Do I need to Cable Boxes for every room?

To access all the channels, including encrypted channels? Yes, you'll need a cable box. (Or a cableCARD and a DVR like TiVo or Moxi, but I suspect you don't want to plunk down the several hundred dollars for them.)

Other than that, no, there is no other way.

Put your zip-code into this page: http://www.silicondust.com/support/channels/ and it will tell you what digital channels are available without a box. You can get these and any analog ones your cable-co offers by hooking the cable directly to the TV.

Great source of info!

Also that list didn't include any analog channels so there will be a few more stations to look at.

To the OP what you see today is subject to change at any time but if your TV has Digital and analog tuners try it out.

Hi, I feel your pain. I had the same situation with FIOS. We have 4 TV's, which meant we had to rent at least 4 cable boxes from Verizon, if we wanted a DVR, then we would have had to rent that too.

I, and many more on the now defunked thegreenbutton.com website, solved it by setting up an HTPC, running Windows Media Center built into every copy of Windows 7 with a Ceton InifiniTV4 Tuner with a CableCard from the provider. Using media extenders over the home network we have been able to bsically turn every TV in the house to a DVR with centralized virtually unlimited storage, and only have to pay $3.99/month for the CableCard rental.

CableCard from the provider allows you to unlock everything you subscribe to, uncluding the highly encrypted HBO and Cinemax.

If you have a digital movie or music collection, you can integrate it into Windows Media Center, along with Hulu and youtube, and whatever other internet TV service you would like.

The savings from not having to rent boxes for every TV in the house pay for the system in about a year. Plus, you have the ability to Watch, Pause, Record, Rewind live TV from any room in the house. It also gives you the ability to pause in one room, and continue watching in another.

I think you need to if you want the ability to watch different channels at the same time in different rooms.

If I have the tuner and the card, do I have to have a wifi ready TV or any LCD or LED tv?

If I have the tuner and the card, do I have to have a wifi ready TV or any LCD or LED tv?

You need a PC that can decrypt the encrypted content using the tuner and cable card and it has to be powerful enough to serve all of those TV's at once. Microsoft recommends 1 CPU core and 1 Gb of RAM per TV connected to the system.

You will need a Windows Media Center Extender or an XBOX 360 at each of the TV's to tie into the PC that houses the tuner and the CableCard, and you will need a network that is better than Wi-Fi. Poweline may work, so will MoCa but Eithernet is the best way.

this looks like some great info...however its kinda over my head...would you be willing to explain this further for me?