# New Comcast Customer... what to expect



## tough joe (Sep 16, 2006)

Hi - I just moved into a new area that is comcast service only. I have 2 romio pros and 1 tivoHD.

I ordered the HD package called the "premier" and 3 cablecards. Installer scheduled in 2 weeks.

Ive read some things... so im trying to be as prepared as possible. First, the cost for the cablecards are a bit high. The first card is "free", the 2nd card is $9.95 and the 3rd card is $9.95. This seems a bit high - but what do I know? Im new to Comcast.

Lets talk about my tivos. Im guessing the Comcast cablecards will work with my tivo's listed above just like did with my other cable company? Will there be any issues with the TivoHD? (I just want it to record 2 HD channels at the same time). after reading this, it seems as though the cablecard from comcast performs differently than my past cablecard? in the past, I was able to record 2 hd channels at the same time, however reading this link, it seems as though i'll need 2 cablecards JUST for the series 3?? At a cost of $10 per card, that's $20 per month just for the series 3...

http://customer.xfinity.com/help-and-support/cable-tv/set-up-tivo-series-3hd

As for the 2 Romio Pros, will i have any problems recording 6 hd channels at the same time?

Thanks in advance. 
Joe


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## twalsh22 (Aug 28, 2015)

$9.95 is not the charge for a cable card. It's a charge for an "additional outlet". It will probably be ~$2 less because you use your own equipment (TiVos). The cable cards for your 2nd and 3rd could be free also but ~$1 for 2nd card in same TiVo.


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## fcfc2 (Feb 19, 2015)

tough joe said:


> Hi - I just moved into a new area that is comcast service only. I have 2 romio pros and 1 tivoHD.
> 
> I ordered the HD package called the "premier" and 3 cablecards. Installer scheduled in 2 weeks.
> 
> ...


If memory serves there was a recommendation and some "special" offers from Tivo due to Comcast moving to MPEG 4 which was not supported on older Tivos, but then unless I am loosing it, it was announced that there was a firmware upgrade to get some of those older Tivos to also work with MPEG 4 channels. Sorry no details or further memory traces left.
With 2 Pros and a 2 tuner HD, it does seem like if you could get by with just 12 tuners, you could retire the HD and replace it with a mini. That would knock off $10 a month and the mini's payback is going to be a little over a year, if you shop around.


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## tough joe (Sep 16, 2006)

fcfc2 said:


> If memory serves there was a recommendation and some "special" offers from Tivo due to Comcast moving to MPEG 4 which was not supported on older Tivos, but then unless I am loosing it, it was announced that there was a firmware upgrade to get some of those older Tivos to also work with MPEG 4 channels. Sorry no details or further memory traces left.
> With 2 Pros and a 2 tuner HD, it does seem like if you could get by with just 12 tuners, you could retire the HD and replace it with a mini. That would knock off $10 a month and the mini's payback is going to be a little over a year, if you shop around.


Cant use mini - need 14 tunners...


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## CCourtney (Mar 28, 2006)

tough joe said:


> Cant use mini - need 14 tunners...


Wow, you're actually using 14 tunners at one time? I thought I was hardcore when occassionally on Sunday nights I'd hit all 6 on my Roamio.

That said, it really depends on your Comcast Service area what they do. I lived in Houston Comcast area until last Fall and moved to the Sacramento Comcast area. Totally different charges. I had no extra outlet fee's, was charged $1.99 for my addital cable card (had two TiVo HD's at the time) and got a two $2.50 own equipment discounts. In Sacramento I get $1.99 for additional cablecard, $9.95 per additional outlet, and $2.50 back for own equipment.

I decided to not try to revive my TiVo HD after it died a couple months ago to save the $9.44/mo I was paying extra for it and instead used a Mini. If I need to add another for the guest room in the future, I'll get another Mini.

As for other experiences. It's hit or miss getting cablecards activated. Most locations haven't gotten new/replacement cablecards in a couple years. The one I put in my Roamio, looked like it had been ran over by a truck. I shouldn't have returned the one from my first TiVo HD box when it died a year ago, which I replaced with a Roamio.

I moved out to Sacremento and need one for my Roamio and one for my HD. Both looked like scratch and dent specials. Only one of the actually worked. It took three service visits to get a second one that worked.

I would recommend you make sure you can get a Cablecard early on when signing up for service.


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

If your Series 3 HD is TCD648250b (label on back, System Information) then you need 2 cable cards. The other models will work with just 1 Multi-stream (M) card.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

ThAbtO said:


> If your Series 3 HD is TCD648250b (label on back, System Information) then you need 2 cable cards. The other models will work with just 1 Multi-stream (M) card.


And also I believe that model won't work with the new MPEG4 channels at Comcast. TiVo can't send the new FW that's needed for them.


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## CCourtney (Mar 28, 2006)

ThAbtO said:


> If your Series 3 HD is TCD648250b (label on back, System Information) then you need 2 cable cards. The other models will work with just 1 Multi-stream (M) card.





HarperVision said:


> And also I believe that model won't work with the new MPEG4 channels at Comcast. TiVo can't send the new FW that's needed for them.


Sounds like he has an actual TiVo HD box and not a Series 3. I did a quick search on the Xfinity site for TiVo HD and it brings up the Series 3 link that he listed as the first item, which indicates require two cards. Here's a better link that at least gets you to TiVo HD and Premiers information as well http://customer.xfinity.com/help-and-support/cable-tv/connecting-tivo-to-digital-adapter/

Joe - If you had one card before and you have a TiVo HD box and not a Series 3 box (I assume you know the difference) then a single M card works fine with Comcast, I've been using a single M-card on TiVo HD boxes with Comcast since around 2008.


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

It needs to be very specific as Tivo labels all the Series 3 as HD. 

The OLED model is model TCD648250B, 2 card slots in back.
HD (slightly later model) is TCD652160, slots are in front labelled for M/S and S cards.
An XL model is TCD658000.


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## lmacmil (Oct 26, 2015)

tough joe said:


> Lets talk about my tivos. Im guessing the Comcast cablecards will work with my tivo's listed above just like did with my other cable company?


Maybe this won't be news but when I installed the (Comcast) cable card in my Roamio, I thought it would work right away. Wrong! Not only did I have to go through the setup again (I was using it as OTA initially), but there was some "fine print" on the setup screen that I missed (which prevented me from getting HD channels.) Had to call Tivo and have them walk me through it. I installed the card myself so I don't know if the typical Comcast tech will be familiar enough with the Tivo to get it working or if they will hang around while you go through the setup. Good luck!


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## Pnyklr (Aug 4, 2015)

Be prepared for the installer showing up with zero cable cards. Happened two separate times on my initial install. 

TiVo and Comcast can be a bit time consuming to get everything working correctly. I had an issue where the movie channels would show up. That took some extra effort on my part to get resolved.


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## tough joe (Sep 16, 2006)

ThAbtO said:


> If your Series 3 HD is TCD648250b (label on back, System Information) then you need 2 cable cards. The other models will work with just 1 Multi-stream (M) card.


its the newer version that uses the m-card.. thankfully...


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## tough joe (Sep 16, 2006)

CCourtney said:


> Sounds like he has an actual TiVo HD box and not a Series 3. I did a quick search on the Xfinity site for TiVo HD and it brings up the Series 3 link that he listed as the first item, which indicates require two cards. Here's a better link that at least gets you to TiVo HD and Premiers information as well http://customer.xfinity.com/help-and-support/cable-tv/connecting-tivo-to-digital-adapter/
> 
> Joe - If you had one card before and you have a TiVo HD box and not a Series 3 box (I assume you know the difference) then a single M card works fine with Comcast, I've been using a single M-card on TiVo HD boxes with Comcast since around 2008.


yes it will definitely work with an m-card. i came from a cable system called "advanced cable communications" and had my tivo hd and my 2 tivo roamios set up for several years with single m-cards.

moving to a new city forces me to use Comcast. the installer is scheduled for next Thursday June 23.

is it possible for me to get cablecards before the installer does the initial install - as the above poster suggested?


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## tough joe (Sep 16, 2006)

ThAbtO said:


> It needs to be very specific as Tivo labels all the Series 3 as HD.
> 
> The OLED model is model TCD648250B, 2 card slots in back.
> HD (slightly later model) is , slots are in front labelled for M/S and S cards.
> An XL model is TCD658000.


this is mine> TCD652160


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## CCourtney (Mar 28, 2006)

tough joe said:


> yes it will definitely work with an m-card. i came from a cable system called "advanced cable communications" and had my tivo hd and my 2 tivo roamios set up for several years with single m-cards.
> 
> moving to a new city forces me to use Comcast. the installer is scheduled for next Thursday June 23.
> 
> is it possible for me to get cablecards before the installer does the initial install - as the above poster suggested?


Yes, you should have a local cable office that you should be able to go get the CableCards from. Tell them, that you have an install date, and give them your information.

If they say that your installer will have them, then I'd ask to speak to a manager about it, they should know that even if it's on the invoice, the install and service trucks almost never roll with cablecards.

If for some reason they won't give it to you before the install, and the truck doesn't have them (which is 99% likely they won't) then you'll end up going to pick up the cablecard from the office after the install anyway.


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

ThAbtO said:


> It needs to be very specific as Tivo labels all the Series 3 as HD.
> 
> The OLED model is model TCD648250B, 2 card slots in back.
> HD (slightly later model) is TCD652160, slots are in front labelled for M/S and S cards.
> An XL model is TCD658000.





tough joe said:


> its the newer version that uses the m-card.. thankfully...


Actually, the TCD648250B OLED model can use an M-Card, but it will act as a single stream card. It would also require 2 cards.


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## grey ghost (Feb 2, 2010)

I've got 2 Roamios and an HD all on Comcast but the HD is at a lake house. I also have all the "digital premier" channels. I installed them all myself and got 3 cards from the service center for the Roamios. 2 actually worked and paired easily after they did some software upgrades on Comcast's part. I had a little more trouble with the HD, but finally got a single working M card from Comcast to install myself. 

I routinely record 5 shows at a time and I've had no problems.

PS-Don't worry that Comcast on Demand does not show up immediately. It will show up under Find Shows, but it takes from 1-3 days to do so. I use it all the time and it works well.


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## jmerr74 (Nov 3, 2015)

I went to my local Comcast office and picked them up, it was cheaper than having someone do it. I live in S Florida I don't get charged anything for my card... due to discounts.


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## tough joe (Sep 16, 2006)

OK here is my Comcast experience. install tech had ZERO cable cards with him. Tried to say he will need to send someone else out in a week. so i lied and told him I was no longer needing cablecards and to go ahead and do the install. He laid down 3 separate orange wires from the outside box to each room in my house drilling a new hole in each room. While he started work, i ran up to the local comcast store and picked up 3 cablecards. came home, waited for the tech to finish the install, once cable service was installed successfully, i installed the 3 cable cards. called 877-405-2298 and was lucky enough to get the "tivo cable card pair department". the csr successfully paired 2 of the cards (it was beautiful) . right when he was about to get the #'s for the 3rd card, the line went dead. called back, got the "activation department" who apparently has no one who knows how to pair the cable card to a tivo, i was transferred back into the que 5 times before i hung up. 1 week later, praying to the comcast cablecard gods, i tried calling above # again. sadly, i get the activation dept only - no luck in getting the tivo cable card activation dept.... i did however get a rep who tried to help, but fail... i tried to explain to the csr the following...

https://support.tivo.com/articles/T...ooting-Roamio-Series-and-Premiere-Series-DVRs

my cable card has the following values - from the "condition access" screen...
Con: Yes (this is good!)
Val: ? (this is BAD!)
Auth: S (this is GOOD!)
CCIL: 0x00 (good!)

so here i am.... waiting for a competent Comcast tivo cable pairing supervisor, manager, csr, mouse in a cage to pair my cable card...

i must say that based on the postings of Comcast, im not surprised i am having a problem, but i AM surprised that i got 2 tivos successfully paired... time to hit social media with complaints in hopes to get assistance. this is now week 3...


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

Did you call the Comcast Cablecard hotline number? (855) 484-1453?


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## fcfc2 (Feb 19, 2015)

tough joe said:


> ly
> so here i am.... waiting for a competent Comcast tivo cable pairing supervisor, manager, csr, mouse in a cage to pair my cable card...
> 
> i must say that based on the postings of Comcast, im not surprised i am having a problem, but i AM surprised that i got 2 tivos successfully paired... time to hit social media with complaints in hopes to get assistance. this is now week 3...


And the reason you have not filed a complaint with the FCC is?


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## tough joe (Sep 16, 2006)

fcfc2 said:


> And the reason you have not filed a complaint with the FCC is?


Futile ?


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## tough joe (Sep 16, 2006)

HarperVision said:


> Did you call the Comcast Cablecard hotline number? (855) 484-1453?


that's a new # to me... the cablecard screen on the tivo and on comcasts web site says to call the 2298 # above... I'll give that a try and will report back. left Facebook complaint as well. And since im a betting man, Ill bet my right nut that the original csr entered the host or data ids wrong...


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

tough joe said:


> that's a new # to me... the cablecard screen on the tivo and on comcasts web site says to call the 2298 # above... I'll give that a try and will report back. left Facebook complaint as well. And since im a betting man, Ill bet my right nut that the original csr entered the host or data ids wrong...


Yeah those screens usually just give the regular MSO call in number. I don't know why TiVo doesn't put the MSO's cablecard hotline numbers into their GUI. The grey cablecard activation screen you get is generated from whatever headend you connect to that sees and registers the cablecard.

I'm not sure of the cablecard hotline hours though, and it's a weekend. Make sure to ask them if they're the cablecard division when they answer because it will forward you to regular CSRs if it's after their normal hours.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

HarperVision said:


> Did you call the Comcast Cablecard hotline number? (855) 484-1453?


Here's my old info-dump for Comcast support contacts. I dimly recall being told that the 1453 number was no longer valid, but I'd try it anyway. ComcastTed has been pretty consistent; and I believe you may want to hit ComcastCares via Twitter rather than the below email. (Not sure there's anybody on the receiving end of those emails, anymore.)
---
Contact info for Comcast support and issue escalation...

Comcast CableCARD Support Line: (877) 405-2298

Comcast TiVo Support Department: (855) 484-1453 (link)

*ComcastTeds* on the Comcast support forums, via PM

*Comcast Cares* team via email, at: [email protected]
or via Twitter at: *@ComcastCares*
NOTE: When contacting "Comcast Cares," please include all of the following in your email: The full name on your account, the telephone number on file for you, in addition to the best contact number, the full address where service is active (or location where service is being installed) and a detailed description of the problem.​


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

tough joe said:


> OK here is my Comcast experience. install tech had ZERO cable cards with him. Tried to say he will need to send someone else out in a week. so i lied and told him I was no longer needing cablecards and to go ahead and do the install. He laid down 3 separate orange wires from the outside box to each room in my house drilling a new hole in each room. *While he started work, i ran up to the local comcast store and picked up 3 cablecards.*


It is deeply disappointing that that ingenious maneuver didn't result in a fully functioning install.


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## tough joe (Sep 16, 2006)

Success!! Called the 2298 # and asked for a cable card tivo activation supervisor. After sitting on the phone having idle chat with a csr from another country for about 26 minutes, the supervisor picked up. He was apparently "very familiar" with tivo cablecard activations. 

He checked the values of the cable card - cable card id, host id, data, and it was revealed that the original csr entered the "host id" incorrectly (transposed 3 sets of numbers). Once he fixed that, I was able to see the "val" setting change from "?" to "V". 

I am happy things are working perfectly now - but very angry at the fact that the 7 csr reps would NOT verify the cable card id, host id, and data numbers.

There really should be a way to make this process easier for us (and consequently cheaper for comcast). I was given several suggestions such as "roll a truck", or "go to local office and bring your tivo with you"... seems to me that rolling a truck is very costly... 

Thanks everyone.
ps. facebook complaints fell on deaf ears.


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## chiguy50 (Nov 9, 2009)

tough joe said:


> Success!! Called the 2298 # and asked for a cable card tivo activation supervisor. After sitting on the phone having idle chat with a csr from another country for about 26 minutes, the supervisor picked up. He was apparently "very familiar" with tivo cablecard activations.
> 
> He checked the values of the cable card - cable card id, host id, data, and it was revealed that the original csr entered the "host id" incorrectly (transposed 3 sets of numbers). Once he fixed that, I was able to see the "val" setting change from "?" to "V".
> 
> ...


Glad to hear that you finally got the issue resolved. One lesson here, applicable to other technology scenarios when dealing with telephone support, is to make sure to have all data entries verified and then re-verified before hanging up. It's just too easy to misunderstand, transpose, or "fat-finger" a digit when coordinating over the phone.

As krkaufman notes above, for quick intervention you can also take unresolved issues to the Comcast Help & Support Forums, where ComcastTeds and ComcastZach are problem-solving superstars.


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## gfretwell (Jul 9, 2016)

A whole lot depends on where you are. I understand that in a lot of places, Comcast is top rate. In SW Florida, some Comcast employees have satellite because their service sucks so bad. In their defense, they bought up a bunch of mom and pops with varying quality of infrastructure but the bad part is they never upgraded the hardware.


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