What is cardsharing?

Q. What is cardsharing?
Hopefully this thread will help complete beginners to understand more.

Cardsharing, card shares, 'sharing' and 'CS' are commonly used to describe the method of using a smartcard (or cards) over a network. In practical terms an original legitimate subscription card could be used in a receiver; then another box that is in another room, or even a thousand miles away, could access the smartcard via 'local network' or 'internet' to clear channels that the subscription card allows.

So no sharing needs to be involved, its purely access to a remote card that isnt actually plugged into your own card slot, that we refer to with the phrase 'cardshare'.

This method has existed for many years and not new, even though the majority of people have not heard of it. Talk of 'sharing' is banned on many forums and a taboo subject due to its obvious possible illegal uses.

Cardshare or card-over-network is not illegal per se, but it is the use of the method that can be against Uk and international law and generally everyone in the Uk wants to ask "so how do i get free sky?" which is just direct illegal discussion that could lead to the closure of any Uk forum. Teaching someone directly how to 'steal' is also a prosecutable offence, so posts are often removed for safety of the helpful members too.
##Lets make this clear, cardsharing has nothing to do with Sky branded equipment whatsoever, but yes the method does work with Uk smartcards so we cannot condone anyone wishing to use cardshare information to commit crime##

Q. So what do I need?
Firstly you need equipment that is networkable, such as Dreambox and similar linux based satellite products. These receivers have ethernet connection in the same way as computers do, and have ability to use developed software to send and receive information.

Over the years of development many versions of software have evolved and names such as Newcs, Cccam, Mgcamd, Gbox, Newcamd and others have gained popularity due to their ability to network-share. Legal practical use has allowed the subject to expand and even top brand names like PACE, Amstrad, etc, now use the idea to develop new hardware for the future. Legal benefit to networking is you are able to pay for an encrypted package and then watch with a receiver of your choice in your own home and no longer need to keep taking the card in and out and forgetting where it is etc, or use a favourite machine that doesnt have a supported cam/cardslot. 'Grey area' use also includes using over the internet too, because if you PAY for subscription and then watch a channel in your holiday home whilst your card remains at home, how can you be committing a crime? Its not piracy or theft because you are legally paying for the privilege to watch.

Q. How does it work?
For receivers to communicate over a network they need to be configured. Firstly a box needs to know where the card will be located. This hardware holding the card is known as the 'server' or 'cardserver' or 'host' and relates to whatever equipment physically hosts the smartcard. Other receivers without the smartcard directly inserted are known as the 'clients'.
Standard computer based IP address format is used for real-world location, which acts like telephone numbers for internet connectivity in the same way our pc's work all over the world. So 1 box knows where another is by direct IP number etc.

Each of the software cams mentioned (Gbox, Cccam, Newcamd etc) use 'protocol' or language that is specific to that product. Some cams are able to 'talk' to others, but this can be limited so usually each receiver will keep the same software cam. However, this part is where different development has taken place to give wider suitability and capability.

Eg. As example we will use 'Newcs' as the card server on a machine we'll call 'North'. So a machine running this software hosts an original subscription card. Now Newcs 'talks' in newcamd protocol, meaning it can communicate with other receivers with software speaking the same digital language.
1 satellite receiver we'll call 'East' uses Mgcamd as its soft-cam. This receiver will be set as a 'client' and does not have a card.
Another satellite receiver we'll call 'South' uses Cccam as its soft-cam This receiver will also be configured as a client to 'North'.
A 4th receiver we'll call 'West' and this also uses Cccam and is configured as a client to 'North'.
>>So this example is nice and simple, all 4 satellite receivers would be able to view channels that the subscription card in receiver 'North' allows. Mgcamd and Cccam are both popular and both able to communicate with Newcs so all is well.

This is the point 'shares' can become more complex and the 'sharing' description more relevant. What happens if South has a different subscription card in its slot that would be good to allow the other receivers to access? Well this means that South will be a Server as well as a client. Using the same soft-cam makes things very easy, it is a simple process to add a line of numbers into West to make it a client, and add a line of numbers into South so that allows West the access. At this point in the example, the result would be that North and East only clear Card1 channels, but both South and West equipment clears Card1 channels and Card2 channels too.

There are options for North & East, its not as complicated as it seems, its just a process of configuring each receiver again and all being on a protocol that each box understands, but sometimes trying to imagine 50 or 100 receivers is a harder task. The point to make is that the method is the same and its not really relevant how complicated it can get, cardsharing is all about the possibilities.

Finally, modern cardsharing can be about paying for access to a share, or splitting costs of a subscription between friends etc. This is where the line is crossed and something legal becomes a criminal offence. Discussion of the technique on this forum allows us understanding and allows progress with multi-card & multi-client development but you will not find details of commercial servers here. If you want to break the law just to get free or cheap access to Uk Tv channels then you need your favorite search engine to help you. Additionally you should always be aware of scammers who abuse the private message function of forums to find new and gullible clients.

This forum is here to help, I hope this post gives more understanding.
Complete newbies to satellite tv should also read here- https://www.digitalworldz.co.uk/index.php?threads/192081/


super thread
 
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.....when someone uses the term 'send me you d-line/c-line' what does it mean?
it means the you give someone a connection to your server, so for example say i have a server in cccam with an Art card in (or any other for that matter) i would enter a f: line into my config and give the person a c: line which they would enter into their config.

The idea being is that you end up both connecting to each other so they use your card and you use theirs.

Si

Yes just to expand a bit>
Taking Cccam as the example because its easiest, you do need to input details to let a receiver know if it can share a card ~and who to, plus input details in all other receivers so that they know who has the card and where its located.

f-line or f: line - is placed in a config file on the server machine and states 'friends' details- username, password, and maybe some other variables. A new F-line will be required for each 'friend' allowed access.

c-line or c: line - is placed in a config file on the 'client' machine (the one without a card). This text line contains details such as the IP address of the server, your unique username and password and then any other variables.

You also get other lines which allow more alterations, but its best to read the examples in the cam when you download and install it, or keep simple to start. Other cams also use similar methods but arent called f-lines c-lines etc, but basically you configure the server with lists of 'users' and then configure the other 'users receivers' with the details of where to look and the given password -which has to match the server of course.
 
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I have attached an example CCcam.cfg file that may help.
Once you download & unzip the file you can open and edit this example with any usual text editor -notepad wordpad etc

This file might look complex, but you can remove all the text and keep it basic to get running. You can also create a CCcam.cfg file from a blank txt document. Once you type your F-lines and type a seperate file for C-lines etc you can save your document then rename it.

Hopefully the file gives some more understanding.
 
Thats a much better explanation pinkhelmets.

The reason i prefer cccam is that you can make the config file as easy or complicated as you like. You have complete control over what you want to give out and what you want to recieve also in what prefrence you give to each provider. But thats a differnet file:)

Si
 
with this card sharing lark..

do you get the whole feed from the network or do you just get the decryption from the card, and have to be tuned into the same satellite as the card that you re using on the network.

secondly, and sorry for being thick.. if you re using it on a home network do you have to set up a master and slave box to control the dish? how does that work.

thirdly.. is it worth having an extra section for these topics so we can sub thread, as there are stacks of posts!

cheers
 
You need your own satellite dish and receiver to receive 'the feed' or what is called the channel broadcasts. It is only the decryption/card traffic that travels over network.

Second question, i dont understand. You dont need a master & slave anyway.
Third question, even mods cant help answer that :) You need admin to help -good luck with that one lol.
 
can anybody tell me what the term "peer" is ?
what does it mean and what does it achieve thanks
 
Client and server at the same time, real 'sharing' as in sharing back outwards whilst sharing inwards. Same as computer language reference - like peer to peer or P2P, like torrents limewire etc -while you download you upload too.

With cccam the peer does not need to be the person with the original card, as a 'peer' may be a person with rights to share a share back outwards ~maybe with several cards shared even without any stored at his location. So a 'hop' down the line can look to a peer for shares. These type of shares are also known as spiders.
 
So peer sharing allows me to share a"paid server" with friends/family?
 
@ek247

no mate the paid server will probably not give you the ability to reshare what they give to you.

but where you are comming from is not far off. if you have a card to share you then become a peer because as pinkhelmets says you are a client and a server. so when you exchange lines you agree a reshare level which is usually 2 which gives you the chance to share 2 hops down.

Si
 
ahhh! finally making more sense. Thanks for that. Gonna try it out. on my eagle box
 
Sorry if I sound dum but I'm a complete novice to this subject. I am about to try and embark along this road but one thing that confuses me (many really) is I understand that my dish needs to point at the relevant satellite and I need to be connected via the net. But my net connection is limited to so many Gb/month. So my question is if I am connected to a paid server what would be my monthly downloads be. Many thanks from a newbie
 
But my net connection is limited to so many Gb/month. So my question is if I am connected to a paid server what would be my monthly downloads be. Many thanks from a newbie

Miniscule M8,prob only a few Mb's ,its very low bandwidth .
Handy to have a fast connection though .
 
Thanks Fano for your prompt reply, I have BT homehub but not quite sure of speed. Also I am about to use Homeplug to extend my network are these likely to cause any problems that you know of?
 
Have just joined the forum and am grateful for the excellent info.
 
Hi i have been looking for a solution everywhere for this problem i have i have a linus pc server with sly new card this is through infinity usb card reader and newcs 167 and cccam 2.1.2 it works for about 15 minutes then it stop and starts again when it stop i see caid goes from 0963 0000 in newcs web browser can some one help with this problem
thanks
 
Great thread - very informative. I'm only just starting down the road of cardsharing so this info is very useful to me. :)
 
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