cybrsk8r6
join:2001-11-19
Montgomery Village, MD
| Is my "free" cable box really free?
Last winter I got a come-on from CC to get a free digital upgrade and free cable box for a year. Low and behold, they started charging me rental after two months. I turned the box back in because the pixelation problems I thought the box would fix were still there.
Now they tell me I'm REQUIRED to get a cable box and DTA in order to get my current level of service here in the DC burbs. It would seem logical to me that if I'm required to have the box by the end of the month, they can't charge rental on the basic cable box anymore, but I'm not going to assume that. They may try to charge rental as a sort of backdoor rate increase.
The info on the digital transition said the cable box and DTA were free. Not free for 6 months, or free for a year. It said free.
So the question is, can CC charge for a cable box I'm required to have to get the channels I'm paying for? |
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gar187er
Premium Alcoholic
join:2006-06-24
Dover, DE | sure can charge you...generally its after the first box they charge for.... |
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RalphKramden
join:2007-01-10
Langhorne, PA
| reply to cybrsk8r6
said by cybrsk8r6  :The info on the digital transition said the cable box and DTA were free. Not free for 6 months, or free for a year. It said free. So the question is, can CC charge for a cable box I'm required to have to get the channels I'm paying for? They can do whatever they want. And you can either subscribe or not. |
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ak3883
join:2005-08-20
Bensalem, PA
| reply to cybrsk8r6
Nothing is "free", you are just paying for it as part of paying for your cable package.
The first cable box(SD only) is included with digital starter service, which now costs the same as expanded basic. 2 DTAs are included as well for no extra cost. |
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rendrenner
join:2005-09-03
Grandville, MI
| reply to cybrsk8r6
Your are not required to get the box. The lower local channels (usually 2-28 ish) will still come through.
Why is everyone suprised by the transition to a box on every tv? I remember when we first got cable at my house back around 1980 or so.. Had a box on every TV. Thats the way it was and we dealt with it. At least now you get a remote control, all I could use back then was my 4 year old brother. |
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insomniac
Oh Yeah
Premium
join:2002-09-22
Naperville, IL
clubs:
 ·AT&T Midwest
| The difference back then was that, eventually, you could get a "cable-ready" TV and get rid of the box, allowing you to use cable TV without any company-owned equipment. Now that's no longer an option. The closest you can get is owning a CableCARD-capable TV and getting a card.
--
If everything seems to be going well, you've obviously overlooked something. |
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Curlee
join:2009-07-17
Issaquah, WA
 ·Comcast Formerly ..
| reply to cybrsk8r6
Here, just before the digital transition, basic digital cost $1 more per month than basic analog. So I believe Comcast was offering to provide digital (including SD cable box and up to 2 DTAs) for the price you were paying for analog.
Except for any general annual rate increase, you should be paying what you were before. If not, you need to complain to Comcast.
If your bill is itemized, you should not expect the rental charge for the cable box to be zero. What counts is the total. |
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beavercable
join:2008-05-11
Beaverton, OR | reply to cybrsk8r6
Is it a regular standard definition or is it a high definition box? And how much are they charging you for it? |
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dishrich
join:2006-05-12
Springfield, IL
1 edit | reply to rendrenner
said by rendrenner : Why is everyone suprised by the transition to a box on every tv? I remember when we first got cable at my house back around 1980 or so.. Had a box on every TV. Sorry, but it was NEVER like that for many of us on cable - EVEN for premium channels! And there are still many cable systems that do NOT require their converter box for ANY analog services, such as this company here:
»web2.casscomm.com/cable/index.html
ALL analog premiums are trapped at the pole/box (either via negative or positive trapping) & they still offer 6 analog premiums in spite of this on most of their systems.
You ONLY need a box if you want to upgrade to digital service - & of course, you do NOT have to do this on EVERY set in the house; the rest will still get their full analog lineup, including any analog premiums.
Also, you ARE aware that some co like TWC & Cox still advertise their advantage over DBS of "NO boxes needed for expanded basic service" - of course, they also went the route of SDV, so they would NOT have to require boxes for analog expanded basic subs. |
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rendrenner
join:2005-09-03
Grandville, MI
| I dont recall saying that my case applied to everyone, but saying that is was NEVER like that for many of us is a bit more of a blanket statement. I'd be quite suprised if a majority of the current cable customers can say that they have never had to have a box to get their cable TV. I would see that may be different for some of the younger crowd out there who have always grown up with cable ready TV's but they werent always that way. Who remembers the cable boxes with the wired remotes?
The way TV is delivered is changing. TV's had to be changed to become cable ready with tuners that can go up to chn 125. Tv's now have the Digital tuners added and the next step would be to just make the cable card slot a standard. Broadcast TV changed how tv's wired by going all digital. What happens when channels start dropping their SD feeds? |
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willpick
Premium
join:2008-01-28
Boca Raton, FL
1 edit | reply to rendrenner
When i moved to florida in '78, Comcast was the cable company for my town. you HAD to have an STB for each TV, no matter if you had premium channels or not. They did come with remote controls, but all it did was change the channel. Only had 75 or so channels including the premium ones.
Then Comcast left due to non renewal of the franchise agreement(CC wanted 30-40% more money). Adelphia stepped in, upgraded the system, and unscrambled every channel except the premiums and added PPV movies, sports, concerts & wrestling PPV. You only needed an STB if you had the "extra stuff".
Adelphia went bankrupt, CC came back, and it's been status quo until now. I don't know how long it's gonna take CC to switch us over, but I'm gonna wait and see how much bother it will be. If I get Po'ed enough, well DTV is a viable alternative-- of the 16 houses on my block, only 6 still have cable. The rest have satellite, and are pretty satisfied with it.
As to what happens if SD goes away-- well, then there will only be HD, and you will need an HD box or DVR to see anything other than the OTA channels that you can recieve. |
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anonymoose
@sbcglobal.net | Yeah, I got the same "free" offer of STB & DTA. Yet, my bill for current service is going up $1.99 a month....hmmm...it doesn't feel like free |
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rody_44
Premium
join:2004-02-20
Quakertown, PA | reply to cybrsk8r6
People of philadelphia has needed a box since the dawn of day. It had nothing to do with a cable ready tv. |
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Joe12345678
join:2003-07-22
Des Plaines, IL
| reply to willpick
said by willpick : As to what happens if SD goes away-- well, then there will only be HD, and you will need an HD box or DVR to see anything other than the OTA channels that you can recieve. replace SD with analog cable and soon you will need a DTA, cable box, cable card or tru2way system to get anything other then OTA as all other digital will be scrambled. |
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bicker
join:2007-05-10
Burlington, MA
| reply to insomniac
As per federal regulations, digital "cable-ready" is provided for. However, consumers have been generally unwilling to do their part, refusing (when originally offered in 2005) to spend the extra money for the compatible equipment. Consumers are a lot cheaper these days, and until enough consumers are willing to pay the extra money to justify including CableCARD slots in televisions, those offerings are going to remain a rarity. However, there are options if you are one of the very few consumers who really, sincerely want a digital "cable-ready" (no box) solution, and are not just looking to whine about something. |
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patryan9
join:2004-06-16
Bolton, CT
| "Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door"
Conversely, build a crappy mousetrap (1 way cablecard with half-hearted support from the cable co's.) and consumers will ignore you.
Ask a cable installer in your area (as I do every other year or so since 2004 when I got my cablecard TV) about cablecard and he'll dissuade you from trying it.
The items that they'll hang their hat on are that it's buggy to install and you'll get no more guide data or VOD.
Cable companies have sabotaged cablecard because it'll cost them a few dollars per month per subscriber in box rental fees. |
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jasg
join:2008-12-13
Seattle, WA
·Verizon Online DSL
1 edit | Ok, the last two posts point fingers at consumers and cablecos for the failure of Cablecard. In my mind, there are at least two other players who dropped the ball...
- the design from CableLabs probably could have been more robust and simpler to implement.
- the CE companies could have offered Cablecard support where it would have been most useful, on the smaller sets for bedrooms and kitchens (aka 'occasional' TVs). Offering them on the larger, primary sets where a cable box was not as objectionable missed what I think was the real market.
It will be interesting to see if this repeats with tru2way... |
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neufuse
join:2006-12-06
Indiana, PA | repeats? tru2way is pretty much dead it seems like.... |
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bicker
join:2007-05-10
Burlington, MA
| reply to patryan9
said by patryan9 :"Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door" "A stitch in time saves nine."
That and three dollars will get you a cup of coffee.
said by patryan9 :Conversely, build a crappy mousetrap (1 way cablecard with half-hearted support from the cable co's.) and consumers will ignore you. The question in this thread is whether people find having CableCARD-compatible televisions better than having a box. Which is it?
said by patryan9 :Cable companies have sabotaged cablecard because it'll cost them a few dollars per month per subscriber in box rental fees. That's a cop-out. I've got a CableCARD-compatible DVR. It works fine. Make up some other excuse. |
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bicker
join:2007-05-10
Burlington, MA
| reply to neufuse
said by neufuse :repeats? tru2way is pretty much dead it seems like.... Maybe maybe not, but if it is it is a reflection of consumers not really caring that much about what some other people in this thread insist that consumers care about. |
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