CableCARD: Is the End Upon Us?
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- Опубликовано: 4 июн 2024
- See more of my CableCARD related content: lon.tv/dvr2017 - The FCC lifted their requirement that CableCARDs be made available in 2020. We're now starting to see some evidence that major cable companies, beginning with Spectrum cable, are thinking about ditching them to make room for more upstream Internet bandwidth. The end, sadly, may soon be here. See more videos like this one: lon.tv/ww and subscribe! lon.tv/s
VIDEO INDEX:
00:00 - Intro
00:23 - What Are CableCards ?
01:47 - FCC Dropped CableCard Mandate
03:04 - Internet Driving Cablecard's demise
05:45 - HDHomerun's Solution
06:11 - CableCARD Demo
09:28 - CableCARD Alternatives
10:55 - Channels App
12:25 - Your Alternatives?
13:41 - Conclusion
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I used a Prime with Cablecard years ago, but eventually switched to over the air with a HDHOMERUN Quad tuner. We’re lucky to live in an area where over the air is a viable solution. It really is amazing the quality of OTA, and I would urge anyone who lives in an area where it’s a viable solution to use it assuming you don’t care about losing access to cable only channels. It takes a little bit of work to get it all figured out, we went through several antennas until we found one that worked well, but the cost savings were worth it. For DVR, we have an old MSI mini pc running Ubuntu server with Plex. The mini pc is only a dual core Celeron, but because it supports quick sync it can even handle a couple of 1080p transcodes simultaneously. Very nice for when I’m on travel for work and want to watch one of my recorded shows in the hotel.
Yeah with all the add on sub stations and the lack of anything I'd actually want to watch. a good antenna is a valuable investment that you'll make back in 2 months maximum.
I bought a cheap $20 converter box with a USB for a memory stick to do dvr
While I am a customer of cable, I would switch to OTA if I could get reception. Unfortunately We are in a location in Florida that is almost exempt of OTA channels. Perhaps Tesla's new Satellite System will soon be available. Then I would consider cutting the cable.
@@cliffeck6104 only problem is it'll be just as expensive as the cable stuff.
Lol the days of primestar are long gone
Hi Lon! I'm also using 2 of the HDHomeRun Prime tuner boxes and 2 cable cards to my Plex DVR. I got hooked on this setup from watching your setup years ago, have had mine for years like you, and I thank you for that. I've also used the Channels setup directly to my Plex and it kinda worked ok, but not as well like you brought up for some channels. Like you I can't get local channels. I had in the past bought one of the early HDHomerun OTA that had built in transcoding, but it was a waste as I never could get a good signal by antenna. I've started using a program called Audials One which works like a VCR in it can record (not always easily) streaming media but this would not in any way replace something that will automatically do what my cable card / tuner box does now. Your videos on this subject are wonderful and I greatly appreciate all you do to keep us all informed and educated on this. I think all us cable card users definitely need to start looking/planning NOW for the day coming very soon when our cable cards go kaput and we are unable to dvr freely any more with them. Please let us all know any new industry options as you learn them, as I know you always do. With all the streaming features (not wanted really by OG Plex Pass customers) Plex has been rolling out, maybe they could come up with something like what Audials does and be able to DVR streams from local network streams. We can dream. Thanks again.
I remember getting cable TV in 1955. I was 5 years old and could only get one channel with an antenna from 70 miles away. The "cable rights" to get the cable was $125, and the monthly rate for 5 channels was a couple bucks a month.
2:47 - Yes, TiVo still makes cable card devices. They still sell them new now. The model is the "TiVo Edge for Cable". If you go to their site and look at the info page for this, and scroll down to tech specs, it clearly states there's a CableCard slot in there.
I personally use the model before this, a TiVo Bolt - and the OTA variant that has no cable card, it's 100% antenna. But yes, they definitely still make and sell Cablecard boxes in 2022.
I was a long time user of the hdhomerun + cable card. When I recently moved we checked out the youtube TV and decided to go with that, it has built-in dvr and I don't have to fuss with the hardware anymore.
But can you copy the DVR files anywhere, and edit out the commercials like I do now with the Cablecard?
@@CockpitScenes Nope, sometimes you can fast forward through them and other times you have to watch them. I haven't figured out why but suspect it might have something to do with the age or type of the program as some are marked vod, and others are dvr? Also you can't download them and take them with you or edit them in any way that I've bothered investigating. Actually, I rarely watch live tv, I do record some stuff to listen to while going to sleep (a bad habit really), occasionally there's a series I'm interested in that are not offered through some of the other streaming services I have available. Mostly my significant other had certain requirements that it needed to meet, local channels, hallmark channel mysteries and other stuff I'm not typically interested in (well I do find the local channels important for news etc.. ):) , one thing that is missing though is local community channels. I'm not championing it, I just found it a viable alternative to my situation. I'll always be open to trying better alternatives as they present themselves.
@@Brewskii2117 I will miss it when it is gone. I used to commute to work from FLL to EWR about every four days. I would record my favorite shows and manually edit out the commercials. Then I would just copy them to my laptop. It made for a really pleasant watching experience on the 2.5 hour flight. Now I can do it automatically with MCEBuddy. I also watch a lot of live TV on my desktop computer with my 31 inch 4K monitor. It's just so nice to have total freedom to do whatever I want to with the recorded shows...
Hi Lon,
I wish there was a future for CableCard. We are in a similar situation. I ended up getting an outdoor OTA ant and using AirTv with Sling however the experience is subpar. we did get the high end AirTV box but I can confirm that the thermals are atrocious on this unit. You can use a USB SSD with it for OTA DVR and it does work well enough. We ended up getting a Sling package and it is workable. X1 xfinity is awful too... often the image stalls, sometimes the box needs a random reboot or update. Notice on vaca in New Hampshire they still have cable offered with the old xfinity style, back when OnDemand was the new hotness, blue chunky menu and all. It is so much better, more responsive, you can actually channel surf without a 2 sec delay between changes... The Sling app is also unstable and they sometimes don't vet changes well. Its a sad state. I think they hamper it on purpose to steer people to other services. Best ive found so far though... Cable Tv used to be so much more functional...
We had a cable card with wideopenwest for many years until 2008 when they upgraded cable headend. After a few months wideopenwest told me we had to rent their cable box. After a few complaints to local government and FCC plus my contacts. We were given a modem box at the cost of a cable card $5.00
This is one of the best and informative channel to follow.
@Lon - For Channels, did you scroll all the way down to the bottom. There is a checkbox "Local Networks via TV Everywhere". I can get all my local channels other than PBS, CW, and MyTV.
As for local stations, have you looked if any of your stations is broadcasting in ATSC 3.0? You might be able to pick up those stations better vs ATSC 1.0 ones. I would highly recommend an outdoor antenna as well.
Hey Lon. You can actually get some locals via TVE using Channels DVR. In your server dashboard, scroll way down to "Experimental" and put a check in the box next to "Local Networks via TV Everywhere ". I'm in CT and using RUclips TV, and with TVE through Channels DVR I get WFSB, WVIT, WTNH, and WABC. No WTIC yet.
Yes I was able to get my locals as well with Xfinity you have to check the box next to local networks
oooh! Thanks for the tip I'll try it!
@@LonSeidman and I found that the server runs the best when it is up to date on the latest prerelease
I'm in CT too and a Channels DVR subscriber. I have the experimental option checked to get my local channels, which are from NYC since I'm in Fairfield county. I get WTNH, WNBC, WABC, WNYW, and WCBS. For a while, there were a couple of PBS channels too but they added DRM to their streams quite recently.
You can also add a custom channel that will give you LocalBTV.
There is a lot of help on their forums.
Forced device rental by providers is absolutely anti consumer.
There was a time in Germany where you had to rent not just the device but also functions like WiFi... For an extra fee, of course.
Comcast started rolling out a NEW 2 gig down and a 100 up over DOCIS 3.1 already. It will be nationwide by the end of the year. I’ve seen people get almost the the full 2.5 gig down the modem supports and bursts of 300 up. There’s a few posts on Reddit already about it and Comcast has started emailing customers about it.
When I got a new cable modem I got a 3.1 capable modem to be ready for an upgrade
My brother has RUclips TV and loves it, I'd be willing to try it, but they don't carry our RSN where I live and there's no alternative to get it. The RSN is a deal breaker, at least for the wife.
As a fellow CT resident and long time cable card/hdhomerun/plex user I found this video really great! I ultimately decided to give up any entertainment that couldn’t be delivered without the cable company. Went to streaming only with Netflix, HBO, etc. Has gotten much easier recently with so many companies offering streaming packages but also expensive again if you want them all.
I currently use a CableCARD in a TiVo DVR with a couple of Minis. I’ll continue using it as long as Optimum supports it here in NJ. Like you, I’m too far from NY and Philly to get local channels over the air.
My landlord was using this with Optimum until recently in Brooklyn, he was having a lot of trouble with the TiVo losing authorization and every time Optimum would send a technician they would act like they didn't know what a cable card was and didn't fix the problem. So we switched to RUclips TV, which has a lot of benefits but there's a lot I miss about TiVo.
Lon, I am in the same situation as you. Although I get my internet and TV both from Comcast cable, I use two HDHomeRun Prime 3 with Comcast cable cards. I still use a Windows 7 computer running Media Center. For a long time I was running Ceton Infiniti 4 card and a Ceton Echo to move my media center dvr and live tv up stairs to me TV. However, since I was having a lot of issues with the Ceton devices I move my media center computer upstairs and set it behind my TV so that I could eliminate both Ceton products. For the most part all is working well, but I am dependent on my cable cards for my TV signals.
Been using my HDHomerun Prime for about 8 or so years now and it's been very steady as well.
Wait, is there an alternative to the cablecard for the access and recording of local channels?
When we had linear cable TV I had cable cards. First with our TiVo series 3 and then with a ceton infinitv 4 and windows 7 media center. I had directv for a while (I had a tracvision on the van) and then got rid of linear TV entirely. BTW my cable company (service electric) was first in the nation. But my area sold out to Altice. I have a feeling though that cable card will try to adapt, just like they did with SDV. We will see.
Tivo user for many years (with cablecard). Switched to RUclipsTV several years ago and very happy with it. BTW, my experience with cablecard and Tivo was frustrating. Many issues.
I've been a RUclips TV subscriber for at least 3 years and it runs very well. It's a big change from Cable but I think it is one you should look at.
I have spectrum gig waiting for the higher splits as well looks like the amps have to be upgraded as well. However I use the spectrum app with their cloud dvr feature. I also vpn to get my locals outside the home with gl-inet products.
I Want to make sure I’m hearing this right, if they disable the cable card ,that will render the home run prime obsolete?
I am still running HDHomerun with the cable card on Comcast. They have not made any noise about dumping support (knock on wood). I have a Roku TV (4K) and three Roku boxes. They do not support HDHomerun cable card app so I use Plex to distribute to those TVs. HDHomerun FLex (ATSC 3.0) does work on over the air TV on Roku so I have been using it for live stuff. The Comcast App on Roku drops out regularly so I only have one TV with that up and running just to see if they figure it out.
On Flex we have a Dish Network low power Pay per view on ATSC 3.0 but my signal is not enough for a full decode. It is the only 4k running 4K content as the one ATSC 3.0 with ABC, NBC, Fox and an independent on the same channel are all in 1K. I am anxiously waiting for the networks to build out the infrastructure and programming to support 4K.
KC0KP
I use the Xfinity X1 DVR(Physical 1TB 4K model), and their stream app on every other TV. You can offload shows from your DVR to a mobile device for watching on the go.(must be home to transfer the show).
Good video, Lon!
I cut my cable about 2 years ago in favor of a ChannelsDVR system with HDHomeRun for the OTA. I have 2 homes and use one of the home's DirecTV "TV Everywhere" feature to feed ChannelsDVR. This works well. I have the same problem with OTA reception. My DC Metro home area is now broadcasting in ATSC 3.0. This has improved OTA reception but it's not 100%.
What we need is an affordable replacement for Locast. It work flawlessly for $5/month. The problem with the streaming services is that their "add-on" local channels are just that - something added on, expensive, and of marginal quality. Locast was perfect. I never agreed with the Court decision against Locast. There is a reasonable argument that broadcasters who are granted licenses to broadcast OTA should allow a service like Locast for those people who live in high-rise apartments and condos where an effective external antenna is not feasible. This could even be hosted by the local library or some other local government institution as a "public service."
Have you heard of any viable alternatives to Locast? I have not.
There is a replacement for Locast, its called an Antenna.
@@STONE69_ As I stated before, and as Lon stated, antenna reception is marginal in my area. I have a condo facing north. All the transmitters are to the south. Inside antennas give poor performance on the high-VHF bands and marginal performance on the UHF bands. It is not possible to erect an external antenna at the condo despite what the law says. Yes, I can have an external antenna on any place for which I have personal access, but it cannot be in an area external to that.
I have had engineering friends who work at the local transmitters help me on this and we done about all we can do.
So, again, what worked the best was the Locast approach.
@@cggage Do you have a Balcony, try different areas of your Apartment, you might be able to get Bounced signal.
@@STONE69_ Oh, yes, all that has been done. As I said, I brought in a couple of broadcast engineering friends. One from NPR and the other from CBS. We tinkered with this for over 6 months. I ended up with a high-end VHF antenna from Televes of Spain, designed for outdoors, in a spare room, on an antenna stand. This picks up high-VHF on 7 and 9 - the only two stations that actually are still on RF 7 and 9.
Another UHF Yagi was added. Each antenna feeds separate HDHomeRun receivers, the newest receiver supporting ATSC 3.0. The latter works pretty well but the host station dropped the ball a couple of times. Retesting could not resolve a drop of all ATSC 3.0 channels. A call to Tech Support for HDHomeRun had them calling the transmitting station to get them to reboot a particular part of the ATSC 3.0 setup on the transmitter side. My guess is I was the only one in the DC area that reported this failure. But, ATSC 3.0 is new to DC and just coming online so I will cut them some slack. When it works, it works well.
Both of the HDHomeRun receivers are configured as "Sources" to feed ChannelsDVR.
Bottom line is that my system works pretty well but a better and simpler solution was what we had before - Locast as "source" for ChannelDVR. This really was flawless with no pixelization or dropouts or anything. Well worth the $5.00/month "donation."
So, to conclude, I doubt the average condo/homeowner with similarly poor reception has access to the technical resources that I do. I still think a "public service" that would provide OTA is fair and reasonable. I do not see how this is much different than the old "central antenna" systems we saw on large apartment buildings. The only difference today with the Locast model is the signals from the local antennas are fed over the internet to local-only viewers instead of being fed over an in-house coaxial cable.
If Comcast offers internet via fiber, doesn't that negate the need to eliminate cable card bandwidth for improved upload?
This channels app doesn’t work for me with verzion FIOS I’m getting an error when I try to log into my FIOS account
Just finally got my HD HR Prime with cable card and tuning adapter working as a circumvention to my 3 Sling boxes getting sunset in November. I actually have not removed any of my set top boxes (5). Removing cable cards could possibly push me to go to an IPTV supplier. OTA local stuff isn't really my issue, My Cable supplier has it's own remote/portable app, but constrains it's use so much it's not really a great alternative.
I have been using my TiVos since they came out and had a cable card TiVo the first it was available. It’s going to be a sad day when I have to chose on gigabits symmetrical internet or my cable cards since Cablevision is running fiber with the goal to push everyone too it and will not support cable cards. It seems I will be forced to choose sooner than later. I have yet to find a decent alternative that not as simple as a TiVo is
The still popular and most current Tivo, the Tivo Edge uses cable cards. I hope my cable company (Cox) doesn't stop issuing cable cards because with my HOA fees we get full cable & premium channel subscriptions and a few box rentals included. Likewise in Fall 2023 I hope my HOA management doesn’t drop cable from the included perks contract or my Tivo is out of luck unless I pay much more to get cable on my own.
However when my most recent higher-end Cox DVR stopped working a month ago after a few years, I decided to trade it in for their non-DVR set-top box receiver that is already included with our HOA fee, vs. paying over $22/monthly for both the DVR service and box rental. I just now bought a Tivo Edge for cable and got the cable card from Cox (and tuning adapter you need for premium channels) which I will have to pay $6/month more for (even if I return the current cable set-top box). I opted for Tivo's lifetime subscription for service and guides because it was included with the Tivo Edge itself, as well as their 5-year Continuous Care warranty program, all for just $450, which is about $500 off the full retail price. May seem like a lot to some, but I would easily spend that much in rental fees in just two years with the DVR box and service from Cox.
I may create a MoCA network to get the highest speeds but since I only pay for 500 mbps (good enough for me now) and am already getting upwards of 300-350 mbps over my new WiFi mesh network, it may not be worth the hassle upgrading with MoCA filter, splitters, adapters and all the reconfiguration, much of which is inside the walls. But I did just spend $200 on those extras as well before I realized my WiFi was testing as fast as it did lately, because I just learned about MoCA and think it is pretty neat to have ethernet over existing coax without all the ethernet rewiring. 🤷🏻♂
Originally last month, after my DVR failed and I opted for the "no-charge" Cox receiver instead, I had ordered and set up the Elgato EyeTV HD which accepts the signal from their box over component which gives reasonably HD video. It records great and cost me only about $39 total! A great solution until I just found out that Geniatech, who purchased the EyeTV line from Elgato about seven years ago, is a foreign company who has been neglecting EyeTV and as recently as 2022 no longer support having the program guide integrated which also prevents you from setting up the included IR Blaster to turn on & off the cable box and change channels for all scheduled recordings. I learned this from other perturbed customers because they don't even return calls or email from their customers who they claim to still support! So now, because I only missed it by about 10 months, I can only record with EyeTV if I manually program shows and series without selecting in the software's program guide (but still can specify recurring weekdays, weekly, etc.), and now also must change the channel on my cable box manually each time and never turn it off before each recording.
So that is how I ended up with Tivo for the first time after 17 years of cable company DVR's. Before that I was using two different really cool (for 2003) Toshiba DVD recorders that recorded broadcast/cable or VCR tapes over component onto their internal hard drives and/or reusable DVD RAM, and also let me burn to DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW, as well as add labels, menus and manually delete commercials on all recorded content for hard drive storage or before burning permanently to disc.
Probably way too much information but that sums up my post-VCR recording history, LOL. 😊
Surprised you didn't get locals with TVE. I get ABC/NBC/CBS/FOX and PBS with Channels. Did you enable local channels via TVE?
This is the correct answer!
I use that box also, but comcast charges me the same rental fee as a regular cable box. Not sure how you got around it.
It varies per region, where I am they included one card for the cost of the subscription and also added on a $2.50 monthly credit.
Cable companies only ever half-heartedly supported these. Roku sticks and streaming services have thankfully made these obsolete anyway.
I use an antenna to pick up my local stations. Contact an installer in the area and would be perfect. Hope you are able to figure it out.
Lon. We have a fellow RUclipsr that talks about OTA quite a bit. He's even located up in your general area and has helped solve quite a few OTA challenges for cord cutters.
Check out his channel: "Antenna Man"
Perhaps you and he could do an episode together. That would be awesome.
I too subscribe to his channel and his tips helped me to get my local channels.
I was ready to offer the same advice. As soon as Lon mentioned OTA issues, Tyler @Antenna Man popped into my head. Thanks for a great suggestion!
Yes I will reach out to him but I'm really truly in an area that is out of range of my television stations. We barely could pick them up in the early 80's with a rotatable YAGI on the roof. Just not possible here.
@@LonSeidman The new ATSC 3.0 standard is starting to roll out and will improve OTA reception as Antenna Man demonstrated in a moving vehicle!
I have two Tivo's with cable cards from Comcast and I don't even use the DVR that I get get from Comcast because it works poorly when compared with Tivo's software.
Same here. Not sure if Comcast will drop the support for the cable cards
@@TELEVISIONARCHIVES It seems inevitable, I’m afraid.
The cablecard only uses BFS from the Controller which is the forward data carrier 75mhz , channel map and so on. so they are getting rid of all standard cable boxes, not just cable cards.
This gets rid of the qpsk, which is the return for regular cable boxs. cable cards have no return, only receive.
Spectrum and Charter are the same company. I use both Spectrum and OTA both with TiVos and when the cable card goes away my cable TV will most likely go away as well. I also use the HDHomeRun to get the ASTC 3.0 broadcast but the sound stopped working on that.
If you scroll down to the bottom of the admin page for the Channels DVR there is a section titled "Experimental" and there is a option to include local channels with your "TV Everywhere".
Not every market is supported that's for o&o stations. Maybe it will work if you lontv
Cable companies died long time ago in France. We use offers bundled with our internet providers, and it is way cheaper, with almost all the channels.
Thank you for this video . I own an TiVO. I have Spectrum cable . This video help me a lot.
For your cable card concerns just switch to directv stream or youtube tv depending on what you want and rip any dvr recordings with a capture card. This will definitely be the new Meta seeing how there's already tons of usb capture cards that do in fact skirt the drm.
Or even easier - set up Channels DVR with TV Everywhere, which records to h.264 files just as if it were via a HDHomeRun Prime tuner.
@@tilu3303 Yeah, the Channels DVR with the TVe integration sounds good, but not all channels are available, and you also don’t get the same audio quality that you would’ve otherwise gotten had you gone with the CableCard. Like, you go from 384kbps 6 channel AC-3 and 192kbps stereo to only like 127kbps audio, and ONLY stereo. That’s a downgrade, not an upgrade, at least for me.
I currently have a ceton infinitv 6 and an hdhome run prime on FiOS hopefully cable cards stay on FiOS longer since they don't have the same bandwidth restrictions
And hopefully the cable companies will agree on a new standard to replace cable card maybe something like esims and you can just pair 1st party and 3rd party devices
I cut the cord a year or so ago. I got a HDHomerun OTA 2 tuner box. That gets me all of my local and national networks. I needed a DVR to record shows that were OTA so I subscribed to Channels for $80 a year. I pointed Channels to an old Mac on my home network that I use as the Channels DVR. This a great set up. To make things better I have a 4K Apple TV with the Channels App installed on it. I can control my OTA content from this app or watch other on demand apps like Netflix or Hulu which I dont need a DVR for as these apps carry all on demand programing!
altice one shut them down about a year ago sadly since they went full fiber into my home
Been using the HDHR Prime w/ cablecard with FIOS for some years now. Hopefully since it's already on fiber this pending change for cable users won't be an issue.
But no way will I ever use a TV app. With so many channels scrolling through them is far too frustrating. Look forward to cancelling the whole lot of it, just reading on the kindle.
I us spectrum TV app which is built into all of my smart TVs and I really like it.
you could also get directv stream which offers recording
We’ve been using cablecards since you made a video a few years ago. I’ve got one at home using Verizon which is working perfectly. The one at the beach house uses COX and a few months ago they DRM’ed all channels besides locals which ended up forcing us to use Windows Media Center. I’m just hoping Verizon doesn’t end support anytime soon. I’m not sure this issue would apply to them however due to them already having fiber at our location.
Since when did lon tv upload in 4k? Looks noticeably sharper on my tv! 😁
Internet is now the cable companies cash cow. I remember when I tried to drop Comcast cable TV 4-5 years ago, the retention rep went out of their way for me to keep cable TV service. Not anymore. Now if you call to drop TV service, they do not care. Now if you want to cancel internet service with them, retention will offer deals to keep one as an internet customer.
Comcast has been slowly moving some channels from QAM to IPTV, and those cannot be received with a CableCARD equipped device, only the newer X1 Comcast equipment.
I do plan to eventually get an antenna and the new ATSC 3.0 HD Homerun along with my Channels subscription for the local side, along with keeping Spectrum and riding my existing Prime and TiVos as long as I can possibly do so, though I use TiVo less and less because it's become an advertising-pushing machine. I have noticed though that several low-band channels are effectively unviewable with CableCard.
It's good that Channels does have a good community and I've been able to get in Stirr, Pluto and Samsung TV Plus channels into my app through custom channels (Samsung just added the Scripps networks like Ion), and the TVE networks seem to have better picture quality at times than the one coming in through cable, plus I can remove all the infomercial networks that are pushed onto everyone. I will take a faster Internet pipe these days than an aging technology that depends on wasteful channel allocations (we now have three QVC channels on cable...why?).
A year ago had a great deal with sling.
You get 2 months of sling tv (70$) for free then an air tv and then a good antenna I got the wineguard one was outdoor like a $100.00
It was a massive bargin , and the sling ap works well for me on my roku and on my cell phone.
Might be something to look into.
@@luvdady The big issue is I'm in a Bally market and want to make sure their out of home package for the Brewers and Bucks that are in beta now would be wise, plus I'm adverse to Dish since they have the most major carriage disputes. Plus there are channels Spectrum provides (mostly South American soccer) I do want to keep.
@@MrSchimpf yeah well you don't have to keep the sling , you use the app for free.
Also many cable providers have a login agreement with many providers to watch online espn/fox sports.
Yeah umm anyone can enter the code and you can get it " ;)
Check into espn + and the soccer league see what they have to offer .
Yeah I figure I save about 2000 a year off cable and phone.
With roku and magic jack and xfinity has prepaid internet service 50mbps for 45$ a month no tax equipment fees etc.
Including router.
So you can shop around and get a better deal.
Many of the Big 3 plus 1(Fox) allow you to log in to their sites with a valid Cable tv ID. Local news is available for free wither with your cable id or in some case for free.Some of your obscure local networks will be unattainable with out an antenna,though. I used a cable card with an older TVHD until 2020 and now use OTA signals(which luckily I can get in my area). HD Homerun OTA is great as well.
I got rid of the CableCard around 2017, a good six-year run. I didn't watch many cable-based shows. It was either streaming or antenna based for me. I am looking forward to ATSC 3.0 and seeing what that offers.
ATSC 3.0 might be a while for full roll out in many markets, and the tuners are still expensive, but yeah I'm eventually looking forward to it myself once converter boxes are around the $50 mark, so I don't have to replace all the TV's in my house.
I live in Connecticut, and early this year my Cable card stopped working. Xfinity told me that they are no longer supporting Cable cards. So, I had to rent their DVR and was unable to use my TIVO Boxes which works a lot better then their DVRs. Is there ANYWAY to connect the TIVO instead of using xfinity s crappy DVR?
They won’t offer a cablecard replacement? It is no longer a requirement unfortunately as the mandate has been removed.
I have cablecard in the HDPrime device and it has been running perfectly for well over 10 years. I have a combination of Silicon dust products, a couple that record OTA antenna combined with the HDPrime device and it's all recorded on my NextPVR virtual machines. In fact I have several VMs and spin up a new one to test features and perform recordings that way. NextPVR records my content to my QNap NAS device. I then stream the content, get this, with ole' Beyond TV. BTVs interface is simple and clean none of the graphics junk on the display and you can find your content quickly.
In addition, I stream that recorded content on my Plex apps from FireHD or my cell phone. I even extract recorded content automatically from youtube to be listened to in my car via plex, especially good for pod cast types of channels.
Honestly it should be easier to access the TV service. Modern stuff is just IPTV so there's no excuse to not use some standardized protocol.
One of the biggest issues I had with cable card was my provider blocked my access to all but about ten channels, I straight up couldn't watch what I was paying for.
I didn’t get a letter from Spectrum. I really don’t think they will dump them any time soon. If they did TiVo will have a ton of upset people who recently took advantage of their discounted Edge boxes. On the flip side I wish they would so my Wife would have to give up TiVo after 20+ years
Hey Lon, I can’t speak for Comcast but I work for a different cable company and in all of our service areas Local channels are available in high definition with a coax directly into your tv as long as it has a QAM tuner.
You can't get pay channels or SDV channels with the built in tuner.
10:00 Have you tried using an outdoor antenna?
Yes
The spectrum app doesn't work on Android devices or available on LG/Vizio apps
Just chromcast it
I just use RUclips TV, it works on all my devices that have the app, or a modern web browser, and it has DVR built in so I've never worried about cable card.
Although I live is a small TV market, I get 40+ OTA channels with an antenna in the attic. I dropped Comcast TV 4.5 years ago, I bought a Silicon Dust OTA tuner and bought a Plex Passport lifetime subscription that lets me DVR OTA channels. I also have 3 smart TVs and ROKU devices with streaming channels available. Our city installed dark fiber and Google provides 1 and 2 GB (up and down) internet service using the city's dark fiber. Comcast, ATT and WOW still use their own wires. I have the Google 1 GB service. Google doesn't charge extra for the modem/router.
specium uses Apps on most decvices if you have a cable subscription but on PC can go to a website as long you on there internet you can watch TV via Website
Tablo DVR using "Tablo Connect" feature. Requires you to have a friend with a house with good OTA and internet where you can install the DVR and an antenna.
I've not done this, but it appears viable and even legal.
In Portugal we have cable TV and landline phone service together with the internet over fiber, it's all bundled together and we pay a single bill every month. Anyway, most tv channels are on the internet these days. I can see channels from all around the world, even American ones, over the internet. Some will be region locked, but we know what to do about that.
If I had to pay a monthly fee again instead of software like "Channels" I'd simply go back to my cable company's DVR box & service (provided I still live in my current home and provided the HOA fees continue to cover all expanded cable & premium channels, as well as standard receiver box rentals -- though not DVR box or service), although after two years that still costs more than my latest model Tivo with program guide and all subscriptions paid for life of the product, which is why I just switched to Tivo Edge for cable when my cable DVR rental died last month.
I rather liked how Microsoft Media Center was able to be configured with Hauppauge HD PVR analog units as if they were CableCard tuners. This allowed for HD recordings even from premium cable channels such as HBO, ShowTime, CinaMAX etc without DRM restrictions. CableCard was great while it lasted though.
Yeah, back in the day I had an early HD cable box and was able to stream HD content over firewire to my PC and record. Those were the days...
the fcc needs to come out and explain further about this
if someone wants to use hd home run prime devices for example , to access cable
most of these boxes Like the hd home run prime and the tivo boxes, Require Cable Cards
and you cannot have the fcc removing that mandate
they need to amend it and allow new rules that say tivo boxes and prime devices can still access cable through the cable card
if they are going to remap stuff due to the high spilt stuff, that should help
A few years ago Xfinity dropped the TCM channel and wanted an extra fee to get it. So, I dumped Xfinity TV, kept the Xfinity internet and stream via RUclipsTV. RUclipsTV has all of my local broadcast stations, a plethora of 'cable' channels plus unlimited DVR (well, it keeps the recording for a year). One advantage is if you have a Firestick, you can take your 'channels/recordings' with you when away from home.
Not sure if anyone has said it yet but Spectrum is the service brand for Charter - Just like Xfinity is the brand for Comcast.
Hey Lon i use satellite tv for my tv services it is not the best but works solid its a little pricey but you would get what you would need
Spectrum has all its cable channels available as full streaming at the same cost less equipment charges plus one that lets you select 15 channels including Broadcast or a couple of plans with certain pre selected cable channels. So there is that
most of them have a $5 DVR
RUclips TV has been an excellent service. I'd recommend giving it a try.
I had a Moxi HD-DVR, a CableCard box sold by a company owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. You could add "Moxi-Mates" and watch an available tuner on another tv from the one the "mother" Moxi, which supported 3 tuners. Arris bought Paul Allen's company after Allen lost a ton of money, and Arris promptly announced they'd be ending guide information in a set number of years, meaning the product EOL was near. This brought about the switch to the Ceton. I had the Ceton InfiniTV PCI card, which required Windows Media Center and was terrific. Microsoft stopped support for Windows Media Center, though you could add it back to Windows 8; Windows 8 was short-lived. The sale of Cablevision to Altice told me I needed to get away from as much as possible. Altice closed our local return center because the one in Yonkers was so close. They should have factored the Hudson river into the equation, and now the nearest return center that doesn't require paying a toll is a 40-minute drive. I moved away from Optimum and signed up with ATT-now, which changed multiple times and is now DirectTv Stream. I miss the Windows Media Center's elegance, but the price is a better bang than optimum, and I still get a discount because I'm an AT&T phone user. I'd love to chat with you about the close of this weird era when the cable companies begrudgingly "gifted" us CableCards. It was such an odd time and so pioneering. Getting an Optimum installer that understood CableCard technology was a challenge. If I don't close this out by honoring the memory of Wilt Hildenbrand, I will be failing his memory. Wilt was the head of either technology or support for Cablevision. There was a Cablevision chat group on Yahoo that was not associated with Cablevision, and Wilt would personally take the time to answer tech questions there. He got techs to my house who were trained in CableCards, and when the protocol changed, and they stopped working, Wilt found the answer. He even friended me on Facebook. He was an incredibly caring human being. Thank you for this trip down memory lane.
As a technician it's been difficult to get CCs at the counter for probably 5 years. Generally when we get a work order it takes 2+ days to get a CC from the headend, which of course leads to pissed off customers.
Yes, just called spectrum this morining. First they ruined all remaining channels that were working and then scheduled a tech a week from during the work day. Then proceeded to tell me they are discontinuing cablecards. It was a nice talk. lol
Well, this answers several questions for me. Unfortunately, I don’t like any of these answers!
I’ve used TiVo for a about 20 years. When I moved to this home 17 years ago, I tried both a Cox Cable box and my existing TiVo box for a head to head comparison. I concluded there wasn’t a real competition: TiVo won hands down. Combined with my “Lifetime” weekly programing updates, we have been very happy TiVo customers.
I’ve grown accustom to scary messages from Cox, for nearly 20 years, saying they were going to kill off my TiVo service. But, like clockwork, at the last moment, something would change and my TiVo just kept working.
I just returned home from an out of state funeral, to complaints that nothing worked on TiVo? I assumed someone had unplugged something going to my TiVo box. After watching your RUclips video, I’m now disappointed to learn that my TiVo is likely going the way of the dodo bird.
Thank you for sharing this (personally disappointing) information. I’m not a techie guy, so many of the solution’s you mentioned are far out of my wheelhouse. I’ve always enjoyed watching your content, even if I didn’t understand what you were talking about. It similar to watching cooking shows with my wife. My wife loves them because she gets great ideas from them. I watch just because she enjoys them so much.
Now I know I must pay closer attention to your channel to figure out what’s next for my family. Please stay on this topic so I can get up to speed with my new normal!
Your setup is based on just the cable card. If the cable company is using switched video, you also need a tuning adapter that tells their switch to send you the desired channel, it's not there all the time. I was a USB port on your device. Is that for a tuning adapter? That's how TiVo connects to a TA. Either way, if the cable cards are going, the tuning adapters will be also. I have NOT heard anything from Spectrum yet.
See my series on the HDHomeRun - Lon.tv/dvr2017. It is a tuner
We moved to a new house and went on fiber, spent a ton of time trying to figure out why we lost a bunch of channels on SDV. Turns out we’re the only TIVo on the local Spectrum fiber network. They said they had to “get a TiVo from storage” to figure out the problem, then we never heard back so we just used the cable box 😕
Did they give u a tv tuner?
Just use a Antenna, and Stream, Cable is Obsolete, Plenty of free or paid Streaming services. I pay exactly Zero. Plenty of free content on the net.
It's for the better! We need upload speeds to dramatically increase. Cable TV subs will nosedive in this recession.
Every year they lose more and more Subs, its a bloody rip off any way you look at it. Lot of free content on the net plus an Antenna= $0.00
I use the Beta feature of Channels DVR to access locals via TVE. It works for me. I have a Prime as well as 3 4Ks. But storms often make me have to unplug my Prime.
So the REAL question is: Will Lon drop his current pricy multi-gig service for a simple symmetrical 1 gig service for under $100 / month ?
I would be willing to bet he’s going to keep what he has. The Comcast business fiber (which is what his service technically is) has excellent stability. The ping, speed and peer routing is usually really good. He basically has a direct point-to-point dedicated fiber.
The PON that all the “standard” providers offer is usually throttled in one way or another. Regular GPON has a 1gbps max upstream shared on the entire splitter which is usually 32-64 customers. This can add some latency and packet loss under high utilization times. XGS-PON is less likely to encounter this problem as it’s 10Gb symmetrical but it can still happen.
@@brians8664 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
@@brians8664 yeah cable vs fiber is really horse buggy vs a v2 rocket whole different machine. Att is finally getting fiber in my hood 🙌
I used Tablo DVR for my OTA recording and for my cable needs I use RUclips TV. Fortunately I can get my locals in Tampa with antenna
While not really the same, AT&T has already phased out their traditional TV service and now just bundles DIRECTV stream with their fiber plans. Seems like this is what all the providers will be doing in the near future. Bundling tv streaming with internet plans instead of having dedicated TV hardware.
DirecTV stream has DVR capabilities as well
This is unfortunate as I have 2 cablecards with two Tivo DVRs and 4 minis! I stopped using my HDHomerun Prime because FIOS charges $10 per month for each cablecard and I didn't see the benefit lately since I have paid up Tivo subscriptions. I hope I get another 5+ years out of Cablecard! FIOS is a fiber optic system so maybe they will be slower to drop Cablecard support than the cable companies.
Good information thanks
That’s just like fcc always messing things up, the homerun cable card Was best thing that happened.
The spectrum app and any thing else is garbage 🗑.
Lon your set was awesome. Can you please update us on your new set up
Thank you 🙏 for today video.
Fubo TV is a pretty good alternative--it gets both local channels as well as the major cable channels in my area. It may not have relly niche channels.
I have 7 cable boxes in my house at over $8 rental fee a piece. Plus internet and tv it's around $340 a month. 😐
I asked Verizon FIOS if I could order a cableCARD through chat but they said that it’s not available to order on there end
The last time I used a cable was on sunddenlink with an xp media center. The good old days lol
SpectrumTV app works pretty well. Lots of alternative options like youtubeTV, sling, hulu, etc. Not sure which is best.
if you have spectrum they have a app that gives you all your channels including local ones
I had just got fiber internet 500/500 installed just the other day. I hadn't had the cable TV or OTA issue you have because I have RUclips TV which has "unlimited DVR" and an HDHOMERUN Quatro for my OTA. Those I've had long before we knew fiber was coming to the area. I do get the primary network channels through RUclips TV but very few of the sub channels. Most of those are just coincidentally part of the RUclips TV package. If you don't consider the fiber optic cable a cord, then you can say ive successfully cut the cord. 😁
I use Verizon Fios on a Tivo with cablecard... Back in 2010 the verizon box was big clunky and the UI was slow.. I was coming from DirecTivo so I bought another Tivo and had to rent a cablecard, but I was in heaven... The new Fios boxes are pretty good, still not up to Tivo UI standards, but it's not as bad as it was, and I suppose I could get use to it if I had to...
Fios is fiber. Don’t see the restrictions that coax cable companies have to work on. So is there any other technical reason for Verizon Fios to stop leasing cable cards?
@@osd9933 I think the whole point of it all is that the cable companies don't need a reason now that the FCC says that they don't have to provide cablecards to customers...
Strange I never remember using those. But when we switched to satellite I remember cards in those boxes otherwise the box didn't work
We cut the cord and use our Amazon Recast for all the DVRed over the air content. Over time, our video consumption has shifted to a point that we don't have any video subscriptions related to access to any live cable channels.
The Channels App works well with local channels if you subscribe to local channels on Hulu. This solves my Cable Card problem. I went to AT&T fiber so I wanted to cancel my Spectrum Internet ONLY. I wanted to keep the TV function and my cable cards for my TIVO. Spectrum would not let cancel my internet service without also killing the Cable Cards. My only option to keep the Cable Cards was to continue to pay for internet from Spectrum. So I showed them. I cancelled it ALL. Spectrum no longer gets a dime from me. But now RUclips TV is getting the dimes I was giving to Spectrum.