[ale] Cable modem recommendation

Tue Apr 3 17:16:57 EDT 2012

A note, your mileage may vary depending on your cable provider:
If you get or upgrade to bundled service (Internet + Phone) your regular
cable modem will be replaced with an eMTA.
Comcast states they allow customer owned eMTA in SOME areas, but you will
need to check before purchasing one:
http://customer.comcast.com/help-and-support/phone/requirements-for-digital-voice-modems/

Another option some providers will allow but have to be asked for is having
a separate eMTA and cable modem. You will not be able to 'split' one
internet service out via both modem and eMTA without paying additional
services. Most (not all) cable providers are able to provision an eMTA to
provide only phone service (no data service) and provision a modem with
internet-only codes. This does mean two cable outlets capable of outputting
good signal levels are required.  Adequate for TV does not mean adequate
for voice/internet, and splitters (especially cheap ones) are the bane of
quality RF. Failing that pre-existing an install fee may be added for
wiring a new cable outlet to support the 2nd device.

Another useful point in the archive, since someone mentioned upstream about
the eMTA modems and their battery backup: Always take the battery out when
powercycling the modem to force a full reset.

On Tue, Apr 3, 2012 at 11:28 AM, Brian Mathis <
brian.mathis+ale at betteradmin.com> wrote:

> On Mon, Apr 2, 2012 at 5:25 PM, mike at trausch.us <mike at trausch.us> wrote:
> > On 04/02/2012 03:44 PM, Brian Mathis wrote:
> >> The next problem coming down the line is switched video, where the
> >> receiver needs to send a signal upstream to get the TV channel sent to
> >> the box.  CableCard doesn't support this, but Tru2Way does, though
> >> we'll probably see Internet streaming takeover before tru2way gets any
> >> traction.
> >
> > There are already some cable networks that are using switched video,
> > though I don't know how extensive it is.  I'm not aware of what Comcast
> > is doing, though I know that they have at the very least made
> > preparations for it.  There is one provider in northwest Ohio that has
> > already rolled out SDV for most of their coverage area.
>
> Switched Digital Video is definitely rolling out for most of the biggest
cable companies. I'm not certain where Comcast is on the SDV rollout -
maybe their efforts have been in deploying DOCSIS 3 and on tightening their
spectrum usage within existing technology.

>
> I was talking about tru2way, which is the cablecard equivalent for SDV
> and ondemand technology.  Yes, SDV has been rolled out in many
> markets, but tru2way would allow any arbitrary device like TiVo to
> also support those services.  In lieu of tru2way, you can get USB
> addons to add SDV support to devices that only have cablecard.
>
> tru2way is available currently as a built-in for devices (Cisco in the
case I touch on) but I haven't seen any off the shelf consumer equipment
carrying it. It is SDV/On Demand capable.

> Also, I don't know why this is, but they aren't required to provide
> > CC-equipped devices.  For devices that use CCs, they can give additional
> > equipment in order to provide compatibility with SDV.  However, they
> > state (on their public page, anyway) that less than 1% of their users
> > are using cable card equipped devices.[0]  They also have a list of the
> > channels that they currently switch.[1]
>
>
> Cable companies love to publicize how few people are using cablecards
> because they hate them and want them to die.  It would be so much
> better for them to force you to rent a $40 cable box for $10 a month
> that they control and can force you to watch their own ads whenever
> you press the channel guide button or browse the ondemand catalog.
> Every time you call to order one, they spend 5 minutes telling you how
> much it's going to suck and you can't get all these other wonderful
> services.  The law says they need to supply them, but they don't have
> to like it and they don't have to make it easy.  They want the world
> to know that no one is using them, so they can go to the FCC and make
> them remove the restriction (this is the same reason we are hearing so
> much about how badly AT&T is running out of wireless bandwidth right
> now).  Competition is such a pain.
>
> That said, once I've finally got the installer in the house, so far
> things have gone pretty smoothly.
>
>
> > I *think* the idea is that they are only required to make a cable card
> > available to you upon request; I don't think that they're actually
> > required to make their own STBs use one.  Such a requirement wouldn't
> > make much sense at all, since CC registration requires that you provide
> > information about the device that you are inserting the CC into, in
> > order for their authorization setups to work.  At least, as I understand
> it.
>
>
> The requirement was put in place to force the cable companies to eat
> their own dogfood and make sure cablecard was working on their system.
>  It's not a big deal at all since they would deliver the cable box
> with the card already installed, so most users would never see it
> anyway.  Though I just checked my cable box, and it doesn't seem to
> have one, so maybe this requirement was removed.
>
> >
>

Brian is right, though the definition of 'separable security' seems to vary
depending who you talk to about the cable cards. Almost every modern cable
box has a cable card 'inside but not built in' to meet the FCC
requirements. A lot of set tops have multiple MAC addresses listed on them,
and the "CC MAC" is typically the cable card.

A useful link on the consumer rights side of the CableCARD situation as of
last August is on the FCC site:
http://www.fcc.gov/guides/cablecard-know-your-rights
>From a cable employee perspective cable card calls were either as easy as
normal set top provisioning, or extremely difficult problems where
specialist support from third party groups was required to get the
authorizations to flow as needed.

>[...]
> >        --- Mike
>
>
> ❧ Brian Mathis
>
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Matt R
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