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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
 
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#6,727 ·
Had a truck roll this morning to install cards in a new TiVo HD. Shockingly, it wasn't completed properly. Here's my situation:

Current hardware: Family room HD box has 2 s-cards; bedroom has an m-card (Both are TiVo HD boxes; Family room is Weaknees embiggened, bedroom is off-the-shelf.)

Wiring situation: Family room is on the ground floor right next to the outside connection, bedroom is on the opposite side of the house on the second floor

Programming: I don't know the exact name of the tiers, but I get all the "regular" digital & HD stuff (BBCA, Food, Discovery, Syfy, etc.), plus the digital sports package (NFL network, Fox soccer, etc.), plus HBO and Cinemax.

Location: Lower Bucks County, PA (northeast burb of Philly)

New hardware: Trying to set up another off-the-shelf HD box in the basement. Box is about midway between the other two, in terms of distance from the outside cable connection.

Today's events: Installer shows up with two s-cards. No extra cards. Hopes not completely crushed, but I wish it had been an m-card. The m-card install went more smoothly than the other one.

Installer says he's never done this before. Hopes nearly flattened.

He goes through the instructions and despite being behind schedule, doesn't try to rush the process. He loses his cell signal just after giving the back-office processor the last set of numbers from the second card. Brief hope that the processor may have actually done her job and completed the authorization. Ha!

He calls back and is on hold for an unsconscionable length of time. Tries to tell me he needs to leave for his next appointment. (He's been here about 50 minutes after showing up 15 minutes after the end of his window.) I acknowledge it's not his fault but convince him he can't leave us hanging just because his prior job ran long. He stays and eventually gets through to the processor. (not sure if it was the same one, she was certainly as surly as the first one)

More back & forth, and eventually both cards appear to pair and auhorize. Hopes springs but is soon crushed flat when we try HBO/Max channels. Neither card works on those channels, although both of them get every other channel just fine, including the HD channels and digital music.

Nothing wrong with the original two boxes, so it doesn't seem like they've screwed up our account.

We restarted twice while the installer was here, plus another time after he left. It's been about 5 hours since he left.

The installer said that he'd escalate the issue and have them send someone as soon as possible, supposedly quicker than if we called ourselves. They're claiming the cards may be bad.

Current behavior: When I tune to any HBO or Max channel, the screen either stays completely black for a couple seconds, or it shows a quick flash of the programming, then it goes to the black/gray Cablecard screen. When I clear the CC screen, the channel is all black.

When I go to a new digital channel for the first time, I get the same behavior, but when I come back to the channel, it's working fine.

When I try a channel we don't get, like SHOW, same behavior, but never a flash of the programming. This makes me think that the cards are trying to authorize HBO/MAX, but something isn't working.

Questions:
1) How likely is it that the cards are bad? Given that they're both behaving in exactly the same way, I'm thinking it's not likely, but I'd appreciate any insight.

2) I tested signal strength and was getting between 85 and 89 on all channels, including HBO/MAX. This makes me hopeful that the wiring and location inside the house are fine, but again, would appreciate any comments.

3) Any info from the status screen or other screens that I should post to help diagnose the problem? Anything else to consider?

Thx in advance for any help.
 
#6,728 ·
I'm in Roswell, GA. So I see all the new HD channels in my guide even though I did not pick World of More, but Comcast Digital during setup. I get the chennels I'm supposed to exc ept that most of the time the HD channels say "programing to be announced" in the guide. This is causing me to miss shows on the HD channels that I would like to record.

Has anyone else experienced this or seen it?

BTW Love my new Tivo HD. It's my 4th Tivo and I started with the Sony.
 
#6,730 ·
Why not have a different support number for those of us who are a little more savvy?
Because then suddenly everyone thinks that they're a little more savvy. :rolleyes:

Maybe they can have a twenty question quiz you can take, drawn from thousands of questions a first-line tech would be expected to be able to answer about cable service, and if you get more than fifteen correct, they let you skip to the second-tier support queue. :)
 
#6,731 ·
Yesterday I got my two TivoHDs (to replace two S2STs - 5 and 4 years old). I went to the local Comcast office (Sunnyvale, CA), picked up two M cards, installed them, called to pair them and got nowhere. After the second call and re-sending the signals one of them started working, and I was advised by Comcast phone support to go and get a different card for the other one, which I did this morning.

Tonight I put the card in but when I go to Cable card config it says "Your cable provider has provided no info ..." and there are no menus, no Host ID or Data ID. I called comcast support and they took the info (Host and Data ID) which I wrote yesterday and paired it up with the new card, but still nothing happens. Tivo recognizes that there is an M-card in the slot, but has no info about it

I am wondering if this new card is bad (it looks like it has been physically bent a little bit) or if I need to do something like re-run guided setup. Will HostID and DataID which I got when trying to pair with a different card yesterday still be valid ?

Any advice ? Otherwise I will have to wait for an appointment which is 10 days out out
 
#6,732 ·
I have the $99 bundle, and 2 months ago the we_can_help people had me return their DVR, so that I could avoid the $6.95 add'l outlet charge. While the next bill was nearly indecipherable, it appeared that that charge was gone. It came back on yesterdays bill. Now, I have a tech scheduled to come out and give me an M-card instead of my 2 regular cards, just so that I can have a slightly better argument that I really only have 1 TV.

Where can I sign up to help with a class-action lawsuit? It seems impossible to avoid being charged $7 to have a TiVo. Maybe I can get a job with their tech-support and steal incriminating documents or something.
 
#6,734 ·
I actually got the direct phone # for the regional manager in charge of my area, who said he couldn't do anything about my bill. You're right, no use arguing with people once they say they don't have the keys to adjust my bill. Lost it a little last time on the phone, and told them if after I get my m-card they keep charging me for extra outlets, I'll have to take them to small claims court...
 
#6,736 ·
...
I am wondering if this new card is bad (it looks like it has been physically bent a little bit) or if I need to do something like re-run guided setup. Will HostID and DataID which I got when trying to pair with a different card yesterday still be valid ?

Any advice ? Otherwise I will have to wait for an appointment which is 10 days out out
I believe the hostID stays the same, but not sure about the dataID.

I would try another m-card if they let you exchange the card. I find people at Sunnyvale office are reasonable with requests. I also needed a 2nd card to pair my first TivoHD.

If that does not work, I would suspect that your Tivo maybe faulty, or the signal on the coax cable maybe too noisy. You may need a truckroll to have their tech measure the signal strength.
 
#6,737 ·
Thanks, I exchanged the card this morning and the third time was indeed the charm. HostID was the same, but DataID was different.

Yes, Sunnyvale office indeed has very reasonable people - much better than the lottery you enter when you call phone support. One guy on the phone yesterday insisted to give him the serial number of my Motorola box into which I am putting the cable card ?!?! When I re-re-re-stated that I need the pairing for Tivo he had to call his supervisor because he was not aware of that and then kicked me to the next support level.

But all's well that ends well :)
 
#6,742 ·
Just wanted everyone to know that I had an M-card installed in my Tivo-HD. No problems so far. They guy didn't know anything about an SDV adapter, but all the channels seem to be comming in ok...

I called chatted with someone online. They said once Comcast Tivo is available in my area, the SDV adapters will be available. I don't know what that's about... I called them directly, they didn't know what an sdv adapter was. LOL..
 
#6,743 ·
I'm really frustrated. Got my MCard from Comcast, received my TiVO HD on Friday. Followed all of the directions, but it is not acquiring the channels. I called Comcast tech support a couple of times, and did the online chat - nothing changed. The tech guy came out yesterday, swapped out the MCard, tested the signal strength (it was fine) and tried a few other things. Today, I spent a couple of hours on and off with the tech supervisor. He had me first scan the channel list with the card removed, then do (yet) another Guided Setup with the card in, then configure the card (yet again). Still not acquiring the channels. On the Conditional Access, I see Con:Yes but Val:?0x00
The CableCard status shows a state of Wait to Start. No Messages are being received. I'm totally at a loss - is the problem with Comcast in general? The particular CableCard? A defective TiVO? Am I doing something wrong? I'd really appreciate some help - thanks in advance!
 
#6,744 ·
Installed a new M-card into my TivoHD this weekend for the first time. Went to the local Comcast office and picked up the card, no charge. Came home and slipped it in then called the number on the screen to have Comcast activate. Read them the numbers on the screen and 4 minutes later I was told to do the channel test... was getting all the channels.

Comcast tech on the phone tried to tell me there would be a $1.75 monthly charge on my bill for the cable card. I insisted that I did not have a cable box already, only the TiVo, no other digital outlets in the house, so there should be no charge - he said he'd have to talk to a supervisor about that. 2 minutes later he was back on the phone to let me know that was indeed correct - no charge.

I do not know why any cable company in their right mind would do a truck roll to install a cable card into a Tivo - It's a no brainer on the TiVo end, there's nothing to be done. Any complicated work is all done on the cable office switching end. That's where the cable companies need to focus their training/efforts/money.
 
#6,746 ·
Here in Chicago - I got the Mcard Saturday, but there were missing channels. Nobody seemed to know anything, and they said the cablecard was bad. Seemed odd to me, why only a few channels, not all? They sent out another tech today, who checked the signal at the cables outside, changed out some splitters, and ultimately they had to send another something signal to the device, but now I have all the channels I am supposed to. Unfortunately I am getting black screens occasionally - just for a few seconds, but it's annoying (during recording). I hear the audio, but the screen goes black.

RS Uncorrected is 0, RS Corrected steadily goes up. Signal strength, etc. all seems fine.

They tell me, though, that the first cablecard is free.
 
#6,747 ·
Like many here I have both Tivo Series3 and Tivo HD units utilizing S and M cards respectively. Just had my premium channels go out after a Tivo HD upgrade...and after seven (yes SEVEN) calls to Comcast I did stumble upon a troubleshooting method that worked to get my card and channels working again. Here is what I did:

1) After the upgrade, my Data ID field --did-- change. I had to get Comcast Customer Service to update. That was four of the seven calls. Finally on that fourth call I insisted on a supervisor who could update the field and he did...but a new hit wasn't helping reauthorize. Bummer.

2) The next two calls were to try and get somebody who could help me troubleshoot the CableCARD screens and to see if there was something I could do short of a tech roll. Simply put - exercise in futility.

3) I noticed on my Conditional Access screen that Con=Yes, Val did NOT have a V, but that the Auth field showed "UNC". That seemed strange. Rebooting the Tivo with the CableCARD in did not resolve.

4) I then PULLED the card, did a formal reboot, ignored ALL messages to redo guided setup...got myself back to the Tivo main menu. I then reinstalled the card, again ignored the guided setup warnings, and went back to the Conditional Access screen. This time while Val still did not have a V (didn't expect one) the Auth field did show an "S" instead of "UNC".

5) At this point I called Comcast to get a regular hit sent and bingo - channels worked.

I don't expect this to be a magic elixir for everybody as it definitely seems everybody has unique issues...but just wanted to pass on my "try rebooting without the card before calling to get a authorization hit" idea so that others could try it if you have a similar issue to mine.

I learned alot from this thread...just wanted to share.
 
#6,749 ·
Frickin' a - once again all my hi-def channels are gone on both cable cards. Waiting on my 5th call with Comcast this afternoon. First 2 were disconnected as they transferred me to "tech support" where I ended up with 1) "if you'd like to make a call....", #2) busy, 3) "need to get a supervisor", 4) same called back and tried to do it from her screen but no success, 5) should be a supervisor.

Why do I think this will create another truck roll for Comcast which will be 3 in less than 45 days. And the last 2 guys came in, punched some commands in their Blackberry and "poof" all the HD channels were there after pairing successfully!

Ever since the digital expansion into the analog range happened and the boxes were sent out this has been a repeating problem. If only the Comcast TiVo boxes were available in Atlanta I'd tell them to send one over and I'd give my Series 3 to my son and let him deal with this!
 
#6,750 ·
Ever since the digital expansion into the analog range happened and the boxes were sent out this has been a repeating problem. If only the Comcast TiVo boxes were available in Atlanta I'd tell them to send one over and I'd give my Series 3 to my son and let him deal with this!
Yours is the first one I have heard with this problem.

I'm a Comcast CableCard TiVo User with NO PROBLEMS.

Let me take a WILD guess.

You were previously an Adelphia customer or some other
Comcast acquired customer.
 
#6,751 ·
Yours is the first one I have heard with this problem.

I'm a Comcast CableCard TiVo User with NO PROBLEMS.

Let me take a WILD guess.

You were previously an Adelphia customer or some other
Comcast acquired customer.
You're lucky then. My cards lost auth in July, ended up needing a truck roll to replace the cards. Even the new cards loose all channels in ~3 weeks, sometimes sooner. What's funny, is that comcast will call and ask if my cards are fine, and I'll check and gee they are not working again. So they send another hit. I'm told no changes are being made, but I always wonder why they keep calling when my cards are out.........
 
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