Why does a recorder need a phone line?

[Pain]

I am considering changing from Comcast cable to satellite and looking at all the new subscriber deals. Looks like the Sat companies are pushing these DVR/Tivo add on deals for cheap, but I keep seeing in the fine print about having to connect it to my phone. Do I really need a lanline phone connection just to record something? What if I just have a cell phone?

 

[Stargazer]

You do not have to connect it to a phoneline to receive service. They just want you to to retrieve the Pay Per View Purchases Data and make sure all the receivers are located in the same location. Without the phonelines hooked up you will not save the $5 on the second tuner on the dual tuner receivers. Tivo's need a phoneline connection in order to download the Electronic Program Guide data.

 

[dishrich]

Tivo's need a phoneline connection in order to download the Electronic Program Guide data.

This is NOT true, however for the D-Tivo's (the Tivo that is integrated w/D*) - their EPG always comes down through the dish & has for quite some time. You really only need a phone line on these for the initial setup, as well as if they send any software updates to "activate" them. (the updates themselves come through the dish, too) But since the software on the D-Tivo's is updated very infrequently, this should be a non-issue.

 

[Stargazer]

Standalone Tivo's this is true since you would be using it for cable or OTA, not for DirecTivo's.

 

[kbohip]

I've also seen hacked Directivo's on Ebay that you don't have to have a phone line connected to. They can apparently even do the initial setup by using the dish itself.

 

[burchis]

You do not have to connect it to a phoneline to receive service. They just want you to to retrieve the Pay Per View Purchases Data and make sure all the receivers are located in the same location.

How does having a phone line connected insure the service is contained in the same house? The DVR 522 is a dual tuner, and what would prevent someone from running the second tv out to the apartment next door, phone line or not. I really would like to know how this arrangment would be detected with a phone line.

 

[haertig]

...what would prevent someone from running the second tv out to the apartment next door, phone line or not. I really would like to know how this arrangment would be detected with a phone line.

I don't see any way they could detect what you describe. They are probably not terribly worried about this kind of fraud, or have given up on trying to detect it. I imagine they're more after people who move receivers to locations farther distant from the address on record. Why they care where the thing is physically located I don't know. If you're paying for it, who cares where it sits? Maybe they're had a rash of really desperate people who activate one of these things on a "group purchase" plan and then take turns passing it from house to house around their neighborhood, attached dish antenna and all. Maybe there's some other fraud mechanism in not having a single stable location for a receiver, but I'm not seeing it. And why require phone connection only for dual-tuner receivers? (I'm not sure the requirement is only for duals, but I think so.)