Using E Bay modems.
 

I have bought a couple of cheap modems off E Bay simply as standby spare units. (I like to cover all bases).
However neither will sync properly and connect with the network.
Am i correct in assuming modems are authorised by MAC address for use in a particular area or something similar?
If I had a problem with the supplied device, would they authorise the address of my spare?

Re: Using E Bay modems.
 

Are they NTL/VM modems? If so they still belong to the company and you've purchased stolen property. Either way they won't work for you.

Re: Using E Bay modems.
 

Actually they are and were on open sale on E Bay along with many, many others.
I take it they are in reality "left over" after ex customers moving or cancelling services.
If they are of no use to me I will happily hand them back to VM, no problems.:)

Re: Using E Bay modems.
 

As stated above, these modems belong to Virgin Media. The seller has sold you stolen goods. You have wasted your money.

Re: Using E Bay modems.
 

When you agree to a broadband connection and pay a monthly fee to the service provider, Virginmedia loan you the modem for the duration you are with them.
It is at no point yours to sell on as it does not belong to you.
You will find that most modems will not work.

Re: Using E Bay modems.
 

Thanks guys for these replies.
As usual E Bay allowing forfeit goods for sale.
I will advise them of this practice and just maybe someone will do something about it.

Re: Using E Bay modems.
 

So, should the seller be reported for breaking eBay terms and conditions? And reported to VM? And the police?

See 190245293375 on www.ebay.co.uk for an example that (I strongly suspect) will not get reported by anyone to anyone.

Re: Using E Bay modems.
 

Makes me wonder why Virgin Media don't give you the modem as they don't collect them and always send new equipment out for new installations

Re: Using E Bay modems.
 

I've got no idea but if anyone feels inclined to do so, go right ahead.

Re: Using E Bay modems.
 

If you buy a second hand modem of Ebay then you will be receiving stolen goods, because at all times the modem remains the property of Virginmedia, also the modem will not work as it cannot be added to your account by any one but Virginmedia, and therefore its only use would be as a paperweight.

Re: Using E Bay modems.
 

Reported this to the appropriate people.

Re: Using E Bay modems.
 

Fairy typical of EBay - there's much more they could do to ensure that items which

1. Shouldn't be sold
2. Even if they are sold - won't work

are removed from sale as soon as they are listed. In this case the seller is a frequent user and should know.

Re: Using E Bay modems.
 

Bit harsh, when you consider that the poster wasn't actually moaning, and, in fact had said he was happy to hand the modem back.

If you have a problem with your VM supplied modem, they are under an obligation to repair or replace it for free.

In fairness to ebay, when an auction is reported, they do usually act quickly. Trouble is, they don't seem to police the site beyond reacting to reports.

Re: Using E Bay modems.
 

I find it most strange that the OP thought that buying illegally sold modems on eBay would work ... i'm not saying they won't, and i'm not saying they will.

Re: Using E Bay modems.
 

While this is very very true, the fact that VM don't want the modems back as they are now technically defunct and the cost of production of new ones is cheaper than return and refurb means that when you end your contract and VM tell you to keep the modem they are somewhat giving up their rights to ownership by their actions. I would think a stolen goods case in this instance would have limited chance of success.More to the point. Now if said, deactivated modem was hacked to gain services then you have a much stronger case but the theft is of service, not of the modem.

Re: Using E Bay modems.
 

thats if they're able to prove that you're doing just that..

Re: Using E Bay modems.
 

I canceled my contract and Virgin told me to 'dispose' of the modem. I don't plan to, I'm just going to keep it incase I wanna go back.

But how is it illegal to sell it on? Under what law are you referring to? You mean breach of contract? How can you breach the contract once both parties have dissolved it?

Re: Using E Bay modems.
 

Why would it be strange? I bet if you talk to 90% of people in the street, they'd have no idea that Cable modems need activating.

Re: Using E Bay modems.
 

That's not my point. I'm saying if you were to buy a cable modem from eBay -- it's not going to work out of the box -- you'll need to work with it (before it does).

I'm not going to give anything away. You know the score.

Re: Using E Bay modems.
 

The simple reason behind that is so techs cant take them home, modify them and sell them on..

As some techs do with the tv boxes..

---------- Post added at 15:40 ---------- Previous post was at 15:39 ----------

Oh i dont know, some of them do work out of the box if you talk to the seller..but i'll say no more...

Re: Using E Bay modems.
 

You've missed my point. The average ebayer would not necessarily know that the modem would not work out of the box, unless they have some technical knowledge of how Cable works. Why would they assume that it would not work? You can buy any number of ADSL modems and assume they will work with your ADSL service.

BTW, before you answer: Yes, I know that ADSL is quite a different thing to Cable Broadband, but the average ebayer may not know that.

Re: Using E Bay modems.
 

No technical reason why Virgin couldn't allow customers to bring their own modems more a matter of policy. In the US a number of MSOs still permit customers to provide their own modems and unless you're aware Virgin don't permit this you're not going to be any wiser about it.

Re: Using E Bay modems.
 

With the difference between DOCSIS, EuroDOCSIS and then versions 1/2 and the forthcoming 3 I can just imagine people screaming and shouting at VM saying "My Modem doesn;t work" all because they've gone out and bought the wrong modem.

VM supply the modems, no reason for a spare because if yours breaks down VM will send you a replacement... If you need your connection 24/7 then you should be on a business account with it's SLA which will get you a replacement a lot faster..

It's highlighted on here often enough that the eBay sold modems will NOT work (The same as the STB's) unless they've been hacked and are then totally illegal upto the point where you are committing theft of services.. (and no this isn;t the thread to go into the whole "It's not theft" routine, that's been covered in 101 other threads...)

Re: Using E Bay modems.
 

DOCSIS 3 is a slightly different kettle of fish, in the case of DOCSIS 1/2 VM only run 1.0 and DOCSIS 2 can accomodate 1/1.1 modems anyway. In the case of EuroDOCSIS not really VM's problem and if modems were available 'off the shelf' in the UK they would likely be both anyway as we're in Europe.

Again no real technical reason and more a matter of policy, VM wanting to control the network right to the CPE.

In the US customers tend to be able to do what they want to with their cable line, where it his the house being considered the demarcation point between cableco and customer and anything goes after that with it not being the cable operator's problem if the customer breaks stuff and a customer who makes a hash of their home cabling has a return path filter put on their drop meaning they can't interfere with the network. Of course they do lose their return path but minor issue :)

Re: Using E Bay modems.
 

What part of the US is that in then?

Re: Using E Bay modems.
 

Not Cablevision's evidently :)

Remember lots of peeps in the US take their analogue feed directly into their TVs from their local cableco. They certainly don't ask their MSO to come out every time they want to connect a new set to the feed, they just split existing feeds. Usually basic subscribers are insulated from the digital network being on different taps or having return path filters fitted.

Re: Using E Bay modems.
 

Aaah, you are talking the old analogue cable which is more akin to a distributed aerial, with, yes, no loopback.
That is a rare old beast these days with the push to digital multichannel HD broadcast and is being switched off in many areas to give more bandwidth to the digital cable channels.
Akin to the Analog Cable on VM really.
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/digitalt...witch-off.html

Re: Using E Bay modems.
 

Yeah I'm referring to it being a relic of the MATV days. I know they are in the process of phasing them out, to the annoyance of people who have 6 TVs and a coax mess through their homes.

That's what I meant, the whole demarcation from the cable company is a bit of a relic from that, and I'm aware that companies increasingly have enforced their own modems on customers for logistics reasons. Still a number of customers that are using their own modems, and complaining that they are being charged a modem rental fee ;)

You're in a good place for cable, Cablevision have recently done a big node splitting programme to get all their nodes down to approximately 250 homes passed. The joys of having to compete with FiOS ;)

Re: Using E Bay modems.
 

My apartment was invaded last week so they could run new duct work (and a small cotton thread) into the phone closet to make the building FiOS ready. I've just signed a new 12 month 3/$29.95 each deal with Cablevision (it was cheaper than the two for $110 my bill was going up to) so I'll see what happens in about 9 months. Been happy with them so far. Get full quality on NetFlix on Demand, even at 7-10pm at night.

Re: Using E Bay modems.
 

Unless you are one of the EARLY pre VM subscribers and in which case it is possible to actually OWN the modem.

My dad did the SB4100 he had was actually His, right up untill the day a lightning strike cooked it.

Re: Using E Bay modems.
 

ive still got my old 3com cmx i bought which is working fine after 8 years

Re: Using E Bay modems.
 

I had a TJ210 way back in the day :)

Re: Using E Bay modems.
 

I used to be on the wireless ADSL trial when I lived in Streatham, gawd knows what modem they used for that ;)

Re: Using E Bay modems.
 

Kinda two of them! One a wireless receiver and downconverter, then the output of that fed into a normal cable modem :)

Re: Using E Bay modems.
 

And what did this achieve? No sale was made by the deadline (no bids were made), so the seller re-listed and sold the item as "buy it now" for under a fiver (including postage). See 190246991900 at www.ebay.co.uk

Re: Using E Bay modems.
 

I wonder why ebay cannot make blacklists of items. Problem I guess is how easy it would be to circumvent them, the .co.uk site could, for example, not be allowed to list anything that said "cable modem", or perhaps had the words cable, modem, virgin, and more in it, but that might then prevent the listing of say a router that you wanted to say was compatible with virgin cable modems and ADSL modems. Hmmm.

Re: Using E Bay modems.
 

Let's face it - EBay get their money for listing, so there's little incentive for them to actively remove such items unless someone complains.

Re: Using E Bay modems.
 

eBay are a waste of space... :)

(if you really want to know, you may PM me)