[mythtv-users] Will we ever have Clear QAM WAS: Seattle Times: Comcast to encrypt basic cable QAM channels

John Drescher drescherjm at gmail.com
Mon Sep 14 22:17:25 UTC 2009


> What they need to do is to make a "Network Terminal" box.  This box would
> sit on the outside of your house (like the phone company) and connect to
> their network.  There would be a few connections off this box.  One would be
> an ethernet jack, the other would be an RG6 coax, and the last would be a
> phone jack.  The coax jack would output Clear QAM and connect to the cable
> in your house.  The cable company would then be able to control which tier
> you get through the Network Terminal box (just as they do now on the DVR
> boxes).  The NT box can be rented for the same cost as a DVR / month, or not
> at all.  It'd be so much cheaper for them to manage one box per household
> versus 2 or 3 DVRs per household.
>

That would be extremely expensive, much more than a set top box
because it would need to simultaneously decrypt every channel the user
gets.

>
> It's basically taking Verizon's FiOS Optical Network Terminal and expanding
> on it.  Verizon's ONT can already output clear QAM for local HDs (IIRC), so
> adding it for other channels really isn't an issue.
>

I think the difference for FIOS is the channels they broadcast clear
QAM are not encrypted on fiber.

John


More information about the mythtv-users mailing list