Set Top box or tata sky or dish TV
Read our latest post on Tata Sky’s bad pricing strategies here
Conditional Access System :: Sooooo many choices , what should you do ??????????
Dish TV – Owned by Essel Group
Tata Sky – Tata + Star
Conventional Set Top box – Owned by the MSO of your area
To tell you the truth all of them couldnt care less about their consumers , they are here to lure customers into buying their product. The DTH operators have become notorious for taking money in advance and then failing to provide proper services to anyone for a long time. Moreover you cant contact the company directly , its a call center , so there isnt really much you can do but wait. On the other hand when you get a set top box from your cable operator any problem can be reported to him easily.
We will not give you the feature lists for the DTH as they are very well advertised by their parent companies , but what you should know is the features provided by the general STB provided by the cable operator , i have been using the HUMAX set top box provided by Hathway, they charge rs.78 (i think for the free to air channels plus rupees 5 per paid channel) , the set top box gives impeccable sound and video quality. It also has a programming guide which gives program details for most channels, Zoom however is one channel of which there is no information. the programming guide can be seen for the next 1-3 days depending upon the channel. Tata Sky claims to give the information for the next 1 week. The set top box also features a program scheduler , which will switch automatically to your programmed serial when it goes on air. The Hathway humax set top box also has some games , but they are apthetic to say the least , a cardboard box is more fun.
But i myself have bought a Tata Sky Digicomp (thats their fancy name for a set top box), you may ask why , thats because although a normal cable operator set top box is ok for 1 TV viewing the fact tat i have got more than one TV makes things akward, thats because i will need to get another connection of the same value to watch programs on both my televisions. However in DTH (BOTH Dish Tv and Tata Sky , i have the option of getting my second subscription for only Rs.100 per month , so while in conventional TV my cost will be twice that of 1 TV , in DTH it will be that of 1 TV + Rs.100 which comes out to be less. However the initial costs of DTH are very high , The tata sky pack i purchased cost me about Rs. 4000 (3000 for STB + 1000 installation). Another thing DTh people advertise is movie on demand , which means pay for a movie and watch it (but this is not at your convienience) , atleast one of the DTH has channels running that movie all day long , when you buy it , you can watch the channel but you cant control the time the movie would start.
FAQ 1 : can i get the feed from 1 set top box to two TVs ???
Answer : No you cant ,the modern set top boxes come with sophisticated decryption techniques based on your smart card , you cant decrypt that signal your self , if you feed the signal into 2 TVs , you will basically see the same channels on the two Tvs, same is in the case of Direct to Home , you will need 2 Set top boxes to watch the channels.
you may ask your concerns/questions/doubts and doubts about DTH and or set top boxes here !
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i live in delhi. In our area CAS has not been implemented. Can i have CAS/DTH in areas where CAS is not mandatory? Can u tell me when is it going 2 b implemented in rohini?
thnx 4 the above information
the dates for other parts of delhi will be notified soon by the government.
CAS – You can get CAS if your cable operator has already made the provisions., In south Delhi , december 16-31 had been earmarked as the time when both encrypted and unencrypted signals would have to be relayed by the cable operators.
DTH – as far as i know yes you can get this installed ,but before installing just confirm by calling the helplines of companies. you dont want to be stuck with a useless box.
i live in south delhi, chattarpur. my cable operator has refused to install the stb, can you tell me how could i get it?
CAS – I had to inform you that still in places of south mumbai like Navy they have not implemented CAS ______________ ?
@kalyani – if your area comes under a CAS notified area ,then its illegal for the Cable operator not to be providing STB on rent. Tell him that you will complain to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, but i suggest you sort the matter amicably rather than escalate it.
@vikram – i am sorry i cant get your question.
What Is The Use of smart card?
My Set top box os working with out it and sometimes on some channels it shows to insert “smartcard”
the smart card actually is an anti piracy device. They help decrypt the data , when the signal is fully decrypted by your cable operator you wont be able to see any channel.
I, the Managing Director of Yoga Shakti mission in Chennai bought Tata sky from Abirami Audios and Vedios, Alwarpet by paying thru my Credit card. The service was installed in our premises and later shifted to our another premises by paying relocation charges of Rs.1000./-We had to pay installation charges of Rs.500 also.
It was working for about a month and all of a sudden on 29th.Dec.The service was debarred stating that they are getting wrong code number which we have no access to.
Repeated follow up with Tata sky manager Mr.Kalyan kumar on his cell number 9282349495 did not give any result as he always says he is waiting for a reply from Delhi. The vendor who sold the package to me is also helpless as he also certifies the Tata sky operations are order less and lacks in proper leadership.
Now it is 17 days gone with subscription paid up to April 2007.
I would like to inform all concerned to think well about Tata sky purchase before they make a decision.
How much is the SetTopBox cost now in chennai as I have to purchase a settop box shich is supplied by SCV. All the cable operators in chennai rely on them. Do i have another choice?
i live in spain (europe) i just want to know zeetv s dth work in spain or not?
can i use my own set top box? do we continue tp get teh cable channels on the tv if we install dish tv or tata sky?
i have a set top box called STARSAT. could i use this?
im in canada and if i have a tata sky box, can i get a signal here??
@Balwinder – You should try and see if it works, i know tata sky works in middle east atleast, but if it works via geostationary satellites, it means 1/3 of earth is covered, in which case it may not work in Canada.
hey balwinder did u manage to make it work ? i mean did u get the tata sky? i really hope it works here, will be so happy if it does? even if it does, is there a proper manual on how to install it or do we have to get professionals?
I am in Chennai.I had Hathway’s free channels connection (sans set top box)which has been recently severed since they do not offer it anymore.I have now 2 options-either to go for the new offer of Hathway with set top box costing 1300+compulsory offer of 20 paid channels of Rs.6 each+Rs.100 monthly(payments in advance for 4 months) OR
to go to SCV operator in our area who charges Rs.550 for connection of cable link for free channels +Rs.100 monthly and go for a purchase of a set top box of our choice at any time and pay for the package of paid channels selected ,4 months in advance.Pls.advise.Also pls.guide as to what is the cost and which is the good brand of set top box available in Chennai.I do not wish to go for any DTH.
I dont think they (Hathway) are allowed to do that. Anyway, I dont know the costs etc. in chennai, but seeing the way these cable companies are arm twisting u, i would suggest dth.
available in canada
Want to if Tata Sky works in Canada ?? If so can someone guid me how to set this up .. I am planning to get my box in India to here .. I really appreciate some help on this .
Can i use hathway STB in chennai now? i relocated from hyderabad recently.
hello sir / madam
i want to know about the dish tv set up box ,can we connect 3, 4 tv on one set up box and what is the charges for that setup box.and what is the parent set up box with two child set up box
Can hatheway setup box can be used in Tata sky connection
@Ravi, I do not think Tata Sky allows any other set-top box apart from their own.