[mythtv-users] Why did you pick MythTV VS the other PVRs?

Brian Wood beww at beww.org
Tue Sep 8 01:02:52 UTC 2009


On Monday 07 September 2009 18:48:21 Nate Bargmann wrote:

>
> DirecTV yammers on continuously about a phone line.  I've not had one
> hooked up for four and a half years.  I wonder how many poor souls keep
> paying for a landline just because the satellite TV provider "requires"
> one?

The real reason they want you to have a landline hooked up is so they know for 
certain where you are, due to sports blackout restrictions and the like.

They also use the phone line to see if you have ordered any PPV material via 
your remote. They call the receiver and query it for that information.

This doesn't hurt your phone service, as the receiver will only answer the 
phone if told to do so via the datastream, usually in the middle of the 
night. The receiver senses an "in use" condition of the line as well.

They added the caller ID display feature in an attempt to give people some 
motivation to hook up the phone line.

If they give you a hard time, tell them the receiver is installed in an RV, 
you might lose the ability to order some of the premium sports packages, and 
the ability to order PPV with your remote (you'll have to call them and pay 
more), but nothing else bad should happen.

-- 
Brian Wood
beww at beww.org


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