HeyBub wrote:
aemeijers wrote:
Dish already has a cheaper solution in place- if you have two
receivers, both must be hooked to a phone line, or they add five
bucks a month to your bill. When the box phones the 800 number every
X days to get the update, their computer compares the caller ID to
the phone number of record. If it doesn't match, expect a charge on
the bill, or a call from their fraud folks, or even a shutoff on the
receiver.
Hey, these overpriced boxes are how they make a living. They have
gotten pretty good about preventing the formerly easy ways to scam
them. Why do you think they stopped using removable account cards?
Hacking the box itself is a lot harder.


How does DISH handle the situation where you DON'T have a land-line? Say you
exist with only a cell, or you're in an RV taking a retirement, three-year,
spin around the U.S., or you're in a fishing cabin in the outback?


Supposedly they charge the extra five bucks, at least for fixed-address
accounts. (Although people at work have told me they dropped their
landline after the box was installed, and never got charged.) My box
phones home at 0300 every few days. I thought it was to get guide data
and firmware updates, but maybe it is just to say 'Hi Ma!'.

No idea how dish handles accounts set up only to an RV. At one time you
had to have a real address, I am told, not just a PO box.

aem sends....