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Adventures in CableCards

The first thing you learn after you get a new Series 3 TiVo is that soon after unpacking the box, your next major hurdle is getting two CableCards from your cable provider so you can get all your HD and pay channels directly from the TiVo.

The TiVo Community boards have loads of threads on the (mis)adventures of getting customer support reps and techs to understand what a CableCard is and how to get one. I'm a Comcast customer trying to get one and I've really enjoyed the official Comcast CableCard Thread.

If you read a few pages of it, you'll find a small number of people are able to pick up CableCards from their local office, plug them in, and call Comcast to instantly activate them, while everyone else is being told only cable technicians can do it. Some are saying only one card was delivered, and lots are finding out there are many bad CableCards on hand. Then there is the pricing. Cruise through a few pages and you'll find people hearing everything from $15/month/card to both cards being free. Installations are running from $75 to $17 to free as well. People are calling Comcast's 1-800 number several times and getting several different prices.

For the record, here's my experience so far:

• Called toll-free Comcast national number, was told two CableCards were free, but it'd be $17 for an installer to come to my house next week, with no chance of picking up cards locally. I'm turning in my Motorola HD DVR and saving $10/mo on my bill as well.
• Went into my local Comcast office today, asked if they had CableCards to give out and they said no, only techs are authorized to do it. I said I'd heard of other offices handing them out, and having the customers just call into Comcast to activate and the person behind the counter said "only techs have the clearance to do such a thing."

It sounds like a lot of people in the Seattle area are able to walk in and get perfectly working CableCards. On the whole, Comcast is being weird about this -- it's not rocket science and shouldn't require a tech to install (even those sound way more complicated than they should be).

Here are the main takeaways everyone should keep in mind:

• You should NOT be paying for CableCards, per FCC mandate or just nominal fees (see comments). Comcast should give you two cards for free. If they are insisting on $6.95 monthly fees, hang up and try another Comcast support rep.
• Almost everyone is requiring a tech to come out to install them, even if it only takes five minutes to slide a card in and call a phone number. If you are forced to go this route, don't pay more than the minimum $17 for the visit.
• TiVo's site has everything you need to know about installing CableCards on this page. Remember "If you see error 161-4 during installation, you can ignore it. If you see Error 161-2, it means that the card is damaged and needs to be replaced." Also keep the CableCard install notes handy for the tech that visits.

Anyone here have experiences getting a CableCard from their provider for the Series 3?

by Matt Haughey September 20, 2006 in News

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