Ok. Sorry if this has been asked or is in wrong forum but my brain hurts trying to figure this out. Plan to use HDHomerun with a CableCARD. We currently have U-verse and understand they use different technology that doesn’t work with PLEX. So the only other option in our area is Spectrum. It seems the only way to get a card from them is if we have service with them, with basic service running $80 a month after the 12 month intro. That’s not really cutting the cord. I thought I could just rent a card without the service. Am I just totally not understanding this?? Thx
Cutting the cord means using OTA (over the air) channels by way of an antenna. This is FREE but availability to receive channels can be dependent on a number of factors outside of your control (distance to broadcast towers, physical barriers between you and the towers, etc.) Many (if not most) folks augment OTA channels with various streaming services (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon to name a very few).
You can also connect some tuners to the cable coax for viewing/recording unencrypted channels (many cable companies encrypt all their channels so be careful). This is not really cutting the cord but sometimes you can get the very basic channels (similar to the ones you get OTA: ABC, NBC, CBS, CW, FOX, PBS and the like) for substantially less. I don’t know enough about Spectrum to say anything more about it but I did find this post that might give you an idea of the costs for very limited number of channels that may or may not be encrypted:
This (other) site has a forum section for Spectrum customers so you may be able to find out more by asking there. https://www.dslreports.com/forum/charter
Thanks for the reply. I guess where I’m confused is the use of the CableCARD to get cable channels that I could then use the HDHomerun and Plex DVR. I’ve read posts where people get the CableCARD for a few bucks a month to get their cable channels and use the OTA for the local channels. So the people that get the CableCARD are still paying a cable fee in addition to the card??
Plex will not work with CableCARD because that is for encrypted channels. Plex doesn’t do encrypted channels at all.
In short, yes, you have to pay for cable to use a cablecard to get cable channels.
@darcilicious said:
Plex will not work with CableCARD because that is for encrypted channels. Plex doesn’t do encrypted channels at all.
Now I’m really confused. I thought the entire purpose of HDHomerun prime and CableCARD was to allow plex to record and watch non-DRM cable channels. Is that not correct?
This article implies otherwise.
As the article states in the first paragraph they are planning to get rid of the cable box rentals they do not say they are getting rid of cable:
“Which means that with a little investment, you can escape most of those rental fees for good. I tried it, and I’m just about ready to get rid of that cable box forever.”
Got it. Totally understand now. So just saving the rental fee but not the cable fee. Thanks for the clarification.
Now just confused about the statement above that plex won’t work with cable at all…
Any channels marked as Copy-Once or DRM Plex will not work with. Since the purpose of the CanleCard is to decrypt channels it can work with encrypted channels. The reason Plex will not work with DRM channels is that to work with those channels the application must be certified by CableLabs.
@darcilicious said:
Plex will not work with CableCARD because that is for encrypted channels. Plex doesn’t do encrypted channels at all.
Plex does work well with CableCards but you have to use a tuner designed for Cable and not OTA. The HDHomeRun Prime for example is one such external network tuner and was one of the original “test” tuners for Plex itself.
Carlo
@mkinsocal said:
@darcilicious said:
Plex will not work with CableCARD because that is for encrypted channels. Plex doesn’t do encrypted channels at all.Now I’m really confused. I thought the entire purpose of HDHomerun prime and CableCARD was to allow plex to record and watch non-DRM cable channels. Is that not correct?
Plex Just Killed My Cable Box Rental, and It Could Kill Yours Too
This article implies otherwise.
Yes that is the idea. However, how much it saves you depends on your cable provider. For example the FCC mandates your cable company give you the first CableCard for free. However, for me on Comcast the Set Top Box they give you “included” in my plan uses this “free CableCard”. 
For me on Comcast a 2nd Set Top Box costs $9.95 per month. A CableCard rental is $7.95 so it saves me $2 a month. HOWEVER, the CableCard used in the HDHomeRun Prime gives me 3 tuners from the one card.
So now in my setup I don’t need as many set top boxes. I can also access the HDHomeRun via mobile phone, android box, tablet, computer so it’s much more versatile. Of course Plex can/does use it as well.
Depending on which Spectrum you have in your area (legacy Charter or legacy Time Warner), you may get almost ALL channels unencrypted or almost NONE unencrypted. I’ll explain.
I currently live in a former Time Warner (Motorola/Arris DAC) area and when I had active service here almost all of the channels were flagged “copy once.” When a channel has this flag, Plex can’t record programming from it because it has no way of honoring that copy once stipulation.
So I was using my 5 Prime tuners with Windows Media Center. Windows Media Center is certified by CableLabs to record copy once programming.
I had plans to move and my one year special pricing was coming to an end so I ask my dad if he would mind if I built a tiny 2 bay NAS Plex server and planted it at his home. He lives in a formally Charter (Cisco/Scientific Atlanta DAC) area and only 6 channels in his system are flagged copy once. Even most of the premium channels are wide open! So my little 3 tuner 4TB QNAP with PMS DVR is working out fantastic!
I am hoping that HDHR comes out with an updated 4 or 6 tuner Prime or someone figures out how to make the old Ceton InfinTV tuners work with Plex. I could really use a couple of more tuners.
