Wow! All I need to get free cable is to buy this nifty little shiny device on ebay and screw it onto the back of my cale box. Neato!

Now I can get all the free Pay Per Views I want. Sweeet!

Being a cable guy for Comcast in Grand Rapids MI, I'm always amused by the ads for either free cable or free PPV on ebay. I'll let you in on a little "insider info."

First take a look at the ads for free cable. Look for the ones that are selling this device that screws onto your cable box or one that is about the size of a bullet and is a shiny silver color. These are what we in the biz call a High Pass Filter or HPF for short. These devices were used several years ago as a bandaid to help reduce the amount of ambient "noise" from getting back onto the cable network. When your cable service is activated these days, your cable installer checks for these devices which may be lurking about on homes that have had cable service for many years. These HPF have had many different shapes throughout the years but currently take the form of a short device that is threaded on one end and has female threads on the other end with a short "stinger" on the inside. 

Since you may have found this guide while looking at these filters, hopefully you have a picture of the device from the listing. Now look close. You may see right on the device printed HPF0-54M. Decifered this means this device attenuates or blocks out frequencys from 0 to 54 MHZ. So this little sucker is going to kill any signal from 0 to 54MHZ.

Now here's what happens when you order a PPV. Each time you order a PPV, your cable box is allowing that program to be displayed on your TV with no instruction from your cable company. What I'm saying is that the decision to order a PPV is yours and the box allows the program to be viewed. Once a program is ordered it is logged on the box. Now once a day your box is asked a question from the main cable operators office. That is - Have there been any movies ordered? Your cable box responds back with the appropriate details of the program ordered. This is what we call 'polling'. Your cable box respondes or 'polls' on a lower frequency. In Grand Rapids for instance this is @ 10.016MHZ. Your area may be different but will be very close to 10MHZ.

So whats the big deal? That ebay bargain you found will kill that PPV info from getting back to the office. Right?

When a cable box dosen't poll or responed, it is classified as 'non-responder'. If a box goes non-responder or "NRB" for a period of time then you will find a cable guy on your front door step asking to have a look-see. At this point he may find your little ebay gem and remove it at which point all those dirty movies you ordered will now be showing up on your next cable bill. So you just hide your new HPV somewhere the cable guy won't think to look. That's not gonna work, because the cable guy is going to swap out your old cable box for a new one. Any movies you ordered will be retrieved once your old box is polled back at the cable companies office.

What about free premium channels or free digital channels. It will never happen. All that authorization is done at the main office. No device in your home will ever allow you to get free premium or digital channels.

Hope this helps. I know from experience that there are lots of tempting advertisements out there. Save your money.