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Tv tuner + comcast

F

Freiya

Gawd
Joined
Apr 2, 2011
Messages
561
Anyone know of a tuner that will work with comcast digital signal? ever since they changed from analog my current tuner only picks up a handful of chans compared to the many more I was getting before.
 
You need a TV tuner card that you can put a cablecard into. A cablecard is a small device that you rent from comcast (typically cheaper than an HD cable box, or sometimes even the first one is free). This device allows your tuner to communicate with Comcast in a way to allow you access to the channels you are subscribed to. It will not allow you to get any channels you aren't paying for (so if you were paying for limited basic and getting the digital package as a freebe, those days are over.)

With that out of the way, the specific tuners in question are fairly limited.

The Ceton InfiniTV 4 is the only one on the market currently. It's an internal card and goes for about $400 and has 4 tuners (so you can record up to 4 different channels at a time or share with an extender)

You can preorder the SiliconDust HDHomeRun Prime for $250. It is a newtowrked, external device. It has 3 tuners, and you can share with any computer on your network. It may be shipping in July, if there aren't any more production hiccups.

Finally, you could get a used ATI TV Wonder DCT. They came in both internal and external flavors. They are single tuners, and go for around $150 last time I checked on ebay. They are no longer being supported, and I know some FiOS systems have been updated so they don't work with these tuner cards. Comcast could do something similar and you'd have no support and a no longer functioning card, so be aware of that.

There are also a few other options if you want to keep using (or pair with) an HD cablebox, such as the Hauppauge hd pvr.
 
WoW all of those are so expensive. I wanted to watch tv on my pc because I have 2 monitor setup and no room for a TV in my room but it seems i'd damn near be better off just trying to find some where to put another monitor.
 
Freiya said:
WoW all of those are so expensive. I wanted to watch tv on my pc because I have 2 monitor setup and no room for a TV in my room but it seems i'd damn near be better off just trying to find some where to put another monitor.
Click to expand...

You want to use your digital cable signal which your cable company makes damn sure only works with THEIR cable boxes,

Of course it's going to be a pain in the ass to do anything with it outside of the situation THEY want to force you into.

You can buy a regular tuner like that other guy suggests but you will only have access to the analog channels (if your cable co still broadcasts them) which also means they won't be digital.

So yeah, thank your cable company and their greed for making it ridiculously hard to do something rather easy. Just be glad there IS A WAY now.
 
valve1138 said:
hey thats great. The OP will be in the EXACT same boat he's in now, but have $50 less to his name.
Click to expand...

What do you mean same boat? The Tv Wonder is a cablecard tuner. And Comcast does allow cable cards so it would work for the OP.
 
SirMaster said:
What do you mean same boat? The Tv Wonder is a cablecard tuner. And Comcast does allow cable cards so it would work for the OP.
Click to expand...

The TV Wonder is the name of their ATSC tuner card; if you're referring to what I think you are then that is called "TV Wonder Digital Cable" which makes a world of difference.
 
god forbid i presume people are able to make a logical connection without being absolutely and perfectly specific about the full title of the device in question. next time i'll be sure to include the part number and full manufacturer description so as to avoid any further lack of common sense. :rolleyes:
 
There is a work around so you can use your current tv card in your pc. Hook your cable box up to it and get an ir blaster so your pc will change the channel. Comcast will give you a cheap dta box for free which will be perfect for you.

I believe this is the remote I bought. (I'd have to check my newegg history to make sure) I didn't really need the remote but the ir blaster that came with it. If you set up windows media center it will automatically change the channel on the box when you change it on your pc.

I ran a setup like this for while it works but its kind of slow changing channels, and sometimes it wouldn't change the channel when it went to record but for the most part it worked fine.

I upgraded to an ati tuner for about $130 and it's been great so far.
 
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