 | | Why is cable theft still a thing? With encrypted channels, locked down cable boxes, etc... Even if you have access to the line, what can you do with it these days?
This is not like the 90s when you could just sneak in a splitter and watch basic cable on your TV with no box. | |
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 | | | Re: Why is cable theft still a thing? Stacking where you have 1 paid account but like 5 boxes all in differnt Apartments | |
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| | | | Re: Why is cable theft still a thing? but in those encrypted markets, you still need to have the tap activated. TWC needs to combat theft from the tap even more than they do now. | |
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| | | | | Re: Why is cable theft still a thing? What exactly are you going to steal from the tap? Everything is encrypted.
(Finally got back to a machine that I could log in on) | |
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| | | | Reviews:
 ·AT&T U-Verse
 ·MegaPath
| Re: Why is cable theft still a thing? The channels maybe encrypted, but when you have a cable box from one address and put it at another it is still illegal. 9 out of 10 times those taps are shut off that have no paying services. So yes, TWC needs to fix the tap issue along with encrypting the channels but not all markets are encrypted. | |
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| | | | | Reviews:
 ·Charter
| Re: Why is cable theft still a thing? most cable boxes are two way communication capable, which means that TWC can and does disable stolen cable boxes, and even ones that show up outside the zone where it should be. Most cable companies have no problem tracking where boxes are, even down to a specific street. If it moves to far, it does not work. | |
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| | | | | | | | Re: Why is cable theft still a thing? But within a single apartment building, the cable company may not have the fine granularity of data to determine that a set top box which should be in apartment 201, is really in apartment 203. | |
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| | | | | | | BiggA
join:2005-11-23
EARTH | Re: Why is cable theft still a thing? And if people are running cable out windows and through walls and stuff, it would look like they're all in one apartment anyways... | |
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| | | | | BiggA
join:2005-11-23
EARTH | People could still poke a hole in the wall, or run cable from one window to another... I'm sure it happens. | |
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| | | | You still need to pay a monthly fee for each of the five boxes, otherwise they won't work. | |
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| | | | | Re: Why is cable theft still a thing? But its cheaper to do that than order services, it would still be illegal to give the box to someone else's address. | |
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| | | | Reviews:
 ·VoicePulse
| Re: Why is cable theft still a thing? " 9 out of 10 times those taps are shut off that have no paying services."
What do you mean 9 out of 10? If there is no paying service, they can shut off the line from their main office. And they can remove access for the particular box that had service since they need to authorize access to each unique box, which they can control from their office.
Besides, if a customer has an internet-only account with the cable company, with no paid cable video service, they can't turn off the "tap" and if someone plugs into their line a paid box from another customer it will work and there is no way for the cable company to even know about that. | |
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| | | | | Reviews:
·Time Warner Cable
·AT&T Midwest
·voip.ms
| Re: Why is cable theft still a thing? said by josephf:...If there is no paying service, they can shut off the line from their main office. ... Only if they have addressable equipment in the building. Some do, some don't. I don't know if addressable is standard in NYC, but it's a lot more expensive and takes up more space than your typical cable distribution locker in a utility closet or the garage.
said by josephf:...if a customer has an internet-only account with the cable company, with no paid cable video service, they can't turn off the "tap" ...
Yes, but if they add bandpass filters that block everything but the spectrum used for data, it has the same effect. I have seen them do this, and then somebody breaks into the locker and removes the filters.
More modern buildings that were wired assuming separate agreements for each tenant tend to have more secure distribution. But old lockers that were installed under cheap bulk agreements in the 80s, i.e. CATV included in the rent, are a lot harder to secure, so if they're anywhere semi-public, tenants will get in and rewire.
Sometimes there aren't even lockers. One place I worked, we literally had gym lockers full of taps and cables, but they were so congested most of them couldn't even be closed. Oh, well!
Also depending on the building construction and distance between conspirators, it's hardly unheard of that tenants will run their own distribution wiring from a single tap which is authorized, and yeah, they could get multiple STBs and divvy up the bill themselves. These are not sophisticated operations so they don't normally last, but they are a nuisance for the cable operator.
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 PacketeersPremium
join:2005-06-18
Forest Hills, NY
kudos:1
·Verizon Online DSL
| I love my Building Agreement I enjoy $10 off anything I subscribe to with TWC. people usually pay $35-$45 in my area for Standard 15/1mbps Internet - My bill each month is $29  (and yes I do own my own modem).
The only bad thing about this is Verizon is scared to FiOS up my building because they doubt they'll be able to achieve even 50% penetration here. | |
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| DodgePremium
join:2002-11-27 | Re: I love my Building Agreement I doubt verizon is scared, I wouldn't be surprised if your wonderful building is keeping them out on purpose as part of some back room deal with TWC. | |
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| PacketeersPremium
join:2005-06-18
Forest Hills, NY
kudos:1 Reviews:
·Verizon Online DSL
4 edits | Dodge, normally i would agree with your cynicism, but in fact my area is one of the last places in Queens NY to get FioS because TWC and RCN serve us well here with low congestion networks. we discussed this at a Coop board meeting in June, and our building has already submitted all right-of-way application agreements to FiOS. thus far the only apartment building with FioS is a quarter mile away close to their CLEC building. Despite it's 2014 agreement with NYC - Verizon simply does not want to build where it can't be sure to penetrate, and think it's cheaper to pay lawyers and broken contract penalties instead.
As for my building's agreement with TWCable - there are no kickbacks involved, we simply promised to keep Satellite Dishes off the roof (something building maintenance were also happy about), and protect their exclusive use cable trays in our hallways. Satellite was the main threat to TWCable's business 20 years ago when we signed them up. Our tenants still have roof rights to put up HDTV antennas, but few bother with it since the analog to digital switch a few years ago. we had 30:100 roof.antenna:apartments in 2000, and by now it's down to 10:100, since many cord cutters in my area can get Aereo instead for local OTA stations. | |
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| | Reviews:
·Verizon FiOS
·voip.ms
| Re: I love my Building Agreement "simply" blocked competition by:
1. Blocking all sat competition
2. Exclusive use to trays w/ raceway
Hmm, let em in and knock yourself out blowing out walls to get in there. Sounds like quite the level playing field. And your are correct it is easier to pay any penalties then go into a hostile environment.
And Verizon corporate penetration is in the high 30's. In apartments they can use VDSL so it's not like they are wiring fibre to every unit. I guess it depends on the condition of the copper in your building, and if you have cable in the leasing agreement. Those are strong dis-incentives to bring in a new competitor.
When I moved upstate, no longer have to deal w/ this. | |
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| | | PacketeersPremium
join:2005-06-18
Forest Hills, NY
kudos:1 Reviews:
·Verizon Online DSL
1 edit | Re: I love my Building Agreement our old copper build is good two pair 22g in a common wet wall riser to every apartment. i used it at 7mbps adsl just 2 years ago a mile away from the CLEC and enjoyed low latency with great connectivity. but the FioS people we spoke to told us they'll be using fiber tape in the hallways we can later paint over, and not bothering with our copper.
like i mentioned, keeping satellite dishes off the roof was not just about TWCable. it's a 60yo building, so having people up there tending to dozens of dishes, wind storms, bitchy top floor apartment owner, brick&morter water proofing maintenance cycles... it was just not a viable option, so we were glad for the excuse not to allow it. | |
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·Verizon FiOS
·voip.ms
| Re: I love my Building Agreement Interesting. I haven't seen the fibre tapes in the field yet, but I know w/ my discussions w/ Corning that one of the main advantages is the splicing aspect and vandalism...Saves major time and can have 4-5 strands in a single tape.
Have they discussed what the CPE equipment is going to be? I don't think they would use ONT for each POP. Maybe ONT to each closet and then from there either branched coax or VDSL.
I getcha on the roof, just trying to keep it real. I know dishes don't scale in high rise situations. | |
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| | | | According to the FCC Rules, you wouldn't be able to keep your tenants from signing up for D* services. Sounds like the Co-op is asking or a lawsuit. | |
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| | | PacketeersPremium
join:2005-06-18
Forest Hills, NY
kudos:1 Reviews:
·Verizon Online DSL
2 edits | Re: I love my Building Agreement there are too many out of work Lawyers around not to class action for the entire Dish'less neighborhood if such an FCC rule had legs, so nobody here is going to lose sleep over it.
here in NYC all brick face and roof seal has to be inspected and refreshed every 5 years. the work would be a nightmare if we had dozens of dishes bolted all over the place. | |
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| | | | Reviews:
·AT&T U-Verse
·MegaPath
| Re: I love my Building Agreement Yes the FCC could enforce those rules. It would be easy to sue the Co-Op for that. Also since when was the only method of putting a dish up was to bolt it down? They make several devices that allow for a dish to be mounted to a roof without any bolts. Go take a look at your nearest 7-11. You'll see their rough mount. | |
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| | | elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA | Not quite.
FCC Rules do not grant tenants roof rights. | |
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| | | |  skeechanAi OtsukaholicPremium
join:2012-01-26
AA169|170
kudos:2 | Re: I love my Building Agreement I think the FCC rule says for rentals and such it has to be an area of tenant's exclusive use such as a balcony.
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Nocchi rules. | |
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| | | | | scooper
join:2000-07-11
Youngsville, NC
kudos:2 Reviews:
·Embarq Now Centu..
| Re: I love my Building Agreement Exactly - if the tenants have exclusive use balconies that can receive satellite - there is absolutely ZERO /ZIP/NADA you can do to stop them from subscribing to satellite. Especially if they use a non-penetrating roof mount on their balcony.
If I was on your coop board - I'd drop that regulation pronto before you get someone like me that will MAKE you drop that. You are, however, entirely within your rights to prohibit the roof mounts / mounts that screw into the building. | |
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| | | | | | BiggA
join:2005-11-23
EARTH | Re: I love my Building Agreement Correct. Theirs is about roofs. They probably don't even have balconies. OTARD doesn't guarantee ANY roof access for ANYTHING. | |
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| | | | | | elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA Reviews:
·EarthLink
| said by scooper:Exactly - if the tenants have exclusive use balconies that can receive satellite - there is absolutely ZERO /ZIP/NADA you can do to stop them from subscribing to satellite. Especially if they use a non-penetrating roof mount on their balcony.
If I was on your coop board - I'd drop that regulation pronto before you get someone like me that will MAKE you drop that. You are, however, entirely within your rights to prohibit the roof mounts / mounts that screw into the building.
Co-op boards aren't likely to be MADE to do anything.
That's their nature, and informs why sensible people don't buy in communal settings.
Renting often gets a bad reputation, but it means you can bail on a bad relationship on 30-330 days notice, and you're only negotiating with one person (management/landlord) who wants your business, not a committee of busybodies on a power trip. | |
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| | | | I would think the building owners would want a common building owned OTA antenna array on the roof. The building would have the appropriate combiners, splitters, pre-amplifiers, amplifiers, and wiring to serve each apartment. Then you would not have the tenants going up on the roof to install or adjust anything. You could do the same with a master satellite antenna array. | |
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| | | | | | Re: I love my Building Agreement I know about height. I had to help a friend install a parabolic antenna 24 feet above the ground on his roof to get cellular based internet. At ground level there was no EVDO 3G signal. He lives in a rural area where there is no DSL or cable internet. Cox cable and I have never gotten along in 25 years, so I do not use them. I rely on an indoor OTA antenna. I live on the ground floor so I get OTA signals blocked by the structure above me, the trees, and the concrete around my building. I used to do pretty well until the ATSC changeover. Now it can be difficult to get the PBS station sometimes. Other days i can get PBS fine, but cannot get CBS. It might be nice to have a common antenna 24 feet above where I am now. It was ironic that even when the complex manager allowed pole installed satellite dish antennas, I was in such a bad location the relaxation in rules could not help me get that service. | |
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| skeechanAi OtsukaholicPremium
join:2012-01-26
AA169|170
kudos:2 | Verizon isn't scared, certainly not of TWC. Verizon is adding video subs while TWC (like virtually all MSOs) are losing them.
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Nocchi rules. | |
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| | | | Re: I love my Building Agreement They're only losing them due to deals with the other providers. TWC and the MSOs seen up takes a few years ago while Dish and DirecTV lost them. It's a numbers game. | |
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| | | | while I love their internet, their video service is nothing to get excited about and too damned expensive, just like cable.
Once my contract/promo is up in late 2014, I'm likely ditching the FiOS TV, DVR and Phone if Aereo is still around. | |
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| | Building Agreements The deals are not win-wins in many cases. Annoyed tenants who are treated primarily as captive audiences for commercial pitches and advertisements might decide to move, creating a slight loss for the owners. If too many tenants move because of the way they are treated, the losses might become too much for the owner. Thus you usually find very tight restrictions on who, if anyone, gets to leave advertising around.
My apartment management has made it clear that they have no interest in subjecting us to that kind of constant marketing. Now they do allow some things to keep the parents of school aged children happy. Food establishments that deliver can put door hangers up, especially ones that give good deals to management on food catering for the quarterly apartment complex party. That has mostly meant the Chinese restaurants and the pizza places. The ice cream truck is allowed to make a trio of passes each day, with the music very audible inside most apartments. The K-12 school aged children of residents can go around trying to sell those school fund raising items like candy bars, magazines, and popcorn, but they rarely do. I might have one student every four months knock on my door selling magazines or chocolate bars. The rest of the pitchmen are told to use the US Postal Service and Direct(Junk) Mail Advertising. That goes for Cox Cable also, even though they are the exclusive cable TV and internet service provider for the building. Maybe three times a year, Cox is allowed to put up door hangars to push service on those of us who have not signed up with them.
For a while the local manager was very accommodating to those who wanted satellite TV service. you could put the antennas on poles in the areas of landscaping covered by pine straw or bark. This allowed many of those who did not have an exclusive use area suitable for satellite antenna placement to have a place to put a satellite antenna. This went well until Cox Cable noticed all the Cox Cable TV subscription cancellations. Cox went to the real estate management company headquarters in Atlanta and reminded them that they got nearly free Cox business services for all their properties apartment management offices and common facilities. In exchange the local apartment managers were supposed to be blocking the use of satellite TV services with strict enforcement of the restrictions allowed by law and FCC regulation, not accommodating them by letting the installers use poles installed in the ground in common areas. After that the poles were banned and removed.
That is not a win for the tenants. It only helped Cox Corporation by giving it more ability to restrict potential competition in the market for pay TV services. | |
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 dvd536as Mr. Pink as they comePremium
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ
kudos:4 | sweetheart deals pfft | |
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