Question for you pros. I had a comcast guy come to install cable at my house in the SF/bay area. The tech noticed that I had a cable attached to a terminater that had a live signal. He removed the terminator and attached the cable to my house and left. He stated that this wasn't on their records and he wont report it. Now I have free expanded cable all over the house. I even capture the main (ABC, NBC, Fox...) in HD and even ESPN HD through my hdtv's ATSC tuner. I even collect some on-demand channels though it is a bit glitchy. I've split the signal and I have 4 TV's getting cable.
I'm really baffled why this is even happening. Do you guys think i will get in trouble? What would happen if I buy a comcast compatible box like the Motorola 2244, will it capture the ppv or premium channels? I don't think I am stealing a neighbors cable because our houses are far apart and my cable runs to a nearby pole directly.
Recently ESPN HD and ESPN2 HD was scrambled (during NFL season no less). I still have the extended basic channels come through though.
On a whim, I borrowed my friend's Motorola DCT 6200 STB. He is a current Comcast suscriber and the box is a legit HD STB. I hooked up the box to the cable line and was amazed at the results.
ESPN HD, ESPN2 HD, TNT HD, INHD1 & 2, and even HBO HD all came through. FYI none of the PPV or the pr0n works.
Whoa. I'm totally paranoid that Comcast is going to knock on my door tomorrow and give me a fine. I heard that those digital boxes are 2 way communications. I've disconnected the box just in case but plan to hook it up come Sunday.
Well, I'm not a pro, but I would think that you are getting a feed that was inadvertently left active when the previous subscriber at that house left. Technically, I would also think that it IS cable theft, although I have no idea what the cable company would do if they discovered the situation.
As for your friend's STB, I am under the impression that the 2-way communications you referred to are between the cable company and the box itself. Any "feedback" or signal they would get back from it would be recorded as at your friend's address. So, if anything was done to cause trouble, your friend would be the one to get nailed! (ie, if you ordered up a batch of PPV movies or something, your friend would end up getting the bill for them!)
I guess what each person does is up to himself, but maybe it would be worth the few bucks you would spend to become "legal" just so you don't have to keep on looking over your shoulder all the time! :-)
no your not stealing cable that what I heard happends with the digital tuners ATSC/QAM. I found this info on a website.
QAM stands for "quadrature amplitude modulation," the format by which digital cable channels are encoded and transmitted via cable. With the QAM tuner, users can connect their cable directly to their TV and watch any digital and/or HD cable station that is not encrypted. Integrated QAM tuner allows free reception of unscrambled digital cable programming offered by certain cable providers. Contact your local provider for more information about the availability of such content in your area.
Anytime you knowingly receive a cable signal (or anything)that you are not paying for and you know you should be it is stealing. you might get lucky for a while until Comcast does a tap audit and cuts you off.
As far as buying your own box, dont waste your money, it wont work, even if you paid for the cable service, cable companys have no obligation to activate customer owned boxes.
My advice: call Comcast, tell them what you want and how many STB's you want and pay for it like the rest of us. then you wont have to worry about them knocking on your door will you.
If you cant afford it or dont want to pay for tv tv then get a OTA antenna or a Blockbuster card