I found FUBO to be a very good replacement for Comcast. It is about $70 a month and has locals and cloud based DVR included. It works great with Channels.
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As a longtime TiVo user I can't recall any point in time in which getting (and activating) a CableCARD was as easy as getting a set top box. It almost always involved at least a phone call or maybe an online chat.
In store salespeople have been saying they "aren't supported" or "going away" since like 2005.
If you have working cards or can get them via phone call there is probably no reason to worry about it. They will most likely work as long as they continue to support the hundreds of thousands of set top boxes they have in the field with internal CableCARDs.
Once CableCARD support is gone there will be no provider/network supported way to use your own DVR of any sort. As the OP suggested, that would be the end of Channels DVR for cable tv use.
I can't imagine many people would pay a traditional cable provider $80-$100/mo to use TVE (30 fps / stereo sound) as the only way to view the content they paid for.
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Comcast Provides XFINITY app on firetv devices and you can setup passes and record.... So Boxes are no longer a requirement for additional outlets.... only 1 Box is needed... So if the Cable cards die there are already options in place. I have 2 Primes if they die I will not stop using Channels DVR TVE or XFINITY.
Where I live, Comcast/Xfinity has a 100% monopoly on high speed Internet. It's my only choice. And they know it. Comcast has priced their stand-alone Internet package such that it's only about $10 less than their Internet+CATV package. So Xfinity Internet-only plus any streaming service is way more than the Xfinity Internet+CATV package. So I went all-in and bought a used HDHR prime. After trading in my Xfinity STB for a CableCard, I now save quite a bit on my bill... I don't incur the STB lease fee AND they give me a monthly credit for supplying my own equipment.
I would be very sad, indeed to see CableCard disappear.
I also have that problem. However, I got fed up with Xfinity rising prices. So, I went to Internet only. False advertising, as I am paying for 300Mbs and getting only 200Mbs. The combo packages get much more expensive when the taxes and fee are added. No tax on Internet.
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Odd, must be your area then, cause they never had an option to not have a one of their cable boxes here. It was included (charged) to you weather or not you wanted it or used it. No option to "trade in" and only have a cable card on account. It was insane. near the time i canceled, on the bill they detailed, they were charging $14.99 for box and $5.99 for the remote...pluss all the fees i did not want to pay, Reginal Sports fee ( I do NOT and have never watched Sports on any channel and never wanted them) and other BS fees that made the base bill around $60 just fees, not including taxes and the actual package.
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I ported ours to ooma. device plugs into your internet connection and you plug your traditional phone line into it. All I pay is around $6 month in local taxes and includes location based 911 service. Call quality is as good or better than what I had from my cable co.
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Have not paid for the home "landline" for nearly a decade. I get it free.
I bought a Obdi adapter off amazon for $30 and it is easy to setup with Google Voice, and is Free.
U can pay some third party plugin for E911 if you want.
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I thought I was the old guy here.
You guys still have a 4 digit home phone number? Have to wait until the neighbor is done using the party line before you get on it? Does Ethel down on the next farm still listen in to your phone conversations?
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Not sure what you mean?
Even landline phone numbers have always been 7 digits, area code + number
Well played.
O. And, I must say that ever since I moved from crappy Comcast Cable box, to a Shield and Apple TV in the house, the quality of the picture is drastically better and no additional charge.
When we first got an HD HDMI TV, went to comcast and they be like, ok, an HD Cable box is $10 more per month equipment rental fee (SD is $5) + we add on a $15 per month for "HD Technology Fee" to your plan. They didn't tell us that, we found out on the next bill.
Even the top o line X1 HD box my folks have, picture does not look as good as mine does.
I have Emby and Channels both running, with my Channels TVE lineup doubled up on Emby using the exposed Channels m3u and xmltv urls. Took 30 seconds to setup.
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I have it setup the same way
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That’s not what I said. Emby does not support TVE as a native tuner source. U can use Emby with Channels DVR in that fashion I do as well, but u can,t without channels DVR server and subscription. I already have had for some time a lifetime license for emby and if it supported tve natively I would just use that.
One thing I know for sure you would not get the TVE developer support you get from channels. I have asked EMBY developers for years to support EDL and they have done squat.
We users asked Channels Developers to support EDL/SRT for imported content was implemented the same day.
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Yup, Emby is great for Movies etc. but not so great for timeshifting TV. At least the mods at Emby aren't gigantic jerks like the Plex mods are.
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Not sure what EDL is but srt is subtitles. Emby supports subs fine at least in the files and rips I have used. I have added subs to movie rips with Mkvtoolnix and it shows them fine.
Channels I do not find its local import functions anywhere As intuitive and usable as something like emby or plex is. Channels is tv first and it works very well for that. As a local media server it just isn’t my taste. But very good cable tv box.
EDL = Comskip
we really need someone to step in where locast left off for those of us who don't have the ability to get locals via antenna...my setup with streaming and using locast for locals perfect, until they gave up.