TiVo Community Forum banner
  • TiVoCommunity.com Ambassador Program Now Open! >>> Click Here

Official Comcast CableCard Thread!

3M views 9K replies 2K participants last post by  laria 
#1 ·
There seems to already be a lot of CableCard talk on many threads so in an attempt to keep them consolidated by company here is an official thread for Comcast, I just made this thread since I am a Comcast customer, if others want to make official threads for their cable companies go for it! Making one thread for each cable company should ease everyones diging through 100 different threads for cablecard info.

Some relevant info that I have read about comcast so far is the following:
-If you explain to Comcast that both cable cards are for one device people have been successful in no additional monthly charge, one user reported getting good success with calling comcasts 800 number and speaking with a cable card department
-Others have had good luck with going to their local comcast office and getting cable cards directly from them, this saves the installation fee and is quicker

Myself...I called Comcast and got the same spiel as most others have heard, free card for the first one and additional charge for the second of 5.95 (may not be exact, I didn't write it down) and installation charges for both the install of both the first and second cable cards of 20something bucks and 15something bucks. I realize now that I left out some details about my device that may have lead on to these extra charges, I am out of town now but plan on hitting my local Comcast office on Saturday and just trying to get them to give me the cards and I will do the install, or I will call back and try and speak to someone who understands and get the second (additional outlet) monthly charge dropped as well as the installation costs. BTW I live in the Chicago area since some people have experienced different things with the different areas of Comcast. Let me know your thoughts on my experience, what you have heard and try and keep comcast details on this thread so we can all have an easier time keeping up with what others have heard. Also post your region so we know which flavor of comcast you are dealing with.
-AJ
 
See less See more
#3,026 ·
ALK3011 said:
I am getting digital but not HBO - i am now waiting for that same call. I refused to have a technition come since I am capable of reading the numbers off the screen to the tech. This is maddening. I complained and did receive a credit of the $17.98 installation charge and a $20 credit to boot. But still no call and still not HBO.
I'm now in the same boat as you. Everything works but HBO, and a tech is coming out tomorrow. Every time I go to HBO, I get the cable card info screen, and have to hit clear to proceed.

I called back after the 4 hour mark, and this technician said there was no other department, that they used the "4 hour" call back just to see if it magically started working. It wasn't working, so she sent a couple more signals, and one of them mostly worked.
 
#3,027 ·
well...i just called back again too! She could not find my "ticket" and said she sent another "hit" as well. i still get that same screen. She told me that she is seaching for a technition to help me.

I shared all my frustrations and now have recieved a credit for yesterday's installation fee of $17.98 and TWO $20 credits. but still no HBO. I am SO mad. I do not need a technition here, nor do i need a technition here - i can read the numbers. (Plus the technition left me 4 other single stream cards!) I have an m-card in there now.

I am almost ready to just cancel the HBO service, save the $ there and call it a day.
 
#3,029 ·
wizzy said:
I spoke too soon. Not sure what they did, but I'm back to nothing working again. Guess I'll wait for the tech to show up in the morning.
oh - i am so sorry. If they don't get this fixed - i am cancelling HBO. I can rent a DVD and get better picture and sound. THe HBO shows i watched are not on anymore anyway. TIVO was supposed to make this easier not harder. I know why i had a DirectTV Tivo now - never a problem - EVER - but I could not get HD Direct TV - dish would not fit.

I am NOT waiting for another technician. He did NOTHING for 4 hours yesterday but talk on the phone to tech support. I can do that myself.
 
#3,031 ·
ALK3011 said:
If your tech helps you, could you find out what EXACTLY he did and post it - and his name and ID number so I can request him. (are you using an M card or 2 S cards?)

thanks
I have an M card. I rebooted the tivo, and I now have my non-HBO/Encore channels back. On the conditional access screen for HBO it says "Auth:CAD"; not sure what that means. For ESPN (which I can watch), it says "AUTH:S".
 
#3,032 ·
wizzy said:
I spoke too soon. Not sure what they did, but I'm back to nothing working again. Guess I'll wait for the tech to show up in the morning.
Reboot your Tivo.

My Cable Card 2 quit working, and I was gearing up mentally to call them back - then I decided to take a cue from Dogbert:



It worked! Both cards initialized successfully and they have been working fine since. And I just did a Tivo reboot - no need to cut power.

EDIT: Whoops, I see you already rebooted and it worked - woot!
 
#3,033 ·
ALK3011 said:
If your tech helps you, could you find out what EXACTLY he did and post it - and his name and ID number so I can request him. (are you using an M card or 2 S cards?)
Where are you? I have a tech (I have his name and his employee ID :) ) as well as a name and extension of someone in the call center that actually understands billing.

Just for Northern VA, unfortunately... (anyone else in NoVA - PM me and I will be happy to share).
 
#3,034 ·
I'm up and running with all channels. I got my 4-hour call back 9 hours later, but it was the right person. It sounded like he's the only person in Chicago that does pairing (none of the tier 1 techs had asked for that info), and he also does dispatching, so Mondays suck for him. He was excited about activating his first M card in a device that supported multiple streams.

Less than a 10 minute call, and all is good. Auth changed from CAD to S. Truck roll for tomorrow has been canceled.

I did ask what people should do when they call in, and he said there isn't another option besides going in the 4-hour callback queue for getting premiums activated.
 
#3,035 ·
ok - all you chicago people......after two days of fighting i got someone from the CABLE CARD HELP DESK to call me! There is a CABLE CARD HELP DESK IN TINLEY PARK - actually part of comcast.
He knew EVERYTHING. In 30 seconds he fixed my problem! He knew the differences and nuances of the S3 and the HD model and said the HM cards are working great.

suggestion - just immediately ask for someone from this help desk to call you. i spoke with Steve. He was friendly, nice and helpful.

Good luck!!!
 
#3,037 ·
Well, it's my turn for rant.

So, I call last week to schedule the installer for Saturday morning. Made sure I told them it was a cablecard install. I'm in the Philadelphia suburbs, for those playing at home (Bucks County).

Guy shows up on Saturday with a workorder that says "Cable Problems." He has no cablecards.

He calls his supervisor, who shows up an hour later with cablecards.

He fools around for awhile, gets card 1 working, then starts on card 2. He clearly has no idea what he's doing. Card 2 didn't work for awhile because the tech on the other end of the phone transposed some numbers. Only after he leaves do I realize that card 1 is no longer working. The activation of Card 2 must've deactivated Card 1.

Call Comcast, they send a guy out Sunday morning. I told them I had to leave the house at 10am, and fortunately, the guy showed up at 8:30. He had no idea that this was a cablecard call, and didn't come with any spares. He fooled around some more, still didn't have cablecard1 working, but now cablecard 2 gets HD channels, but still no HBO and such, which I'm told is because it's no longer on my account, even though my contract says that it is. Brilliant. He says Cablecard 1 will update itself over time, taking as much as 6 days to configure!

I wasn't felling well yesterday, and stayed home from work. I figured I had a good shot a reasonable support people during weekday business hours, so I called in. Guy at 10am sends a ping to the cards, he says it'll take an hour or two, so nothing happens by 1pm, and I call back in.

Get a woman who pulls up my account, finds that the DVR that I returned on Saturday is still listed on my account because the tech didn't check it back in, and all of my service is still associated with that. So she takes my phone number, and promises to call me back after she's confirmed that the DVR has been returned. I suspect it'll be a cold day in hell before she calls me back.

Lo and Behold, about 45 minutes later, she calls back. DVR is now removed, and she tried moving my service to the cablecards, only to find that there is absolutely no information about the cablecards in my account! She's about ready to schedule a tech to come out and basically read the information on my TV back to her, when I offer to get her that information.

So we do that, and amazingly, cablecard 2 is now working fully, with HD and my pay channels. Full feed, working perfectly. Cablecard 1 still doesn't get anything above Lifetime. Blegh.

Now we're thinking that cablecard 1 is shot and needs to be replaced. Tech coming out Friday morning, which is the first day that I had available to take off of work.

Best of all, after all this is done, I get a call from Comcast Customer Care, asking how my service on Saturday was. I start to lay into her, telling her everything that went wrong, when the phone gets disconnected. And I've got Comcast phone service :)

Just a quick question for others; when you go to the CableCard Pairing screen, does the cablecard offer a generic message saying that to activate it you need to contact your cable provider, or a message saying that you need to call Comcast on their 800 number? My slot 1 card has a generic message, and my slot 2 card tells me to call Comcast. As far as I can tell, that's the only difference between the two.
 
#3,038 ·
Comcast came this morning to install the cablecards in my Tivo HD.


Both cards are S-cards, they don't have M-Cards in this area yet (Stone Mountain, GA) in Lawrenceville.

Cablecard 1 was installed, activated, and worked fine.

Cablecard 2 was installed, but would not authorize (MISSING_PROGRAM_REKEY).


Replaced CableCard 2 a few times, got the same error.

Finally the Comcast tech got in touch with someone who knew cablecards, and discovered that the card had an incorrect Host ID printed on it, or something like it..


Basically we got them the correct information, and they were able to activate both cards.

We had a few issues, but it got resolved in the end.. took a few hours, though.
 
#3,039 ·
Are you like me?
Do you feel that the members of this forum know more about how to install CableCards in TivoHDs than the Comcast installers do?
Of course, calling in to Comcast to active the cards requires someone in the phone center that knows about CableCards too. Seems that many of the phone staff don't know what to do with them either.
 
#3,040 ·
adamwsh said:
Are you like me?
Do you feel that the members of this forum know more about how to install CableCards in TivoHDs than the Comcast installers do?
Of course, calling in to Comcast to active the cards requires someone in the phone center that knows about CableCards too. Seems that many of the phone staff don't know what to do with them either.
Yes, that's exactly it.. even the Comcast tech said that we (the customers) ought to be able to go to a comcast office or a store to buy the cablecards ourselves.

I noticed a "IP Settings" menu on the TIVO CableCard screens on my TivoHD, with an IP address of 0.0.0.0 (unconfigured).. perhaps that will be used once two-way cablecards come out.
 
#3,041 ·
AGBulls said:
Extremely useful advice from another Chicagoan...thanks! I'm still worried that if I go get the new Tivo, that I might regret it when Comcast releases their new DVR Tivo software (who knows when that actually is). I'll be very curious to hear your experiences if possible on how you like it or don't. Also, where did you actually buy yours? It seems like every single Circuit City is sold out as of todayin the area.
I went to the Best Buy at Clark/Diversey and they had just sold out their last one. The guy said the next shipment would be in on Tuesday (today).
I had him check the inventory of the other Best Buy stores in Chicago. Peeking over his shoulder, I saw many stores with zero in stock.
I ended up buying one at the Best Buy at Harlem/Irving Plaza, which I think was the only one in the city with any at all.

Useful tip: After they told me the HIP store had them in stock, I went home and purchased it online and selected "in store pickup". The Best Buy site lets you check store inventories...so I actually bought it online on Friday but didn't need to rush to pick it up until Saturday, as it was "mine" and not out on the floor for sale.
 
#3,042 ·
bicker said:
The hyperbole I was referring to was the outrageous assertion that they don't train their staff. You yourself acknowledged that they do, so I don't understand why you objected to my message. :rolleyes:
Actually, they don't train all of them.

If you're frustrated, then say you're frustrated. Don't make up really nasty things to say, just to act-out.
Since when did the truth get nasty? The tech (that finally resolved my problem) was just as frustrated as I was at the lack of commitment by Comcast management in making cable card a success.

It's very clear to me that Comcast is doing the bare minimum to support cable card. Every CSR I spoke with badmouthed it. Every one!

That isn't hyperbole, that's my experience. I'm sorry that doesn't fit with your rosy picture of Comcast, but there it is. And I know I'm not alone in my experience.

Now that it's working, I have no problems with Comcast. But it was way harder than it needed to be to get it set up. And I consider myself lucky that on the fourth phone call I found a very helpful CSR that actually understood the billing system (even though he still complained about how they hated cablecard), and I also am thankful on the fourth truck roll I got a knowledgeable tech that actually showed some basic troubleshooting skills and a sincere desire to fix the problem. I consider myself lucky since there are many people here who it took allot more fussing - and some who still don't have working setups :(
 
#3,043 ·
DonRoeber said:
So we do that, and amazingly, cablecard 2 is now working fully, with HD and my pay channels. Full feed, working perfectly. Cablecard 1 still doesn't get anything above Lifetime. Blegh.

Now we're thinking that cablecard 1 is shot and needs to be replaced. Tech coming out Friday morning, which is the first day that I had available to take off of work.
Try rebooting first. My Cable Card 2 worked briefly, then wouldn't get any digital or premium channels - complained about failed auth and wanted me to call Comcast.

I rebooted and it authorized and worked just fine. Not quite the same situation you are facing, but it's worth a shot. Also make sure they verify the CC and Host ID numbers - on Cable card two they had the third to the last number as an 8 when it should have been a 6....
 
#3,044 ·
I just got onto this thread after going through hell with Comcast on setting up a cablecard installation and thought I'd share my experience in the Denver market.

Currently I have a Comcast HD DVR and a Comcast HD receiver. I have digital service without paying for any of the premium channels.

I want to turn in my Comcast DVR and rent two cable cards for the HD Tivo I just bought.

1st tech I talked to said that they have to charge me the $7 monthly charge for the HD TV that the Tivo will be connected to. He said it was an "HD rental charge". I asked him to double check and he says he is mistaken and it will be taken off. $15 to have a tech come out and install the cards. He says that there is no option for self install.

At this point I should have left well enough alone, but instead talk to a 2nd rep online who says I can pick up the cable cards at the local Comcast office. I cancel my install appointment, drive to that office, and they have no cable cards.

Call Comcast back to set up installation and this rep insists that I must pay the $7 a month fee that it's for programming on the 2nd HD set and not for equipment. She says she has two different SKUs for cable card and only one can do HD and that as soon as she puts that in the computer it puts in the $7 a month charge and it can't be taken out. I get frustrated and basically hang up.

Call Comcast again and get an extremely helpful rep (Thanks Chris!) and explain the situation. He says that the previous rep is right, that the $7 a month is an HD outlet fee that I have to pay whether I have a Comcast HD box on that outlet or not, but he says "let me see what I can do".

He says that he thinks he got it set up to have my two cable cards installed with just the $1.50 fee for the 2nd cable card. He says that he did this by basically putting in the HD cards but indicating that the 2nd set was NOT an HD set. He says that when M-cards become available I should be able to have the single M-card put in and delete that 2nd $1.50 a month rental charge. I'm worried though that at that point the $7 a month "outlet fee for HD" would find it's way back on there. The rep was nice enough to offer his direct extension if I had any issues.

Having worked in the telecom/technical world for a decade and dealing with customer service issues on a daily basis, this ranks as one of the most difficult experiences I have ever had with a piece of consumer technology.

Why on earth can't Comcast simply set up a web page for their reps that has all of the relevant info for setting up Tivo boxes.

If it is this bad, I imagine many HD Tivo boxes that people purchase will be promptly returned to the store after they have the pleasure of dealing with their local cable company.
 
#3,047 ·
bicker said:
The hyperbole I was referring to was the outrageous assertion that they don't train their staff. You yourself acknowledged that they do, so I don't understand why you objected to my message. :rolleyes:

If you're frustrated, then say you're frustrated. Don't make up really nasty things to say, just to act-out.
I think I was very clear and honest. Furthermore, the Comcast people I've spoken to have indicated that they don't received any training. Another person from THIS SITE indicated that he was told that they do. If I admit to them being trained it is ONLY because I'm willing to accept that person's account.

I am not acting out, I am not being mean, and there are so many other things I could say... but it's VERY clear that you've got an agenda. That agenda appears to be making me wrong, and, for some reason, protecting Comcast in the face of their many faults.

Based on the number of posts about problems with CC installs and Comcast, I'd say it's very likely that they have a poor, at best, record. I am CERTAINLY correct that they do not train the personnel as a corporate entity in all regions. If they did, they would not have the problems they do, let alone have managers telling customers that they don't.

It is NOT an "outrageous ascertation" to indicate Comcast doesn't train their personnel about Cable Cards, when Comcast employees tell me they don't. This includes the last the last technician to visit my house, and the person in the local office that didn't know what a cable card was when I dropped them off to cancel my service.

Obviously, I'm just making it all up...

Based on the grief you've given me, I wonder:

Do you work for Comcast? Do you own stock in Comcast? Are you a contractor for Comcast?

This is not about "acting out," this is about voicing dissatisfaction based on first hand experiences in a public venue so that others will be made aware of the situtation. This allows potential customers to know exactly what to expect and weigh their options by potentially using other vendors. In the mean while, other Tivo Community users may be able to determine a game plan to deal with what ends up being a relatively untrained staff at Comcast.
 
#3,048 ·
levineaj said:
I went to the Best Buy at Clark/Diversey and they had just sold out their last one. <snip>...so I actually bought it online on Friday but didn't need to rush to pick it up until Saturday, as it was "mine" and not out on the floor for sale.
I bought mine at the Clark/Diversey Best Buy mid-afternoon on Friday..it was the only one on the shelf, so I'm guessing I got that last one.
 
#3,049 ·
Got my new TiVo HD hooked up and wanted to share my experience.

Picked up TiVo HD at CC on Thursday. Called Comcast Thursday night, where they assured me I could simply stop by the local office and pick up the 2 cablecards I needed (even though they didn't understand why I needed 2). Perfect.

So I go there Friday, and the people at the local office have no idea why they told me that. They say "We don't have any here". Really they have them, but they're not allowed to give them out. WTF?! I need to have a tech come and install them. So I call back to their 800 number and they give me this same information. I ask, why was I told just 18 hours ago that it would be no problem to pick them up? Nobody knows. Ok so the tech was scheduled for Tuesday, at least I didn't have to wait 4 weeks for them to come out.

The TiVo was working great with the analog channels and manually tuning the digital channels in. If I had guide data for the QAM stations I might not have bothered with the cablecards at all.

So the guy comes out Tuesday (on time!!) and has 4 cablecards with him. I ask if he's done a TiVo before and he says yes but not many. He does the slots one at a time. First cablecard never comes up with the pairing info. Second cablecard works OK. So now he just needs to get it activated.

The guy calls the number to activate the card. Then we wait - almost an hour, just for somebody to pick up the phone and punch the numbers in their system. I was totally amazed how poorly they support their field techs. They took what would have been a 15-minute job and turned it into a 90-minute ordeal. No wonder the techs are often late for or miss appointments.

So the install was a success, everything works OK.

One thing I'm really disappointed in is the fact that I can't "override" the cablecards and record the standard channels (2-99) in analog mode. The digital simulcast version of the channels look really poor here. I did a comparison with some recordings made the night before the cablecards arrived and the quality is much better. Yeah HD is great but it really sucks to have SD recordings that look much worse than my Series 1 box, and even significantly worse than the box is obviously capable of.

- Turbo
 
#3,050 ·
T u r b o said:
....
One thing I'm really disappointed in is the fact that I can't "override" the cablecards and record the standard channels (2-99) in analog mode. The digital simulcast version of the channels look really poor here. I did a comparison with some recordings made the night before the cablecards arrived and the quality is much better. Yeah HD is great but it really sucks to have SD recordings that look much worse than my Series 1 box, and even significantly worse than the box is obviously capable of.

- Turbo
I got my new TivoHD hookup using Analog at the moment. I, too, noticed that the non-digital channels look quite better than when I was watching them via my Comcast HDDVR box. They are totally bearable! I just thought the Comcast HDDVR box picture sucks compared to the TivoHD box. Now you have me worried that after the CableCards are installed on Saturday that I'll be unhappy with non-digital channels again. UGH!!! I wonder if Verizon FIOS TV signal will be better (once it is available to me).
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top