Digital Cable Conversion: How to switch to digital cable. So, this friend that I know is stealing cable...?

Question

So, this friend that I know is stealing cable.Becuase the digital switch is happening, he has been losing statons and fears he may lose them all in a week. If he were paying for cable, he could probably just call comcast and ask them for a cable box. He also is aware that you can buy converters. However, he doesn't know which kind to get. Can someone help. He is just running a cable into his tv. What should he do?

Answer 1

For solutions for free cable he should look into an antenna. You will only get so many free stations, but its 100% legit. If the TV has a built in tuner you don't have to buy a converter, just run the antenna feed directly into the TV. For more information check out, http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx



Otherwise you have to call a cable or satellite provider. They can then give you the necessary information regarding what they provide. Every company is different, so you are best off contacting them directly.



It won't be live, but if he subscribes to high speed Internet he could always start using services like hulu or joost or just going to networks' web sites. You can watch a lot of TV for free that way.

Answer 2

(Sorry, I just can't help it....)



Don, you are flat out wrong about digital cable. The cable ops receive digital signals from the source, and they remain digital throughout the network. Google "256 QAM" if you'd like to know more about the modulation method used. Many ops do offer an analog line-up, which is carried on the same network, but that doesn't mean that there aren't any digital signals. The analog is received by an analog TV, and ignored by a digital receiver, whether that receiver is a digital TV or a cable set-top box.



An analog channel is 6 MHz wide. The cable plant I get service from uses 55 to 862 MHz for the downstream portion of the signal. That would only be enough room for 134 channels on a pure analog system. But I can have almost 400 channels, PLUS high-speed internet, PLUS digital telephone, PLUS Video-On-Demand. That just wouldn't be physically possible without digital signals.

Answer 3

For now, and until the cable company decide to otherwise, he will still get some basic cable services. Whether or not he pays for them. Digital Cable is a misnomer. The signal that is propagated from the cable company is still analog and will probably analog for the foreseeable future. When the cable company say digital, it is not digital until it reaches a proper cable box set and is "up-converted" to digital.



When and if the cable company decide to switch to 100% digital, there will not be much that your friend can do about it. Most digital converter cable box these days are modems and talk with the local cable company to verify programming leases. In another word, when your cable company goes 100% digital, he is going to have to start paying for it



I mean, I suppose he can get a satellite converter box and set up a dish to work with it and pirate the access card code to allow him to get "free" services BUT, those digital key that allow the box to receiver programming needs to be reprogram once every three to four week.



Bah, just pay for it. It is not worth the headache..