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Mike Wolf
join:2009-05-24
Tuckerton, NJ

Mike Wolf

Member

[Cable Card] Disturbing news from Comcast contractor

I just had a tech visit from Comcast today regarding issues with my signal and was told that Comcast will be getting rid of CableCARDs and forcing customers to either use DTA equipment or X1 set top boxes. I was also told that a customer is allowed to purchase set top boxes and DVR's straight from the manufacturer. He claims he's seen it done in other residences and that he's been on the job for over 20 years. He is a contractor from Prince Telecommunication out of Ocean County, I have his first name and he gave me his cellphone number. When I told him that there was no way the FCC would allow Comcast to do any of this he claims that the FCC only requires a cable company to offer a DTA or set top box. I am so upset by this I'm at a loss for words. Can someone please set the record straight, and if the tech is wrong someone from Comcast set him straight since he was also training someone today.

telcodad
MVM
join:2011-09-16
Lincroft, NJ

telcodad

MVM

While I have seen articles about companies getting waivers to, and some efforts to end the FCC's integrated set-top security ban (»www.multichannel.com/tec ··· r/142813 and »www.multichannel.com/tec ··· l/147029), all the proposals still require that the cable operators continue to provide support for subscribers that use CableCARDs.
sbiller1
join:2011-05-25
Tampa, FL

sbiller1

Member

said by telcodad:

While I have seen articles about companies getting waivers to, and some efforts to end the FCC's integrated set-top security ban (»www.multichannel.com/tec ··· r/142813 and »www.multichannel.com/tec ··· l/147029), all the proposals still require that the cable operators continue to provide support for subscribers that use CableCARDs.

Agreed. Also consider that Comcast just decided to extend support of Xfinity On Demand throughout their footprint by June 30, 2014. The chance of Comcast abandoning support for CableCARD is zero.
iowanews1
join:2010-03-05
Urbandale, IA

1 recommendation

iowanews1 to Mike Wolf

Member

to Mike Wolf
Given the comments, it looks like you have a contractor trying to sell you a set top box and get a commission. I'd report it first to Comcast then to the state utilities board
Joe12345678
join:2003-07-22
Des Plaines, IL

Joe12345678

Member

in Canadian systems you can buy the box and they have no cable cards.
rody_44
Premium Member
join:2004-02-20
Quakertown, PA

1 recommendation

rody_44 to Mike Wolf

Premium Member

to Mike Wolf
The guy was screwing with you.

battleop
join:2005-09-28
00000

1 recommendation

battleop to Mike Wolf

Member

to Mike Wolf
So you are going to take a 3rd party contractors word as if it came from the CEO? Maybe I can get a janitor to admit they age going to lower their caps and come post the "disturbing" or maybe "mortifying" news.
RalphKramden
join:2007-01-10
Newtown, PA

RalphKramden to Joe12345678

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to Joe12345678
said by Joe12345678:

in Canadian systems you can buy the box and they have no cable cards.

And...?

Mike Wolf
join:2009-05-24
Tuckerton, NJ

2 edits

Mike Wolf to iowanews1

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I agree but I'm like "what the hell" because I'm also having cable card issues where I'm sporadically getting "wrong card state" on certain channels like WABC HD 807 WNBC HD and WHYY HD, on my two and four tuner TiVo's, and his recommendation is to put a set top box on each outlet where my TiVo's are and when the error occurs to switch to the set top box and see if it's happening there too. I figured he didn't know what he was talking about but figured I'd double check with you guys in the off chance he was right (would be my luck). Now I need to figure out what's going on with my signals, since according to TiVo tech support here is a lot of RS uncorrected and RS corrected and I'm getting "dirty data". Well since this was a new three week long issue, I undid what the tech did three weeks ago when he first installed my third cable card (all three cards are experiencing this issue and the "wrong card state" ). He apparently replaced my ground block with one with a MoCA point of entry filter incorporated in it. I put the previously installed ground block in and put my point of entry filter back on on the first splitter, and fingers crossed I haven't had any RS uncorrected and RS corrected issues yet.
Mike Wolf

Mike Wolf to battleop

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to battleop
said by battleop:

So you are going to take a 3rd party contractors word as if it came from the CEO? Maybe I can get a janitor to admit they age going to lower their caps and come post the "disturbing" or maybe "mortifying" news.

Lol no, I wasn't stating this info as fact, just reporting what I was told and expressing my level of concern by how outrageous it was, and hoping someone would give clarification and put my mind at ease.
Mike Wolf

Mike Wolf to RalphKramden

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to RalphKramden
said by RalphKramden:

said by Joe12345678:

in Canadian systems you can buy the box and they have no cable cards.

And...?

Yeah I pointed that out to him since I've seen these Cisco/SA set top boxes and DVR's for sale on the Best Buy Canadian website and thought it was pretty cool and a plus if I ever get the opportunity to live in Canada since TiVo wouldn't work without a cable card.

My concern about the lack of cable cards is that pretty much all new set top boxes come with a cable card built in so if only non cable card set top boxes and DVRs are sold then that would possibly prevent any of the high end RNG boxes from being used, leaving us with the Scientific Atlanta 8000 and 8300 stuff I think.

telcodad
MVM
join:2011-09-16
Lincroft, NJ

telcodad

MVM

said by Mike Wolf:

said by RalphKramden:

said by Joe12345678:

in Canadian systems you can buy the box and they have no cable cards.

And...?

Yeah I pointed that out to him since I've seen these Cisco/SA set top boxes and DVR's for sale on the Best Buy Canadian website and thought it was pretty cool and a plus if I ever get the opportunity to live in Canada since TiVo wouldn't work without a cable card.

Looks like that capability may now be coming to Comcast TiVo users soon: »Comcast, TiVo Working On Non-CableCARD Approach

camper
just visiting this planet
Premium Member
join:2010-03-21
Bethel, CT

camper to Mike Wolf

Premium Member

to Mike Wolf
said by Mike Wolf:

I just had a tech visit from Comcast today regarding issues with my signal and was told that Comcast will be getting rid of CableCARDs and forcing customers to either use DTA equipment or X1 set top boxes.

 

Sounds like something that should be entered into the FCC comments about the Comcast merger....
CableJack
join:2010-12-03
Howell, NJ

CableJack to Mike Wolf

Member

to Mike Wolf
@Mike Wolf, call customer service and tell them that you need to have the mac address of your cable card put into the group to get the new firmware. If they don't know what you're talking about, ask for a supervisor, don't let them give you the runaround. There is a known bug with Cisco cable cards and the new Tivos, the new firmware fixes your tuning issue.

camper
just visiting this planet
Premium Member
join:2010-03-21
Bethel, CT

camper to Mike Wolf

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to Mike Wolf
[edit] I had posted about Comcast/TiVo, but telcodad beat me to it once again.
Joe12345678
join:2003-07-22
Des Plaines, IL

Joe12345678 to RalphKramden

Member

to RalphKramden
you don't end up having to paying way over the price of the hardware in rent fees and no outlet fees (on some systems after 4 boxes you have to pay a fee but not $8-10 for each box / card)

samediff
@108.27.63.x

samediff to Mike Wolf

Anon

to Mike Wolf
@mikewolf tivos are nightmare for csr and field techs. obvious he lied to get you to try to switch so he doesn't have to sit hours on the phone wih dispatch. contractors get paid by the job so u can't blame him but please don't be so gullible.
neufuse
join:2006-12-06
James Creek, PA

neufuse to Mike Wolf

Member

to Mike Wolf
You aren't the only one getting those issues, the not authorized or channel not available error is happening to a LOT of people not only with 3rd party boxes and cable cards but also with Comcast boxes from SciAtl/Cisco that have cablecards in them also... they have a bad firmware out there for the past year for them, and supposedly the latest version they just started to roll out finally fixes this error...

I have a TiVo Series 4 Elite box and I get the same error randomly... switch channels up and down a few times and boom it's gone... my parents have Comcast provided boxes with cable cards in them and they get the same problem and those are Comcast boxes!
neufuse

1 recommendation

neufuse to samediff

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to samediff
yeah, a nightmare for the contractors and techs..... but strangely not for me... when I had my new TiVo I needed a new M-Card, the Comcast contractor came out couldn't figure it out left with an uncompleted install.. next day they sent a Comcast truck out (non-contractor) same problem... they switched m-cards still couldn't get the NOC to provision it.... I told them leave the card and let it sit... They did, I called in myself told the person on the phone I needed to provision a cablecard, they said OK they asked for the data ID (the thing that kept screwing up the other techs) I said I have a Host ID and a Card ID... key is the Host ID is what Comcast calls the "Data ID"... gave them that and the Card ID they set it up told me there was a card already on there with that ID but not assigned to an outlet they assigned it and bingo encryption keys took and the card worked...... took me 5 minutes..... took 2 techs almost 2 hours combined..... sometimes I think they are overlooking what they should be or just don't care when it falls outside their normal pattern of work...

I really confused the last guy also because I have the TiVo 4 with two TiVo mini's the guy could NOT figure out how I can watch live TV on 3 screens with one M-Card and told me I'm not allowed to do that and I'm obviously breaking the rules.... yeah try to kick me off Comcast because there is no TOS that says you can't use your M-Card for multi-room viewing.... *lol*

telcodad
MVM
join:2011-09-16
Lincroft, NJ

telcodad

MVM

said by telcodad:

Looks like that capability may now be coming to Comcast TiVo users soon: »Comcast, TiVo Working On Non-CableCARD Approach

A blog item on the MCN site today:

The Post-CableCARD Path
Which One Will Comcast Take?

By Jeff Baumgartner, Multichannel News - July 21, 2014
»www.multichannel.com/blo ··· h/382628
telcodad

telcodad

MVM

The House of Representatives has now passed a bill that overturns the 2007 FCC ban on cable set-top boxes with integrated security, requiring the use of CableCARDs:

House passes STELA, boosts pay TV retrans leverage, ends CableCARD requirement
By Daniel Frankel, FierceCable - July 22, 2014
»www.fiercecable.com/stor ··· 14-07-22

Also on the MCN site:

House Passes STELAR On Voice Vote
Extends Satellite License, Prohibits Coordinated Retrans

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News - July 22, 2014
»www.multichannel.com/new ··· e/382673
BiggA
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
Central CT

BiggA to Mike Wolf

Premium Member

to Mike Wolf
Considering that Comcast added VOD for TiVo, I don't think they are getting rid of TiVo anytime soon. However, any provider that gets rid of TiVo... well, I will just get rid of them!