Unexpected extras

Sorry if this is OT or has been covered before.

I'm a Comcast basic cable customer in New England. I watch HD via QAM
signals with no STB. I get the locals on subchannels like 87.2 (CBS), 86.2
(NBC), 86.1 (ABC), and so on. I also receive (without requesting or paying
for) random programming on 90.x, 91.x, and 92.x, which is clearly from
Comcast's "On-Demand" service.

It's as if a neighbor or somebody has requested something and it magically
appears, unencrypted, on my wire as well. Sometimes it feels like I'm seeing
someone's DVR playback as programs are paused, fast-forwarded or reversed as
I watch. What the heck is actually going on here?

Same syndrome here in southeast Michigan, direct connect Comcast to the RF
input, select the channels via the ATSC tuner and watch all the fun. Saves
buying their HD packages to watch the local hd programmes. I'm sure they
will find a way to try and block it or at least add charges for you directly
connecting.
"kafir" wrote in message
news:[email protected]
Sorry if this is OT or has been covered before.

I'm a Comcast basic cable customer in New England. I watch HD via QAM
signals with no STB. I get the locals on subchannels like 87.2 (CBS), 86.2
(NBC), 86.1 (ABC), and so on. I also receive (without requesting or paying
for) random programming on 90.x, 91.x, and 92.x, which is clearly from
Comcast's "On-Demand" service.

It's as if a neighbor or somebody has requested something and it magically
appears, unencrypted, on my wire as well. Sometimes it feels like I'm
seeing
someone's DVR playback as programs are paused, fast-forwarded or reversed
as
I watch. What the heck is actually going on here?

kafir wrote:
Sorry if this is OT or has been covered before.

I'm a Comcast basic cable customer in New England. I watch HD via QAM
signals with no STB. I get the locals on subchannels like 87.2 (CBS), 86.2
(NBC), 86.1 (ABC), and so on. I also receive (without requesting or paying
for) random programming on 90.x, 91.x, and 92.x, which is clearly from
Comcast's "On-Demand" service.

It's as if a neighbor or somebody has requested something and it magically
appears, unencrypted, on my wire as well. Sometimes it feels like I'm seeing
someone's DVR playback as programs are paused, fast-forwarded or reversed as
I watch. What the heck is actually going on here?
You are supposed to get the local digital stations via a QAM tuner with
basic cable service. Other material like Discovery Theater HD and INHD
should be enctypted and unavailable. The ability to see into someone's
DVR viewing is bazaar, but I've heard this before.

justsc

I see from this reply and the previous one that I did not phrase my question
very well. Sorry about that and thanks for your reply.

Yes, I know I am supposed to get the locals unencrypted on the cable (I also
get them OTA here), and yes, I know I would have to pay to get a package
that included Discovery, etc. These things I expected.

What I did not expect was to receive the unencrypted content on 90.x and
91.x. So far it seems to be On-Demand offerings only, and sometimes it
seems like DVR playback. Maybe it's always DVR playback - I can't be sure
(but why only On-Demand content, if so?) I would really like to understand
where the these signals come from.


wrote in message
ups.com...
kafir wrote:
Sorry if this is OT or has been covered before.

I'm a Comcast basic cable customer in New England. I watch HD via QAM
signals with no STB. I get the locals on subchannels like 87.2 (CBS),
86.2
(NBC), 86.1 (ABC), and so on. I also receive (without requesting or
paying
for) random programming on 90.x, 91.x, and 92.x, which is clearly from
Comcast's "On-Demand" service.

It's as if a neighbor or somebody has requested something and it
magically
appears, unencrypted, on my wire as well. Sometimes it feels like I'm
seeing
someone's DVR playback as programs are paused, fast-forwarded or reversed
as
I watch. What the heck is actually going on here?
You are supposed to get the local digital stations via a QAM tuner with
basic cable service. Other material like Discovery Theater HD and INHD
should be enctypted and unavailable. The ability to see into someone's
DVR viewing is bazaar, but I've heard this before.

justsc

kafir wrote:
....
What I did not expect was to receive the unencrypted content on 90.x and
91.x. So far it seems to be On-Demand offerings only, and sometimes it
seems like DVR playback. Maybe it's always DVR playback - I can't be sure
(but why only On-Demand content, if so?) I would really like to understand
where the these signals come from.
....

That's the way on-demand works right now. Cable is still essentially a
"broadcast" distribution. What gets sent from the top goes to all the
end points. Obviously, all the normal stations get "broadcast" so that
everyone with a decoder box can get them. Apparently, the most cost
effective way to provide "on-demand" was to choose an empty channel and
send the signal...to everyone. You still have to have a compatible
digital tuner (QAM) and be looking at the right time. I suppose it's
so inconvenient for most people to try to watch someone else's content,
that the cable company doesn't worry about it.

Dan (Woj...)

In article .com,
"dmaster" wrote:

kafir wrote:
...
What I did not expect was to receive the unencrypted content on 90.x and
91.x. So far it seems to be On-Demand offerings only, and sometimes it
seems like DVR playback. Maybe it's always DVR playback - I can't be sure
(but why only On-Demand content, if so?) I would really like to understand
where the these signals come from.
...

That's the way on-demand works right now. Cable is still essentially a
"broadcast" distribution. What gets sent from the top goes to all the
end points. Obviously, all the normal stations get "broadcast" so that
everyone with a decoder box can get them. Apparently, the most cost
effective way to provide "on-demand" was to choose an empty channel and
send the signal...to everyone. You still have to have a compatible
digital tuner (QAM) and be looking at the right time. I suppose it's
so inconvenient for most people to try to watch someone else's content,
that the cable company doesn't worry about it.

And the on-demand service is not popular enough that they run out of
bandwidth for the dedicated streams. I think this a good example of a
service that fails when successful.

--
Tom Stiller

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