# Comcast Multi-Stream CableCard?



## DiscoBayJoe (Sep 19, 2006)

Has anyone had a successfull Multi-Stream card install with Comcast?

The bad news is that my S3 didn't arrive today (ordered 9/12 w/2Day). UPS shows it as set for 2-day as-ordered (not the 1-day uplift as indicated in other threads) with it hitting their TX Hub at 9PM Friday. This should mean delivery tomorrow afternoon. Unfortunatly this also meant I had to bump (for the 2nd time) my AM Comcast appointment out from Tomorrow AM until Friday.

The potential good news is that while I was on with Comcast he said that I should be getting a Multi-Stream card and would only need one in the Tivo S3. He was the first person at Comcast I had talked to who seemed to have any clue about CableCards. He modified my order to a single card.

Am I going to be really bummed out on Friday with a single-stream card?

I am in the SF/East Bay Area Market.


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## jfh3 (Apr 15, 2004)

Yours is the first post I've heard where an installer claims to have an M-stream card available.

Keep us posted.


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## bkdtv (Jan 9, 2003)

I would be surprised if they have Multistream cards, as I've been told repeatedly they won't ship out in quantity until October. Perhaps they have a few and they are giving you one...

Keep us informed.


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## gostan (Oct 6, 2002)

I hope that you are not bumed out on Friday. I would not count on a multi-stream cablecard at all.

Stan


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## gwsat (Sep 14, 2006)

If what I have read in other threads is correct, a Multi-Stream card won't do you any good. I understand that current CableCARD slots will only provide one way communication even with a Multi-Stream card and the S3s are equipped with one way slots.


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## Ereth (Jun 16, 2000)

The one-way slot means you can't do PPV or VOD. But a multi-stream card would allow you to get 2 streams with one card.


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## mikebridge (Sep 18, 2000)

Ereth said:


> The one-way slot means you can't do PPV or VOD. But a multi-stream card would allow you to get 2 streams with one card.


technically up to 5 streams with 1 multistream card, IIRC, but the tivo will only deal with 2 of those streams.


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## amjustice (Mar 9, 2006)

I bet the Series 3 is a very big motivator to get Multi-Stream cards out there for the Cable Cos, it will probably cut down on costs for them as far as having double the amount of single stream cards in some users Tivos.


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## classicX (May 10, 2006)

amjustice said:


> I bet the Series 3 is a very big motivator to get Multi-Stream cards out there for the Cable Cos, it will probably cut down on costs for them as far as having double the amount of single stream cards in some users Tivos.


Why would that cut down their costs? They would probably much rather charge you for two cards versus one.

I don't understand your logic.


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## amjustice (Mar 9, 2006)

classicX said:


> Why would that cut down their costs? They would probably much rather charge you for two cards versus one.
> 
> I don't understand your logic.


Comcast isnt charging for a second card, since their cards are free and the only charge they could do is a second "outlet" which myself and others have convinced them since its only one device, only one outlet, so I am getting 2 cards for free, hense 1 would cost them less. The only thing that doesnt figure in here is the cost of the Multi stream cards vs the old ones, if the old ones were signifigantly cheaper then it still might cost less to give someone 2 cards


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## ah30k (Jan 9, 2006)

classicX said:


> Why would that cut down their costs? They would probably much rather charge you for two cards versus one.
> 
> I don't understand your logic.


I convinced Comcast to not charge me a second outlet fee since they are both going into a single DVR (exact same situation as their 6412)


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## gwsat (Sep 14, 2006)

Video OnDemand is not available on the S3, even with a Multi-Stream card. But I understand that pay per view programming that is to be shown outside the OnDemand service is available. You cant order pay per view programming with the press of a button as you can if you have a digital cable box but you can order it with a phone call.


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## amjustice (Mar 9, 2006)

gwsat said:


> Video OnDemand is not available on the S3, even with a Multi-Stream card. But I understand that pay per view programming that is to be shown outside the OnDemand service is available. You cant order pay per view programming with the press of a button as you can if you have a digital cable box but you can order it with a phone call.


I really don't think that is a big deal, we are just keeping our cable box for an extra $5 a month (Comcast). My wife likes to view various shows and movies on-demand so that was a bargaing chip in getting a Series 3.


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## DiscoBayJoe (Sep 19, 2006)

Comcast had previously told me it was going to be $5/mo for the 2nd card, $0/mo for the first. Shaving the 2nd card will pay for 1/2 of Howard if it works as promised.

My goal is to have the S3 and a Comcast STB installed in a single A/V closet as a single outlet. In that A/V Closet I have equipment to send it to my primary TV in HD/THX and to 6 other TV's with a ChannelPlus Modulator/IR-Repeater system.

If all works, I will be able to shave about $80/mo by ditching D* (Video) / SBC (Voice) , and using ComCast Triple Play and Tivo S3. I'll only have HD to one TV, but that's fine.

BTW: The Comcast Digital voice has been great sofar.


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## amjustice (Mar 9, 2006)

DiscoBayJoe said:


> BTW: The Comcast Digital voice has been great sofar.


Thats good, I am thinking we will go with SunRocket for VoIP once we move into our new house later this year, I think it is a little cheaper.


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## jfh3 (Apr 15, 2004)

amjustice said:


> I really don't think that is a big deal, we are just keeping our cable box for an extra $5 a month (Comcast). My wife likes to view various shows and movies on-demand so that was a bargaing chip in getting a Series 3.


The Comcast FAQ says you can have a cable box for free if your primary outlet device uses cable cards. Something about giving the customer the convenience to use VOD and PPV.


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## nhey (Jul 4, 2004)

jfh3 said:


> The Comcast FAQ says you can have a cable box for free if your primary outlet device uses cable cards. Something about giving the customer the convenience to use VOD and PPV.


Where's the source of this? I don't think it's true.


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## ah30k (Jan 9, 2006)

jfh3 said:


> The Comcast FAQ says you can have a cable box for free if your primary outlet device uses cable cards. Something about giving the customer the convenience to use VOD and PPV.


Oh, and a convenient way to spend more money! Really though, this is good because there are some times that it would be nice to access a VOD. Where did you see that?


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## jfh3 (Apr 15, 2004)

From the Comcast FAQ:

http://www.comcast.com/customers/faq/FaqDetails.ashx?ID=2654

(See the bolded text below)

"If I can't get the same services with a CableCARD as I get with a digital cable box, why am I being charged the same price?

Your digital cable-ready TV can receive all of the Digital Cable services you currently enjoy which are included in your monthly subscription fee; however certain features will require a Digital Cable box. *In most areas Comcast will provide you with a Digital Cable box at no additional charge for your primary cable outlet.* Please call 1-800-COMCAST for details. "


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## Omnius (May 30, 2006)

I think a lot of people might be mis-interpreting that FAQ. I think they mean that they offer the first STB free with any digital package, so there's no need to get a cable card if you're wanting to save money because you can get one STB for no additional charge. Thats how I read it anyways, you can either have a STB or a cable card for free, and of course they want you to get the STB instead.


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

ah30k said:


> I convinced Comcast to not charge me a second outlet fee since they are both going into a single DVR (exact same situation as their 6412)


It is not the exact situation, in reality.

Yes, for the argument of "outlets" it is the same situation, and if they are billing per outlet, they they ought to bill for one. If you can succeed in getting them to bill per "appliance", all the better.

The reality is that each cablecard or cable box (known as an access device) takes up one entry in the authorisation system, and that has a fixed cost.



> If I can't get the same services with a CableCARD as I get with a digital cable box, why am I being charged the same price?


See "reality" above. There is a fixed cost for having something authorised.


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## TiVoPony (May 12, 2002)

DiscoBayJoe said:


> Has anyone had a successfull Multi-Stream card install with Comcast?
> 
> ...snip...
> 
> ...


Just getting caught up on many of the threads here, and need to take a moment to clarify something. DiscoBayJoe, I'll be sending you a PM as well.

There is currently no certification process for multi-stream cards (MCARD) in uni-directional devices such as the Series3. We are tracking the creation of the certification for this very closely and will work with CableLabs as this certification is finalized and becomes available. In the mean time, you will need two cable cards in your Series3 to enable dual tuner functionality (MCARDs in a uni-directional device act as SCARDs).

This is the first that we've seen an MCARD 'in the wild', they are generally not available. Please let your cable company know that if they only provide MCARDs, that for the time being you will need two for your Series3.

Cheers,
Pony


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## dieman (Sep 21, 2006)

TiVoPony said:


> There is currently no certification process for multi-stream cards (MCARD) in uni-directional devices such as the Series3. We are tracking the creation of the certification for this very closely and will work with CableLabs as this certification is finalized and becomes available. In the mean time, you will need two cable cards in your Series3 to enable dual tuner functionality (MCARDs in a uni-directional device act as SCARDs).


I bothered the Comcast guy who stopped by on Wednesday (happy I went to BB to pick one up since my Tivo from vip didn't show up until today, even with two day air!) and he was extremely skeptical on multistream coming soon and if its even available anywhere yet for use 'in the wild'. The installers and techs seem to have a very skeptical view of cablecard devices just because of the wild variances of issues and how some tv's interact with the card. I can't really say I don't blame them.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

jfh3 said:


> The Comcast FAQ says you can have a cable box for free if your primary outlet device uses cable cards. Something about giving the customer the convenience to use VOD and PPV.


Its not true in West Hartford CT except for the first HD Cable Box, the 2nd is a lot more than the $2.75 I pay for the CC in my other HD TV.


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## MichaelK (Jan 10, 2002)

TiVoPony said:


> Just getting caught up on many of the threads here, and need to take a moment to clarify something. DiscoBayJoe, I'll be sending you a PM as well.
> 
> There is currently no certification process for multi-stream cards (MCARD) in uni-directional devices such as the Series3. We are tracking the creation of the certification for this very closely and will work with CableLabs as this certification is finalized and becomes available. In the mean time, you will need two cable cards in your Series3 to enable dual tuner functionality (MCARDs in a uni-directional device act as SCARDs).
> 
> ...


Can you elaborate a little more?

Is this a matter of getting certified or do you guys need to make changes to the software- or both?


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## CCourtney (Mar 28, 2006)

Sounds to me like CableLabs hasn't finalized the multi-stream CC STB side of the certification process. They definitely have finalized the certification process side of multi-stream CCs as there are a number of CCs which have gone through and passed this certification.

The S3 was the first device I was aware of that was 'suppose' to support multi-stream cards, and I suspect it is capable of doing so, but doesn't have CableLabs seal of approval yet. This stinks of typical CableLabs feet dragging.

CCourtney


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## MichaelK (Jan 10, 2002)

What I'm wondering though is what really happens if you stick an M-card in it?

IS TiVo obligated to say "it's not approved" and please dont use an m-card in it? But really it will work fine?

But to get the second one to pair and all that I have to assume that tivo wont pair both tuners to the first card. So why not? Tivo must have somethign set to force m-cards in the first slot to fall back to s-card mode.


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## megazone (Mar 3, 2002)

MichaelK said:


> What I'm wondering though is what really happens if you stick an M-card in it?


It falls back to single-stream interoperability mode like it is supposed to in a Unidirectional Host Device at this time.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Any updates on this?


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## megazone (Mar 3, 2002)

CableLabs recently approved a certification process for M-Card CC 1.0 host devices, like the S3. TiVo was one of the companies that worked with CableLabs to develop that. Now that there is a procedure TiVo can work on implementing it in the S3.


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## MichaelK (Jan 10, 2002)

megazone said:


> CableLabs recently approved a certification process for M-Card CC 1.0 host devices, like the S3. TiVo was one of the companies that worked with CableLabs to develop that. Now that there is a procedure TiVo can work on implementing it in the S3.


you have a link- I'd like to read it

thanks


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## megazone (Mar 3, 2002)

http://www.cablelabs.com/news/pr/2006/06_pr_mcard_udcp_111306.html


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## MichaelK (Jan 10, 2002)

thanks-

is there a link to a cablelabs document anywhere of the spec or anything? Or are they just basically saying someplace that you can use an m-card in a UCAR now and nothing else changes?

Says first batch of testing will be in january- so hopefully tivo gets approved then for m-cards....


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## megazone (Mar 3, 2002)

I don't know, I haven't gone looking for the spec.


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## MichaelK (Jan 10, 2002)

I looked on their website (which is totally not set up for an ignorant fool (like me) to find anything-LOL) and couldn't find anything.

But see above:
ignorant fool+ hard to find = who knows....

So I'm not sure if there were any new specs published or not...


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## Roderigo (Mar 12, 2002)

MichaelK said:


> is there a link to a cablelabs document anywhere of the spec or anything? Or are they just basically saying someplace that you can use an m-card in a UCAR now and nothing else changes?


Spec is available here:

http://www.cablelabs.com/udcp/

Listed under the "Optional Test Documents"


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## Brennus (Oct 4, 2007)

So the comcast guy just left... Leaving me 2 M-Cards. I dunno if they work as of yet, but supposedly they are on my acct and im running guided setup now. They seemed to be a bit confused as to which number to give the cable office to put the cards on the acct...

Well the cable cards had to be upgraded to their latest firmware, but then I still didn't receive channels 31-78, but I got the digital channels above 100. I called customer service and it took them another 30 mins to figure out what to change to make it work, and then was very confused when they realized I had two cable cards. It all seems sorted now, but I think there are still lots of confusion about what to do to get everything working properly.

This was in atlanta, btw.


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## Capn Jack (Oct 12, 2003)

Thread died in its tracks... well they work. I have 2 M-cards in the S3 and they work fine. Still no VOD as stated above.


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## dan2016 (Feb 21, 2003)

DiscoBayJoe said:


> Has anyone had a successfull Multi-Stream card install with Comcast?
> 
> The bad news is that my S3 didn't arrive today (ordered 9/12 w/2Day). UPS shows it as set for 2-day as-ordered (not the 1-day uplift as indicated in other threads) with it hitting their TX Hub at 9PM Friday. This should mean delivery tomorrow afternoon. Unfortunatly this also meant I had to bump (for the 2nd time) my AM Comcast appointment out from Tomorrow AM until Friday.
> 
> ...


OK. I just bought a S3 HD Tivo and when I went to Comcast here in Houston, was told that I only need 1 Multi-stream card. When I set everything up, it all worked fine except the premium channels. When I go to a premium channel, I get a screen that shows all the information on the card and network. At the top it says, "This Screen is dieplayed on behalf of your cable provider." I contacted Support at Comcast (took 3 times because they kept directing my call to a dead number) and the last person I spoke with said that a single multistream card will not work in the S3 Tivo. He said I need 2 multistream cards. He said even the single stream cards won't work which is interesting because I have another S3 HD Tivo with 2 regular cards and they work fine.

Anybody have any ideas? Is it just Comcast Houston (formerly Time Warer) or am I dealing with a bunch of idiots?


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## rvsj (Dec 20, 2007)

S3s require two cable cards. They can be S cards or M cards.
You said that you have an S3 HD TiVo. Which is it? An S3 or an HD?
An HD can use one M card or two S cards.


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## Adam1115 (Dec 15, 2003)

I'm running a M Card and an S Card in my series 3. Works great.


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## geekylinuxkid (Oct 12, 2008)

you need two cards for the Series 3 Tivo HD? i have an m card in mine from comcast that i installed today. it seems to be working alright recording two channels at once.

i dont have the xl as i didnt feel the need to purchase one as i dont have thx speakers (do they even exist yet?) and i can upgrade the unit myself to a bigger drive.


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## Adam1115 (Dec 15, 2003)

geekylinuxkid said:


> you need two cards for the Series 3 Tivo HD? i have an m card in mine from comcast that i installed today. it seems to be working alright recording two channels at once.
> 
> i dont have the xl as i didnt feel the need to purchase one as i dont have thx speakers (do they even exist yet?) and i can upgrade the unit myself to a bigger drive.


Two boxes-

One is called the series 3, requires two for dual tuning, the other is called the "TiVo HD" and only needs one.


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## JoeTaxpayer (Dec 23, 2008)

Ok. Pardon my ignorance, Adam. I just picked up a TCD648250B, seller listed it as TiVo HD. Is this a One Card guy? I bought it because all notes showed it was THX certified.


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## aegrant00 (Nov 22, 2005)

DiscoBayJoe said:


> Has anyone had a successfull Multi-Stream card install with Comcast?


As Comcast is going to ALL-DIGITAL on Feb 12th, I ordered a new TiVo HD and just had a MultiStream Cable Card installed successfully.

They actually refer to it as a Tivo Card


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

aegrant00 said:


> As Comcast is going to ALL-DIGITAL on Feb 12th


[citation needed]

YOUR local Comcast branch may be going all digital, but that is not true of everyone, as far as I know.

(For example, I get 2 through low 30s analog, mostly broadcast stations + Discovery + CSPAN (talking heads to use to go to sleep to))


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## cjv2 (Dec 16, 2009)

Probably true that all of Comcast is going all-digital eventually, but certainly not on Feb 12th. There are lots of folks in the Atlanta metro area who have been advised of later dates than that (or have not been notified of a date at all, even though "it's coming.")


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