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View Full Version : CableCard, Montgomery County, MD


CrispyCritter
08-16-2009, 09:44 AM
Has anybody else had any new issues with cablecards for Comcast in Montgomery County, MD?

On Thursday we lost the ability to tune the 6 or so Encore movie channels (ch 150, 152, etc) on both our S-type cablecards. We get the cablecard "contact Comcast for service" screen popping up. Comcast swears they haven't done anything with those channels - they remain part of Digital Preferred service which we have had for 3+ years.

On Saturday, one cablecard lost the ability to tune any encrypted channel. It can still get the HD locals and pulblic television, as well as the basic service channels. When tuned to an encrypted channel, we just get a gray screen (though we still get the service screen on the Encore movie channels). I've tried normal things on my end such as unplugging the TiVo, and ejecting and reseating the cablecards - no changes.

It looks like Comcast is doing something with cablecards here. My theory is that they are gradually enforcing pairing. (I'm on my third TiVo with these cablecards and have not ever had to contact Comcast for re-pairing, so Comcast does not have correct Data and/or Host numbers for me).

Other than one rep sending a note to Engineering, I haven't been able to get any serious attention from Comcast (lots of hits and initialization hits)- I'll wait until the tech visits on Tuesday before I attempt to escalate.

Is anybody else in the area noticing anything, especially with the Encore channels?

adamshipley
08-16-2009, 01:44 PM
It looks like Comcast is doing something with cablecards here. My theory is that they are gradually enforcing pairing. (I'm on my third TiVo with these cablecards and have not ever had to contact Comcast for re-pairing, so Comcast does not have correct Data and/or Host numbers for me).



You are correct. What it looks like from my experience is that Comcast has started to add copy protection and this has caused cards that are not pair correctly to lose premium channels.

Look at the last page Comcast Cablecard thread and will see a bunch of people from the DC area with the same issues.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=316310&page=222

geraldken
08-16-2009, 02:13 PM
You are correct. What it looks like from my experience is that Comcast has started to add copy protection and this has caused cards that are not pair correctly to lose premium channels.

Look at the last page Comcast Cablecard thread and will see a bunch of people from the DC area with the same issues.


I had similar problems a couple of weeks back. After expressing my extreme displeasure (very politely) to the clueless phone rep, I got a phone call from a someone who had a clue and was able to deal with the pairing issue over the phone. But I'm not sure who had the last laugh 'cause shortly afterwards I started having problems with constant re-boots and woke up this morning to find out my TiVo is essentially dead. I'm pretty convinced this isn't a coincidence.

CrispyCritter
08-16-2009, 03:09 PM
You are correct. What it looks like from my experience is that Comcast has started to add copy protection and this has caused cards that are not pair correctly to lose premium channels.

Look at the last page Comcast Cablecard thread and will see a bunch of people from the DC area with the same issues.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=316310&page=222Thanks! I completely forgot about that thread, and it temporarily is off the front pages. Indeed it appears as though pairing is the issue. I'll see if I can avoid the tech visit, though it might be worth it just to replace the 2 S-cards with an M-card (my S3 has been replaced with a HDTiVo)