[monsoon]

I have always heard, in the past, that it is perfectly legal to purchase an aftermarket cable box (as opposed to renting one from your cable company) to receive the channels that you are subscribed for. Does this remain true today, and if so, are there any aftermarket boxes capable of displaying Comcast's digital channels and local HD feeds. I do not subscribe to any premium channels and do not require this from an aftermarket box, just the upper channel digital and local HD (ABC, CBS, NBC, etc.) stuff.


Please excuse me if this is not an appropriate question.


TIA - monsoon

 

[Joe_M]

I haven't looked into it in a while but when I did there was no aftermarket boxes for digital cable channels.


There are some available on EBAY. Some Motorolla and Scientific Altlanta boxes for $89-$109. You should probably call your cable company and find out what the process is when you have your own box.

One of the auctions says that the box says "Call you cable provider" when it's turned on so you may want to research that before buying.

 

[pbryan]

If you can find one, its legal... You are just required to inform your cable company of what channels you recieve so that they can charge you accordingly... It's even legal to use a descrambler (you know, those 'get all the channels for free boxes'), you just have to pay the cable company for the channels it recieves


--Paul

 

[gmclaughlin]

"It's even legal to use a descrambler"...


Not in Florida. Any device that even hints at something like that is illegal. Check the ads... most say "offer not valid in Florida".


Secondly, many of the boxes available for sale on Ebay are boxes that were cable company property once, and never returned. When you try to get it hooked up, the cable company will call the manufacturer with the serial number, check with the original purchaser, and if it's "stolen", you lose. Not worth the chance.


CableCARD devices which will allow your TV to do all this without a set top are coming on the market now, and cable companies are required to support them by July 1st, 2004.