[tvmaster2]

With regards to a Tivo/cable card - is the cable card linked to a billing account, an IP address, or both? For example, my provider is Cox, as is my neighbors. Could I take my TiVo over to his place for a few days and watch and record as long as his cable is up and running? I wanted to give them a decent demo, and figured the best way was just leave a unit with them for a few days so they could play with it.
I’ve rebooted my router lots of times and forced new IP addresses, so I assume the cable card just needs a cable company account to be linked to.
But, if they didn’t subscribe to certain paks or premium channels like HBO, does the cable company have to enable access to those channels at their address somehow? In the old days, they’d stick physical filters outside your house to kill/enable channels.
Now?

 

[keithg1964]

I do not think they would know if the Tivo was moved within their service area. It might if it was moved across town, but just within a block or so I do not think they could see the difference. Telco do not use filters anymore. I found that out when I first got high speed cable internet(90s) and they had to remove all the filters. So with the internet I got all the premium cable channels. It was good while it lasted

 

[JoeKustra]

If you want to leave your TiVo and its cable card next door, and they have cable, nothing bad will happen. It will work fine. The cable card is not just paired to the TiVo, it's paired to the cable company.

The channels received is part of the provisioning (Channel List Received) and is done after pairing. I dropped all sports and was watching as they were removed.

If the neighbor is that close you are both fed from the same headend. If the distance is miles, it might be a different headend and the channel list might change.

 

[tvmaster2]

If you want to leave your TiVo and its cable card next door, and they have cable, nothing bad will happen. It will work fine. The cable card is not just paired to the TiVo, it's paired to the cable company.

The channels received is part of the provisioning (Channel List Received) and is done after pairing. I dropped all sports and was watching as they were removed.

If the neighbor is that close you are both fed from the same headend. If the distance is miles, it might be a different headend and the channel list might change.

Ok, let's say it's the same cable company, same channel list, but we're 5-7 miles apart - as long as the channel lists/frequencies are the same they should continue to receive ALL the channels I'M subscribed to, or if let's say they don't subscribe to HBO and I do, would they still receive my ACTIVE channels, regardless that the TiVo is now attached to their cable drop?

 

[JoeKustra]

Ok, let's say it's the same cable company, same channel list, but we're 5-7 miles apart - as long as the channel lists/frequencies are the same they should continue to receive ALL the channels I'M subscribed to, or if let's say they don't subscribe to HBO and I do, would they still receive my ACTIVE channels, regardless that the TiVo is now attached to their cable drop?

If you both send your payments to the same address, there's a high probability you have the same headend. Provisioning (like HBO) is on the card, so it sticks to the card. That would fail if you stuck that card in a different TiVo, even one in your house. Premium channels are matched to the hardware.

My location, which is 6 miles from the county line, is serviced by a different headend than the one I had when I lived there. I had to turn in my cable card & DTA when I moved a few years ago. I am/was on the edge of the service area from my feed.