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

[Gary Buhrmaster]

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.

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.