Ntl cable box as freeview only
 

hi there,

i have just aquired an old ntl cable box (pace DITV - 1000). The guy who gave it to me said he was pretty sure that it could be used as a freeview box.

i connected it to the ariel cable, but it says that no channels can be found. i have a cable socket in the wall but i have never used it before. it might work but i don't have a "cable" cable.

i would like to know if what i am doing is a waste of time. can i get freeview channels with this box without subscribing to ntl?


thanks

tim:confused:

Re: Ntl cable box as freeview only
 

short answer use it as a door stop.

Re: Ntl cable box as freeview only
 

As unlimited has said, to get something of ntl you need to pay for it, EG subscribe to there select pack for £5.50 PCM (plus telephone line @£11)

Re: Ntl cable box as freeview only
 

Nahhhh sell it on ebay, some fool will pay you £30+ for it! :rofl:

Re: Ntl cable box as freeview only
 

:welcome: to the forum.

Unless you are willing to pay a subscription, you won't get anything from the NTL box, I am afraid.

The best way to get freeview (assuming you are in a good reception area) is to go down to your local electrical shop and buy a freeview box (you can get them from about £20 up now).

Re: Ntl cable box as freeview only
 

Or chuck a brick at it :D

Re: Ntl cable box as freeview only
 

If you want DTT (marketing name freeview) you will need a receive like one of these in argos http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Browse...ip%3D36797.htm then a aerial on a dtt transmitter, the pace receive you have is for a cable network and belongs to ntl if you install it in you house on a cable like that cable receiver can be tracked back to you house via the mac address in it,

Re: Ntl cable box as freeview only
 

no the mac is reference to the stb(its deliverable address), they cannot pin point the stb via mac to a addy or house number but they can see what headend its on, also crazytim77, there is a sticker under the stb, THEFT OF SERVICE IS A CRIME, give the stb back to your mate and let him give it back to ntl/telly west cos if he used that stb to subscribe to the service and he dont have it he will be billed for the replacement if they come to collect it. if you want freeview then do as others have mentioned, go to asda/tesco and pick one up cheep :)

Re: Ntl cable box as freeview only
 

if anyones got a few networked pc's and wants to get into DVB DTT then id advise them to look into getting a cheap DVB-T USB card with a BDA driver, a copy of JTVLAN add-on and WebScheduler
http://forums.dvbowners.com/index.ph...per\.conf+file
set it up for multicasting and watch the CD+ quality .ts streams on any PC or TV attached machines with VLC pointing to 224.0.0.1:7777

shame the same cant be done with the NTL STB's as they dont have AV streaming server software built in.

funny thing is, you could do that on your PC if you buy a DVB-C PCi card with cam and were able to use your NTL SmartCard in that slot, shame NTL dont sell these options or even offer them as an extra rental option, then you could make your own cable based (TW/HDTV-ntl/SDTV)DVB AV server without hopeing that one day NTL might put that now basic want/wish on one of their rented STB's in the future that never arrives.

on the point about
"the pace receive you have is for a cable network and belongs to ntl "
"give the stb back to your mate and let him give it back to ntl/telly " both assume that NTL/TW did not already bill the original guy, and hence its his property to do with as he wishes.

"if he used that stb to subscribe to the service and he dont have it he will be billed for the replacement if they come to collect it." made me laugh now (long time past, but never fully cleared up and refunded me), as they once took back my box after i canceled the account (receate included), and still charged my account for the price of a replacement box to the tune of £300.

the thing is, NTL dont care about these boxs, and infact, assuming this is a billed for box in perfect working order,if the lad were to ring up NTL and ask them to re-activate it on the basic minimum package they would not allow it..........

now thats a wast of perfectly good kit, and one more non-subscriber, probably justifyed by the fact that they couldnt charge the £15.00 STB rental per month for this now end-user owned box.

Re: Ntl cable box as freeview only
 

Not entirely true, ntl can track a stb down to the cab at the bottom of you street then all it takes is a couple of lads disconnecting each cable in there until the stb they are looking for drops of the software and bob's your uncle and you have the address of the said stb, yes its labour intensive but if ntl really want to they can find you.

Re: Ntl cable box as freeview only
 

Why would Ntl want to find you, if they get the box back they have to pay to dump it!

If you connect it to the network you'll get channels 1-5 with no subscription - pretty much what you can get from your aerial on the roof. :)

Re: Ntl cable box as freeview only
 

Erm - why is this chat permitted about taking NTL services without paying for them? I pay for the services - others should do too.

Re: Ntl cable box as freeview only
 

hmm, so were in any of this thread, is anyone saying they want to get NTL PAYG services without paying for them?.

making invalid assumptions are you!.

the guy was asking about the perfectly valid 'free to air' channels nothing more, and AFAIK NTL are required by UK law to provide these channels to any UK resident able to receave them with a working DVB-C box/card.

Re: Ntl cable box as freeview only
 

I would like to see this law that is always rolled out everytime this discussion airs.

The fact is you should have the STB collected if you have disconnected the service. If you have got the STB through other means you are not supposed to use it on the NTL system if you are not paying for a subscription.

The channels are not free to air, that is on the Terrestrial side not on cable. NTL do not provide "freeview or free to air", they have by-pass units fitted on STB's to enable customers to record the channels 1-5 whilst watching cable, this was seen as an added extra, something that Sky boxes didn't provide unless you had your roof ariel plugged into the Sky box. Unfortunately people, see that this is provided as freeview or by law, whatever!

It isn't either.

Yes NTL do care about these STB's as well,(i know before it is said) they are making more of an effort to retrieve the STB's as it costs money to replace the ones that havent been collected. No they don't dump them either they are reused.

Re: Ntl cable box as freeview only
 

If you really knew your stuff you'd know it was the subscribers responsability to return it!

Stop talking out of you ass.

If you stop subscribing from Sky your viewing card reverts to a FTA/FTV card.

If you stop subscribing from Ntl your STB still recieves the channels 1-5

If Ntl want the STBs then they'd collect them, if people continue to use them when the subs are canceled then that's Ntls look out.

They have to pay to dump them, like the modems, it costs them more than the items are worth. :erm:

Why would they bother sending a man (paid £7+ an hour) to collect a piece of junk worth a fiver that will cost them twice than that to dump.:rolleyes:

Treat it like Ondigital STBs if you've always had it connected to that Ntl ouput - it'll give you 1-5 in digital as would your ariel with a Freeview STB - nothing more nothing less.

---------- Post added at 02:14 ---------- Previous post was at 01:54 ----------

99.99% of people with a Ntl STB pay for their TVL, why shouldn't they get their channels over cable -they could over satellite, DTV, analogue TTV.

Edit - Sorry to the team, but people that just take pot shots at things they know nothing about just p*** me off. :(