Your own cable box with OTW?

[amagab]

It's outrageous the amounts our family spend each month on cable box fees to OTW. In the long run it would be way cheaper for us to buy our own. Is that possible? Does OTW accept that?

[Frankie's Market]

Re: Your own cable box with OTW?

AFAIK, Oceanic does not offer their digital DVRs for sale.

Now of course, there are other DVRs out there (like TIVO, to name one) that you can purchase. But even then, your 3rd party DVR might require some kind of CableCARD that you would have to rent from Oceanic,... albeit at a much lower monthly fee compared to OTW's DVR. Just be mindful that you won't be able to access interactive services, PPV/On Demand programming, and season sport packages like UH Sports Live, MLB Extra Innings and NBA League Pass.

Me? I just pay for basic cable service, with absolutely no monthly charge beyond that. Thanks to the built-in QAM tuner on my Toshiba HDTV, I'm able to watch the local stations in HD, and get quite an assortment of cable networks in 480i digital. For the sports PPV,..... I'm usually able to find whatever I want on the internet.

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Your own cable box with OTW?

It's outrageous the amounts our family spend each month on cable box fees to OTW. In the long run it would be way cheaper for us to buy our own. Is that possible? Does OTW accept that?

AFAIK, Oceanic does not offer their digital DVRs for sale.

FM, I'm not sure amagab is asking about a DVR; the question might be about a converter box. Amagab - can you clarify?

[amagab]

Re: Your own cable box with OTW?

I have two digital cable boxes and two HD DVRs in our house. I believe they are all Scientific Atlanta brand and we pay $40/month to rent them. I've seen them sell on eBay for around $30-100 so obviously we would save a bunch of money in the long run. My question was if I buy them from somewhere else, if I could use them with our OTC cable service?

[Palolo lolo]

Re: Your own cable box with OTW?

I have two digital cable boxes and two HD DVRs in our house. I believe they are all Scientific Atlanta brand and we pay $40/month to rent them. I've seen them sell on eBay for around $30-100 so obviously we would save a bunch of money in the long run. My question was if I buy them from somewhere else, if I could use them with our OTC cable service?

probably not,as OTW only recognizes boxes from within their system.

[Frankie's Market]

Re: Your own cable box with OTW?

I have two digital cable boxes and two HD DVRs in our house. I believe they are all Scientific Atlanta brand and we pay $40/month to rent them. I've seen them sell on eBay for around $30-100 so obviously we would save a bunch of money in the long run. My question was if I buy them from somewhere else, if I could use them with our OTC cable service?

OTW's cable boxes and DVRs are addressable. That is, they all have unique MAC addresses that allows OTW to control and filter which channels and services you are able to access. So even if you purchase Scientific Atlanta equipment that are identical to what you are renting from OTW, it might offer limited or zero functionality, as Oceanic's system might not recognize the MAC address of equipment they did not issue. Before you go out and purchase any cable box/DVR/modem, you should ask OTW technical support first to find out if the equipment you plan to purchase can be activated and if there will be any limitations/restrictions in what kind of channels or service will be available to you. For example, an inability to order up PPV programming might be a deal-breaker for a UFC or boxing fan. But for others, it would be no big deal.

[anapuni808]

Re: Your own cable box with OTW?

I just went to OTW's website to look at pricing - it really doesn't seem that the box rental is that high. a regular box is just $7.12 a month. It would seem that the fact you have so many boxes (4?) is what is costing you so much, not OTW's rates. Sorry - I guess I just don't understand what the problem is. Have you checked the cost of satellite service or thru Hawaiian Tel?

[Frankie's Market]

Re: Your own cable box with OTW?

I have two digital cable boxes and two HD DVRs in our house. I believe they are all Scientific Atlanta brand and we pay $40/month to rent them.

I just went to OTW's website to look at pricing - it really doesn't seem that the box rental is that high. a regular box is just $7.12 a month. It would seem that the fact you have so many boxes (4?) is what is costing you so much, not OTW's rates. Sorry - I guess I just don't understand what the problem is.

It would appear that the OP has 2 TV sets that is hooked up to OTW's digital cable service. Thus, his expenses for an digital addressable box (converter) and an HD DVR for 2 TVs are as follows:

1st addressable box - $7.12
2nd addressable box - $7.12
1st DVR - $10.95
2nd DVR - $9.95

With the state sales tax (4.712%) and OTW's franchise fee (4%) added in, I calculate the total monthly cost at $38.21. The OP's statement that he's paying $40 per month for his cable boxes aren't far off the mark. That's over $450 per year, just for the boxes alone!

This thread has reinforced my being content with having 4 TVs hooked up for basic cable, which requires no boxes from Oceanic. As I said previously, if there's any PPV programming that I really want to see, I'll sign up for the online version,.... much of which carries a cheaper price tag than the cable TV counterpart. And in the case of season sport paks like those for the NBA and MLB, the online/mobile subscription actually offers more games in HD quality compared to the cable TV package, which mostly provides SD feeds.

[anapuni808]

Re: Your own cable box with OTW?

FM = thanks for clarifying what I was pointing out. I was in the middle of a migraine and just didn't take time to go into detail.

[amagab]

Re: Your own cable box with OTW?

Thanks Frankie for understanding my point and explaining it (better than me) in more detail.

I never thought about this cost before until I noticed satellite providers not charging for their boxes/DVRs and then finding out how cheap they are on the used market.

I will indeed take your advice and discuss this with OTW. Theoretically and technically, it should not be a problem for OTW to register these devices. Questions is, will they do it?

Thanks!

[Frankie's Market]

Re: Your own cable box with OTW?

I would imagine the folks at OTW will be very reluctant to help you get a non-Oceanic issued cable box activated. Leasing out equipment to subscribers is probably the business that offers OTW its highest profit margin. So be prepared for some resistance on their part.

Good luck, and let us know how it turns out.