Comcast M Card - only activating one stream?

[thiazi]

I've been having a terrible time with my local Comcast technicians and being able to secure an M Card. After convincing the local Tech Manager that an M Card is not used for two way communication/Video on Demand, I finally have a truck roll scheduled for this afternoon to receive my M Card.

To my surprise, the Tech Manager told me this morning that Multi Stream technology isn't supported in my area yet and only half of the M Card (1 stream) will work. I was under the impression that once the card was activated, it's up to the TiVo to drive the card and pull two streams at once. This Tech Manager has admitted, numerous times, to knowing absolutely nothing about CableCARD's and TiVo's in general, so I'm skeptical to believe what I'm being told.

Can anyone shed any light on this?

[LifeIsABeach]

This Tech Manager has admitted, numerous times, to knowing absolutely nothing about CableCARD's and TiVo's in general

Yes, the tech is correct. He knows nothing about cable cards or TiVos. The M card will work just fine in your TiVo no matter where you are.

[thiazi]

Yes, the tech is correct. He knows nothing about cable cards or TiVos. The M card will work just fine in your TiVo no matter where you are.

And I will get two streams out of it?

[rvsj]

And I will get two streams out of it?

If it's a TiVo HD, yes.
If it's a TiVo S3, no. The S3 always requires two cards.

[thiazi]

If it's a TiVo HD, yes.
If it's a TiVo S3, no. The S3 always requires two cards.

Yes, it's a TiVo HD. So I guess my original thinking was correct -- it's really up to the TiVo to drive the card, and so long as it IS an M-Card provisioned properly on the Comcast network, it should work with no issue at all, correct?

This technician keeps going on and on about how the "technology" just isn't here yet to support both streams on an M-Card and only one of the streams will work, not both.

[titsataki]

they do not know what they are talking about. I have had a M stream card on my Tivo HD for probably 2 years and it has worked flawlessly. Usually not many people would know how to handle it. Unfortunatelly you have to try and push until they find someone.

cheers

Nick

[thiazi]

The tech came out and installed the M card, but now I'm missing about half of my channels. I just see a gray screen on many of my channels, both HD and non-HD. The techs here locally swear up and down that M cards do not work, but I proved that they do yesterday when I started recording two programs at once.

What gives with the missing channel issue?

[tiassa]

The missing channel issue is that Comcast hasn't set up your account properly, the problem is on the head end. Call their customer service line and have them re-authorize your account.