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rcilink
Premium Member
join:2003-12-15
Manchester, NH

rcilink

Premium Member

Getting a "customer-owned" box registered..

I know this topic passes through here once or twice a month. I had someone ask me about it, so I thought I would respond with a mini-howto here, to help others who are thinking about getting [buying] a cable box and using it with comcast.

First: IF you are serious about purchasing a box, you must ensure that it is not registered with any cable system. Comcast will run the numbers to see where it was sent to, and if you lie to Comcast, you will just end up with a dead box (they will refuse to register the box). In fact, if you prove to be a pain in the butt to them, it is much easier to just refuse to register your box--- just to get rid of you! (so, don't be annoying to them for this request!)

So, the purpose of this post is to help someone purchase a cable box and get it registered with Comcast. I have succeeded in doing it, and would imagine that it should be possible anyplace on the Comcast system-- but I make no guarantee that this will work for you.

My cable system uses Motorola DCT series boxes. If your cable system is using Scientific Atlanta boxes, you can NOT use a Motorola box (not even the one discussed below).

First, I found a good deal on eBay for a Motorola DCP-501. This box is really a DCT2000 box inside a Home Theater box (digital stereo 5.1 surround sound, built-in DVD/CD player, tons of A/V inputs, and AM/FM tuner). It was a listing that showed the unit as 'still in the original box' (never used). Several problems you may run into here. If the seller on eBay is not being honest to tell you where they came from, don't touch it! As far as you know, they raided the local cable truck and now are trying to sell the boxes on eBay. Yes they are new, but they may be in the Motorola database as 'assigned to a cable company', thus USELESS to you for use with Comcast. If you can talk to the seller first and find out that it is just 'store overstock' or close-out special from an electronic store, you may be in luck. If you are unwilling to take a risk of this cost (they are just over $150 on eBay now), you can buy 'new' from amazon.com (»www.amazon.com/exec/obid ··· n=507846) for just over $250. If you buy new from amazon, Comcast will still run the serial number check, and it will show it is a retail box.

So, in summary: be _very_ cautious of anything like this on eBay. Don't bother with the DCT2000 (dct2224 or dct2244, or dct2500 series) boxes.. They were not sold retail in the US, so they will not attempt to register them.

Now, assuming you have a shiney-new box in front of you, equip yourself with a phone and some time (lots of time). This whole process took me many calls, and just about 1 week of waiting for the box to be provisioned.

Hook the DCP-501 up to the cable system and your TV. You can fool with the million settings to get your speakers working just right while you are waiting.

If your box is brandy-new, you will have a sticker on the front display. It has two 'numbers' or bar-codes on it. These numbers identify your box. They will need both to begin with.

So, get a pen and paper ready and start calling into the comcast TV call-center. Best choice is the one that asks you if you want to "add or remove a service".

With the CSR on the phone, Identify yourself (as you always must do) and then tell them that you decided to pick-up a Mototola home theater box (the DCP501) and would like to have it provisioned. It is highly possible that the CSR will inform you that Comcast does not allow customer-owned boxes. I ran across this when I started this trek-- half of the people I talked with were not trained (did not attend the home theater demo), and did not know what I was talking about. I actually had one CSR on the motorola site, reviewing the box. His comment: "Cool!".. So, your mileage may vary. Worst case, call back. Sorta like rolling the dice..

After telling the CSR you would like to provision the box, you can help educate them by showing/telling them how they can find them on amazon.com. If at all possible do NOT mention the word 'eBay'. It is a definate turn-off for Comcast (as most all equipment up there for sale is used/stolen/broken. The amazon link to the box is here. Have the CSR browse to amazon.com and put in DCP-501 to find it if they want to see proof it can be purchased by customers as a new item.

Ask them kindly to send your box information to provisioning. Give them the unit address (those numbers with the bar codes) and serial number of the box. Don't be a wise-guy to them. Let them tell you all about how they check for stolen equipment. If you bought it new, you are all set. Some CSRs find this process soo fascinating that they want to stay involved. They may ask to call you in a couple of days to update you on the progress. Go for it! Now that you have someone who is willing to 'give it a try', don't loose them!! (get their name and number or email, so you can also update them if it just starts working (gets provisioned)).

Like I said, this took me about one week to get it active. The box functions really well. It is like a fast DCT2000. The remote that comes with the box has many additional features over the DCT2000 box, so dont loose it! If you have a silver Comcast remote, it will work when the DCP501 is in CableTV mode. To get the DVD working or other features, you are stuck with the big remote. [a side-topic: if you want to re-program any of the big DCP-501 remote, it IS a JP1 remote.. see: »www.hifi-remote.com/jp1/ ··· ex.shtml for more info about this stuff. No, the Comcast silver remote is NOT a JP1. ]

So, there is a lot of information here to go through. be patient and work with the Comcast CSR(s), as this is new to them too.. be nice, it will pay off.

Some other interesting things I found:
Comcast does not have a way to bill you the 'outlet fee' separate from the 'box rental fee' anymore, so they will put in a 'service credit' (never expires) for the $7.50 (or whatever your box rental/outlet fee is). They also put my DCP501 as the 'additional outlet'. I do not have any other Comcast cable box on my account. I'm would imagine that you can share this information with the CSR to help them get it all in your account.

Well, I hope this helps people who choose to get a box like this one. At the time I got that box, I did not have a 5.1 surround receiver, so I grabbed it-- nice upgrade to the home theater I had previously.

If you are one of those who must have the latest and greatest gadget, google the DCP601 box. It is the HD version of the DCP501. I have not found any place to buy it from. The following text is from Motorola's site (a PDF -- NCTA 2004)
Motorola DCP601 Digital Video Home Entertainment System with DVD Player

The Motorola DCP601 is a 6.1 channel audio/video processor that
combines HD decoding and digital cable functionality into a home theater
system. Part of Motorola’s Digital Convergence Platform (DCP) family of
home theater systems, the Motorola DCP601 integrates a top-quality
audio/video processor; a progressive scan DVD player which can upconvert
for higher resolutions on HDTV monitors; AM/FM stereo receiver;
HD decoding capabilities and an digital cable-ready receiver -- all into one
unit offering high functionality with plug-and-play convenience.
[see page 5 at: »www.motorola.com/mot/doc ··· tDoc.pdf ]

Well, best of luck with your choices and I hope you find this information helpful...

CableTool
Poorly Representing MYSELF.
Premium Member
join:2004-11-12

CableTool

Premium Member

Thats a first for me!

Ill havce to save this info for future reference.. Curious though. What are the advantages for OWNING your own box?

For early adopters if this was a common everyday thing there would be THOUSANDS out there with a single tuner DVR sitting on their tv... obsolete.( Although that box looks pretty sweet, all in one- )
wadewood
Premium Member
join:2003-05-04
Houston, TX

wadewood

Premium Member

This was a »www.woot.com deal about a week ago. They sold them for $135 shipped. People bought them and are now ebaying them for a $15 profit plus more shipping.

Qumahlin
Never Enough Time
MVM
join:2001-10-05
united state

2 recommendations

Qumahlin to CableTool

MVM

to CableTool
said by CableTool:

Thats a first for me!

Ill havce to save this info for future reference.. Curious though. What are the advantages for OWNING your own box?
Other then saving the monthly fee...nothing.

By the time you have paid enough monthly fees to equal the price you paid for the DCP-501, there will be newer boxes out.

No offense, but in this current age it makes NO sense for a customer ever to buy their own box.

It's just not a financially smart decision based on boxes breaking, the fact that we do not push firmware upgrades to the DCP-501 so if there are any firmware bugs, you gotta live with them, etc, etc.

CableTool
Poorly Representing MYSELF.
Premium Member
join:2004-11-12

CableTool

Premium Member

Now that its said...
To add we swap out boxes everyday. DVR's, HD, Plain, boxes that worked fine for months then just started acting up.

With your all in one, lets say there is a fimrware push that will enable something you relaly really really wanted. Your out of the loop. Or say your box itself went bad. Thats one component of your home entertainment system that cannot be used, but its part of it. Physically. You cant just swap out the box part?

WHen I look back through my career and see all the different box types that have passed through my hands, just in the past ten years, I couldnt justify such a purchase for anything more then $50.00.
But I as a customer would be much more comfortable with the only thing I have to worry about if something goes wrong with my cable being my tv itself. Everything else is on the company.

rcilink
Premium Member
join:2003-12-15
Manchester, NH

rcilink to Qumahlin

Premium Member

to Qumahlin
said by Qumahlin:

...the fact that we do not push firmware upgrades to the DCP-501 so if there are any firmware bugs, you gotta live with them, etc, etc.
I will check my DCP-501 when I get home, but I did get the firmware update with the new I-guide when it came out.

From what I was told, they (Comcast) treat it like a DCT2000 so any DCT2000 updates should get pushed to it. But, I will confirm this tonight..

Qumahlin
Never Enough Time
MVM
join:2001-10-05
united state

Qumahlin

MVM

said by rcilink:
said by Qumahlin:

...the fact that we do not push firmware upgrades to the DCP-501 so if there are any firmware bugs, you gotta live with them, etc, etc.
I will check my DCP-501 when I get home, but I did get the firmware update with the new I-guide when it came out.

From what I was told, they (Comcast) treat it like a DCT2000 so any DCT2000 updates should get pushed to it. But, I will confirm this tonight..
Bottom line then is your lucky. You will get guide software updates, but for the most part everytime i've seen firmware updates attempted they usually fail for god knows what reason so we stopped pushing them in most markets for the DCP-501.

GameraFan
join:2003-01-03
Monster Isle

GameraFan

Member

So you want to buy something that you can get for free?

Honestly, I prefer just taking my excess cash and either a) naming stars after myself or b) flushing it down the toilet.
bcunningh
join:2005-04-01
Seattle, WA

bcunningh to rcilink

Member

to rcilink
So, this is the only digital box you have? I think where I'm at you wouldn't get any credit. Since the first box is included with any digital package.