Cable TV Q: Instead of renting a box to receive digital channels, can I buy one or use an old one (from another company)?

Hey all,

Instead of renting a box to receive the "extended digital channels" at $7/mo. when we're already paying the premium for those channels, can we acquire our own?

I always assumed that the digital box must come from the cable company, but you never know. . . you guys are clever!

I do have an old digital box from a different company in a different state that they never asked for it back.

Is there a way to use this (either with or without either cable company knowing)?

Or is there something I can buy that will accomplish the same thing?

Just did the math: $7 x 12 months/yr x 4 years = $336 that we've paid the cable company to receive the digital channels we already pay for.

Thanks for any help!!

according to the government, yes.

according to reality. nope.

Quote from R1Budha : according to the government, yes. according to reality. nope.

Thanks R1Budha. Are you saying that the Cable company will most likely conveniently be "unable" to activate it?

Do you know what law states that it is legal? I'm finding mixed answers on the intarwebz. It would be useful to have when trying to talk to the cable company.

Nope. Companies won't activate third-party boxes.

do you own a tivo?

Quote from Rebate Addict : Thanks R1Budha. Are you saying that the Cable company will most likely conveniently be "unable" to activate it? Do you know what law states that it is legal? I'm finding mixed answers on the intarwebz. It would be useful to have when trying to talk to the cable company.

by law you can own your own box, some people with tvos or some tvs have things that are called cable cards put in so they work (its just the encryption to decrepit the cable). cable companies wont turn on boxes from other companies or stolen ones. The big issue with just going and buying a cable box is only 2 companies make them and neater sell to the end user. If you have a newer tv with a qam tuner you might be able to get your basic cable (2-90) with out a cable box if its not encrypted.

thats where they get you, with that $7 rental charge every month.

'$50 promotion, but did we forget to mention the $7 equipment rental fee?!'

+1 for cable card.

I have a Ceton InfiniTV [cetoncorp.com] PCI card installed in my HTPC and run all of the tv's in my house off a single coax input. The problem is that I have to rent the cable card from the cable provider - but $2.50 per month for 4 tuners accessible from any tv and unlimited disk space is better than 4 separate boxes at $10/mo plus DVR fees on each of those. They're taking pre-orders for a USB version of the card now.

But, to answer your question - it's already been answered and I'm not going to repeat things.

You could use a box not authorized by your cable company. It is just that you will probably get only the analog channels at best. No encrypted channels will show up. Neither will digital channels in the clear.

Thank you everyone! +4s all around! To answer a few points:

-- I do not have a Tivo brand DVR. I run an old dual tuner from my computer with Media Center + Xbox for my DVR.

-- The rest of the TVs (we have 9) are all old style, but luckily pick up basic up into the 90s, luckily.

-- I thought about a cable card to reduce the cost a bit, but my company (the only one servicing my area besides satellite) charges the same for it. $7/mo.

--Gobo, I will definitely look into that Ceton card (I need to upgrade my tuner anyway). If I'm gonna pay $7/month, I might as well be able to watch the channels on all the TVs!! I wish my company charged only $2.50.

-- I tried the box I had just to see what it would do. It *does* communicate a blank guide for 12AM and a screen on each channel has the time, channel, "To Be Announced", and "One Moment Please, This Channel Should be Available Shortly". However, I don't get *any* channels at all this way. (it's been a few hours.) I'm assuming that's because my cable company must grant it access?

For a box to work, it needs to be authorized, so it can do the decryption.

Quote from Rebate Addict : -- I tried the box I had just to see what it would do. It *does* communicate a blank guide for 12AM and a screen on each channel has the time, channel, "To Be Announced", and "One Moment Please, This Channel Should be Available Shortly". However, I don't get *any* channels at all this way. (it's been a few hours.) I'm assuming that's because my cable company must grant it access?

Yeah, the messages will stay there forever. If you had a box originally used in your area, you would probably get some analog channels. Not that surprising that a box from a different cable company yields no channels at all.

Cable companies do have a few digtial channels in the clear. Not many though. Usually they are your local broadcast channels in HD. Some systems leave a few more open than others. You could tune to these with a QAM tuner. Maybe you could get away without a box/cablecard on a tv or two.

http://www.silicondust.com/support/channels/

You can also buy a used tivo hd and use it with a cablecard, however you will have to pay the tivo subscription in addition to the cablecard rental.

Actually, you could use a TivoHD without subscription + cablecard to view almost all the channels you get on your digital package. What you would not get is a guide (neither Tivo's or the cable company's), on-demand, and pay-per-view. Well maybe you could get ppv if you call in your order. However if the cablecard rental fee is the same as a HD box rental, it is probably not worth the trouble.