# Tivo HD Cable card installation with Mediacom in Des Moines, IA area



## Zaphod (Feb 18, 2003)

This is purely an informational message. Someone else out there who lives in the same area I do asked me to post my results of my cable card installation with my local cable company, Mediacom.

Overall the cable card installation went fairly well. It took about an hour when it should have taken 15 minutes, but no MAJOR issues.

First, you have to call Mediacom to "order" the cards, then you'll get a letter in the mail telling you that the cards are available and to call in to schedule your appointment. I got the letter about a week after my call to order the cards, but luckily they were able to schedule the install for the next day.

Mediacom does require sending a tech out to install. There is a $15.99 installation charge, but I thought that was relatively reasonable so I didn't argue.

Mediacom in the Des Moines area DOES support the multi-stream M-Cards (they use Motorola cards). But the customer service rep you talk to on the phone when you order them won't have a clue what you're talking about if you ask for an M-Card vs. a single-stream so just order 2 cards just to be safe. But when the the tech arrives (as in my case) hopefully he'll have M-Cards with him and you'll only need one of them. If the tech doesn't say anything, be sure ask and check the cards out for yourself. My card clearly says "M-Card" on it in big letters. My tech knew when he showed up that we'd only need one of the cards.

After they record the info required (serial # of the card, etc.) they have to send that info into their "dispatch" center who then has to send a "hit" to the card. Most of my delay was that it took half an hour for the dispatch center to reply and send the hit. The only other minor issue was that there was no clear indication on our end that the hit had really been sent. We still couldn't get things to work right after dispatch said they sent the hit. We futzed around with that for about 15 minutes, but the tech finally suggested just pulling the power plug on the Tivo, pulling out the card, powering the Tivo back up and reinserting the card. We did that and everything worked fine after that.

It's well worth it! With the cable cards I'm getting the digital versions of all the lower tiered channels (2-78) and the picture quality is tons better than the analog reception (still over the cable) was on these channels without the cable card.

One caution regarding the programming packaging with cable cards and Mediacom. If you don't have one of their digital boxes then you can't have any "pacakge" deals. You have to subscribe to everything ala-carte. I have the Mediacom HD dual-tuner DVR. With that I had a "package" deal where I got the regular channels (2-78), HBO and Starz/Encore, and my internet all for one price. If I give up the Mediacom box and have to subscribe to all of that ala-carte I actually end up paying Mediacom the SAME that I am now, even though I would no longer be renting a box from them. If you really want all those channels you're better off actually keeping a basic digital box (downgrade from their DVR to just the standard digital box) even if you're never going to use it. In my case I am giving up my Mediacom box entirely and just not going to bother to subscribe to HBO and Starz/Encore any more. I didn't used to subscribe to them anyway and the only reason I did was because Mediacom offered me the package deal at one time that included them for the same price I was already paying, and I don't watch them very often anyway. So in the end by doing that I'll save about $20/month on my Mediacom bill.


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## ToddNeedsTiVo (Sep 2, 2003)

Thanks for following up on my request to post your story! Very informative post.

How did you luck out getting multistream cards when the rep you spoke to didn't know the difference? That probably saved you a couple bucks.

I had no idea they were duplicating the sub-78 analog cable channels digitally. That's cool that you're seeing an improved picture. You sometimes hear people say that the lower channels in various companies' digital plans is still analog, but apparently that isn't the case here with Mediacom.

If their rumored HD expansion comes to pass soon, combined with your reasonable installation experience, it might finally be attractive to me to upgrade my service subscription.

It'll be interesting how they itemize things on the bill. Sounds like you'd have what, two "outlets?" (Your CableCARDed TiVo and the regular cable box.)


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## Zaphod (Feb 18, 2003)

ToddNeedsTiVo said:


> How did you luck out getting multistream cards when the rep you spoke to didn't know the difference? That probably saved you a couple bucks.


Don't know what to tell you. The tech just showed up with M-cards. Although I just got my bill and I'm still being charged for 2 cards. I'll have to call to straighten that out.



ToddNeedsTiVo said:


> I had no idea they were duplicating the sub-78 analog cable channels digitally. That's cool that you're seeing an improved picture. You sometimes hear people say that the lower channels in various companies' digital plans is still analog, but apparently that isn't the case here with Mediacom.


I had suspected they were digital for quite a while, but didn't know for sure. For about a year or so now, my Mediacom DVR has had a much better picture on the 2-78 channels than any other analog device (VCR, my S1 Tivo, the TV's built-in tuner, etc.) I had hooked up and I suspected it was because the Mediacom DVR was getting digital versions of those channels. With the Tivo HD there's a diagnostics page that tells you what each tuner is doing and it clearly shows that those channels are tuned to a QAM source and not an analog source (before I got the cable card they would show "analog", now they show "QAM").



ToddNeedsTiVo said:


> It'll be interesting how they itemize things on the bill. Sounds like you'd have what, two "outlets?" (Your CableCARDed TiVo and the regular cable box.)


I don't think Mediacom has billed by "outlets" for a long time, if ever. They just bill based on the boxes you rent. I haven't turned my Mediacom DVR in yet (though will this week) so on the bill I just got I see the $6.95 box rental, the $8.95 DVR "service" fee, and now an additional $1.99 for the cable card (actually 2 $1.99's for 2 cards, but as I mentioned above I only ended up with 1 card so I have to call them and straighten that out). When I turn in the DVR I'll just have the $1.99 card rental, although my programming package stuff will change per what I described in my original post.


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## lafos (Nov 8, 2004)

Mediacom may have digital on 2-78 in Des Moines, but not in Mahaska County. The diagnostics show them as analog, and my HD seems to lose the analog channels regularly, requiring a reboot. I don't lose any digital channels.

I just use an S2 for the analog to save space for HD on the Tivo HD.


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## harperd9601 (Jan 31, 2008)

Hi all,

Thanks for letting all of us know your experience in setting this up. I did have a couple quick questions
1)Cable card price...is the card rental really only $1.99/month ?
2)It it possible to still receive the extended digital channels? (ie 201-250)
3)Al-la carte pricing...is this just for the cable or would I lose my "discount" on my internet service from them?

I am thinking I will take the approach of getting a bottom-of-the-line box from mediacom to keep the discounts if need be.

Really great information in this forum.

Dave


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## brihoo2k (Apr 15, 2009)

Mediacom here in South Bend Indiana area is so unacceptable. After an 85 minute conversation on the phone ordering the service. They showed up 2 weeks after ordering the service only for the tech to say "What all I know is I was suppose to install the phone service." (my wife idea to get rid of our voice morphing vonage service at the same time as getting the card). I tell the guy that the primary reason for even ordering the service call was to get high definition television. He calls his dispatch to find out that he was suppose to install the card but the hub in Fort Wayne had not sent it. So I tell the guy I dont want the phone service without getting the media card as I dont want to be charge 2 service fees for what was suppose to be one service call. He tells me hell tell the dispatch that he had a cancellation at the door so I wont get charged for the service call and tell me to call mediacom in Chicago to reschedule. So I call them to have it rescheduled and they set up the date for another 2 weeks in advance. 2 weeks go by and I'm waiting for them to show up and the 4 hour window that they allowed themselves to make it to my place and do the install goes by so i call them only to find out that the rescheduled again without notifying me to come in on a day I'm working so I have to tell them to postpone it for a few more days. If it ends up being a 6 week ordeal and no hd tv then I'm gonna cancel them out.


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## ToddNeedsTiVo (Sep 2, 2003)

While out of town last week visiting family, I enjoyed watching channels in HD that I'm not equipped to view at home. I finally decided it was time to look into getting a CableCARD for my TiVo HD and called to see if I could pick one up sometime without a truck roll, etc. I was told I could. Great, sounds convenient. She made me nervous, though, when she didn't really say much when I asked about providing them with the pairing information.

Today, I dropped by the Des Moines Mediacom office on Ingersoll to get one, but of course I was told this requires a truck roll. Since I was told incorrectly last week on the phone, they would waive the fee for this visit.

Gee, thanks. I've read too many stories around here and AVS that the customer knows more about the install than the tech. Hopefully that is not the case, because quite frankly I don't know _too_ much about it, but was more than willing to give it a shot on my own time rather than having to stay home from work one morning next week. I'm not about to leave it in the hands of my non-techie wife! 

All because I wanted to see Burn Notice's new season in proper HD. Silly me.


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## reversengineer (Dec 31, 2006)

ToddNeedsTiVo said:


> I've read too many stories around here and AVS that the customer knows more about the install than the tech. Hopefully that is not the case, because quite frankly I don't know _too_ much about it, but was more than willing to give it a shot on my own time rather than having to stay home from work one morning next week.


I have to say that installation was the easiest part, by far. As a matter of fact when I called Mediacom to do the pairing I didn't need to provide them any on-screen information at all. They just needed the serial number of the cablecard (don't forget to write it down before you insert it).


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## cogx (Sep 23, 2006)

I ordered my S3 the day it was available (over 3 years now), but I never had CableCARDs installed until today (been doing OTA HD and just analog cable all this time). Tech guy from Mediacom came out and it took maybe 6 or 7 minutes. I've read so many horror stories over the years about getting CableCARDs installed, but I suppose every once and a while one of us gets extremely lucky and has the quickest installation ever?


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## ToddNeedsTiVo (Sep 2, 2003)

What joke. Shows up with what the TiVo recognized as a single-stream card, though there was nothing written on the card itself to indicate single vs. multiple.

Fiddled around for nearly two hours. It intermittently sees the new channels when in the card test menu, but not when attempting to do regular viewing. And since it's single-stream, I lost a tuner.

He claims I need to just schedule another visit so that they can bring a second card. Wasted my whole morning and it still isn't usable.


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## cogx (Sep 23, 2006)

When the Mediacom tech came to my house, he showed up with two M-CARDs, which was printed on the top. I thought I had read a while ago that S-CARDs were rarely seen these days.


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## ToddNeedsTiVo (Sep 2, 2003)

Day 2: FAIL. 

They didn't even show up. They acknowledged my follow-up appointment today when I finally called after my appointment window, but now they claim not to have any cards in stock. Why didn't you tell me that four hours earlier?

I still can't be sure they understand single-stream vs. multi-stream. It doesn't help that the card they gave me yesterday isn't even marked. It looks identical to the one pictured in the Wikipedia article for CABLEcards, and the back of it doesn't say anything, either.

It took me over thirty minutes on the phone, including a mistransfer and a permahold which I bailed on and started again, just to get to where I could complain about being stood up and demand additional resolution.

Supposedly they're going to call me when they become available again. The installer from yesterday called me to say that he'd keep an eye out, and some sort of dispatch supervisor is supposed to call me, too. The installer still seems hung up on the fact that my TiVo HD has two card slots.

I've blown over a day of vacation and I'm no better off than when I started. I yanked the idle card out so I could at least get my second tuner back for the time being, after repeating Guided Setup.

At least this time I noticed the option to tell it to get the guide data for digital channels and expect card insertion later, so as not to require a full Guided Setup if/when they ever do arrive in my TiVo. :down:


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## reversengineer (Dec 31, 2006)

I got my first Tivo (series 2) just over three years ago. I've also had a mediacom HD DVR (pace) for the past year. The mediacom box has a terrible user interface, terrible search and programming facility, and runs really hot. Truth be told, I wound up using my analog Tivo 99 percent of the time and just occasionally using the mediacom DVR for high-def viewing.

Tivo has a wonderful product in their HD offering, but I'm afraid the hassel it seems most people have to go through to get cablecards from the cable companies is going to be the death of Tivo. And that's probably just what the cable companies would like.


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## ToddNeedsTiVo (Sep 2, 2003)

I think the installer finally spoke to someone "at the warehouse" who convinced him. He called me back and said he had in his hand a card that looked just like the single-stream he left with me yesterday, but its graphics have more of a red design to them, and thus it is reportedly a multi-stream card. He is now holding this for me for a Tuesday install attempt. I refuse to sit home all afternoon, so he's going to have to give me a 20-minute warning call so I can come home from work. If he beats me there, my wife will be home.


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## cogx (Sep 23, 2006)

I have a new wrinkle and I guess it will take more searches to find out if this is common, but I'm posting here anyway to start with.

As posted last week, my CableCARD installation was perfect and I doubt it could have been done much quicker. Since then, however, I've found that despite having a signal of 95&#37; (SNR of 34) for my newly decrypted cable channels, I've had a couple of problems.

First, WGN HD seems to drop frames occasionally and I found on specific programs that others on this site recording the same problem elsewhere in the country did or didn't have the problem, so it appears to be cable company specific.

The second problem was last night where three of my newly decrypted channels weren't being decrypted or I don't know what. The signal strength was still at 95% and a dozen other channels all were still coming in, but I was only getting a black screen with no audio on those three channels and I was flipping back and forth for about 10 minutes until I just turned the TV off and went to bed. I woke up this morning and those three channels are all working again. 
Is this a common issue? or do I now have to call Mediacom and what would they even tell me, since I'm not using their Motorola box.


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## ToddNeedsTiVo (Sep 2, 2003)

Long story short, I sort of have it working now with a multistream card after a Feb. 2 tech visit.

But, a few days later, a channel went black. (Happened to be Fox News HD.) A few days after that, TNT HD was appearing on the channel that was supposed to be Fox News HD, and the TNT HD channel was now black.

I had a tech out yesterday because of an internet issue with frequent spontaneous reboots at the modem. After he tweaked some things to make the signal levels more palatable for the modem, we went to the living room to talk about the CableCARD. He wasn't the most articulate fellow, and he tried to tell me that they're getting away from CableCARDs. In other words, he made no effort to rectify my situation, but he claimed he would "talk to his supervisor" about it and call me. I'm not holding my breath.

I know at this point no one in this thread cares, or can really help, but it still feels good to gripe.


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## cogx (Sep 23, 2006)

I suppose I should follow-up on my post back on 1/30, I haven't had that same problem on WGN HD that I did that first night I had my CableCARDs installed nor have I noticed the issue where some of my HD channels weren't being tuned in. 
The only problem I've had this entire time, however, is that I can't get the powers-that-be to agree on what channels each station is actually on. Tribune fixes one or two errors in their lineup for my zip code, but then introduces new errors in the process. It's been one step forward, one step back for 5 weeks! I've directly contacted them, indirectly contacted them, and submitted the issues to TiVo (which is also indirectly contacting them), plus I've sent numerous e-mails to my cable company given that they can't figure out how to post a proper channel lineup on their own web site. It is all quite unbelievable.


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## alarson83 (Oct 27, 2009)

ToddNeedsTiVo said:


> Long story short, I sort of have it working now with a multistream card after a Feb. 2 tech visit.
> 
> But, a few days later, a channel went black. (Happened to be Fox News HD.) A few days after that, TNT HD was appearing on the channel that was supposed to be Fox News HD, and the TNT HD channel was now black.
> 
> ...


I had this *exact* same thing happen to me with TNT and Fox news HD (and also HDTheater in the mix as well!) Noticed tonight that CNN is missing and HD Theater is in its place. I'd be interested to know if you have the same problem too now, and its not just on my end.


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## eej003 (Apr 6, 2010)

I can't fathom how this company can continue to operate when it constantly gives just about every customer with a valid concern the middle finger.

Keeping my story short, I just received my new TiVo premiere box in the mail last Thursday. I call Mediacom that day to set up a cable card install, expressly telling them on at least four separate occasions in the phone conversation that they shouldn't waste their time showing up with any S cards as the Premiere only takes a single M card. I am so paranoid about this company botching absolutely everything that I force the person on the line to call the local office, confirm the presence of M cards, and have them tag one with my name on it to be held for my install. He puts me on hold for 10 minutes, but says he did this. I am currently a law student, so the only time I can be around for an install is on Saturday morning. They say this isn't a problem, and put me down for an install in two days.

As expected deep down, two techs show up on Saturday morning with two S cards and no M cards. I start getting annoyed at this point, and tell the techs how I had reserved an M card at the office not a mile from my apartment. Their answer? "We don't really talk to the people from dispatch about requests from customers". Deeming this an unacceptable response, I start to argue, but they just flat out walk out of my apartment when I attempt to get a conference call going with their 1888 number about the M card I supposedly have held somewhere in Des Moines. They were extremely rude, and when I attempted to get an answer about when they would have an M card, they said the next Tuesday at the earliest. 

Right after I saw their van leave the parking lot, I called the 1888 number to express my disbelief that a) they didn't have my card and b) their install techs openly admitted that they don't listen to requests from customers. The people on the line were extremely apologetic, and upon further investigation, they admitted that during my first phone call the prior Thursday, the original phone support member didn't actually call the local office at all to tag my card. In reality, he just put me on hold, twiddled his thumbs for 10 minutes, then told me my request had been fulfilled. As annoyed as I am with this story, my main priority was to just get my M card ASAP so I didn't have to deal with these dopes any more. I tell them to just order me a M card on their next truck and have it ready for the next weekend. Their answer? "We can't actually order parts for customers". This was starting to play out as some kind of cruel joke in my mind. I call them out on this statement by saying that a national corporation with operations in dozens of states and cities should be able to order a simple part. They seem surprised that I actually care enough to point this out. I pressured them until they finally cough up the contact information for the local warehouse which they promised would call me when their next truck came in. They promised me that truck would be Tuesday evening, and that I could expect a call that night to have a guaranteed install the following weekend. Completely exasperated and unwilling to pick a bigger fight on Easter weekend, I consented to this compromise.

The next twist in this story caught me completely by surprise. While I am in one of my law classes on Monday afternoon, my cell phone started lighting up with calls from hidden origins and subsequent voice mails. In an hour, I received a total of seven calls from two different sources. After leaving class and checking my voice mail, the calls were coming from a local tech wondering why I wasn't at my apartment at my "scheduled" install time, and the corporate number claiming that for somebody in a hurry to get a M card, I shouldn't have blown off my scheduled install. I am just flat out angry at this point, primarily because the EXACT SAME TECH who told me they couldn't get a card until the Tuesday truck was leaving me voicemails from my parking lot saying that he had an M card ready for an install on MONDAY. I call the 1888 number again to wonder what the hell is going on seeing as I didn't have an install scheduled that day. Their answer? They were doing me a "favor" by finding an M card days earlier than originally promised. Unfortunately for these clowns, they completely neglected to look at my profile and realize I hadn't consented to the early install, and that my only availability was on Saturday mornings. Not only do they not apologize for the error, the person on the other end claims that I was being verbally abusive to her by raising my voice. I have no tolerance for being lectured at this point, so I ask to speak to her supervisor. I am basically pleading at this point for the madness to end. I say I am only available for an install on Saturday. Their response to this, without my consent, was to put me down for ANOTHER install the following day! I figured this out in an hour when I got an automated phone call to confirm the appointment. I return that call, and it turns out the tech was left another note to bring two S cards.

After another go around with the mostly pleasant people at the 1888 number, they promised me a 10-1 install this next Saturday for a single M card. I have no hope that they are going to actually perform properly. I just wish they would allow me to do the install myself, this mess would have been over with 5 days ago. So far, their customer service department has admitted that they are incapable at ordering parts, and that they also don't actually take notes or listen to customer requests. What is the purpose of even having a customer service line if you can't actually resolve any real concerns? I hate being rude to employees on the phone as it isn't their fault that their corporation flat out fails at everything, but you just can't reason with Mediacom. They pretend like they are listening, then mess up everything 100% and don't even feel bad about it.


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## denialmark (Apr 6, 2010)

I did not know where to post this question and I was going to bump an old thread but I'm not a member so I'll just have to make a new one.
I am thinking about getting a cable card for my TV and I have a built in Digital tuner on my Sony Bravia I bought late, last year. The Mediacom websites says I can get all the HD channels I subscribe to (Family Basic) by using a cable card:
Mediacom customers who have an HDTV with a digital tuner can receive their local broadcasters* in HD at no additional charge. Mediacom digital cable customers with an advanced HD receiver or cable card, automatically receive the HD Family Basic channels at no additional charge.
My questions are 1) is this true? 2) the only thing I need to do is but a cable card and hook it up to my TV (that is already hooked to standard cable) and I will get the family basic HD package without a box from Mediacom?


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## cogx (Sep 23, 2006)

denialmark said:


> I did not know where to post this question and I was going to bump an old thread but I'm not a member so I'll just have to make a new one.
> I am thinking about getting a cable card for my TV and I have a built in Digital tuner on my Sony Bravia I bought late, last year. The Mediacom websites says I can get all the HD channels I subscribe to (Family Basic) by using a cable card:
> Mediacom customers who have an HDTV with a digital tuner can receive their local broadcasters* in HD at no additional charge. Mediacom digital cable customers with an advanced HD receiver or cable card, automatically receive the HD Family Basic channels at no additional charge.
> My questions are 1) is this true? 2) the only thing I need to do is but a cable card and hook it up to my TV (that is already hooked to standard cable) and I will get the family basic HD package without a box from Mediacom?


Yes, that's correct, their "HD Family Cable" channels are included in the cost of "Family Cable", but since those channels are encrypted, you can only view them with one of their STBs or with CableCARD(s) in your own device(s).

With respect to eej003 and that horror story, I could not have had a much more different experience with Mediacom in Waterloo. When I called the toll-free number back in January, I asked if I could get two CableCARDs, making sure to explain that I had a TiVo Series 3 - the original TiVo model that required two CCs. The person on the phone said that it looked like they had some CCs available and so we proceeded to schedule a Saturday afternoon install. The installer came on Saturday, as promised, with two M cards (they apparently don't have S cards any longer) and it took about 7 minutes and it was all done. Yes, at first, the installer didn't believe me about me needing two M cards for my one TiVo S3, but it only took half a minute of me explaining it was true for him to just shrug and go with it. 
I had always read horror stories like this, before I set things in motion for myself, which is why I had never done it, despite having had my TiVo S3 for over 3 years at that point. Obviously, I'm glad I did, because I can't see how it could have been easier for me, but I'm sorry for those that do get mired in that circle of hell.


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## eej003 (Apr 6, 2010)

cogx said:


> Yes, that's correct, their "HD Family Cable" channels are included in the cost of "Family Cable", but since those channels are encrypted, you can only view them with one of their STBs or with CableCARD(s) in your own device(s).
> 
> With respect to eej003 and that horror story, I could not have had a much more different experience with Mediacom in Waterloo. When I called the toll-free number back in January, I asked if I could get two CableCARDs, making sure to explain that I had a TiVo Series 3 - the original TiVo model that required two CCs. The person on the phone said that it looked like they had some CCs available and so we proceeded to schedule a Saturday afternoon install. The installer came on Saturday, as promised, with two M cards (they apparently don't have S cards any longer) and it took about 7 minutes and it was all done. Yes, at first, the installer didn't believe me about me needing two M cards for my one TiVo S3, but it only took half a minute of me explaining it was true for him to just shrug and go with it.
> I had always read horror stories like this, before I set things in motion for myself, which is why I had never done it, despite having had my TiVo S3 for over 3 years at that point. Obviously, I'm glad I did, because I can't see how it could have been easier for me, but I'm sorry for those that do get mired in that circle of hell.


In regards to what went wrong with my install, it completely snowballed out of control after the first tech visit either forgot the proper cards or wasn't informed regarding what I needed. Eventually, the techs were able to do my install the following Saturday. However, this company has a serious problem with resolving customer concerns if they do mess something up. The people on their corporate lines are really friendly, but it's clear they are deprived of the tools they need to actually resolve problems. I still can't fathom how a national corporation is completely devoid of any type of ordering system for specific parts. In addition, it appears that whatever notes they take during calls to the corporate office aren't shared with the local installers. It's really not anybody's fault except the corporate office. However, the installers walking out on me after the first failed attempt was exceptionally unprofessional. I grabbed my phone, dialed the corporate number and turned on the speaker phone so we could work it out that day, but they just picked up their bags and left. No excuse as to why they couldn't stick around, no apology, nothing, they were gone 60 seconds after they saw they brought the wrong cards. Maybe they were experienced enough to realize it was futile to negotiate with the corporate office, but they really came off as jerks with the way they handled it.


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