Starting tomorrow, thanks to a new FCC rule, cable companies will be allowed to scramble basic cable channels if they want.

No one has announced an intention to do so yet, but it is believed within 6 months that all of the big cable providers will start doing it.

What that means is you are going to need a box for every TV, which for many people means another $8-10 per box per TV so they can get a picture on their TV.

Cable companies fought hard for this claiming it will help customer service, but all they really wanted was a new revenue stream now that people won't be able to run a TV connection into extra rooms, bedrooms and such the way they do now.

I have TV's in like 7 different rooms, so I am one of the ones that gets screwed like I am sure many of you are.

With the way things are going with cable companies it won't be long before the cable bill surpasses the mortgage payment for most people.

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/cable-subscribers-are-about-get-sneaky-fee-1C7476067

Good thing I have one TV.

Good thing I have DirecTV.

GoChiefs;1338988 wrote:Good thing I have DirecTV.

Don't you need a box for every tv with Direct TV as well?

IggyPride00;1338992 wrote:Don't you need a box for every tv with Direct TV as well?

Yes, but I get 4 free.

Iggy. Do you pay the company to have 7 TVs connected, or did you splice? If you're not paying, then you're part of the problem...

ernest_t_bass;1339007 wrote:Iggy. Do you pay the company to have 7 TVs connected, or did you splice? If you're not paying, then you're part of the problem...

What about when your cable company splices it for you? Paying $130 a month, I better be able to get cable on any damn TV I please.

And without a box, you dont get HD channels, nor all of the channels in the package you are paying for. Its crap.

Pick6;1339009 wrote:What about when your cable company splices it for you? Paying $130 a month, I better be able to get cable on any damn TV I please.

Then you're not part of the problem?

ernest_t_bass;1339007 wrote:Iggy. Do you pay the company to have 7 TVs connected, or did you splice? If you're not paying, then you're part of the problem...

I pay for cable TV into my house and then ran the wires all over the place.

Why should I have to pay for cable on each TV?

I don't pay a per phone set fee in my house just to dial. I pay for my landline and then have phones through out the house.

Why is cable TV any different where I should pay per TV instead of just paying to have it in the house?

IggyPride00;1339012 wrote:I pay for cable TV into my house and then ran the wires all over the place.

Why should I have to pay for cable on each TV?

I don't pay a per phone set fee in my house just to dial. I pay for my landline and then have phones through out the house.

Why is cable TV any different where I should pay per TV instead of just paying to have it in the house?

Because that's their policy? If you pay for a newspaper out of a machine, why not take the whole stack?

Maybe we should have to pay for each device we hook up to the internet as well.

Pick6;1339031 wrote:Maybe we should have to pay for each device we hook up to the internet as well.

That is what is aggravating.

I have the cable for the internet coming into my house. From there they don't care how computers use it via wireless internet when you install the router.

Why does it have to be different for TV? Why can't I have the same one line come into the house and then have as many TV's as I want hooked up?

It amazes me that an industry that has so significantly jacked up rates over the past decade is suddenly hurting for money and needs a massive new revenue stream the way they obviously do. How can that be possible?

We pay far more for slower high speed internet than anywhere else in the world really, and the same cable companies now feel the need to bend us over even further. It is sad.

Pick6;1339031 wrote:Maybe we should have to pay for each device we hook up to the internet as well.

Well... is that their policy?

Pick6;1339009 wrote:What about when your cable company splices it for you? Paying $130 a month, I better be able to get cable on any damn TV I please.

And without a box, you dont get HD channels, nor all of the channels in the package you are paying for. Its crap.

Will this help?

http://www.mycablemart.com/store/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=3145

Pick6;1339031 wrote:Maybe we should have to pay for each device we hook up to the internet as well.

When broadband first came out, you did have to. They would track the MAC address of your computer and it was the only one that could connect. It was due more to the technology than anything else, but still frustrating for this wanting to put in a switch or router.

This means that my free cable will eventually stop.

In my past three apartments, I've simply plugged in my cable and it's worked.

dlazz;1339097 wrote:This means that my free cable will eventually stop.

In my past three apartments, I've simply plugged in my cable and it's worked.

That's a nice trick. Did that a few times myself. Sometimes they actually get around to turning it off after 6 months or so.

This does suck to have a tv in another room where you just want to watch the news or one of the networks. Why pay another $10 for a second box for a tv you might watch for 30 minutes a day?

Solution is obvious: buy an internet ready tv. I see with Xfinity that I can watch live streams of at least 10 channels, including ESPN and CNN. OK, this is not cost effective, but as you replace a tv it makes sense to pay the premium for internet ready (which is becoming standard).

If you have a second TV in somewhere like a bedroom that you only watch at bedtime and never at the same time as another TV with a box, just install a splitter between the box and the TV and run it to the second TV. It'll show the duplicate of what is on the main TV, but if you never use both TV's at once it is a workaround.

If you have HD it gets trickier because you have HDMI running between the box and the TV, and not coax. They make HDMI splitters but you may need a long ass HDMI cable to get to TV2, which still can be pricey even on Amazon.

First, Time Warner has allowed, for quite some time since they took over the small cable company in my area years ago, to allow as many hookups as you want and THEY would install them for you on request. I have Comcast now, but don't really know their policy. I just have one TV with an HD/DVR box, so I don't really know. My parents still have Time Warner, and I know their house is wired for three TVs BY THEM with no additional cost. They also have broadband and their phone service. Two of their TVs have boxes for digital cable (one is an HD non-DVR box).

The thing that cable has to deal with is competing with DirecTV and Dish Network who would gladly jump at this to gain more customers.

First, Time Warner has allowed, for quite some time since they took over the small cable company in my area years ago, to allow as many hookups as you want and THEY would install them for you on request.

That was because they were never legally allowed to scramble them before, so how many hook-ups inside your house you had was irrelevant to them.

Now that they can scramble them, it is hard to see them voluntarily forgoing that new revenue stream of forced box tops for all TV's when they lobbied the FCC as hard as they did to change the rule.

Most of us have been around the block enough to know that likely wasn't done for altruistic reasons.

My hope is that it doesn't start a chain reaction like airline baggage fees where once one cable company starts scrambling, they all follow suit knowing they don't have to be undercut by someone who doesn't scramble.

If you run wires with a splitter I don't think there's really much they can do. But for a variety of reasons, that's not always convenient. I suppose you could leave the cable box on, but you'd still have go to the other room to change the channel (or spend a few hundred bucks on some sort of network scheme).

I haven't tried, but can't you still get the main networks over the air in HD? Is there really much need to watch cable, aside from CNN? And as far as movies and tv shows, you can access a lot online if you have an internet tv (although I'm not sure if the plug-ins work, so maybe not).

gut;1339453 wrote:If you run wires with a splitter I don't think there's really much they can do. But for a variety of reasons, that's not always convenient. I suppose you could leave the cable box on, but you'd still have go to the other room to change the channel (or spend a few hundred bucks on some sort of network scheme).

I haven't tried, but can't you still get the main networks over the air in HD? Is there really much need to watch cable, aside from CNN? And as far as movies and tv shows, you can access a lot online if you have an internet tv (although I'm not sure if the plug-ins work, so maybe not).

As long as your digital antenna is connected to an HDTV, you'll get them OTA in HD

ts1227;1339455 wrote:As long as your digital antenna is connected to an HDTV, you'll get them OTA in HD

You need a digital antenna? An HDTV with an internal tuner won't pick them up?

gut;1339466 wrote:You need a digital antenna? An HDTV with an internal tuner won't pick them up?

I don't think so. My dad had a new TV this year we had to run an antenna outside for to get all the channels to come in all the time because the one in the TV wasn't cutting it.