[ale] Cable modem recommendation

[Brian Mathis]

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.


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.


> 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.

>
>[...]
>        --- Mike


❧ Brian Mathis