Two S-Cards or One M-Card?

[DocChaos]

Ok, I have searched first but couldn't find much on this.

Which is preferable? Just one M-Card, or two S-Cards? (On a TiVo HD)
It is cheaper to do one M-Card, but are there any issues with the M-Card that two S-Cards do not have? I just received my TiVo HD and need to call my cable company and order it.

Any info is greatly appreciated.

[ajwees41]

Ok, I have searched first but couldn't find much on this.

Which is preferable? Just one M-Card, or two S-Cards? (On a TiVo HD)
It is cheaper to do one M-Card, but are there any issues with the M-Card that two S-Cards do not have? I just received my TiVo HD and need to call my cable company and order it.

Any info is greatly appreciated.

it would also depend what the cable company has in stock

[rmorton0573]

It does depend on if your cable provider is offering M cards, but I have tried them both and, now using the M card, and I can tell no difference, other then the extra $1.50 I'm saving on my cable bill per month.

[DocChaos]

Thanks for the quick replies. I will call and see which ones I can get.

Alex

[rainwater]

Thanks for the quick replies. I will call and see which ones I can get.

Alex

It really doesn't matter what you want. It matters what the installer brings. I would ask for 2 cablecards. And if the installer shows up with 2 M-cards, then only let them set one up. If you ask for a single M-card and the installer shows up with a single S-card, you end up with a incomplete install (this is very common for the installer to do this).

[DocChaos]

Well I just called and they said that the cards (yes cards plural.. so hopefully should be ok) should be in within 7 days, then they would contact me for the install time. Yea, more waiting.
Oh well, patience is a virtue.

And if anyone cares, my provider is Mediacom in the Quad Cities, IL/IA (Moline, IL / Davenport, IA area)

Thanks and i will post when I receive my cards.

[inahaz]

When I called, I specifically requested M cards. They (TWC in Central Ohio) didn't have an issue with that. I believe my cards are 2.50 per month. I have 2 boxes, so by going with 2 M's rather than 4 S's, that saves me $60 over a year.

Also, I haven't seen this specifically discussed, but I'm under the impression we will need the M-Card whenever this dongle arives.

[gamo62]

Ok, I have searched first but couldn't find much on this.

Which is preferable? Just one M-Card, or two S-Cards? (On a TiVo HD)
It is cheaper to do one M-Card, but are there any issues with the M-Card that two S-Cards do not have? I just received my TiVo HD and need to call my cable company and order it.

Any info is greatly appreciated.

One "M" Card. For one, it's cheaper. And second, if you have problems, it's easier to troubleshoot.

[ajwees41]

When I called, I specifically requested M cards. They (TWC in Central Ohio) didn't have an issue with that. I believe my cards are 2.50 per month. I have 2 boxes, so by going with 2 M's rather than 4 S's, that saves me $60 over a year.

Also, I haven't seen this specifically discussed, but I'm under the impression we will need the M-Card whenever this dongle arives.

what makes you think that?

[kenrippy]

i tried multiple M-cards but the installer couldn't get any of them to work, so we ended up going with 2 S-cards which, after a few different ones, found some that worked. cable cards proved to be the most frustrating part of the whole tivoHD experience. the installers act as if it's "your problem and/or tivo's problem" if they can't get them to work correctly (pair, configured etc.)

[DocChaos]

I'm hoping the installer is somewhat knowledgeable. We will see.
Either way, it's not a huge cost issue. They are charging $1.99 each per month.

[DocChaos]

Well a follow-up..

The installer arrived yesterday with plenty of equipment..
2 S-Cards
2 M-Cards
4 HD PVRs (Motorola i assume for Mediacom)

He called when he was on the way to ask what was supposed to be done, and I told him, and he just laughed at how the order was set up.

Oh well. He came in, and when i said TiVo he started looking on the back, obviously having done a S3 before, but not a TiVo HD. I showed him the front, popped it in, and it recognized it immediately. No issues. Took a few minutes for him to close the ticket and the card showed all the digital and HD channels.

So i would grade this a B install, since all he did was plug the card in and call in to the cable company..

[madneon]

SOOOOOOO!!!! you can use ONE m-card in a series 3 now???

[RonDawg]

So i would grade this a B install, since all he did was plug the card in and call in to the cable company..

If 1. the tech showed up within the promised time frame, 2. looked like he knew what he was doing, and most importantly 3. you're getting all the channels you are entitled to, it should be an A+ install.

As simple as this procedure is, you'll be surprised how many people on this forum got techs that get at least 1 of the above 3 incorrect.

Which reminds me, I have to call Charter as I noticed I haven't been getting any digital channels for over 24 hours now :mad:

[wmcbrine]

SOOOOOOO!!!! you can use ONE m-card in a series 3 now???No. Read it again.

[msdonnelly]

I've had two s cards since I got my S3 in Sept 2006--In that time, I've received digital cable a grand total of 6 months. The rest of the time the cards have been "unauthorized" because no one in the TWC SW Texas region knows how to authorize them. When I started my quarterly complaining last month I got a front office person who told me they were getting M cards soon and that would fix the problem "because S cards don't work in TiVos!" Needless to say, The M cards were installed by a Tech Supervisor and still don't work one week later. I put up with the nonsense to have access to the 5 lousy HD stations TW provides for free in Del Rio. (I always used to joke I must have the only cable cards in Del Rio, population 50,000 and now I know it isn't a joke--I do have the only cards in Del Rio and they don't work!)

[cosmic charlie]

You need two cards to make the dual tuner work correctly. My First installer convinced me that one S card would work, and it "sort of" did, but after he left, I realized that the tuners had some, not all channels and problems with reception of HD signals. The channel issues were completely random.
The next technician that came had experience with the S3 and told me he had been on service calls for up to 7 hrs trying to make the device work. The install of the second card and had the system @ 100% within 35 minutes.
The tech explained to me that most of the S3 cablecard problems were due to the FCC mandate to come out with the cablecard technology across all systems was the problem, because companies didnt have enough tech time to make their product as compatible as they would have liked. I never know what to believe from installers these days.
So far, Once set up with 2 S cards, My S3 isworking just fine.

[wmcbrine]

The tech explained to me that most of the S3 cablecard problems were due to the FCC mandate to come out with the cablecard technology across all systems was the problem, because companies didnt have enough tech time to make their product as compatible as they would have liked. I never know what to believe from installers these days.Well, don't believe that one. The cable companies had many years to get CableCards in order before the S3 came out, and they deliberately dragged their feet on it. They don't want separable security; that's the problem.