Second hand box purchase advice needed
 

Need some advice on purchasing a second NTL cable TV box. Have seen a variety of units available on Ebay, nearly all with no come back if compatibility problems. I house share in Cardiff, have a second unused outlet on the cable wall box, want to connect to an analogue TV. Is there a make/model of box that is safe to buy secondhand ? What do I need to check on the existing box or contract to find out what is compatible. Is a card required to go with the box ? If there is an earlier forum item that answers this please point me to it.

Re: Second hand box purchase advice needed
 

All NTL 'boxes' remain the property of NTL and should have been returned at the termination of contract. (see NTL terms and conditions http://www.home.ntl.com/page/termsresidential section 19 or section 9)

also see
http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/sh...NTL+boxes+ebay

Re: Second hand box purchase advice needed
 

Firstly, welcome to the Forums. Enjoy your stay.

I think it might be a good idea to do a thorough forum search on this topic because it has been discussed a few times before. In a nutshell, all NTL boxes you see for sale on eBay etc are effectively stolen property and are illegal to use on NTL's network.

Re: Second hand box purchase advice needed
 

The only legal way to have a second NTL box is to rent it from NTL for £15 per month.

Re: Second hand box purchase advice needed
 

thanks for pointing me to the forums re items being sold on Ebay, and yes I now understand the gist of the legal position. Part of the reason for posting this was that I heard of a box that didn't get retrieved by an engineer when it was repaired/upgraded, admittedly a long time ago, and may have been pre NTL, but seeing the ebay forum entry suggests this was not a unique event.....and somewhat belies a status of stolen property for the box....and yes I now understand the theft aspect if something is connected without contract/declaration, however.....

I'd still be interested in a technical answer.......

Re: Second hand box purchase advice needed
 

You will need a smart-card to put in the STB and only NTL can supply activated cards.

Each card is paired to a STB and only works with that box. NTL need to know the box ID to activate the card.

Re: Second hand box purchase advice needed
 

Isn't there a way he can get the analogue pass-through from the cable at the wall without buying a box?

Square eyes - do you know if the port on the wall was for a digital or analogue box?

I'm afraid I don't know the specific technical side of this works, but I did think that generally even if a cable service is disconnected, an analogue version of the base terrestrial channels carries on...

Can anyone clarify?

Re: Second hand box purchase advice needed
 

Sometimes they disconnect you from the street cabinet - sometimes not. Could happen any time after service termination.

Re: Second hand box purchase advice needed
 

If the spare cable is still connected it will carry both analogue and digital signals. The analogue signals which are not encrypted can be viewed on any TV that covers the range of frequencies that they are broadcast in. Strictly speaking you should not connect anything to this spare cable as it is against NTLs terms and conditions and can have a detrimental affect on the service of other customers.

Re: Second hand box purchase advice needed
 

For standard analogue channels, as long as tha cable has not been disconnected from the street cabinet, you can plug this straight in to your tele.

Regards buying and installing stolen (yes, they are) NTL boxes, you will not find how to do it on this site.

Re: Second hand box purchase advice needed
 

Thanks for the clarification guys! :wavey:

Re: Second hand box purchase advice needed
 

:Yikes: We're supposed to PAY to give them their boxes back?! I can't believe that happens on a regular basis - for a start, when I cancelled all my services last month (cancellation effective from next week), I questioned the CSR very carefully about what further responsibilities I had. She said nothing about this. I will be leaving the boxes by my front door and they can come and get them if they want them. Posting an adequately-packaged STB and SACM back to NTL would cost a fortune!

Re: Second hand box purchase advice needed
 

Whats your address ;)

Re: Second hand box purchase advice needed
 

NTL do not seem to be that hot on following up non-returned boxes (as can be seen by the number available on eBay). But technically, the contract is on their side - if they chose to be awkward they could hold you to it and make you return the equipment at your own cost. If you failed to do so they could charge you for replacements.

Personally, given this contract I would not want to leave the equipment. I would give NTL the opportunity to pick it up first but failing that take it with me.

Re: Second hand box purchase advice needed
 

Didn't you even ask if they were going to collect the equipment?

Re: Second hand box purchase advice needed
 

Yes I did, as a matter of fact. I asked her if I should just keep it for collection by an NTL representative, which is admittedly a leading question, but one she could still have answered with a 'no sir, you have to post it back to us.' As the only official direction I have had from NTL is that the box should wait in my hall by the front door for someone to drop by and collect, that is exactly what I will be doing. :)

Re: Second hand box purchase advice needed
 

It wouldn't be that bad, surely - how heavy is a box? at a guess of 5Kg from where I live in Leeds to the Manchester centre it only costs about a tenner...

If you're told you don't have any further obligation, however, that's a bit much :)