Landline Required for VOOM??

[Eric_C]

Um, I just thought of something.

The phone line requiremen is pure BS. If a hack ever came out, I would guess that the hack would include a dial out fix...

This has nothing to do with piracy, all it does is leave another hurdle. If anything has been proven, piracy is impossible to stop and if they think a phone line requirement is going to do it then their not too bright.

 

[Scubasoul]

Im trying to think of a way to get the phone line to my tv also....its going to be a pain....Dont know how im going to do it. But if it is a mandatory rule that VOOM says has to be done then they should sent installers out to do it. i was told nothing of this when the installers came to my house. If it was a mandatory thing ...they should have insisted on it on the first day of installation. What if you dont read the forums? Who is going to notify you? I figure VOOm doesnt need to push any wrong buttons with its subscribers right now. Its just not good business for them. Actually they should be kissing our asses.

Easy if you have a line in your house, see previous posts, wireless phone jack system.

 

[Ilya]

If a hack ever came out, I would guess that the hack would include a dial out fix...

You might be right, but this is not the most immediate threat for VOOM. Today, nothing prevents someone from activating several receivers and passing them to friends and relatives for half the price. I suspect, this is the kind of piracy VOOM is primarily concerned about. With the phone line, VOOM will be able to verify the location of each STB based on CallerID info.

 

[deArgila]

I don't really care whether or not they make a phone line connection mandatory - AS LONG AS THEY SUPPLY THE NECESSARY EQUIPMENT.

I don't have a phone line anywhere near my TV - and I'm not about to go spend $80 or whatever at best buy to get a wireless one. If they send me one, I'll gladly hook it up. I signed up for free installation and $0 upfront cost. This would violate that deal.

PS - I only have one receiver on my account - so they don't have to worry about "sharing" the service.

 

[cameron119]

You might be right, but this is not the most immediate threat for VOOM. Today, nothing prevents someone from activating several receivers and passing them to friends and relatives for half the price. I suspect, this is the kind of piracy VOOM is primarily concerned about. With the phone line, VOOM will be able to verify the location of each STB based on CallerID info.

What kind of fix could come out? If you program it to not report back, then they send the box a kill signal. If you program it to report back in some special way, it will still not show as registered in their records...kill signal. This is almost foolproof if they actually enforce it by killing all receivers that don't report back.

You can imagine that they have the serial numbers of every box ever produced for the service, including those that were never activated.

 

[Scubasoul]

I don't really care whether or not they make a phone line connection mandatory - AS LONG AS THEY SUPPLY THE NECESSARY EQUIPMENT.

I don't have a phone line anywhere near my TV - and I'm not about to go spend $80 or whatever at best buy to get a wireless one. If they send me one, I'll gladly hook it up. I signed up for free installation and $0 upfront cost. This would violate that deal.

PS - I only have one receiver on my account - so they don't have to worry about "sharing" the service.

Guess no one can expect that they supply a wireless phone jack sytem for free. Let's be realistic here. This has nothing to do with "free installation".

If they enforce it, you either hook up your receiver, or you won't be vooming anymore. Simple like that.

 

[deArgila]

Guess no one can expect that they supply a wireless phone jack sytem for free. Let's be realistic here. This has nothing to do with "free installation".

If they enforce it, you either hook up your receiver, or you won't be vooming anymore. Simple like that.

It has everything to do with free installation. The only reason I would need the wireless phone jack is to get my voom receiver to work. And if my voom receiver won't work without it - than it's definitely part of the "installation."

My installer said the phone line was not a requirement unless I wanted PPV. And when I ordered, I specifically said I had a land-based phone line but did not have a jack anywhere near the TV. They said the installer would take care of it.

 

[mkatts]

50 ft phone cord from Home Depot is $5. You are going to squabble over $5?


OHHHKAYYY

 

[Ken F]

Today, nothing prevents someone from activating several receivers and passing them to friends and relatives for half the price. I suspect, this is the kind of piracy VOOM is primarily concerned about. With the phone line, VOOM will be able to verify the location of each STB based on CallerID info.

PS - I only have one receiver on my account - so they don't have to worry about "sharing" the service.

I understand VOOM's concerns about piracy, but for the near term, I think they should seriously consider limiting the phone requirement to secondary receivers on a customer's account. They could enable the de-authorization feature by default, and hit every primary receiver (one per customer account) to disable this code. They would not want to disable this code permanently on any box (in case it were stolen), so they would want to have the de-authorization feature re-enable itself periodically, requiring a rehit every month or every several months.

Of course, they would need to disable or limit PPV for primary receivers that are connected. Dish Network does this by limiting the number of PPVs that can be watched before a call-in is required.

 

[Scubasoul]

It has everything to do with free installation. The only reason I would need the wireless phone jack is to get my voom receiver to work. And if my voom receiver won't work without it - than it's definitely part of the "installation."

My installer said the phone line was not a requirement unless I wanted PPV. And when I ordered, I specifically said I had a land-based phone line but did not have a jack anywhere near the TV. They said the installer would take care of it.

That's why they provide a long phone cord. They are not responsible for providing a phone jack near your receiver.

Let us know when you receive your wireless phone jack system from Voom.

 

[TechCop]

The real issue...

...is the quality of the Voom representatives we deal with. Apparently I was lucky. My CSR pointed out the need for a phone line, twice, while I was placing my original order. My installer was VERY savvy and aware that the phone line was not optional. (He also left me the two LOOOOONG phone cords and splitters, even though they were not needed). Got 2 DVI cables, too.

I'm also fortunate that I joined this forum months before I ordered, so I knew what to expect (and what to avoid).

SatelliteGuys ROCKS!

 

[deArgila]

That's why they provide a long phone cord. They are not responsible for providing a phone jack near your receiver.

Let us know when you receive your wireless phone jack system from Voom.

Thanks,

If I only need to connect to the phone line once every 2 weeks or whatever, and I can control when the system dials in - a long phone cord works fine. I currently do that with my Tivo. But they can't expect me to permanently have a loose phone cord from my TV to the kitchen, where the nearest phone jack is.

My point still stands - if the phone cord solution doesn't work - they need to provide something that does. I shouldn't have to incur any cost to set up my voom system, including the phone line "requirement."

 

[Ilya]

If I only need to connect to the phone line once every 2 weeks or whatever, and I can control when the system dials in - a long phone cord works fine. I currently do that with my Tivo.

I think this might work with VOOM too, since there is a way to initiate Report-Back manually through the menu.

P.S. There is really no need to offend anyone here...

 

[Scubasoul]

Thanks,

If I only need to connect to the phone line once every 2 weeks or whatever, and I can control when the system dials in - a long phone cord works fine. I currently do that with my Tivo. But they can't expect me to permanently have a loose phone cord from my TV to the kitchen, where the nearest phone jack is.

My point still stands - if the phone cord solution doesn't work - they need to provide something that does. I shouldn't have to incur any cost to set up my voom system, including the phone line "requirement."

Dude, even with name calling, you're still wrong.

Again, let us know when you receive your wireless phone jack.

 

[slffl]

I love the 'piracy' argument. How come everyone thinks that EVERYONE is going to give every single family member and friend a receiver??? And for the ones that do, the people probably wouldn't have had VOOM otherwise. This is a lame excuse for a phone line, and I don't think it's the reason they require one.

And as far as the cost of a 50' phone line, yeah, $5 is great if I want it running down my stairs and across the middle of floors. Will you come and fish it through all my floors and walls for me?

 

[mkatts]

Fishing cable is not rocket science. hiding it along a baseboard just under the carpet is not rocket science. I think some people are to uptight and if they just stop and think, they would figure out a way to make it work without having to get some else to do things for them. It's just a phone line. Relax, it's not like they are asking for you first born.

 

[Vince2]

Please, phone cables are cheap and there is nothing to get excited about. Besides, they aren't enforcing anything if you chose not to run one. My boxes have never been hooked up to a phone line and never will.

 

[Eric_C]

They cannot verify STB location based on Caller ID if you have Caller ID block!

I do agree with you on the STB passing out thing though, hells thats a great idea

However thats not whats happening, even DTV could have that problem, but they don't verify anything either. I know people who have STB'd through DTV at second homes and have paid the 5 bux for years. Do I consider that illegal? No, its still YOUR residence, no different to me than watching TV in the other room.

I even borrowed my neighbors DTV recieve to catch a Wings game before ESPN was put on.

I'll tell you this, if they make it a requirement, its because someone somewhere in the company doesn't understand how things work. Someone pitched this phone line thing to the powers that be, who really do not understand how things work. Its the same in every large company, someone builds and empire around an assinine idea and has to follow through or they go down hard.

The blind leading the blind....

 

[Ilya]

They cannot verify STB location based on Caller ID if you have Caller ID block!..

Sure they can! They can dial "*82" or "1182" and this will unblock your Caller Id for a single call. This is an FCC-specified way of doing that...

 

[n0qcu]

Minor correction:
The STB's call an "800" number caller ID is NOT used. A service called ANI is used your number cannot be blocked.