Second hand box purchase advice needed

[Square Eyes]

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.

[daxx]

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)

9.4 The Equipment belongs to Us and You must not give anyone else any rights over it. We may add to or substitute it if We have a valid reason

19.5 On termination of this Agreement You shall return all the Equipment at your cost to our offices within 14 days of the date of termination. If You do not return the Equipment We shall be entitled to bill You and You shall be liable to pay for the cost of replacing the Equipment, and unless the termination is due to our breach You shall continue to be responsible for the payment of Charges until all the Equipment has been returned or its replacement value paid.

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

[Flubflow]

Originally Posted by Square Eyes

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.

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.

[bob_builder]

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

[Square Eyes]

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.......

[bob_builder]

Originally Posted by Square Eyes

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

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.

[seaneeboy]

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?

[Flubflow]

Originally Posted by seaneeboy

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?

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

[ian@huth]

Originally Posted by seaneeboy

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?

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.

[Nemesis]

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.

[seaneeboy]

Thanks for the clarification guys!

Originally Posted by daxx

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/showthread.php?t=13554&highlight=NTL+boxes+ebay

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!

Originally Posted by Chris T

I will be leaving the boxes by my front door and they can come and get them if they want them.

Whats your address

[bob_builder]

Originally Posted by Chris T

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!

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.

[orangebird]

Originally Posted by Chris T

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!

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