# How much do you pay for your cable card?



## OdepiTy (Oct 29, 2003)

Tried looking all over but could not find. Getting xfinity and not sure how much they charge a month for a cable card. 

Does anyone know? How much does your provider charge?


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## Ennui (Sep 2, 2008)

OdepiTy said:


> Tried looking all over but could not find. Getting xfinity and not sure how much they charge a month for a cable card.
> 
> Does anyone know? How much does your provider charge?


COX San Diego charges $2/month for each. I have three M cards in two HD's and one Premiere.


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## ah30k (Jan 9, 2006)

Fios - I have two older sCards @ $2.99 ea but when I called about upgrading to mCards they said $3.99 ea.


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## heyted (Mar 4, 2012)

I have Comcast Xfinity in Florida. The first CableCARD is free with Digital Starter.


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## dswallow (Dec 3, 2000)

It varies in different franchise areas because some may have franchise-controlled pricing they have to abide by. There's also a certain level of variety you'll find even in the same market, depending on the levels of service a subscriber may maintain and/or how long they've been a subscriber.

In general it tends to be about $2-$3/CableCARD except that if you have a single device that needs two cards, the second card for that device is usually no additional charge.

This cost is in addition to additional outlet fees, which again may vary based on services you subscribe to, but generally would be somewhere around $8-$10/outlet from what I've seen.

When you provide your own equipment that the CableCARD plugs into, you also end up getting a credit, usually about $2.50 per CableCARD.

I have the HD Premier XF bundle (which is basically everything, but not the one including the whole-house DVR package) and provide all my equipment and use nothing from Comcast except for a modem/voice rental. I have 6 CableCARD's that cost me $0.00 each, and have a credit for 4 of them at $2.50 each, and don't have any additional outlet charges, plus an additional $15/month credit "because I asked" after my last promotional rate had ended. And I just got a letter a week or so ago to call about there being a package offer I could select to save money.

So ultimately, the price is whatever they happen to give it to you at, and probably varies most based on which specific franchise area you're in.


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## MHunter1 (Oct 11, 2007)

It does vary greatly, but looking at my household's bill here in San Jose, Comcast Xfinity provides us a cable box with one sealed s-card free and charges $1.10 per month for each of the removable m-cards in our two Premiere 4/XL4/Elites, then credits $2.50 per month for "customer-owned equipment". So it looks like Comcast is actually paying us $0.30 each month for having TiVo. I'm not calling them to ask why!


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## Mike1973 (Feb 20, 2007)

$2.50 here in Rochester, NY. Tuning adapter is no charge.


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## news4me2 (Jul 10, 2010)

I pay Verizon FIOS $3.99 per M-Card in the DC area


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

$2.50 each here


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## WhiskeyTango (Sep 20, 2006)

One M-Card, Comcast, Free


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

$3.99 here on FiOS. 

I would also include Digital Outlet fee which on FiOS is $0, but I know some insurances charge it on top of the CC.


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

dswallow said:


> This cost is in addition to additional outlet fees, which again may vary based on services you subscribe to, but generally would be somewhere around $8-$10/outlet from what I've seen.


 I've seen some outrageous Additional Outlet fees posted here over the years. I'm glad for me Cox does not charge anything for additional outlets so it's just $1.99 per CableCard for me. I guess if/when TiVo releases a 6 tuner unit + Mini with dynamic tuner allocation it should provide long term savings for those paying outrageous AOL and/or CableCard fees right now because of multiple units.


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## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

$1.99/month -- Mediacom


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## jsmeeker (Apr 2, 2001)

I think it's $5 per month


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## smithken31100 (Mar 5, 2003)

dswallow said:


> When you provide your own equipment that the CableCARD plugs into, you also end up getting a credit, usually about $2.50 per CableCARD.


You don't always get a credit. I have Brighthouse in Michigan, they don't include equipment in the price of their packages. If you get a cable box from them there will be a separate charge on your bill for the cable box.

I'm being charged $2.95 per month for an M-card and nothing for the tuning adapter.


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

FiOS,
$3.99 per card, I have 5
No break for the first one, or for the 2nd in an S3

Still love the fact I can have Tivo as my DVRs


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

I have Comcast (Xfinity) in Virginia. First CableCard free and then 2nd card in the same device is $1.15 (original S3 OLED that needs 2 CableCards). My second TiVo on the same TV (also an S3 OLED) is charged 2 x $1.15 for 2 CableCards. I also get a $2.50 credit for customer owned equipment and no outlet charge.

Scott


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## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

OdepiTy said:


> Tried looking all over but could not find. Getting xfinity and not sure how much they charge a month for a cable card.


On Comcast you will have no idea what they will charge per card after the first (the first card should be free) until you get them. Could be anywhere from zero to $9.95 per card.

And better yet, the guy right behind you might get a different price.


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## jakerock (Dec 9, 2002)

I think we're paying about $10 before $2.50 credit for owning our own equipment. With the first card free.


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## CoxInPHX (Jan 14, 2011)

slowbiscuit said:


> On Comcast you will have no idea what they will charge per card after the first (the first card should be free) until you get them. Could be anywhere from zero to $9.95 per card.
> 
> And better yet, the guy right behind you might get a different price.


How does Comcast get away with that? Several FCC complaints are in order.

http://support.tivo.com/ci/fattach/get/65615/1312909777/redirect/1
"Price CableCARDs uniformly and disclose fees prominently.
Cable operators must price CableCARD rental fees uniformly across a cable system whether the CableCARD is used in a leased set-top box or a retail device. Cable operators must prominently list the CableCARD fee as a line item both on their websites (in a manner that is readily accessible to the public) and on their annual rate cards. At a subscribers request, they also must provide such information orally or in writing. See 47 C.F.R. §§ 76.1205(b)(5), 76.1602(b)."​


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## stujac (Jan 26, 2002)

I have Comcast-Willow Grove. I have 2 cable cards and neither have a charge BUT...the 2nd tivo get's hit with a 2nd digital tier charge (9.95). My triple play just continues to go up; I'm at $165 now and will be at $180 if I can't cut another deal soon.


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

Most likely you also have a "customer equipment credit" as well for your two boxes.


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## stujac (Jan 26, 2002)

I do.


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## MrDell (Jul 8, 2012)

On my most recent bill from Verizon Fios there was note that said the Cable Card rental fee will increase to $4.99 per month on August 1st. That is just another way for them to increase your rates when you are locked into a 2 year agreement. They do the same with their DVR's and converter boxes also. A bunch of bandits in my opinion!!


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## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

CoxInPHX said:


> How does Comcast get away with that? Several FCC complaints are in order.
> 
> http://support.tivo.com/ci/fattach/get/65615/1312909777/redirect/1
> "Price CableCARDs uniformly and disclose fees prominently.
> Cable operators must price CableCARD rental fees uniformly across a cable system whether the CableCARD is used in a leased set-top box or a retail device. Cable operators must prominently list the CableCARD fee as a line item both on their websites (in a manner that is readily accessible to the public) and on their annual rate cards. At a subscriber's request, they also must provide such information orally or in writing. See 47 C.F.R. §§ 76.1205(b)(5), 76.1602(b)."​


Yeah been there done that, went nowhere. Others have filed complaints about their card billing practices too. I got a phone call and a nice official letter from one of their corporate reps (with the FCC cc'd) saying it was perfectly fine to charge me a full outlet charge for a card, and apologizing for the inconsistent billing by saying that they were working on fixing that.

The bottom line with Comcast is that you'll have no idea what you're going to get charged for cards until you pick one up (if then). What they state on the rate sheet is often not applied, or they pick some other old Tivo code that works, that's why you see people posting that each card is $1.10, $1.50, full outlet charge (usually $7.45 after credit), or even free. And this happens even in the same billing area - my daughter's Tivo (that I gave her) has a $1.50 card, I have one at full outlet.

Go figure.


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## Thos19 (Dec 31, 2002)

$3.99 for one M-Card from Fios here in Rockland, MA.


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## CraigK (Jun 9, 2006)

I have two CableCards (no Comcast box). No charge for the first card (included with my cable package) and no charge for the second card in a different TiVo (included with my Digital Additional Outlet fee which is $8.75)

Also get $2.50 credit for each card (Customer-Owned Equipment).

The CableCards themselves are not listed on my bill by name.


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## George Cifranci (Jan 30, 2003)

I have 2 M-Card's from Time Warner Cable here in Columbus Ohio and they are charging me $5.00 a month total. So I assume $2.50 each.


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## buscuitboy (Aug 8, 2005)

dswallow said:


> It varies in different franchise areas because some may have franchise-controlled pricing they have to abide by. There's also a certain level of variety you'll find even in the same market, depending on the levels of service a subscriber may maintain and/or how long they've been a subscriber.


This is pretty much what I was gonna say; it seems to vary by market. And even then, it can be different. I am in the Atlanta market & at one point, I was basically getting charged their $9.95 "outlet fees" for each cable card and then a $2.50 equipment credit. This was for cables cards above 2 (the first one was free and the 2nd one was $1.50). I only got one additional cable card at this rate.

However, I recently got a local rep who was able to somehow make my additional cable cards cost only $1.50/month. I then STILL got the $2.50 "equipment credit" for each card. I know, makes NO SENSE. I therefore then wound up getting additional cable cards. My last 4 bills have showed 6 cable cards (I had to get some S-cards for older Series 3 units). No "outlet fees" either. 5 of them are being charged a base rate of $1.50/month each ($7.50) and then a $12.50 "equipment credit" ($2.50 X 5) each month for all of them. So I guess technically Comcast is paying me to have their cable cards. I'll take it while I can.


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## lpwcomp (May 6, 2002)

Net $7.45/mo ($9.95 ADO fee - $2.50 Customer Owned Equipment Credit) for each.

The FCC apparently has absolutely no interest in actually enforcing their CableCARD regulations.


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## lrhorer (Aug 31, 2003)

buscuitboy said:


> My last 4 bills have showed 6 cable cards (I had to get some S-cards for older Series 3 units).


There is no need to get S-Cards for an S3. All of mine have M-cards in them. The only reason one might wish to get S-Cards is if the company charges less for them.


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## dswallow (Dec 3, 2000)

lrhorer said:


> There is no need to get S-Cards for an S3. All of mine have M-cards in them. The only reason one might wish to get S-Cards is if the company charges less for them.


They still require 2 cards. The S3 units can't use one M-card for two streams, as originally expected.


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## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

> ...I *had* to get some S-cards for older Series 3 units)





dswallow said:


> They still require 2 cards. The S3 units can't use one M-card for two streams, as originally expected.


But there's still no reason to HAVE to use S-Cards...


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## buscuitboy (Aug 8, 2005)

lrhorer said:


> There is no need to get S-Cards for an S3. All of mine have M-cards in them. The only reason one might wish to get S-Cards is if the company charges less for them.


Well, technically I kind of am getting my S-cards cheaper (read below)



Bierboy said:


> But there's still no reason to HAVE to use S-Cards...


Oh, but I actually do have a reason I HAVE to use S-cards.... Read on.... (LOL!!!)

.
Normally, I would agree, but at the time, my local Comcast office had absolutely no M-cards in stock to hand out to me. I realize this is a RARE occasion & probably the ONLY reason to have S-cards for a TiVo these days. Trust me, I TRIED to even get M-cards for my two Series 3 (OLED) units, but they didn't have them to hand out. Therefore, I just decided to get 4 S-cards they did have in stock since the rep was only charging me $1.50 for each. I can handle that for now.

I have even been back to my local Comcast office 3 times to try and trade some of the S-cards I have for M-cards and for some unknown reason, all they had each time were STILL S-cards. Someone here suggested I call Comcast to have them mail M-cards to me & I am sure this is an easy solution to get them, but quite frankly I am afraid to talk to someone directly at Comcast in fear of them looking over my bill more closely and then possibly correcting something with it after seeing charges of only a $1.50 for the cable cards (& $2.50 equipment credits). Then putting back about 4 "outlet fee" charges instead. Therefore, resulting in my bill going through the roof.
.
No, for now I'll just stick with the S-cards being billed at a $1.50/month for each of them. I can handle this. Again, I realize this is an unusual situation & probably the only reason to have S-cards. Not the norm for most out there, but then again, Comcast has an unusual billing dept. and practices anyway so nothing surprises me.


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## lpwcomp (May 6, 2002)

buscuitboy,

As long as they are working, there is absolutely no reason for you to swap out your S3(OLED) s-cards for m-cards. You need 2 for each whatever they are and I seem to recall some people reporting problems using m-cards in single stream mode, but that may not be the case. I've never had anything but m-cards and never more than one installed in any particular TiVo, which really isn't saying much in my case since I only have one TiVo (a THD) with 2 slots. I would be thrilled with the $.50/mo net per TiVo you are paying vs. the $7.45/mo net per TiVo I am paying.


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## overFEDEXed (Nov 11, 2002)

moyekj said:


> I've seen some outrageous Additional Outlet fees posted here over the years. I'm glad for me Cox does not charge anything for additional outlets so it's just $1.99 per CableCard for me. I guess if/when TiVo releases a 6 tuner unit + Mini with dynamic tuner allocation it should provide long term savings for those paying outrageous AOL and/or CableCard fees right now because of multiple units.


Cox Cable Middle Georgia;

$1.99 per card, $5 for first Additional Outlet Fee, $4 for 2nd AOF and beyond.

I changed to an Digital Economy package, which is cheap, and the fees seemed to have vanished. Only $6 a month for three CC's now.


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## aindik (Jan 23, 2002)

$9.95 per outlet, minus $2.70 for bringing your own equipment. $9.95 charge is waived on the first outlet with most packages.

So I paid base package price plus $19.90 minus $8.10 when I had three outlets, all TiVos. Now I have two outlets and I pay base package plus $9.95 minus $5.40.

Comcast Philly.


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## gayste (Feb 27, 2002)

In NoVa now with 1 m-card and it's free. I think one is free but I used to have 4 (with 2 series 2's). At some point I complained that that they were all in the same house/room and since they did not offer an m-card at that point why was I paying for the other 3, so they just made them all free.


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## jazzy01 (Apr 11, 2007)

I pay $2.95/mo for one M-card in my Premiere4 w/CableOne here in AZ.


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## Jed1 (Jun 18, 2013)

My circumstances is a bit unusual as I own my two cards. I got my first card back in 2004 which went into my RCA DLP. My cable company had only one card that they had for show and since I was the first person to try one they gave it to me for free. This was a Motorola S Card. I moved this card into a 8G Kuro in 2008 and then bought the second card for $125 in 2008 for my other 8G Kuro. This one was a Motorola M Card.
Last year one family member bought out the family member that owned my division and I ended up with two new Motorola M Cards as the transition from the old headend to the new one did not go well. This Thursday one M Card will go into my first TiVo as Rovi ended the data for TV Guide On Screen that is embedded in my two Kuros. I think I will wait to see if TiVo releases the 6 tuner DVR this fall and will put the other M Card in that TiVo.


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## Bigg (Oct 31, 2003)

It's the primary on the account, so I think like negative $2/mo or something.


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

It's obvious from this thread that just spelling out CableCard + Outlet fees doesn't really mean a whole lot. You have to see those fees in the context of the whole cable bill. For example I pay no Additional Outlet fees (using 3 outlets) and CableCards are only $2.00/month, so I'm guessing my base package cost must be quite siginficantly higher than those that do have to pay those fees.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

moyekj said:


> It's obvious from this thread that just spelling out CableCard + Outlet fees doesn't really mean a whole lot. You have to see those fees in the context of the whole cable bill. For example I pay no Additional Outlet fees (using 3 outlets) and CableCards are only $2.00/month, so I'm guessing my base package cost must be quite siginficantly higher than those that do have to pay those fees.


Good point, in CT using Comcast I pay a listed amount of $1.00/card/month and no outlet fee, but in my case my triple play has a high fixed cost and a good listed discount for this two year package, if I returned one cable card I would save that $1.00 + tax per month, but others in my area pay a little less for the package and a lot more for their cable cards. Comcast pricing matrix is incomprehensible to most people.


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