US Cable Support → Comcast Cable TV > Report notifications of Limited Basic tier encryption here

Re: Report notifications of Limited Basic tier encryption here

From a post at AVS Forum in the Comcast SF bay area thread,

quote:

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Concord: Encryption of Limited Basic starts on 10/1/2013.

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Looks like Comcast is rolling out basic service encryption more quickly than they are rolling out IPv6 on broadband, which is funny since I've yet to hear any customer asking for basic service encryption.....

got a notice here in the northern panhandle of west Virginia on 9/24.

This is live in Boston, MA. I got home from work last night and noticed that all of the channels with the Basic tier of service were scrambled. Connected the adapter that Comcast sent, and I was able to pull down the channels. One problem that I noticed is that the "HD" versions of certain channels are no longer available. For example, the local Fox channel here is 25, prior to this change I was able to access the "HD" version of the channel by selecting 25-1. Do we lose access to these channels after the change? Or did they send me the wrong adapter? Ideally I would like to regain access to these channels again because I had no issues prior to hooking my TV up to the adapter.

Thanks!

You need to get the HD-DTA. You may also need to be paying the HD Tech Fee (I think this is waived if you are Limited Basic.)

So I ordered this HD-DTA from Comcast. Got it today and hook it up. At first I was only able to see SD channels and then going into the 700 range was the "HD" local channels. I was using coax because I don't have any more HDMIs, after all, the regular coax to the QAM TV looks crispy clear now...well not so with this HD-DTA box. The video quality of the HD channels is as bad as SD or same. Then you have to "memorize" which channel numbers you want to go to because you get ALL the channels you are not subscribe to without the ability to get rid off them so you can just go up and down the channels. WHY is Comcast encrypting this otherwise free OTA channels is beyond any "logical" reasoning. Basic subscribers ARE paying after all to access free OTA channels from Comcast, but we pay so we get a straight and clean signal without any antennas, but now Comcast is for greedy reasons (as if their services are not already expensive) forcing their basic subscribers to "upgrade" or get downgraded to lower quality TV. I'm going to wait until their conversion in September and then go with an OTA antenna which probably will get clearer signal than Comcast HD-DTA box fiasco. Cannot wait for google TV/Internet! Comcast.

the reason is 3 fold.
1: so they don't have to send a tech when someone stops or starts service.
2: to stop theft by people JUST paying for internet but getting tv too.
3: so they have bandwidth for other things like more channels and new services coming down the pipe

You forgot two:

4) to increase revenues
5) to annoy customers

It is pretty amazing that folks smart enough to figure out how to come here and post in the right place don't understand simple stuff like how coax outputs have always been SD only. The rest of the HD-DTA rant I get even if it's nothing new here.

not really, Coax != SD only, you can output via Coax in HD if you outputted as a QAM channel in the clear pretty easily... only problem is, there is very few if any devices available right now that do that... if they really wanted they could of made a HD-DTA that outputted over a clear qam channel.. you just lose stuff like HDCP that HDMI gives you...

There are no devices that do this, that was the point. Technical possibility is not market reality here.

Right...& certainly (again) - not in a $50 set-top box!!!

Glad you agree with me.

Santa Rosa, CA to be encrypted Oct 1st

City of Chicago 10/8/13

Arlington Heights IL 10/22/2013

New Bedford MA happened 2 days ago.

Re: Report notifications of Limited Basic tier encryption here

svenson--9/10/2013
In a letter dated August 30 Comcast notified me that they will be encrypting their Limited Basic Channels. Previously I had learned from this forum that they were encrypting their Expanded Basic. But a rep in a local store told me to my face that when the analog/digital switch took place I would lose my expanded basic unless I got a digital decoder box. As I knew this was a lie I declined. They then began to remove individual channels from the expanded basic (blank screens). When about a third were gone I canceled Expanded basic. Then they wrote to say Limited Basic was going digital and I would need a box. By then I knew I had a QAM tuner, so I changed the settings on the flat screen tv to "digital," clicked Autoprogramming and I had all my channels (as virtual channels: 2.1, 4.1, etc). In the process I got a real bonus: a local PBS Channel KCSM (60.1, 60.2 and 60.3) that had previously migrated to Comcast channel 198. 60.2 is Mhz World View which has many foreign-made mysteries and dramas series. Bingo! I called Comcast today about the encryption of Limited basic and got the big box/little box routine. When I said I was curious about an antenna she claimed that would be of no use because Comcast will encrypt signals over the airwaves coming from Sutro Tower in San Francisco. Tongue in cheek I said that's pretty sneaky. She replied that Comcast wants to eliminate any other methoids except their service. Well that was blunt. I don't believe tv signals broadcast from the main transmission tower in SF can be encrypted. Does anyone else know any different? I think they are lying again. At this point I expect to cancel Limited basic, knowing they will bump up the price of the broadband service. Man, these people don't quit. But they haven't got me yet. Paranoid thought: can they mess with my broadband? My perspective is antenna for digital channels and streaming Netflix. Sorry about length. This is first post.

Latest bill, on the 3rd page, says encryption here in Schaumburg, IL on 10/22.

Derry, NH got this maybe a month or so ago.

Right on time - encryption of Limited Basic service is now in effect here.

New Haven, CT market got limited basic encrypted today.

Anyone know about Atlanta area?