-Cards in that area?


----------



## a68oliver

Zap2it lists two lineups for my zipcode, Insight Communications- Cable and Insight Communications- Digital. My Tivo S3 and S1 see only one lineup, the analog one.

I do not yet have CableCards installed. Does that supress the listing of digital lineups/channels? Should I see a digital lineup even though I don't have the CableCards installed yet? Will the digital channel listings suddenly appear after installing the CableCards?

I don't want to go to the trouble of installing (and paying for) CableCards if Tribune does not even have a digital lineup available for my zip. Do I need to deal with this before the cable tech comes?

I understand that the CableCards allow the guide/listings to find the correct channels. I just am not sure if I even have the listings.


----------



## Islanti

a68oliver said:


> I do not yet have CableCards installed. Does that supress the listing of digital lineups/channels? Should I see a digital lineup even though I don't have the CableCards installed yet? Will the digital channel listings suddenly appear after installing the CableCards?


Yes, you'll only see the "full" lineup of channels once you can actually receive them via CableCARD.


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## sketchy12314

Does the FCC mandate that cableco's provide 2 single stream cards for the series 3 or are they only required to provide the one single stream? If so can someone link the source. 

thanks


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## hkancyr

Comcast in New Haven seems to have it's stuff together. 2 cards in, both SA, both work. Tech brought 3 just in case, so I had a good feeling about the guy right then and there. 
Kept my cable box and use it for VOD. I don't use it much but the HD stuff is cool, so I'll probably give it back when I get over the HD.


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## a68oliver

Considering all the horror stories I have read about ordering CableCards, I was prepared for grief when I placed my order today.

I walked into my Insight office and ordered two CableCards. They will cost me less than $2.00 each and a $10 installation/activation charge. That is it.

If I understand things correctly, they will get me my Basic and Classic lineups (which I already subscribe to with analog service) with no additional charges.

Let's hope the installation goes smoothly on Tuesday.


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## Joybob

a68oliver said:


> Considering all the horror stories I have read about ordering CableCards, I was prepared for grief when I placed my order today.
> 
> I walked into my Insight office and ordered two CableCards. They will cost me less than $2.00 each and a $10 installation/activation charge. That is it.
> 
> If I understand things correctly, they will get me my Basic and Classic lineups (which I already subscribe to with analog service) with no additional charges.
> 
> Let's hope the installation goes smoothly on Tuesday.


Dude, no high-def?


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## a68oliver

Joybob said:


> Dude, no high-def?


Yes, six basic channels are Hi-Def.


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## t001z

Comcast in Chicago (IL) area came out to hook up my 2 cable cards on Friday (they told me they do not do M cards). When the guy got here he told me "I hope you know what I am supposed to do, cause I have never done one of these cable cards before". I have a TiVoHD.

In our area, first cable card is free, second costs about $2 per month.

Well he brought 2 out with him and both reported as error code 161-1 (bad card) so he came out the next day with 5 cards (2 of them were M). He popped in the first card which was an M card and boom, we were in business. He swore that I needed a second card (which just did not jive with his statement the day before, but hey, he was there and I already agreed to pay the $26 for the installation. As soon as he popped in the 2nd M card, TiVo reported that M card was not needed in the 2nd slot, it could only handle single stream. It required an OK.

As soon as we hit 'Select', TiVo reported next reported that it could only handle 2 streams so the 2nd card "would be ignored, please remove". That about did it so, I did not have to pay anything for the multi-stream card (or we will see about that the first billing cycle, maybe $1.91/month) -- YEAH FOR ME!!


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## pl1

CharlesH said:


> Since there is no communication path from the cablecards in the TiVo back to the cable system, I wonder how their end knows anything about the state of the cards?  Unless it is actually instead talking about some sort of internal consistency check in their databases?


There is some sort of communication back. When I was on the phone with a CSR last night, after he sent a hit, he would tell me that one of my 4 cards did not respond to any commands. I could hear a beep in the background while I was on the phone. So, there is some acknowlegement going on.


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## a68oliver

a68oliver said:


> Considering all the horror stories I have read about ordering CableCards, I was prepared for grief when I placed my order today.
> 
> I walked into my Insight office and ordered two CableCards. They will cost me less than $2.00 each and a $10 installation/activation charge. That is it.
> 
> If I understand things correctly, they will get me my Basic and Classic lineups (which I already subscribe to with analog service) with no additional charges.
> 
> Let's hope the installation goes smoothly on Tuesday.


Tuesday came and went with a smooth installation in my S3. Installer was here less than an hour and we managed to chit chat about other issues and topics. The only thing that was a little scary was that the install instructions from the Tivo box and the online sources did not exactly match all the screens and messages we got. We never did get a message about the 2nd card acquring channels. There was some confusion about hitting the first card, hanging up, installing the 2nd card, calling back and hitting it. The installer and the tech on the phone weren't quite sure if they could leave the 2nd part of the install open and pending or if they needed to close the work order. I am not sure how the did it, but it worked fine.


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## Joybob

sketchy12314 said:


> Does the FCC mandate that cableco's provide 2 single stream cards for the series 3 or are they only required to provide the one single stream? If so can someone link the source.
> 
> thanks


I've been asking that myself for a while. My cableco. only supplies 1 card per household.


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## gamo62

Anyone know if there is a place that just sells cable cards? I am looking for a PKM800 Mstream Sci Atl cable card. Thanks.


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## steinercat

Got my 2 cable cards installed today by Cox Las Vegas.

I called them yesterday for install at 3PM, the cable guy called at 1PM to ask if he could come early. 

The guy brought 5 cards..and this was a good thing as 3 did not work!

Finally got 2 paired and all is well. He had NEVER installed on a THD.

Really interesting to hear many other people complain about Cox in other States, but I've had nothing but good luck and success in dealing with them here in Vegas.

Time to get an Expander tomorrow.


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## johnnylundy

steinercat said:


> The guy brought 5 cards..and this was a good thing as 3 did not work!
> 
> Finally got 2 paired and all is well. He had NEVER installed on a THD.


Glad to hear you are up and running.

I still hold to the theory that the CableCARDs aren't actually "bad" - it's just that they don't follow the instructions and wait for the TiVo to do its processing, and they yank the card out, or try and put two cards in at once, or any number of other things that they could avoid by simply following the one-page TiVo instructions.

But now, instead of realizing that it's their own fault, they have passed around the advice to each other that they need to bring a "handful" of cards, and when the first two are deemed "bad" because they didn't follow the directions, they somehow do the next two correctly and then deem that card to be "good."

It's not as if they have to attend a six-week course at their own expense to learn this - it's all on a single page of instructions.


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## wokNroll

I decided to take advantage of the recent lifetime subscription deal for existing customers. I thought I'd share my experience with Comcast trying to convince them to give me a cablecard

I only have limited basic cable and am paying $16 / month. My HDTV has a QAM tuner so I'm currently able to receive local channels in HD and a handful of other random channels in digital (cspan, CNN, jewlry shopping channel, comcast sports). But since Tivo HD does not have any QAM channel mapping, the only way to use the Tivo HD with season passes, guide, etc... is to get a CableCard.

So after receiving my TivoHD, I called Comcast and told them I would need a CableCard for my Tivo. The rep's first reaction was: "well you only have limited basic analog cable and not a digital package, so I can't give you a cablecard." This is clearly wrong, and I told him I knew for a fact that people are able to get CableCards without having any digital packages. He put me on hold while he checked with his supervisor and came back and said I was right. I then asked if I could do a self installation and pick up a cable card from a local office. He said this wasn't possible and they would have to send someone to install it for me. Since I've been reading that some Comcast areas have self-installation, I decided to give up on the phone and drop by my local comcast office to see if they had self install CableCards there.

At the local office (Santa Clara, CA), I asked the rep there if I could add a CableCard for it to go in a Tivo. She gave me the same spiel about not having a digital package so there would be an extra $3 charge per month for the CableCard. AND since it was for a Tivo, I would need to get a *second* CableCard for another $7.25 a month. So it would be an extra $10 a month for two freaking cable cards. What BULLS***!! She even contradicted herself at one point saying that the CableCards were only meant Comcast DVR's!

No matter what she tried, she wasn't able to play around with her computer to avoid those charges. I tried explaining that a second CableCard was not necessary since most cablecards today are mCards. She didn't even know what a mcard was. I also tried explaining that it says on the comcast *website* that the first cablecard is FREE! She countered by saying it was only free for people with the digital package. Whatever. I gave up and decided to try my luck over the phone again.

I called Comcast again. This time I simply said: "Hi, I just got an HDTV and I need a CableCard for it." I did not mention it was for a Tivo. This time, the lady said, "well I see that you only have the limited basic package... you realize that you won't be getting many HD channels right?... only local HD channels" I said "Yes, I know. Thats fine." She then asked how many CableCards I needed. I said: it depends if the card is an mCard or a sCard. She said it'd be an mCard. So I just ordered one. I asked if there would any additional monthly charges, she said nope, just a one time $13.99 installation fee. I said that's fine and went ahead with the order. It won't be until next week when the truck roll happens, but I'm hoping the service person will know how to handle a Tivo. I'm still a little worried about that because I neglected to mention it was for a Tivo.

Lessons learned:
* When attempting to get a CableCard from Comcast, don't mention Tivo. It seems like they go out of their way to find ways to charge you extra.
* It's hit or miss with the knowledge of the Comcast reps over the phone. If one is giving you trouble, just give up and try calling back to get another. The last rep I talked to didn't give me any trouble.
* The service rep at the local office in Santa Clara, CA is an idiot.

Has anyone had this trouble with limited basic + CableCard in the Bay Area? Is it required that Comcast know that the CableCard will be for a Tivo HD? I told them it was for a HDTV, but it shouldn't matter right?


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## johnnylundy

No, it won't matter.

This is what we have to do when these moronic companies simply will not train their people.

I've had to do the same sort of thing for 23 years when calling for information about cable and my many Macs. I just tell them that I have a PC. I even have a tape recording of a PC starting up to play for them when they tell me to "reboot." Meanwhile I smoke a cigar. This way I never have to hear the stupid morons parroting "We don't support Macs."

Sez me: Yes you do - you just don't know it.

So I think it's a great idea that once they have demonstrated to you that they know nothing about M-cards or TiVos, not even the simple fact that they are the same as for a TV, then you just tell them you have a TV, and when the guy comes, just tell him the rep must have mis-heard you.

Then hand him the TiVo installation instructions (one page) and make sure he follows it. Keep the remote yourself so you can make sure he doesn't bail out of the screens too early declaring the card "bad."

If he says the card is "bad" because he didn't follow the directions, ask him if he will let you keep it. Then you can "install" it yourself and call Comcast with the numbers.


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## xfm

Got FIOS installed yesterday. Tech was at my house from 9:30AM to 8:30PM. Last four hours or so were getting CCs installed and activated. He told me up front that this would be his first CC install, but otherwise, he was very informed and did a first-class job in installing internet and TV 'drops'. Very neat and clean. When we got to CC install, the first CC proved bad, but that was not established before getting caught in numerous 'endless loops' in the guided setup process while troubleshooting. Restarted three times before we tried the second CC in Slot 1 and it worked! Tech then called a colleague who dropped off two more CCs to my house. Got both installed, but tech needed POD-ID to activate remotely, but didn't know what that was. It took a call to Verizon FSC specialist to get both cards up and running. All seems OK. Getting all premium and HD channels. All is well with the world. Calling Comcast today to cancel internet service, and will be saying sayonara to D*TV after ten moderately happy years. Have one HR10-250 plus two Series 2 D*TiVos (one 70hr, one 140hr) and two Series 1 D*TiVos. Is there any market for these units?


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## rjom

Not sure if this is the correct place for this post, as it looks like everyone is talking about installation issues. My S3 has needed a reboot 2x this week to recapture the signal. This happens occasionally. I am concerned I might miss shows I want recorded. Why does this occur? Is there a fix, or do I just have to keep restarting? Sometimes, it just comes back after 5 or ten minutes. Rick


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## seant169

I live in Forney Texas near Dallas. 

I had trouble getting the cable cards for about 6 mths . Finally they brought me one out one day then brought another cable card another day.

HURRAY they both work.

Setup is simple. but suddenlink makes it hard because they dont communicate with their employees about how to activate and who activates.

The cable cards do work good.

Some of their channels on the high end ch 311 G4 tv has some compression issues. i can be verry bothersome.

Finally I can love my tivo at another level. :up:


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## BigDuke6

I bought my first series 3/HD a couple of months ago. When I called to order the Cablecards, the "Customer Service" drone told me that "Cablecards do not work with HD". After a little poking around on the web, I figured out that this was simply not true. It might seem kind of obvious, but looking on the TiVo site, to make sure that a HD/Cablecard works with HD was a bit of an exercise in frustration. 

Finally, I figured it out on some discussion boards (they work just fine, save VOD), and called TWC back and scheduled an appointment. Installation was a breeze.

Last week I got another Series 3/HD and called for an install. The Moxi box that I am replacing is SLOW, noisy, and runs HOT. (I don't fault the Moxi software, the box is just completely underpowered and poorly designed). 

Anyway, I had a sneaking suspicion when I made the appointment that something would go wrong. Call it "Cablecard paranoia", but I just think TWC thinks it's in their best interest to mess with Cablecard users.

First however, I was pleasantly surprised, when they offered me a time-window for the installation (something that has never happened to me in my Cable TV past). But it all went south from there.

My family was at home at the appointed hour, and once the window had open and closed, I called TWC. The CSR told me that the installer had been trying to contact me, except that my phone had not rung, there was no voicemail, my callerID log showed no calls, and I was within 10 feet of my front door for the entire time. 

I told the CSR that I was at home, waiting for the call, and there was no problems with my phone line. I was told that the installer would be there shortly. 

An hour later, I called back, and was told that the installer "could not contact me, and could not access my building". I was not happy. After waiting another 20 minutes to talk to a supervisor, I was offered $20 as recompense for my time and told that it was "too late to request a 'go back'", and that my install had to be rescheduled for another day.

My question is this... does anyone else out there have similar stories? Am I just being paranoid, or does requesting a Cablecard automatically trip some kind of corporate "dirty tricks". I know that the Telco's did a pretty good job screwing independent DSL service providers by delivering such a low level of support that many customers just blamed the service provider and found Broadband in other ways.

What do you think?


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## SoonerOrLater

TWC Southern California (Calabasas, Agoura Hills): 
One Motorola M-Card: $1.72/month

After 4 weeks and 4 technician visits, I finally have a working M-Card in my TiVo HD DVR.
All previous techs (3rd party service companies) had brought S-Cards (although the work order specified M-Card) that were either not working properly, or the tech didn't know how to set them up with TiVo (or the TW tech at the call center didn't know). 
I kept getting conflicting responses from TW customer service: some were saying M-Cards were not available, others were saying they had received them. The 3rd party techs had never heard about M-Cards. 
In the end, it took a supervisor 1 hour to set it up (some HD channels were missing).

But, now I have an M-Card that's working.

Now, if TiVo could fix the video blackout bug...
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb...d.php?t=365824


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## trlyka

I see a lot of posts regarding do-it-yourself cable card installs, cards not working....etc.

I work for a cable company. I was able to do my own cable card installs only because I work here. Actually my husband did our S3 unit and I did my Mothers S3 unit. The techs have to call into our diapatch or Network operations department to read off numbers etc.... The general public does not have access to the departments that the techs call into. There are a lot of behind the scene changes going on to your account in order to get the cards to work properly. 

We use Motorola cards, and for some reason, we have a lot of problems with them. I think it's a similar situation for most cable cards/companies. 

I think I am the only person in my call center that owns Tivo units. It is not a component that there is training for, but you should never hear that the cable cards won't work in a Tivo. 

When we schedule an appointment for the cards, we have 1 person who will do the scheduling. She will ask what kind of TV the cards will be installed into. So I don't know that avoiding saying what it's for will help unless other cable companies don't bother asking this.

It's a fairly new technology and when Tivo released the HD & S3 boxes, we were bombarded with calls for the cards. More and more techs are learning to install them, where as before, there were only a few techs that were trained to do it.

I am hoping that there will be some sort of training on this so reps have a basic knowledge of Tivo. I have suggested this several times. Even just connecting the Tivo infared receivers to the cable box is something none of the reps can do to help a customer with Tivo. 

Just a little FYI


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## johnnylundy

> I am hoping that there will be some sort of training on this so reps have a basic knowledge of Tivo. I have suggested this several times.


It is a SINGLE PAGE that comes with the TiVo. I wouldn't even call it "training." If the installer techs would just lose the attitude and READ THE SINGLE PAGE AND FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS, then they would not make the stupid mistakes they make. Oh, and bring the card that was requested. Don't show up not knowing what you are there for - read the work order. If the work order is blank, call in before going to the house so that you appear to know what you are doing when you greet the customer. The information about which customer it is and what time the appointment is, is given at the exact same time that the purpose of the call is given, so it makes absolutely no sense that the address would be on the work order and the reason for the visit would not be. But somehow they manage to do this.


> Even just connecting the Tivo infared receivers to the cable box is something none of the reps can do to help a customer with Tivo.


They should not have to do that. That is a TiVo installation issue.

With everything computerized these days, the fact that somebody has to call somebody else on a phone and read them numbers that they type into a computer just boggles the mind.

Why not give the installers a laptop, and access to the customer database through the cable so they can just configure the cards themselves?


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## artmail

I would like to start a thread for Astound Cable in Concord and Walnut Creek, California.


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## maddox1001

http://knology.com/


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## jilted

i just wanted to add my .02 worth:

Charter would not let me take a cable card home and install myself... they said they had to send out a PROFESSIONAL to install it

so... he showed up 3 hours late and...

wait for it....

HE PLUGGED IT IN BACKWARDS AND COULD NOT FIGURE OUT WHAT WAS WRONG WITH IT!

i didn't immediately go up to the box and look i was politely letting him do his job he kept telling his dispatch that it still isnt working

i finally went up to the box and noticed it right away and i said 'here's the problem dummy'

yeah well... he wasn't nice to me after that

glad they had a PROFESSIONAL come out to get me set up


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## johnnylundy

LOL - it just keeps getting worse and worse.

I'm amazed he could even figure out how to start his truck to drive out there.


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## AlexK777

Called Time Warner in Austin. The cards are pretty cheap ($2.68 each), and I was planning to get 4 cards (2 Tivos). The rep was very friendly, but told me that it was $30 *per card* for the installation. It is bad enough they have to send a rep out in the first place, but this is totally ridiculous. I tried to protest, but no dice.


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## CaseyK24

With all the problems listed here I might as well chime in with a success story so people aren't too intimidated by the process. I have two HD Tivo's. The first install did not go well from Cablevision but it turned out to be a faulty slot 2 on the Tivo HD. Tivo sent me a new Tivo HD (bought from Tivo.com) and I was able to activate the two cable cards over the phone - no second visit needed. They had left the cards when Tivo RMA'd the Tivo HD. 

Then bought a second Tivo HD - Cablevision came with three cards - first two seemed to work fine but they had trouble activating the second on their side so the installed put in the third one and no problems. Originally did not get the higher channels but called Cablevision and they took care of it right away through resending the signal.

Right now have both working with all four tuners are really no problems - very very very slight pixelation sometimes but had that with the Cablevision box also and almost all recordings are perfect.

If you are thinking of getting the Tivo HD - go for it - a little bit of setup as opposed to the Series 2 but not too bad and worth it.

Casey


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## typer_126

artmail said:


> I would like to start a thread for Astound Cable in Concord and Walnut Creek, California.


Seconded. I have Astound coming out this Saturday to install the cards in my Series 3. I'm more than happy to report back, but I'd like to make sure it's in the appropriate spot.


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## DaBayer

Can you scoop up the Insight stuff and drop it in an Insight thread?

I'm dealing with Insight Louisville from Radcliff.


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## Al-Mann

Thread for Grande Communications Cable Cards...


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## jjp007

I installed a S card into my Tivo HD and it was properly paired and worked for a few days then I realized I needed either another S card or an M Card. I got an M Card and tried to install that one but Comcast is having trouble getting it to authorize.
Should I have done something to the Tivo before installing the second M Card? Resetting the box to the factory settings to prepare it for a new CC pairing?

**edit, Comcast has finally got the M card working***


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## daavo

Do Not Despair - reading all these negative posts you would think that problems are the norm - let me relay my story - i got my Series 3 about a year ago - it took two or three times to get it installed correctly on the first go round but once it they got it right the unit has worked flawlessly until last week when it seemed to lose reception on card #1 only - I called cablevision told them my cc #1 seemed to not be working - they sent a tech the next day - he swapped out the card for a new one - boom no problem. for those of you who might be having a problem don't worry it will probably go smoothly.


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## smb56

I have had Cable Cards for about 15 months now and Cox Cable Middle Ga. is getting ready for some really good HD upgrades over what we currently have. Needless to say, I can't get 3 of the new HD channels and called Cox Tech Support. Come to find out, they won't upgrade any existing Cable Card to the new channels as they are already in the field. I am waiting on a supervisor to call me back as I write this. With the amount of money I spend with Cox every month, I am expecting a whole lot better customer service than this.


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## kiwi22

Here's my problem...Comcast has told me that their cablecards simply do not work in my county. However, I have one that was installed by a contractor that gets half of the channels and I have one sitting in my tivo that has not been activated.

I have all the numbers I need to give them if I decide to call. Should I just ask for an activation? If so, is it possible for them to resend a signal to my other card to get the other channels working? What are the buzz words I need to use? I don't want to spend hours on the phone with them like I did last time.


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## trlyka

kiwi22 said:


> Here's my problem...Comcast has told me that their cablecards simply do not work in my county. However, I have one that was installed by a contractor that gets half of the channels and I have one sitting in my tivo that has not been activated.
> 
> I have all the numbers I need to give them if I decide to call. Should I just ask for an activation? If so, is it possible for them to resend a signal to my other card to get the other channels working? What are the buzz words I need to use? I don't want to spend hours on the phone with them like I did last time.


Did they say why the cable cards don't work in your county? It shouldn't matter where in the system you live, the cards should work, but I can't say for sure. I would want to know why that is. Unless there is some unwritten rule, I have never heard that a card won't work based on where you live.

I myself have gone through missing channels a few times (very sparatic too) and no real valid reason. They just stop comning in. Also, my Mom had a black screen on both her cards until hits were sent. It's usually trial and error on getting them to work. Cable cards can be a real PITA and troubleshooting for them is limited from most customer service reps. Since I have Tivo and a total of 6 cards between my 2 units and my Moms unit, I have learned a little about what works and what doesn't.

We have a seperate behind the scenes department that enters the card information in the system. Customer service reps don't have access to enter this information or change it. We can only see the card numbers and send hits as well as pair/unpair the cards. In a case that a customer removes the card(s) and the Host Data and Host ID numbers change, they need to be re entered. The numbers will usually change if you pull the card out of the Tivo. I don't think the techs tell customers not to remove the cards and I don't think a lot or reps know what to look for or how to ask you to check the numbers on the Tivo. If a customer calls with a cable card issue, I go as far as to call my internal department who will "work thier magic" since I am limited in what I can do for a customer. Most reps set up trouble calls and do very little troubleshooting simply because they are unfamiliar with the cards. Also, I find a lot of times a hit to the card will take a while to work. With a cable box it's almost instant to get missing channels, but with a cable card it seems to take a lot longer. Long enough to make you think it didn't work and then create a trouble call.

If you are having a problem with your cards and call customer service........IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO TELL THE REP YOUR CARD NUMBERS AND CONFIRM THEY MATCH. Without the right information on both ends, the cards will never work right. Don't assume the information hasn't changed. Always have the rep check to make sure it matches.

I can certainly understand the frustrations of everyone here. I am a cable card customer too. But I also work on the receiving end. Cable cards became very popular very fast. Especially with Tivo's HD boom. It was all we could do to get the installs done without a bunch of mistakes. Then we had so many on back order, customers were double mad that they had to wait. I don't know how it is in other cable systems, but we had a tough time keeing up with demand. We have just recently caught up on all the back orders


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## Philtho

Here is a success story. Madison, WI. Charter.

I picked up my HD Tivo a few weeks back at Best Buy. I had called Charter up and confirmed that I could get two cablecards installed a few days later. I found out after I bought my HD Tivo that I could just use a single multi-stream cablecard. So I called Charter back and they said no problem, your install order has been updated. They gave me an AMAZING deal on every single channel they offered, so I went for it. Literally everything. Cheap! 

The install day came, I left work early, and the guy showed up on time. He was pretty damn nice, knew what he was doing, and slapped the card in the slot, we went through the Tivo walkthrough, and we got nothing but a black screen. We went to the test channels and we got more black screen, but the channel names and logo were showing up, so it was getting SOME information. He called in to his site and spoke with someone, they said everything was fine on their end when suddenly the test channels started showing a picture.

Patience is a virtue. 

You just need to let the cablecards download info, handshake, make love, whatever it is they do for five to ten minutes before you should start worrying. He mentioned they do so few cablecard installs that its still a learning process. (This was a bit upsetting. I've used their Moxi box, and i'd rather be in the UK with a single channel to watch than use it. It's that bad.)

We tested all the channels, everything looked amazing. I was happy, he was happy, and he packed up and left after a total of maybe 20-30 minutes. Not bad, probably the quickest cable install I've ever experienced. 

If it's too good to be true, it probably is.

I noticed I wasn't getting Showtime, or Showtime HD. It was very easy to overlook when you've suddenly got 600,342 channels to look at. I called up Charter and got a very nice person and told her how nice the install went with the exception that I am not getting my Showtime. Long story short, the guy who gave me that original AMAZING deal basically lied to me about everything. They work on commission, so he signed me up for every package with NO DISCOUNT. I broke down the price points of the deal the guy gave me (After dealing with cable companies for the past 20 years, always write everything down. Time, date, person, every pricing detail, etc. TRUST ME ON THIS.) .. I went through item by item, etc. She mentioned that they do have some of those deals, but they've all expired, and some didn't even exist. She loved the fact that I had the guys name, apparently they can catch people trying to scam the system and maybe they get commission for catching people trying to get commission. Who knows, it gave me a laugh. She asked me to hold on so she could talk to her super. When she came back, she mentioned she couldn't offer me the same deal the guy did, but she was allowed to use any specials in the system she had available, and she could work it as close as she could get it. We spent maybe two hours on the phone, and she got it within THREE dollars of what I was originally quoted. 

No problem. 

She was a blast to talk to on the phone, we shared some stories, and it's not enough to get upset about. She blipped my cable system and my HD Tivo got Showtime and the world was right again. 

The true test was to finally receive the invoice and see if it matched up and wasn't $180 or whatever insane amount it was going to be without all the deals.

When the invoice came, all was good. I'm still smiling, my $2 M-CARD works awesome, almost all my shows are in HD, and I think I'll be going to get an external drive sometime soon to expand it all. 

Seriously, I'm living the Tivo dream I've always wanted the day I bought my first HDTV almost five plus years ago. The SVD has me worried, but I'm hoping those tuner boxes come out before Charter jumps on that bandwagon. 

Way to go Tivo. 

PS. When you get this many channels, the guide data, even if it says its done importing and everything else, will take over a day to complete. Season passes and channels wont show up in the Find Programs until that is done. Only some will.

Patience is a virtue.

-Phil


----------



## TivoSwain

Need a thread for Communicomm out of Tazewell,TN. I having a hard time getting the Premium HD channels to work with my cablecards,they say I have to have their DVR for them to work. Tivo thinks they may have them flaged as PPV or VOD. I've not had any luck trying to get to a tech to see if this is true. Would Like to know if anyone has been able to get the HD's in.


----------



## b_scott

self-installing an M-card into a TivoHD (long story)

I have Comcast. it's been Aquiring Channel Information (blue screen, white/black wheel) for 10-15 minutes so far. this is normal, right?


----------



## b_scott

yeah no dice. after two hours on/off the phone it is not getting the signal, it's just bouncing back. apparently this is a problem with some M-Cards. he's elevating it to their tech guys and going to call me back tomorrow night i guess.

:sigh:

i was really looking forward to HD tonight.


----------



## ajayabb

My local comcast store has been out of cable cards for about a week. Anyone else with a similar dilemma. I live in South Jersey .


----------



## Philtho

briansemerick said:


> self-installing an M-card into a TivoHD (long story)
> 
> I have Comcast. it's been Aquiring Channel Information (blue screen, white/black wheel) for 10-15 minutes so far. this is normal, right?


Yeah, 10 or so minutes is normal for it to do this. At least for me it was. Mine was with a black screen, however. This was on the test channel function. I could see the channel information (Ie. "24 USA Network"), but no picture .. It took a while.

Sucks that it still didn't work after a few hours, though. Hopefully they get you up and going. Maybe just have a tech guy come out and do this for you, since he'll have a direct line into the company to troubleshoot with people that might be able to do something.


----------



## b_scott

came home yesterday and it was magically working. thanks for the concern though 

odd stuff. still not getting AMC HD which just came out on Monday, and i believe i should be.


----------



## bretley42

I just had Verizon (FIOS) drop 2 S cards into my S3 HD Tivo. The rep came out 10 minutes after the beginning of the time window, and was gone within an hour.

I was pleasantly surprised how easy this was for the tech (he said this was only the 3rd he's done, and the first in over a year). He had to call in and have one of the cards re-set but that was the only delay in the entire process.

The unit itself is a great treat (but you guys know that already) and tivo desktop 2.6 plus is bittorrent's best friend.

Anyway, a good word in the sea of problems is worthwhile.


----------



## jmaditto

AlexK777 said:


> Called Time Warner in Austin. The cards are pretty cheap ($2.68 each), and I was planning to get 4 cards (2 Tivos). The rep was very friendly, but told me that it was $30 *per card* for the installation. It is bad enough they have to send a rep out in the first place, but this is totally ridiculous. I tried to protest, but no dice.


I havent jumped to cable cards yet but when I do, I have already decided that if TWC wants to charge me an install fee per card, Im going to schedule separate visits1 for each card. I can work from home so I dont mind waiting around on 4 separate occasions. Ridiculous.


----------



## ajny

I just got a TivoHD and I have a quick question for the other memebers. In my area (Central NJ) Comcast is out of cable cards. They do not have a ETA on when they will get those cards. Now, I was able to pickup a Motorola DCH3200 HD cable box from the local comcast office. I was able to install and activate (over phone) the cable box and it is working fine. Now, on the back of the cable box I see a M-type card behind a cover plate. My question is- can I remove the cable card from the cable box and install it in my tivo, will my tivo be able to receive all scrambled HD Channels? (I understand that my HD cable box will stop working once I unplug the cable card from that box, which is Ok by me. This is just a intermediate setup till comcast can supply a new cable card.)


----------



## Cherylabq

I FINALLY got my second TiVo HD Series 3 WORKING. After two TiVos...I kind of see a pattern of why I wasn't getting channels on some of my tuners. It took about four calls this time to finally get someone on the phone who would be patient with my assessment of the situation. So...Here are the SECRETS to hopefully get your TiVo running:

*First, make sure Comcast has matched the cablecards to the correct host IDs.* You can pull out the cards yourself and write down the cablecard numbers. Then go into the Messages and Settings menu. Select Account & System Information menu. Then, the CableCARD Decoders menu. Select Configure CableCARD 1 and then CableCARD Menu. Look for the Host ID Screen (the name is different for Multistream and Singlestream Scientific Atlanta cards). Write down the Host ID number for CableCARD 1 (with the number on the card). Do the same for CableCARD 2. The numbers can get screwed up when the Comcast Rep enters them. If this fails to get your channels working...

*Make SURE the Hierarchy of your Comcast equipment is listed correctly on your account. *I will try to order this in layman's terms from what I wrote down after I convinced my Comcast Rep to check the equipment order:
*
Comcast Hierarchy*

1. HD DVRs must be listed FIRST!!
2. Non HD DVR boxes next
3. HD cableboxes (without a DVR)
4. Digital Converter (which she said were regular cable boxes)
5. Modem (for internet access)
6. Phone service (I think it was an EMTA for those getting Comcast phone service)
7. Cablecards

If you are still missing channels on one or more of your tuners, *make sure the TiVo rate is linked to your account* (I'm not sure how they do this, I just know not having it messed up my first TiVo HD Series 3).

I hope this helps everyone!

A working TiVo HD Series 3 rocks!


----------



## Grex

I would also like to add my success story. Received my Series 3 on Monday had Charter come by today to setup. 2 multi-stream cards installed and working great so far. Love it. The longest part was they had to find the cards in the system. But i guess after reading all the faq's on setting up, i had everything ready. i got lucky and got an installer that was nice enough to let me drive most of the way. 

I think most of the time the problem is that they don't get installed very often compared to other boxes. Maybe its just my area but the last the installer i had installed a Tivo was close to 6 months ago. Therefore are not that experienced and don't know what to do if a problem arises. 

Also after talking with the installer they pretty much dread every time they hear the word cablecard. Whether its going into a Tivo or any other device. 

Just my 5 cents.


----------



## erwos

Gave Comcast a call today. They seemed to know what I was talking about. Unfortunately they claimed they didn't have any install dates open until _July 23rd_, which is more than three weeks from now. That's clearly unacceptable, so I'm going to escalate.


----------



## erwos

Update: Comcast executive escalations called me, apologized, and rescheduled it for tomorrow.


----------



## OBLEFTY

I just received my new Tivo Series 3 yesterday, but I haven't had a chance to activate my new Cable Cards, since their Activation department is only open when I'm at work.

I've had a HD Cable Box for quite some time and I'd like to keep it and use it for On Demand type stuff and would like to split my cable coming out of the wall with one cable going to my tivo and one going to my Cable Box.

Will I have a good enough signal to use a splitter?

Thanks!


----------



## husky55

OBLEFTY said:


> I just received my new Tivo Series 3 yesterday, but I haven't had a chance to activate my new Cable Cards, since their Activation department is only open when I'm at work.
> 
> I've had a HD Cable Box for quite some time and I'd like to keep it and use it for On Demand type stuff and would like to split my cable coming out of the wall with one cable going to my tivo and one going to my Cable Box.
> 
> Will I have a good enough signal to use a splitter?
> 
> Thanks!


You can check the signal strengh in Tivo!!! And if you have problem, then a signal booster ( I use the one from Motorola, excellent by the way) would fix it.


----------



## husky55

ajny said:


> I just got a TivoHD and I have a quick question for the other memebers. In my area (Central NJ) Comcast is out of cable cards. They do not have a ETA on when they will get those cards. Now, I was able to pickup a Motorola DCH3200 HD cable box from the local comcast office. I was able to install and activate (over phone) the cable box and it is working fine. Now, on the back of the cable box I see a M-type card behind a cover plate. My question is- can I remove the cable card from the cable box and install it in my tivo, will my tivo be able to receive all scrambled HD Channels? (I understand that my HD cable box will stop working once I unplug the cable card from that box, which is Ok by me. This is just a intermediate setup till comcast can supply a new cable card.)


In the ideal case, yes it will work, when you call comcast to ask for a REHIT. Go to Tivo site and look at FAQs. There is an answer about moving cable card to a new Tivo. It will describe exactly how to do it.

It worked for me the first time.

However, when I did it again with a new Tivo HD box, it missed a few channels.

So it does not always work for me.


----------



## jefny

Yesterday I spoke to customer service about switching to FIOS from Cablevision and had some questions on cablecards. Right now they only have the s cards at 3.99 a month each (double what Cablevision charges). I asked about the M cards where only one is necessary. Verizon CS responded that they expect to have them (M cards) later in the year. WHen I asked how much to come and install them I was told I could pick them up myself and do a self-installation! 

I asked: Are you sure? and the answer was yes. Has their been a change in Verizon policy on this?

John


----------



## Brighton Line

I caution you, my friend on Long Island called three times to confirm he can pick up cable cards from Verizon. When he got to the office they say NO WAY.
He even called Customer Service from the office to prove to them CS says they can, and CS agent once more said you can pick up cablecards. Needless to say he had to schedule a truck roll. 
I bet VZ CS is still saying you can pick em up when you can't but that is just a guess and a story.


----------



## bumgarb

I just finished ordering 2 S-cablecards from Verizon. To my surprise, they are mailing the cards to me and no technician will be required. 

Has anyone else experienced this with Verizon?
How successfully were you are doing the install?
Anyone have detailed instructions for customer self-installation?

-bumgarb


----------



## Brighton Line

My friend on Long Island was repeatitly told he could do the cards himself, even cancelled the install visit. He was told to go to the local office. He even called the office and they said yes they had cards.
Nope, went there and they looked at him like he had two heads. Cards had to be installed by their tech's with a truck roll.
Good luck, and I hope it isn't another "Check is in the mail"


----------



## bumgarb

Well, it does appear that something is screwed up.

I got a phone call today (8/27) in which they said they were calling about my appointment for 8/26 (yesterday). I didn't have an appointment yesterday... I called and order the cards yesterday... but not appointment was made. 

Then I got home and there was a note saying a tech stopped by at 1030 (on 8/27). Again, I didn't schedule an appointment (because they are suppose to be mailing the cards). Somehow, I managed to get next day service without even having an appointment.

So I called the number and the rep said that he didn't see an appointment on my account. He instructed me to call Billing to see what is going on. Of course, I can't do that until tomorrow because they are closed.

So... am I suppose to sit around waiting for them to show up, without an appointment? Do they think I have ESP?

They are really not going to like it when I start calling about my missing $200 AMEX card. LOL.

-bumgarb


----------



## bumgarb

So, I did end up having a tech come out. He was able to do the installation rather quickly. And, the installation fee is waived due to the confusion of mail versus tech.

However, there does seem to be an issue. I only get HD on one tuner. It doesn't appear that I'm getting HD through both cablecards. I get SD through both, but not HD. 

Are there any Verizon FIOS customers out there who can confirm that they have 2 s-cablecards that both tune HD channels?

Thanks,

bumgarb


----------



## esjones

Hi all... I'm on the verge of ordering my TiVo HD, and have a question about M-Cards. Is there anyone here on TWC in Dayton Ohio (actually, I'm on what they call their "Southwestern Ohio" system but it is served out of Dayton) who has an M-Card for their TiVo HD?

I just spoke on the phone with a CSR who didn't know what an M-Card was. (Thought it meant two-way.) Before I get insistent with them, I'd like to know for sure that they have M-Cards available.

Many thanks.

- Earl


----------



## mbruns

esjones said:


> Hi all... I'm on the verge of ordering my TiVo HD, and have a question about M-Cards. Is there anyone here on TWC in Dayton Ohio (actually, I'm on what they call their "Southwestern Ohio" system but it is served out of Dayton) who has an M-Card for their TiVo HD?
> 
> I just spoke on the phone with a CSR who didn't know what an M-Card was. (Thought it meant two-way.) Before I get insistent with them, I'd like to know for sure that they have M-Cards available.
> 
> Many thanks.
> 
> - Earl


Hi Earl,

I have Time Warner in Columbus. It's not Dayton, but I imagine the system is similar.

Trust me, it's virtually impossible to talk to a CSR who has a clue about Cablecards. Time Warner will have M-Cards in stock. I upgraded to a Tivo-HD in January. It took 3 truck rolls, but they got it working.

A few hints:
1) Make sure the CSR writes on the order that you have a TivoHD, and need 1 M-Card, not 2 S-Cards. The CSR probably won't know what it means, make sure they write it down. 
2) Print out the Cablecard form from the tivo website and have it ready when the installer arrives. 
3) If the installer is the least bit unsure, call Tivo support and ask for Cablecard support. Have them on speaker, they'll walk the installer through the process.

The bad news:
Everything is copy-protected, and Time Warner is starting to move their channels to SDV. No-one in Columbus knows what a Tuning Adapter is.

The good news:
It works, the picture quality is excellent, and you have the Tivo interface.

Mike
------------------------------------------------------
P.S. I'm not intentionally slamming the CSRs. They just get no training on Cablecards. I hate the system where a monopoly can totally ignore the FCC and open standards with impunity.


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## esjones

Mike - 

Thanks for the advice. I went so far as to tell the CSR the model number of the CableCARD that I want (Scientific Atlanta PKM800) based on my web research, and that I wanted a TWC employee rather than a contractor to come out and do the install. Made him write it all down and put it in the service call record.

TiVo HD should be here on Tuesday, and my CableCARD installation appt. is Friday.

I'll report on how it goes.

- Earl


----------



## jmaditto

esjones said:


> Mike -
> 
> Thanks for the advice. I went so far as to tell the CSR the model number of the CableCARD that I want (Scientific Atlanta PKM800) based on my web research, and that I wanted a TWC employee rather than a contractor to come out and do the install. Made him write it all down and put it in the service call record.
> 
> TiVo HD should be here on Tuesday, and my CableCARD installation appt. is Friday.
> 
> I'll report on how it goes.
> 
> - Earl


Tell them to call the National TW CC Hotline if they have any issues. review all the FAQ's on CC installs and print out pages or have a computer ready t to look up stuff when they are onsite. Good luck.


----------



## esjones

I got my TiVo HD on Tuesday, and had scheduled the TWC installer to come out today. Good thing, too, since it took a couple of days for the TiVo software to be updated to the latest version. (Out of the box, it was at 8-point-something).

I had asked for a TWC employee, not a contractor, to come out, and told them not only that I wanted an M-Card, but also gave the CSR the Scientific Atlanta model number that I heard was in use in the Dayton market.

The guy I got was named Kris, and he is the one you should ask for if you have TWC technical issues in the Dayton market. He told me, "whenever I see an order come through for CableCARDs, I automatically pick up two S-cards and an M-card to be covered."

The M-Card was installed and TiVo recognized it right away. Kris tapped the pairing information into his handheld and in a few seconds, the card started receiving a firmware download. This is a SLOW process.

When that wrapped up, the TiVo showed the card was activated, but no digital channels appeared. Kris measured the signal strength at the TiVo, and determined that the splitter I had put at the wall outlet to feed both the TV and TiVo was attenuating the signal too much.

We got rid of the splitter, but still no digital channels. We then did Guided Setup, while Kris tapped instructions into the handheld again to tell the system to recognize the card.

That did the trick. Overall, the house call took over an hour, but the CableCARD works fine.

I'll share Kris' full name by PM if you want to ask for him.

- Earl


----------



## Nosmo Rex

Anyone have any recent experience with Verizon multistream cards, specifically in the Portland/Beaverton area? I'm thinking of pulling the plug on Comcast, and switching to Verizon. I did an online chat with Verizon customer service, and as far as she knew, they only had S-Cards. I told her that it didn't appear that I could order cablecards of any kind online, but she said that the the installer would have cablecards "in stock" when they arrived. Sounds sketchy to me.


----------



## oregonman

Nosmo Rex said:


> Anyone have any recent experience with Verizon multistream cards, specifically in the Portland/Beaverton area? I'm thinking of pulling the plug on Comcast, and switching to Verizon. I did an online chat with Verizon customer service, and as far as she knew, they only had S-Cards. I told her that it didn't appear that I could order cablecards of any kind online, but she said that the the installer would have cablecards "in stock" when they arrived. Sounds sketchy to me.


I'm in the same boat and the same area as you are. I would like to get FIOS, but it is really hard to get info from verizon. I called today and they said that they only have S cards and they are $3.99 per month each. I didn't really get the feeling that he really knew anything about Tivo or cable cards, so I don't have any confidence in the answer. I chatted with an online order agent and they said that there is no way to order cable cards online. He said that I can order the bundle online and then order the cable card from the local office, but I suspect that it would involve a service charge for the install.


----------



## Gregor

oregonman said:


> I'm in the same boat and the same area as you are. I would like to get FIOS, but it is really hard to get info from verizon. I called today and they said that they only have S cards and they are $3.99 per month each. I didn't really get the feeling that he really knew anything about Tivo or cable cards, so I don't have any confidence in the answer. I chatted with an online order agent and they said that there is no way to order cable cards online. He said that I can order the bundle online and then order the cable card from the local office, but I suspect that it would involve a service charge for the install.


I had to do the same, ordered online and add cable cards via a phone call. Verizon charged me $19.95 for every additional outlet over 3, and 1 cable card = 1 outlet.


----------



## oregonman

Gregor said:


> I had to do the same, ordered online and add cable cards via a phone call. Verizon charged me $19.95 for every additional outlet over 3, and 1 cable card = 1 outlet.


That sounds like the regular price for an install with them defining 1 cable card = 1 outlet. A few questions:

Are you in the Portland, OR area or elsewhwere? It seems like different areas have differing levels of cometency if filling orders. Were you able to call before the install and add the cable cards to your order or did you do it after your inital installation? When you ordered online, what did you put in the correct number of outlets/cards in the TVs commected part or did you leave out the cable cards? Thanks.


----------



## thomb

oregonman said:


> I'm in the same boat and the same area as you are. I would like to get FIOS, but it is really hard to get info from verizon. I called today and they said that they only have S cards and they are $3.99 per month each. I didn't really get the feeling that he really knew anything about Tivo or cable cards, so I don't have any confidence in the answer. I chatted with an online order agent and they said that there is no way to order cable cards online. He said that I can order the bundle online and then order the cable card from the local office, but I suspect that it would involve a service charge for the install.


The rep you spoke with was correct . Verizon does not have M-cards and the S-cards are $3.99 each / month. You must order them over the phone, so don't bother with the online order. You are better off doing everything over the phone. They waived the install fee for me last week when I switched (Seattle area).


----------



## Gregor

oregonman said:


> That sounds like the regular price for an install with them defining 1 cable card = 1 outlet. A few questions:
> 
> Are you in the Portland, OR area or elsewhwere? It seems like different areas have differing levels of cometency if filling orders. Were you able to call before the install and add the cable cards to your order or did you do it after your inital installation? When you ordered online, what did you put in the correct number of outlets/cards in the TVs commected part or did you leave out the cable cards? Thanks.


I'm in SE PA.

I had to call before the install and add cable cards, so the techs showed up with them to do the install.

I left out the cable cards on the online form.


----------



## oregonman

Gregor said:


> I'm in SE PA.
> 
> I had to call before the install and add cable cards, so the techs showed up with them to do the install.
> 
> I left out the cable cards on the online form.


Thanks for the info. I'll try it that way since it worked for you.


----------



## oregonman

thomb said:


> The rep you spoke with was correct . Verizon does not have M-cards and the S-cards are $3.99 each / month. You must order them over the phone, so don't bother with the online order. You are better off doing everything over the phone. They waived the install fee for me last week when I switched (Seattle area).


Did you get the online rate going over the phone? Online it says there is an extra discount of $10 per month for ordering online. The person I spoke to over the phone said you have to order online to get that discount.


----------



## Nosmo Rex

My Verizon installation is this Friday. I got a VM from a Verizon guy saying he had done a survey and that he would have to "dig a trench" to the house from the street. My wife has a lot of nice landscaping that is likely to be in the way, so I am concerned as to what exactly they plan on doing. I really don't want them tearing up my driveway or digging up a bunch of plants. I need to call and see what the deal is.

On a side note (and I realize this has probably been answered elsewhere), since I am changing from Comcast to Verizon (and therefore getting a new channel lineup), will my season passes fix themselves, or will I have to rebuild them?


----------



## DerickA

I just bought an S3 and am awaiting the cablecards to be installed, but is there anyway to change the channels without them? I try and the screen goes grey. Only channel 3 comes up, but when I change the channels on the cable box it works.

Do I have to wait for the cablecards, or is there a way around this?


----------



## windracer

The S3 won't work with a cable box. So all you can do right now is connect the coax directly to your S3 and watch the analog channels.


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## cableguy763

windracer said:


> The S3 won't work with a cable box. So all you can do right now is connect the coax directly to your S3 and watch the analog channels.


Wow, you are so right. I would have tried to overthink this obvious answer. Just like the old tv/vcr button.


----------



## Bantha Fodder

thomb said:


> The rep you spoke with was correct . Verizon does not have M-cards and the S-cards are $3.99 each / month.


Verizon appears to be rolling out M-cards, at least in the Seattle area. I just got FiOS TV installed yesterday, and my TivoHD is now running on a single M-card. $3.99/mo.

My story is here. I've posted this in a couple of other threads; I hope that doesn't get counted as spam. If so, I apologize.


----------



## BimmerDob

A thread for Insight Cable in Central Ohio

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=393622


----------



## jhernandez86

Just got a new HD Tivo, and last week Time warner cable came over to install the two cards. One work and the other one did not work on the first try. But after an hour of hard work, the technician was able to have both of them working. The funny thing is that now I have more HD channels than bwith the cable box.

I am not sure what is causing this, but hey, now I have about 15 new HD channels.


----------



## falc122727

Had my M-Card installed by Comcast of Gloucester Co, NJ on 12/24. Whole process took about 15 minutes. Tivo went into guided set-up on it's own, but all is well.

In only one day my Hard drive is filling up with HD content. Good thing my new 1TB drive arives next week.


----------



## CiP

Does anyone that has Service Electric Cable as their cable provider and using cablecards having issues with channel lineups updating correctly? I have 3 TiVo HD's and 2 TiVo Series 3's. The channel lineups are incorrect in zip code 08865. I have tried updating many times. Some channels say, "To Be Announced" and others are not the channels they say they are. For example, 515 says it National Geographic HD and is really the Weather Channel HD and 516 says it's A&E HD however it is National Geographic HD.


----------



## kevinivey

I have TWC here in Columbia, SC. The subcontracter showed up theis morning with a single S card, and he had never done a cable card install before. I told him that it was the srong card .He called the dispatcher and she said they did not have any M cards in stock. I said I had a 8300 HDC that has a M card in it ,and he was supposed to pick it up. I convinced him to put it ,and it came right up. Called the dispatcher ,and was told that it had to stay with the box. The next Saturday install is the January 17th. I guess we will try again.


oops almost forgot, he forgot to take back the remote with 8300 he picked up.


----------



## hamav8tor

Had my own (first) experience with a CableCARD instal today in a TiVo HD XL in the Londonderry NH market. Specifically requested an m-card and was told no problem. Installation tech (outsourced) showed up with two s-cards. Great. Was told they are out of stock.

He installed them - took about an hour by the time he was done and two phone calls to the NOC.

Things *basically* work but some of the channels just don't work. We switched to Digital Starter and channels like CNN HD (which show up in the TiVo Guide) just don't work, but they are advertised as part of the package.

Tech (real Comcast tech this time) coming back in a few days to troubleshoot. Ca't believe that something that is supposed to be so mainstream at this point is still this hard.


----------



## Krazy Pat

please post a suddenlink for cable card 
They came out and i got some good info to post thanks.


----------



## Krazy Pat

suddenlink truck showed up today and inserted a multicard today, he took about 30min to find out that the card was bad so he put another in we went to the cable card setting agian and the card poped up with all the info and took off right away, after he called into the pop and they sent the info, no problems and all my shows came on, records, and watch other show no problem, 
He did tell me that there are a big rush to get cards out and that motorola is pushing bad or corrupted cards so make sure the guy has extra cards becuse of this issue, as well as it only took about 20 min total after the other card went in. so i am running one multi in my tivo series 3 hd reciever no problems except cant use the junk like on demand and interactive dont use them anyway.


----------



## leecow

Thought I'd add a clean HD cutover success story to the dialog to perhaps help new folks not despair 

I've made what can only be described as a staged transition to HD. I fell into a good TV deal, exchanged the SD cablebox for HD and enjoyed the setup along with my S2 while reading here and other places about various TivoHD experiences. 

After about a week of research and dragging my feet, I ordered the HD which arrived on time via UPS from the Tivo mothership. Installation and set up were without incident. The next day I popped into the Comcast office (Lynnwood) to pick up an MCard. Folks in the Lynnwood office were very helpful and had no problem handing over the card. Later that evening I installed the card without a hitch and the Comcast CSR was quite pleasant and seems to have hit all the right buttons on her end to activate the card. Channels worked as advertised and all guide data was filled out by the time I got home from work the next day. The TivoHD has since picked up the latest firmware udpate, rebooted and all is well. 

Almost makes me comfortable enough to risk Netflix.


----------



## Jgzog

Chapel Hill, NC - Time Warner Connection

I added an HD Tivo with network connection to my home system and it is working fine so far. Have a second S2 Tivo in another room under monthly billing via Tivo and the interaction between the two is neat, but only time will tell if it is worth the extra $12.50/mo. Getting this set up and the network system working was not easy but it is clicking right now.

I don't particularly miss HD, but having seen a local TW announcement of impending channel changes figure it's time to get a cable card and join the digital/HD world. From TW's own announcements plus Tivo's info it looks like I'll need one Multistream Card plus a tuning adapter to provide the two way communication needed for upcoming Switched Digital Video.

So far, have:

1. Visited the local TW office to see about getting the M card and installation appointment. Nice folks but the person I talked with admitted knowing very little about cablecards and suggested I call TW directly.

2. Called the local TW office and the representative said that I would need two M cards to provide for the needed two way commo but he did not think I needed the tuning adapter. (This didn't gibe with what I've read here and elsewhere and I told him so.) The rep quoted the price of $42.50 per card for installation and $2.50/month for each card. (Installation price for inserting a card and calling it in to calibrate it seems high for what I'm reading on this forum.)

Nice guy but I don't think he knew much about cablecards or tuning adapters, but he agreed to set an appointment with a technician tomorrow and was confident the tech would know what to do. He was much more interested in selling me TW's set top box, DVR, etc., which, to me, does not compete withTivo's service, so far. 

3. I'm waiting to see what the technician has to say tomorrow. My guess is that if he is an experienced TW tech it should work out fine. 

Do I have it right about the basic components needed: one M card plus one tuning adapter*, competent installer, and functioning cable system? (* And, that the Tuning Adapter is not needed except for SDV?)

Maybe what I'll learn is that - "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" was the way I should have gone.


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## 2manydvds

I have a question about Comcast's charges for a TivoHD. We have an HD box from Comcast, which we have been using for a year and are still using. Recently I purchased a TivoHD for a second HD TV and had without incident(amazing as that sounds) a M-card installed. Fine. However, I notice my monthly bill increased $14, $7 for additional HD service and an additional $7 for digital service. Why am I paying so much for an additional box that I bought? Is this the future? $14 per HDTV. This sucks big time!


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## husky55

2manydvds said:


> I have a question about Comcast's charges for a TivoHD. We have an HD box from Comcast, which we have been using for a year and are still using. Recently I purchased a TivoHD for a second HD TV and had without incident(amazing as that sounds) a M-card installed. Fine. However, I notice my monthly bill increased $14, $7 for additional HD service and an additional $7 for digital service. Why am I paying so much for an additional box that I bought? Is this the future? $14 per HDTV. This sucks big time!


I have the same setup. HD service is charged for both the Comcast box and TivoHD, $7 or about. The $7 digital access is for the Tivo to access Comcast network ( it sucks) and the M card is supposed to be free of charge. In any case, Camcast is not shy charging money for their service. I am paying in excess of $100/mo no matter what I do.


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## 2manydvds

Thanks for the info. Our cable bill is over $130 with internet and no premium channels. Dummy me, I thought that the extra charge for HD was for the special box to receive it and I was already paying for "digital" service. What really got me was the fact that all channels are going to "digital" and HD, anyway. To say HD is gonna cost you extra because it's special makes me wonder if color programming was extra when it started? Wasn't Comcast supposed to offer "a la carte" service? As Comcast moves popular channels up into the digital domain, they are making cable service less affordable. Maybe I should be looking at satellite service, but I know my Tivos won't be compatible and one of them is an older Humax w/DVD that has lifetime service on it.

OK, I'm vented.


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## slowbiscuit

2manydvds said:


> I have a question about Comcast's charges for a TivoHD. We have an HD box from Comcast, which we have been using for a year and are still using. Recently I purchased a TivoHD for a second HD TV and had without incident(amazing as that sounds) a M-card installed. Fine. However, I notice my monthly bill increased $14, $7 for additional HD service and an additional $7 for digital service. Why am I paying so much for an additional box that I bought? Is this the future? $14 per HDTV. This sucks big time!


You are being charged incorrectly - there should be NO charge for 'HD service' on a Tivo, that fee is only supposed to be charged if you rent one of their STBs. I would dispute this charge all the way to Comcast exec relations in Philly.


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## WSeverino

Just had the tech out at my house in Marietta, GA. He first showed up with 1 M-Card and 2 S-Cards. I was like WTF! I requested 2 M-Cards. Needless to say the first M-Card installed perfectly and works like a champ. He couldn't get the 2 S-Cards to work so he went up to the local Comcast office and they actually had an M-Card. He comes back and wow it worked right out of the chute! Everything set-up perfectly.


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## hillstrubl

Ordered/Installed Tivo HD to replace Comcast's HD DVR, called them to inquire about cable cards. I was instructed to drive over to their Michigan Ave. billing center to make the swap. I was given a single MultiStream card. After installing it and calling to activate only the broadcast channels in HD and regular analog cable channels worked. I gave it 2 full days, 2 more activation phone calls and several restarts to no avail.

Went back in to swap for a different MultiStream card (was given a 2nd Single Stream card for no apparent reason), activated it and voila all is well!

Got a free SD Comcast box that I put alongside it for OnDemand/PPV or if we want to watch a 3rd thing while 2 more are recording on the Tivo.

Current monthly charges for equipment - $0/mo for both cards (will return the Single stream soon) $0 for comcast SD box.


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## dandare

I am in Vero Beach, FL and just switched to Comcast from DirecTV and purchased a new Tivo Series 3 HDDVR rather than suffer using the Comcast DVR. When ordering the service at the local Comcast Office I explained I did not want a receiver, just a Multi-Stream cable card and I made sure that is what was requested on the order.
When the installer arrived we went through the order and he explained that he did not have any M-Cards on the truck so would have to install two single channel cards. I figured this was not too much of a problem as I could perhaps get an M-Card from the local office at a later date.
I proceeded to setup the Tivo ready for the installer to insert the cable cards. The installer was really appreciative of this as he explained most customers who want to use Tivo just leave the box next to the TV and expect him to set everything up.
The two single channel cards installed relatively smoothly and while activating the cards the installer told me that the female customer service rep he was speaking to told him that I would not be charged for either of the cards. In addition to this, she also gave me a deal on the internet service ($24.95/6 Months) and I was also going to get a credit due to the installer running late.
When I received my first bill from Comcast I find that they are charging me an additional outlet fee of $6.50 (I only have one TV) and $13.90 for HDTV service! There was no charge for any of the cable cards.
When I called Customer Service I was able to get the $6.50 taken off as they had apparently got me down as having two outlets. The HDTV fee however was a different matter - apparently in this area they charge the HDTV fee for each device and class two single channel cards as two devices. When I protested that I had requested an M-Channel card but the installer told me he only had single channel cards on his truck, I was told that they did not have M-Cards in this market yet and that they were still being tested. Then I asked if I did have an M-Card then would I be only charged for one HDTV access fee? to which the response was "pricing has not be finalized for the M-Cards".
I was obviously not happy and was put through to a manager who repeated the same information.
This is crazy as if I had a Comcast DVR I would only get charged one HD access fee.


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## windracer

dandare said:


> apparently in this area they charge the HDTV fee for each device and class two single channel cards as two devices.


Brighthouse does the same thing over here in St. Pete. I'm being charged $2.95 x 4 for the four single-stream CableCARDs I have in my two TiVos _plus_ the $0.95 additional digital outlet fee three times. It's a crazy racket ... as soon as FIOS is available in my area I'll seriously consider switching.


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## dandare

windracer said:


> Brighthouse does the same thing over here in St. Pete. I'm being charged $2.95 x 4 for the four single-stream CableCARDs I have in my two TiVos _plus_ the $0.95 additional digital outlet fee three times. It's a crazy racket ... as soon as FIOS is available in my area I'll seriously consider switching.


I thought I read somewhere that the FCC requires the cable operators to supply the first cable card for free?

I foolishly tried speaking with a different customer service agent last night. I explained the charges and he justified the charges by saying that the cable cards are the same as a set top box without all of the plastic, therefore I am being charged as if I have two set top boxes - this is crazy.


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## kupermanp

So if cablecards are going to be sold for computers in the near future. Will we be able to buy our own cable card and avoid the Cable co "rental" fees?

K


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## EpcH

Just Received the CableCards.
Location: CT

The Tech installed one multistream CableCARD. 
Comcast Charged me $27 for the installation, $1.5 monthly for the CableCard.

It took me 1.5 hour arguing with the lady on the phone at comcast in order to
get the CableCard rent fee from $7, the price which she defended very seriously, to $1.5. This 1.5 hour also includes the supervisor, he again argued that I should pay $7 monthly. 

Finally, at last I made them open their own FAQ page ( they refused to open it claiming that they do not have internet access - I pushed them by stating this is internal, your own Comcastic Comcast's Website !!).

When the supervisor finally opened the FAQ, read it, apologized faster than light speed, squeezed me for an installation schedule for the next morning hoping I will cool down after spending 1.5 hour pointing the obvious, wasting my time.

Good luck all.


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## csfriesen

The Cox Omaha cable guy just left the house. He installed one multistream card, copied a bunch of numbers off the card. Then we went into the cablecard activation menu and copied a bunch of other numbers. After giving those numbers to the cox office support folks we were prompted to rerun the setup. This appeared to be necessary to let Tivo know that I now had a cable card and to get the new guide info. So that's it. It took an hour or so for the whole setup. I would definitely say that the service call was unnecessary. Additionally, the cable guy had only done a few Tivo card installs but was definitely familiar with it. The charge for the visit is $30 and the cable card is $1.99/mo. I'm glad I got only one multistream card because they're the same price as the single, which would have required two, of course. (Note to self: test the dual tuner recording capability immediately.)

The guided setup did disconnect once during the dialup phase (not yet on my wlan) but restarting the setup completed successfully.

One word of advice: the cable guy wanted to check the cable when he first arrived. I let him do that, of course, and it appeared all was well until, after everything was done, we tuned to ESPN HD. It had lots of blocking/distortion and sound issues. The old HD DVR didn't have the distortion but it turns out the coax cable to Tivo was bad and replacing it fixed it. The common recommendation for eliminating splitters and using good cables still stands.

So all in all, it was a very good experience. I was pleasantly surprised after all I've read on this and other forums about bad experiences installing cable cards in Tivos.


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## CraigK

jimcarver said:


> Hi - I can't find any recent posts in this forum concerning cable cards with Comcast. Have they finally gotten all their issues fixed? I just got my new HD TiVo and am dreading the install experience based on past horror stories I've read. Thanks.


Despite your post to the contrary there are lots of recent posts in Official Comcast CableCARD thread.


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## jimcarver

Sorry, I posted to the wrong thread. Can't read very well, I guess.


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## timstack8969

I ordered my "Premiere XL" last week I do realize I will loose Ondemand featue with my comcast cable system. I know that ondemand won't work with One Way cable cards-correct? But when will 2 way cable cards be available and will they still will with the "Premiere XL"?


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## slowbiscuit

Cable cards are not 2-way, the box is. Since the new Premieres are not tru2way compatible, I would assume that retail tru2way DVRs will never see the light of day. Tivo disagrees with the cableCos and thinks that 2-way should be controlled via network commands (TCP/IP) to the cable headend, not via a built-in two-way modem (and I agree).

Since they are at loggerheads about tru2way, we can only hope that Tivo's agreement with Seachange for cable VOD delivery via the internet will someday show up on the Premieres. For now, you're SOL if you want OnDemand on the Tivo.


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## stiffi

Just wanted to say I had a Great Fios Install yesterday for my New (to me) Tivo HD. 

First, I called to schedule on Tuesday and they had a Thursday appointment. Of course the window is ridiculous, 8-5, but the dispatcher promised they would call 30 minutes before the arrival. 

So, the day comes and sure enough I get a call. Installer says he'll be there in 20 minutes. Then he says "Did you want a set top box" I immediatley panicked. I thought, oh no, here we go. I politely said, "no cable card". He replied "Oh, okay, I have it here, it's just usually the CSRs don't really mean that on these orders". 

So, he arrives, and installs the card. No signal. He checks the line and it turns out to be my fault because I have an old crappy splitter in the line. (which I don't even use anymore) He removes it, and offers to give me a few more splitters if I want them. I remember when Comcast used to try to charge people for "illegally" splitting their signal within their own homes. 

Then he gets the card up and running in about 15 minutes. I re-run guided setup, and Voila, done!

My first install with Verizon was just as painless. Just wanted to throw that out there , because we all know how much complaining can be in this thread.


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## global_dev

2 new s3s already at upgraded to 11d. FIOS tech came in with 4 cards (didn't belive me that I needed 2 per machine), added 2 cards to each box ( i suggested the instructions from ins the Box say one at a time), but the 1 card per box paired fine. they needed to fix some incorrect fatfingered errors for the seconds to activate. 

quick activation success, we checked one channel and "finished" setup they left.

The bad part was it took quite a bit of time TiVo downloading something after the install, something in guided setup, perhaps, for me to really verify it was setup & working correctly.

They did tell me I definitely could have ordered the CCs without a truck roll and could have did the install myself over the phone. It contradicts what the ordering CSR said, but all 4 worked.


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## wpatters1229

I hate comcast and att is available in my area. I currently have two comcast cable cards in my tivo unit. Does ATT have the same thing?

Thanks


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## slowbiscuit

Tivo does not work with U-Verse.


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## bajabingo

my cablevision cards work fine with my tivo except for fx which it likes to freeze a lot


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## ilonadcf80

thanks for sharing


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## Dr_Diablo

stiffi said:


> Just wanted to say I had a Great Fios Install yesterday for my New (to me) Tivo HD.
> 
> First, I called to schedule on Tuesday and they had a Thursday appointment. Of course the window is ridiculous, 8-5, but the dispatcher promised they would call 30 minutes before the arrival.
> 
> So, the day comes and sure enough I get a call. Installer says he'll be there in 20 minutes. Then he says "Did you want a set top box" I immediatley panicked. I thought, oh no, here we go. I politely said, "no cable card". He replied "Oh, okay, I have it here, it's just usually the CSRs don't really mean that on these orders".
> 
> So, he arrives, and installs the card. No signal. He checks the line and it turns out to be my fault because I have an old crappy splitter in the line. (which I don't even use anymore) He removes it, and offers to give me a few more splitters if I want them. I remember when Comcast used to try to charge people for "illegally" splitting their signal within their own homes.
> 
> Then he gets the card up and running in about 15 minutes. I re-run guided setup, and Voila, done!
> 
> My first install with Verizon was just as painless. Just wanted to throw that out there , because we all know how much complaining can be in this thread.


Your fortunate in having Fios in your area, I can't get wired for another two yrs even though my neight three bloocks away has had it for a year now..

I'm stuck with crappy service from TWC/BH


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## dlfl

Dr_Diablo said:


> Your fortunate in having Fios in your area, I can't get wired for another two yrs even though my neight three bloocks away has had it for a year now..
> 
> I'm stuck with crappy service from TWC/BH


Which FIOS? (Verizon or Frontier?) From what I've heard Verizon is much better on price and service.


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## 9dollor

This just in- I got the first guy who gave me the cards to come back, and now he's on the phone with someone who wants things like Card ID #'s and Host #'s etc. I'm guessing we're headed in the right direction, but now on their end my main card says pair failed and my second seems stuck on pair pending and no one has any idea what to do.


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## Dr_Diablo

Sorri to hear your having issues already.. Sad fact is the contracted empolyee didn't have a cluee what he nr the dispatcher he spoke with when attemptin to pair your cards... It's entirely possible your cards are defective...

When I had my Series3 inital install they went throught 16 cards before they found two that paired...

CAll your provider an expkain the problem an ask for an installer that knows what for fork he/she's doing in regards to a TIVO...!!!!


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## Ready4TiVo

I recently upgraded my four-year-old Series3 from a 250GB HD to a 1 TB drive (w/software installed) from DVR Upgrade. The swap was easy and took very little time. During the TiVo reboot, when asked about the CableCards, I did not request a pairing from Verizon FiOs, as I understand from the FAQ that Verizon doesn't require this. I get all of my channels, shows are recording, the Season Pass re-set went fine, the complete Guide has downloaded, everything seems as before - except that I get a gray screen and a (seemingly) slight pause when changing channels. Should this be happening? Do I need to call and get the pairing? I too don't need to pay for a technician to come to the house.


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## videobruce

Are the Series 4 better (more reliable and less problems) with CC's than the Series 3?


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## slowbiscuit

I have seen no difference other than the Elite's penchant of not being able to tune a channel (rarely), but by all accounts this is an Elite tuner issue, not a card one. This didn't happen on my HDs. Both S3s and 4s work the same with cards IMO.


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## videobruce

Thanks, anyone else?


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## Barb

My S3 drive was dying, so I got a new one from weaknees. Install was easy, redid guided setup, and everything worked except for HBO. Long story short, the host and data values were wrong at Verizon. Before we realized this, Verizon kept trying to restart the card, but it never worked. Finally, I had them read out the host and data values they had for each of my two cards and that is how I realized the values were wrong. They had some difficulty getting the right values to "take" in their system and I had to reboot the TiVo to make it work, but then it did. So all is good again...and I did not have to switch to the m cards. 

Hope this helps someone in a similar dilemma.


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## docfruitbat

Barb said:


> My S3 drive was dying, so I got a new one from weaknees. Install was easy, redid guided setup, and everything worked except for HBO. Long story short, the host and data values were wrong at Verizon. Before we realized this, Verizon kept trying to restart the card, but it never worked. Finally, I had them read out the host and data values they had for each of my two cards and that is how I realized the values were wrong. They had some difficulty getting the right values to "take" in their system and I had to reboot the TiVo to make it work, but then it did. So all is good again...and I did not have to switch to the m cards.
> 
> Hope this helps someone in a similar dilemma.


This post is a few years old, but it begs a question:
What piece of information changed as a result of the HD being replaced? Supposedly the Card ID, Host ID and Data are related to the hardware of the machine and not something that's stored on disk.
I just repalced my HD in my S3 and am having trouble getting the cards re-authorized. I'm wondering if this is somehow related.


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## videobruce

> What piece of information changed as a result of the HD being replaced?


Nothing other than if it is a different size drive, the capacity if an image was made of the original drive and transfered to the replacement.
The CC is married to the DVR (basically the MB), not the HDD. There is the possibility something got corrupted along the way considering the complexities of CC's and especially TA's (for SDV). 

The CC gest married to the account & the device. I don't know if the image file has anything to do with it. Someone else can chime in on that one.


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## docfruitbat

Due to a series of errors I ended up swapping out my current set of cablecards (which had been working for the past 3 years) for new ones (this was at the same time as the HD replacement). I was smart enough to take pictures of the pairing screen of the old cards before removing them. Comparing with the new cards, I see that the Host IDs are identical between the old and new cards in the same slots, respectively. The Cablecard IDs are different as are the Data. That leads me to surmise that the Cardcard IDs are burned into the card and the Host IDs are burned into the interfacing hardware on the motherboard. That leaves just the Data portion. I haven't found yet how that's derived but I would suspect that it's a computed value, using some function of the card and host hardware (thus "marrying" them). If the service provider (Comcast) has these exact values (and I had Comcast read them back to me) then there most be some issue with the network being used to deploy the authorization information. This sounds like the weakest link, but how to determine the point of failure?


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## unitron

docfruitbat said:


> This post is a few years old, but it begs a question:
> What piece of information changed as a result of the HD being replaced? Supposedly the Card ID, Host ID and Data are related to the hardware of the machine and not something that's stored on disk.
> I just repalced my HD in my S3 and am having trouble getting the cards re-authorized. I'm wondering if this is somehow related.


What drive did you use and did you put an image from that HD on it or an image from elsewhere?

If an image taken from a different HD, you need to "marry" that drive to the motherboard so that they agree about the TiVo Service Number (though you probably already knew that).

Also, what software did you use to prepare the new drive, and, if applicable, on which version of Windows did you run it?


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## docfruitbat

unitron said:


> What drive did you use and did you put an image from that HD on it or an image from elsewhere?
> 
> If an image taken from a different HD, you need to "marry" that drive to the motherboard so that they agree about the TiVo Service Number (though you probably already knew that).
> 
> Also, what software did you use to prepare the new drive, and, if applicable, on which version of Windows did you run it?


This is an old S3 OLED (TCD648250B) TiVo so it had an original 250Gb HD. I bought a 1TB upgrade drive from weaknees.com (supposedly pre-loaded with the correct S3 image). The S3 booted and has been functional in all other respects. I ran it through the Setup process (several times now, due to CableCard issues) and each time it's appears to have verified the machine and my account as being good.
I did consider going the home-built image approach, but since weaknees offered a pre-imaged drive for what I considered an acceptable price, I decided I didn't want the hassle with imaging it myself.


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## unitron

docfruitbat said:


> This is an old S3 OLED (TCD648250B) TiVo so it had an original 250Gb HD. I bought a 1TB upgrade drive from weaknees.com (supposedly pre-loaded with the correct S3 image). The S3 booted and has been functional in all other respects. I ran it through the Setup process (several times now, due to CableCard issues) and each time it's appears to have verified the machine and my account as being good.
> I did consider going the home-built image approach, but since weaknees offered a pre-imaged drive for what I considered an acceptable price, I decided I didn't want the hassle with imaging it myself.


Get some rabbit ears or something* and set it up for over the air channels (you only need to be able to receive one for this) and see if it will let you record.

If so, then the TSN problem got solved when you went through Guided Setup after installing the weaKnees drive.

If not, then you need to do a Clear & Delete Everything to force it to take care of the TSN mismatch.

*If you're close to a strong station, an unbent paper clip with one end stuck in the center hole of the antenna input might suffice.


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## docfruitbat

unitron said:


> Get some rabbit ears or something* and set it up for over the air channels (you only need to be able to receive one for this) and see if it will let you record.
> 
> If so, then the TSN problem got solved when you went through Guided Setup after installing the weaKnees drive.
> 
> If not, then you need to do a Clear & Delete Everything to force it to take care of the TSN mismatch.
> 
> *If you're close to a strong station, an unbent paper clip with one end stuck in the center hole of the antenna input might suffice.


As it turns out, it was a matter of the back office people (again) not entering the card's data correctly when I called several times before (or perhaps not saving it each time it failed to pair...hmm...).
Anyway, I had a tech out yesterday and he went through the same process I went through (reading all of the card data) to a different person on the backend (who sounded like she knew what she was doing, as opposed to some of the other reps I've talked with).
I have three cards in total (1 is in another TiVo that *was* working just fine, or so it seemed) and the rep. stated that all three cards were currently unpaired (and that the Data values for all three were incorrect). Once the tech re-read the values, they sent a "hit" and "magically" the cards all worked (again).
So, it wasn't a matter of the HD going bad or having the new one bond with the TiVo (which was good as that would have been a worse problem). It appears to have been (again) plain ol' human error.


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## NCSU2008

can't wait to upgrade my roamio ota to 3tb drive


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## Justin.KY

Here is the scenario: I have Charter Spectrum (formerly TWC). I just bought two tivo series 3 off eBay and ordered cable cards. For some reason I'm only getting local channels. Charter says its an issue on their end but I'm wondering if there is anything I can do? I've tried different cable cards on different Tivo's and I'm getting the same result. They also told me they don't issue tuning adapters in my area (not necessary) Has anyone else had this issue and what did you do to get it resolved?


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## videobruce

You should put this in the TWC sub-forum.
You also need to state what market/system you are in.
Did you call the separate TWC/Spectrum CC support number (assuming they still have that)?
Did you give them the ID of the card and have them 'pair' it up? You do know it's not as simple as sliding them into the slots?
Did you do the annoying Guide Setup with or w/o the cards inserted? 
Lastly, are you using the correct slot in those S3's?


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## Justin.KY

Thank you! I will post there as well.
Did you call the separate TWC/Spectrum CC support number (assuming they still have that)? I did
Did you give them the ID of the card and have them 'pair' it up? You do know it's not as simple as sliding them into the slots? Yes, they said they couldn't get them to pair
Did you do the annoying Guide Setup with or w/o the cards inserted? I did the guided setup with the cards in after I called support
Lastly, are you using the correct slot in those S3's? Yes, I'm using the multi-stream slot. Should I request two single stream cards instead?


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## videobruce

No, you want the M cards. You got the cards from them? Was that in person or were they mailed to you?
What level of TV service did you have with them before?
Where are you located?


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## lpwcomp

Exactly what model(s) are these TiVos?


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## videobruce

Judging by his posts I was figuring it's a 652 (Series 3 HD)


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## Teeps

*Spectrum: Authenticating Single Stream Cable Card(s) problem*

Replaced the hard drive in my 648250 with a fresh image (could not clone old drive.)
After 2 days and 3 calls to Spectrum... I gave in and accepted a truck roll, on Sunday 10/24/21

The Spectrum Tech told me that the 2 (Scientific Atlanta) Single Stream cable cards in my 648250 TiVo since 2007, would no longer work in "my area"; turns out he was correct.

The cable card CP screen showed the cards did not authenticate.

The tech only had one multi-stream card on the truck. Which he installed; it paired and authenticated and works as it should.


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## sroberts225

paulsan said:


> Official Eatel Installation Thread
> 
> In Ascension Parish (County) Louisiana there is a company called Eatel that has traditionally been the phone company. They now have fiber installed to most houses and the new FiberEdge product provides phone, TV and Internet service. They offer the SA8300 which I have used for 2 years now. I was concerned that they would not have cable cards but they do.
> 
> The cable cards are offered without installation and can be picked up at one of their two locations. They have them in stock and it takes about 5 minutes to complete the transaction. They charge $3.50/month per card and there is no additional outlet fee for them. I have not discussed lowering the price based on the fact they are in a single device.
> 
> Installation was fairly easy. You put the cards in and then have to call to get them activated. Their repair department in open until 10:00pm 7 days/week so you can get them activated on the weekend. The first card activated immediately, but the second one required 2 additional phone calls to get setup. I get the impression that they are somewhat familiar with the cards but have not had a lot of them installed. The technicians I spoke with did not know about the Series 3.
> 
> Both tuners and cards are working fine. You are able to get all of the analog and digital regular channels, all of the HD channels and all of the premium channels. You can not get the new video on demand (as expected). You can get pay previews including Tigervision (for LSU Sports).
> 
> I'm happy to finally be back onto a Tivo. My wife loved the Eatel but missed the Tivo.
> 
> Paul


i know this is a really old post but... Eatel is now officially making my TiVos obsolete... after August 31, 2022 my cable cards will no longer be operational... not sure what alternatives i have except start streaming with YouTube or some other service... my TiVo boxes will now be expensive paperweights... damn...


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