Cablecard question

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Jefe

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Cablecard question

#1

Post by Jefe » Mon Jun 18, 2012 1:51 am

Lets say I wanted to add a cable card to my Comcast account to use with my hd prime. Would i be able to use it at my office or would it only work at home.

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makryger

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#2

Post by makryger » Mon Jun 18, 2012 1:56 am

A cablecard must be tied to a specific device, so you can't swap the cablecard from one device in the office or one device at home. But the HDHRP is a network tuner, so I suppose you could maybe record on your computer at your office if its connected by vpn to home. And if the channels you're recording are not copy protected (ie most non-premium channels), you could always stream the tv you record at home over the internet.
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#3

Post by richard1980 » Mon Jun 18, 2012 2:37 am

In addition, there is nothing stopping you from physically taking the HDHRP between your home and your office.

Jefe

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#4

Post by Jefe » Mon Jun 18, 2012 2:57 am

The thought was to leave the hdhrp at the office and use it to watch tv that I get via Comcast at home. Do I need a VPN? Would it work otherwise? I'm not really sure how to set that up.

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#5

Post by Jefe » Mon Jun 18, 2012 3:37 am

Comcast is providing the office with internet service and basic cable. No premium channels. I get the premiums at home. Would adding the cable card with home service work at the office?

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#6

Post by barnabas1969 » Mon Jun 18, 2012 11:53 am

Jefe, if I'm understanding you correctly... you are asking if you could plug the HDHR Prime into the coax at work, and would it pick up the premium channels there? Well, I don't know the answer to that question, but I would suspect that your CableCARD would be linked to the headend near your house, and may not work at your office. You could try it though.

All the talk about a VPN between your work and home is pointless unless you have a fast enough internet connection, both at home AND at work. For example, if you put the HDHR Prime at work... your work needs UPLOAD speeds near 20Mbps... and your home would need DOWNLOAD speeds near 20Mbps. And that would only be enough for one tuner to be routed through the VPN.

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#7

Post by Jefe » Mon Jun 18, 2012 5:04 pm

barnabas1969 wrote:Jefe, if I'm understanding you correctly... you are asking if you could plug the HDHR Prime into the coax at work, and would it pick up the premium channels there? Well, I don't know the answer to that question, but I would suspect that your CableCARD would be linked to the headend near your house, and may not work at your office. You could try it though.
This is essentially what I'm wondering.

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#8

Post by barnabas1969 » Mon Jun 18, 2012 6:25 pm

Well, then take your HDHR Prime to your office, plug it in, and see if it works. However, I will say that doing so probably violates your cable company's terms of use... and may even constitute stealing cable (which is illegal)... because the cable subscription at your work only includes basic cable.

But... that's your choice. I have to ask though... why would you want to do that? You won't be able to watch TV at home with your HDHR Prime if you connect it at your office (unless you have a very fast internet connection at home and work).

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#9

Post by Jefe » Mon Jun 18, 2012 6:38 pm

barnabas1969 wrote:Well, then take your HDHR Prime to your office, plug it in, and see if it works. However, I will say that doing so probably violates your cable company's terms of use... and may even constitute stealing cable (which is illegal)... because the cable subscription at your work only includes basic cable.

But... that's your choice. I have to ask though... why would you want to do that? You won't be able to watch TV at home with your HDHR Prime if you connect it at your office (unless you have a very fast internet connection at home and work).
Just curious mostly. I'd pick up a HDHRP for the office if I did work. I'd rather avoid paying the premium bill twice, but who knows.

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#10

Post by barnabas1969 » Mon Jun 18, 2012 6:44 pm

1) How fast is your upload/download speed at home?
2) How fast is your upload/download speed at work?

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#11

Post by adam1991 » Mon Jun 18, 2012 10:30 pm

barnabas1969 wrote:Well, then take your HDHR Prime to your office, plug it in, and see if it works. However, I will say that doing so probably violates your cable company's terms of use... and may even constitute stealing cable (which is illegal)... because the cable subscription at your work only includes basic cable.
I will dispute that.

the cable subscription at his office may indeed include only basic cable--but as long as the programming is being paid for, and in fact is being consumed by the person paying for it, then that particular cableCARD service is being provided outside his business's contract and directly to the guy who is in fact paying for it.

I honestly don't think that the cableCARD or cable box has to be permanently tied to the physical address where it's being paid for. If I want to take my cable box over to a friend's house next door and set it up on his huge TV so we can watch the big game together, the cableco doesn't care--as long as the bill is being paid.

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#12

Post by erkotz » Mon Jun 25, 2012 7:47 pm

#1 doing this is likely against your cable agreement
#2 your upload at your office is likely to be too slow
#3 WMDRM has latency limitations, so protected content will not work.
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adam1991

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#13

Post by adam1991 » Mon Jun 25, 2012 10:41 pm

if he's paying for the cableCARD on his account, the provider really doesn't care what he does with it. It won't work outside their system, and inside their system--wherever he wants to use it--it's valid.

As long as he's using it for personal use and not, for example, to provide a bar with the big game, or as long as he's not letting someone else use it at a different address for the purposes of avoiding residential service fees, he's using it legitimately and within his agreement with the company. That he takes it to a different address inside their service area now and then for his own purposes and private use, is immaterial.

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#14

Post by tad » Thu Nov 01, 2012 3:40 pm

adam1991 wrote:if he's paying for the cableCARD on his account, the provider really doesn't care what he does with it. It won't work outside their system, and inside their system--wherever he wants to use it--it's valid.

As long as he's using it for personal use and not, for example, to provide a bar with the big game, or as long as he's not letting someone else use it at a different address for the purposes of avoiding residential service fees, he's using it legitimately and within his agreement with the company. That he takes it to a different address inside their service area now and then for his own purposes and private use, is immaterial.
This is bad information that you should ignore. Setting up an additional cable box at your office (even if it works, which it probably won't, as others have pointed out), almost certainly violates your service agreement with your cable provider.

For example, a 30 second google search for Comcast's Service Agreement yields the following:

"7. USE OF SERVICES
You agree that the Service(s) and the Xfinity Equipment will be used only for personal, residential, non-commercial purposes, unless otherwise specifically authorized by us in writing. You will not use the Xfinity Equipment at any time at an address other than the Premises without our prior written authorization."
See http://www.comcast.com/Corporate/Custom ... ement.html

adam1991

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#15

Post by adam1991 » Thu Nov 01, 2012 11:20 pm

Isn't that nice.

My advice still stands.

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