Digital Cable Receiver rent?

Question

I was just wondering, just like how you can stop paying Comcast $3 a month by buying your own cable modem, can you do that same thing with a digital cable box? If so, there is the best place to purchase them?

Answer 1

You can buy your own cable modem youmust inform comcast that you haveit and they will talk you into installation.As for as the cable boxes you can buy them legally althought you have to hunt them down online I found mine on Ebay since comcast is unloading the old Motorola boxes in favor of the new smaller ones you can try first talking to them in the customer service area in person or try this link on ebay just before you buy it make sure you have all the info you need from comcast so you wont get stuck with the ones you buy from the site
http://cgi.ebay.com/GI-MOTOROLA-DIGITAL-DECODER-CABLE-BLACK-BOX-DCT2224_W0QQitemZ200056989038QQihZ010QQcategoryZ39804QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
takes a little homework,but good luck
I bought my modem and installed wireless network and well worth the savings over renting it
Just make sure none of the boxes you might buy was involved in recall like below
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/recalls/motorola.html

Answer 2

In theory, you can. I have seen cable boxes sold on ebay. The question is will Comcast be willing to provision your set-top box? And how much will they deduct? Just like a Cable Modem, it is not as simple as a plug and play. Your cable provider has to put the mac address of the cable modem or in this case, your set top box.

I haven't heard of any cable companies allowing this. But, it might be a matter of time, once digital and HDTV is mandatory for all tv providers.