[mythtv-users] HDHomeRun - Comcast shut off clear QAM

[Stephen P. Villano]

On 12/11/13, 12:27 AM, Gary Buhrmaster wrote:
> On Wed, Dec 11, 2013 at 5:07 AM, Stefan Jones <stefan_jones at comcast.net> wrote:
>
>> The one they gave me is a Motorola. I'm not sure if Comcast uses those by
>> default.
> The type of card (Motorola, CIsco/SA) you need depends on the
> head end vendor (Motorola for Motorola systems, Cisco for Cisco
> systems, etc).  The encryption used by Motorola and Cisco is
> different (the interface to the STB is the same, which is the
> CableCARD standard).  Comcast is *mostly* a Motorola(*) shop,
> but has Cisco equipment too (usually due to acquired franchises
> that were Cisco shops).  The local franchise only gives out the
> appropriate card, although they will occasionally (usually by
> accident) give out an S-Card(**) rather than an M-Card.
Strange. The client end for my Fios is Cisco, so one would expect the
headend to be Cisco as well. Meanwhile, my cablecard *is* a Motorola.
Is this a case of competing services *not* actively making their client
software incompatible?
> Gary
>
> (*) Where Motorola now means Arris (who acquired the Motorola
> cable assets after Google acquired Motorola, and Google only
> wanted the handset division, and the patents).
>
> (**) S (for single stream) cards were the first type.  The initial
> TV's that supported CableCARDs supported S-Cards.
> While, in theory, M-Cards are backwards compatible with
> S-Cards, some specific older TV's would not work with an
> M-Card (even though they should, in theory).  So, while
> Comcast pretty much purged S-Cards from their inventory,
> they kept a few around for owners of those old TV's if one
> explicitly asks for it.  As with all else, sometimes a CSR
> will simply pick a card from the wrong pile.
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