DCT6412 activation question

[jeepguy]

I know this board is intended for DCT2224 models but so far this seems to be the best organized source of knowledge I can find.

I legitimatly subscribe to digital cable and when I opened my account with Adelphia I asked if I could buy my own box and avoid their rental fees. Of course the said yes and I bought a DCT6412. Well....now they claim that they have method setup in their billing system to allow them to activate a user owned box without still charging them a rental fee. So if I want to use my own box I still have to pay the rental fee.

Since I pay for the service they can't really ding me for stealing it (at least I don't see how). So do you guys know of anyway to get my DCT6412 working? If not, could you point me in the direction of a site that might be able to help me out.


Thanks

[patsfan]

different processor and commands. nothing here so far will help you. i would tell them to refund your purchase price or give you a credit every month in the amount of the rental charge. i have a 6412 myself, nice box.

[jeepguy]

I can't really get a refund. I bought it new on ebay and not from my cable provider. The ebay seller owned up to his end of the deal.

[DCTGoddess]

JeepGuy, here's two great forums: www.digitalhomecanada.com and www.dvrchatter.com.
The first forum you can put in a search for DCT6412, the second forum is soley devoted to DCT6412 owners.
I really don't think Adelphia has any right to charge you a rental fee for a box you own. FCC regulations say cable companies cannot deny activation of a box that you own, as long as it isn't stolen or incompatible w/ their system. That would be denial of service, which is illegal. However, who knows what kind of crazy surcharge the cable co. will invent so they still can make an extra dollar of people buying boxes off of Ebay. Good luck!

[patsfan]

oh, i assumed you bought it from them.

[jeepguy]

DCTGoddess,

Do you know where I can find something from the FCC stating that a cable company cannot deny service to a box that I own?

[jeepguy]

I was able to find this (see below). But nothing official from the FCC site.

Converters are not needed to receive either the Basic Tier or the Standard Tier, but you do need to rent a converter to receive optional channels, like HBO, Showtime, Pay-per-view and Digital Cable services. Federal law does not allow the City to "prohibit, condition, or restrict a cable system's use of any type of subscriber equipment." The specific language is intended to permit cable operators to scramble their signal. A converter is necessary to "unscramble" the signal.

[jeepguy]

I emailed the Media Bureau of the FCC and this was their response:

Thanks for contacting the FCC. I appreciate the opportunity to respond.

At present, cable TV companies are not required to permit subscribers to
use a converter box that was obtained from a source other than the cable
company. The FCC is working on regulations that eventually will permit
consumers to obtain a converter box from a retail outlet and have the
box activated by the local cable company. These rules, however, are not
yet effective.

I hope that this information is helpful.

[patsfan]

ha sounds like they'll tell you to go pound sand. tell them you will disconnect and go with sat, other competitor etc. might make them change their tune.

[hk45]

jeepguy said:

Since I pay for the service they can't really ding me for stealing it (at least I don't see how). So do you guys know of anyway to get my DCT6412 working? If not, could you point me in the direction of a site that might be able to help me out.


Thanks

Yes they can "Ding" you for it. It falls under the DMCA. Your service agreement w/ CaCO considers that "unauthorized".

[adrianbv6]

patsfan said:

different processor and commands. nothing here so far will help you. i would tell them to refund your purchase price or give you a credit every month in the amount of the rental charge. i have a 6412 myself, nice box.

does it have a JTAG port? i think is 12 or 14 pin on the board

[patsfan]

i'm not sure. ihaven't taken the cover off of mine. it has a black clip attatched to the cover that if you remove the cover it breaks off. kind of a security seal to alert that cover has been removed.