buy digital cable box off ebay? will it work?

[BEER4FOOD]

Insead of paying TW 7 bucks a month, can I just buy a box off ebay and make it work? is there a certain model to buy?

 

[WooHorn]

You should buy the kind that works with DirectTV and dump cable.

 

[Nacho]

as long as you're paying for digital cable, it'll work.

 

[BEER4FOOD]

well I have digital cable and I bought one...It doesnt work...I called TW and they said it wouldnt work on their system...has anyone actually done this?

 

[MilkmanDan]

So did you buy a box in the 19 hours between your two posts, or are you trying to do better the next time?

I believe Time Warner uses only Scientific Atlanta and Pace decoder boxes. If you call in with the serial number, there is a small chance they might activate it. But note this discussion from the Austin cable mailing list:

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[BEER4FOOD]

I bought one off of ebay last week not thinking about it not working, I just thought it would.....It doesnt so I was trying to find out if I got scammed or if I bough the wrong code box..Here in houston, all of our boxes had been motorola until my current one that I rent...its a HD DVR scientific...but the regular HD one and the non HD one I had before were motorola....I just wanted digital cable in the bedroom thought this would be a easy way to do it

 

[MilkmanDan]

I'm pretty certain that they have to be activated/registered with your local carrier. If they're telling you on the phone that it won't work, you may be screwed. However, I think that Houston lags behind Austin in new equipment sometimes. If they haven't released the SciAtl HD DVR there yet, maybe you can get it activated after that happens.

Good luck.