The end of March if you have any TV hooked up to basic cable without a cable box you will lose the 15 channels your getting now this is just lame they want everyone to have a cable box so they can charge you $10 to $15 a month to rent a cable box. I have one TV hooked up without a cable box have 3 other TVs with a cable box paying like $225 to $250 a month I not gonna get another cable box
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Comcast is ending cable without cable box
- Thread starter DJboutit3
- Start date
First of all, if you want the expanded basic package from Comcast, you can get two DTA converter boxes for NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE. And extra DTA's beyond that are only $1.99/month each. 8)
I have one of the DTA's hooked up to an old analog set in one of the bedrooms. It gets 96 channels.
How on earth are you paying $225 to $250 per month? Subscribing to everything that's offered? :
Analog is a bandwidth pig. Comcast is dumping the analog channels as doing so frees up spectrum for more HD channels, as well as faster internet.
I have one of the DTA's hooked up to an old analog set in one of the bedrooms. It gets 96 channels.
How on earth are you paying $225 to $250 per month? Subscribing to everything that's offered? :
Analog is a bandwidth pig. Comcast is dumping the analog channels as doing so frees up spectrum for more HD channels, as well as faster internet.
All cable operators are doing this and it's not to get more money from customers (regardless of what the conspiracy theorists are saying). All cable operators are gradually switching all of their channels from analog transmission to digital. This frees up a tremendous amount of bandwidth which can be used to offer more channels and faster Internet speeds.
I have Verizon Fios and we've always had to do that with them. It's no big deal.
I'm really baffled how you're paying $250 a month for just cable though - even with 3 boxes.
I have 3 boxes (1 hd and 2 sd) on Fios and get their highest level HD package (which includes showtime and cinemax)
I have a bundled package with cable, internet, digital phone and cell. Just the cable portion of that costs about $100 a month (including taxes)
I'm really baffled how you're paying $250 a month for just cable though - even with 3 boxes.
I have 3 boxes (1 hd and 2 sd) on Fios and get their highest level HD package (which includes showtime and cinemax)
I have a bundled package with cable, internet, digital phone and cell. Just the cable portion of that costs about $100 a month (including taxes)
The best way to get your price down is to threaten to go elsewhere!
I would basically tell them that you want a box for the television for free. Otherwise, you will have to downgrade your entire cable size. Just be willing to actually do it if they won't budge. When you call in, ask to speak with "Retention".
I would basically tell them that you want a box for the television for free. Otherwise, you will have to downgrade your entire cable size. Just be willing to actually do it if they won't budge. When you call in, ask to speak with "Retention".
formeraa said:The best way to get your price down is to threaten to go elsewhere!
I would basically tell them that you want a box for the television for free. Otherwise, you will have to downgrade your entire cable size. Just be willing to actually do it if they won't budge. When you call in, ask to speak with "Retention".
This is VERY true. When I left Comcast for Fios 6 years ago, Comcast called 4 times with increasingly better offers trying to win me back. (they failed because their picture quality and channel selection was terrible compared to Fios) My thought at the time was: why not try to keep the customers you have with such offers BEFORE they switch.
They're just going digital. The basic channels will remain unencrypted, and you can receive them with any TV that has a QAM tuner. Most TVs that receive digital broadcasts can receive QAM also.
Anything beyond basic channels, though, is probably encrypted. You'll have to use Comcast's boxes for those - unless Comcast supplies "cable cards" for customers using other tuners, and your tuners accept cable cards. (I don't have Comcast cable so I don't know if Comcast has cable cards.)
You can also buy standalone QAM tuners, although at $2/box/month it's probably cheaper to stick with Comcast's boxes. Again, most standalone set-top boxes will tune both over-the-air and QAM (cable) broadcasts.
The big exception is a standard DTV converter box. It won't work. The over-the-air channels use a different modulation scheme than QAM and converter boxes are designed for the over-the-air broadcasts only.
Anything beyond basic channels, though, is probably encrypted. You'll have to use Comcast's boxes for those - unless Comcast supplies "cable cards" for customers using other tuners, and your tuners accept cable cards. (I don't have Comcast cable so I don't know if Comcast has cable cards.)
You can also buy standalone QAM tuners, although at $2/box/month it's probably cheaper to stick with Comcast's boxes. Again, most standalone set-top boxes will tune both over-the-air and QAM (cable) broadcasts.
The big exception is a standard DTV converter box. It won't work. The over-the-air channels use a different modulation scheme than QAM and converter boxes are designed for the over-the-air broadcasts only.
I got postcards that had today as the date of cable-ready TV going into the sunset but the analogs are still going. The phone calls I got a couple of weeks ago changed the date to the 27th, exactly two weeks from today.
Comcast does have CableCards. First one is free and the second card in the same device is $1.50.JHBrandt said:
Talk about like not replacing like. There is no universal solution for cable-ready TV built in the same converter box that is used to bridge the transition to digital broadcasting.
Can't wait for this connection to be much faster, if at all!KMRD said:
KTN Corp said:
Good to hear. That might be a good solution for the OP if he wants his own boxes instead of Comcast's.
KTN Corp said:
Congress imposed that (IMO unnecessary) restriction back when they created the $40 converter box coupon program. To be fair, I think their reasoning was that the mandatory transition to digital only applied only to OTA broadcasting, and that if/when your cable co. converted to digital, it would be up to them to provide their own converter boxes (as Comcast is doing).
Nevertheless, there are some dual OTA/cable receivers on the market. In addition to cable tuning, they generally provide other features that were restricted from the coupon-eligible boxes, such as high-def outputs, and are therefore more expensive than OTA-only converter boxes.
KTN Corp said:
As you'll no doubt discover, more bandwidth won't necessarily translate into faster speeds. It will likely be filled quickly by additional content and/or users. In any case, your cable modem already places a limit on your Internet speed. Nevertheless, it may provide some temporary relief from congestion (sounds like cold medicine, doesn't it?) and annoying slowdowns.
M
mikerichardson
Guest
I actually get a credit of $2.50 per month for using a CableCard device. I have one HD TiVo and two DTA's. The HD TiVo uses a CableCard. Comcast charges $16.95 per month for an HD DVR but TiVo only costs me $12.95 - $2.50 per month. The TiVo it's self is used and only cost $50 off eBay. Avoid the new TiVo Premier units because they cost $19.95/mo.
fredcantu said:
For OTA I prefer non-subscription units. I have a Channel Master CM-7000PAL (despite the branding, it was actually built by Echostar, the Dish Network spinoff), but those aren't made anymore and are hard to find.
Has anyone tried the Magnavox MDR513 or 515? They appear to be combination DVRs/DVD recorders. From what I've read they're OK except for one drawback: unlike my Channel Master they can't record in High Def. (even to the internal hard drive ???).
But if that's not important in your case (if, say, you want to record SD shows anyhow), they might be worth a look. At a minimum you could use the TiVo for primary market stations and the Magnavox for secondary market stations.
MikeRichardson said:
Looking again at the Price List that Comcast included in this month's bill (yep, that time of the year again!), you got the $2.50 Customer-Owned Video Equipment Credit (which is right below the CableCARD items). It also has a description "See www.comcast.com/equipmentpolicy for additional information".
R
RadioPhillyFan
Guest
Regardless of Fios...
Comcast has an extensive on-demand selecion
Comcast has Xfinify, which is Fiberoptic and actually beats Fios speed and picture quality
Comcast has the best customer service in the country for communications.
But, it's more expensive then Verizon.
You truely get what you pay for.
(Keep in mind; they are HQ'd in Philly so it may be better here then in places such as Texas)
Now, I'm not bringing up Centurylink Prism because it is a new tech, but it's supposedly twice as productive as Fiberoptics.
Comcast has an extensive on-demand selecion
Comcast has Xfinify, which is Fiberoptic and actually beats Fios speed and picture quality
Comcast has the best customer service in the country for communications.
But, it's more expensive then Verizon.
You truely get what you pay for.
(Keep in mind; they are HQ'd in Philly so it may be better here then in places such as Texas)
Now, I'm not bringing up Centurylink Prism because it is a new tech, but it's supposedly twice as productive as Fiberoptics.
Based on phone messages and mailings, plus chatter on other forums, it appears that Comcast Houston is dropping the last analog channels the morning of April 10.
DJboutit3 said:
As previously mentioned, you can get two DTA boxes at no additional charge, which will give you 96 channels.
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