Comcast: CableCARDS Really, Really Complicated > Why?

Why?

While Comcast now has a self-provisioning system, when I got my first CableModem, I had to call into Comcast and read off the MAC and serial numbers off the modem in order for them to provision it.

That wasn't any different how CableCARDs work currently. When you put the CableCARDs into the device you are giving a set of 3 numbers (per card). Once the cable company has these three numbers, the card is paired and will work will all the channels you paid for.

The main difference between this setup and the old modem provisioning setup is that if you take the cards out of the device and move them elsewhere the pairing numbers change (even if you then put them back into the same device). This should be as easy to fix as calling into the cable company to give them the new number, but this isn't always the case (see my post later on in the thread).
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reply to Mr Anon
CableCARDs can plug into either one-way devices (such as most TVs, or the Tivo S3) which can be *self-certified* by the manufacturer (this is the less-expensive route, and the one taken by most manufacturers of CC-using devices); the other option is to submit an *example device* to CableLabs for a very expansive (and expensive) series of additional tests for what is called *CableLabs certification* (this is required for all two-way devices, such as STBs, cable modems, non-Tivo DVRs that take CableCARD, such as the early Sony DVR that is no longer manufactured but still sold in some retailers and online, and some upcoming newer TVs). The self-certification process has two sets of specifications: required and optional. The problem is that the headend equipments are used to dealing with two-way devices (mainly STBs and cable modems), and aren't necessarily prepared to handle a large (or even medium) influx of one-way devices. It also doesn't help that the TV manufacturers (those actually making the TVs) have been freely interpreting the specifications for basic host devices from CableLabs in different ways (and some have been getting them wrong). Lastly there is the *updated firmware* issue: Firmware for a TV is like a BIOS for a computer; however, most TV owners would really rather not be bothered keeping their TV's *BIOS* up to date (heck; most *PC* owners would rather not have to worry about BIOS updates; and now they have to do the same thing for their TVs?). What the STB does is free the TV owner from worrying about all the extra details that have to be taken into account to assure compatibility with CableCARD (it is also why fewer and fewer CC-ready TVs are being built as the years have gone on; the vast majority of current-model TVs that accept CableCARD today are the largest models). Just two years ago, more than *half* the 42" plasma TVs sold in North America were CC-ready (to put that in perspective, 42" is the smallest-size plasma display); nowadays, it's less than ten percent (and none cost less than $2000USD MSRP).