Getting terrestrial channels without decoder

[brettjbuckley]

In our old property, we had one NTL point installed downstairs and one upstairs. The white boxes on the walls worked for either the TV or the cable modem and so the latter was connected in the bedroom and all was fine.

I then aquired a signal spillter which I installed in the bedroom and was happy to discover that the split signal still worked fine with the cable modem and could also be sent to a normal TV to get BBC 1 through to channel 5 with excellent signal quality.

In our new house, the installation engineer suggested that this was no longer possible because the new wall boxes now blocked the terrestrial channels unless a decoder was used. He therefore said that there was no point putting a second connection upstairs as it was no use without a second decoder. Since I now have a wireless network, I only needed the installation doing downstairs anyway and so let him proceed with the job. This time around, instead of just one point on the lounge wall, he installed two - one for the cable modem and one for the TV. Fine I thought.

Then the other day my curiosity got the better of my and I plugged my TV straight into the lounge wall socket without the decoder between. And hey presto...perfect terrestrial channel reception!

So I could have had a second point upstairs afterall.
Now I just wonder if it was a fob off because it was the last call of the day and was raining heavily. Or maybe they try to discourage a second install point unless you've paid for a decoder?

[Nemesis]

The analogue signal (channels 1-5) are piped through to the cable right up to the Set top box. It's generally the STB that stops whats called "pass thru" to allow you to see the analogue signal.

Older STB's did allow pass thru, but the newer ones don't. Splitting the cable after the decoder and before the STB should allow the analogue terrestrial signals to be piped wherever you want.

This practice is either frowned upon by NTL, or deemed illegal under their T&C's, but many people have had it actually done that way by NTL engineers.

The chances are it was a fob off ...

[Chris]

AFAIK it is a condition of NTL's franchise that basic analogue signals are always available, even if you completely cancel your subscription.

[bob_builder]

AFAIK it is a condition of NTL's franchise that basic analogue signals are always available, even if you completely cancel your subscription.
Until the government turn off the analogue signal...