I just got Comcast in Framingham, MA and wanted to know if particular Motorola cable boxes that I see on the net would work in my region...is there anywhere to find this info out other than from Comcast?

The other thing was that I did call Comcast regarding specific Motorola models and they said that it did't matter if it was the same exact model that they used or not since they would need to activate the unit on my account....does anyone know if this is accurate or not? I currently have one Motorola DCT 5100 and it works great. Let's say that I bought another, would it work by simply plugging it in on another TV or would I need to actually "register" it with Comcast?

Basically, I don't want to pay $7.25/month for the box for each TV to watch channels that I pay already; but since they are above the TV's capabilitiy of going over channel 188, I can't get to them w/o a box.

What about asking some of your neighbors what they are using and/or you may just want to use what Comcast's provides to be safe.
Have you tried emailing their customer support or just spoken with them on the phone?
Try doing a search on google for your cable box and Comcast and see what comes up.

Yeah, I called Comcast and they wouldn't really tell me any model numbers. They also insisted that any receiver that I bough would need to be registered with them under my account for it to work...not sure if this is just a fib to have people avoid purchasing their own units or not.

I do have a friend in town who is going to take a look at his receivers to see what he has.

Anyone know if you really do need to register or can you just plug a receiver in and have it work?

Hmmm, to my understanding, Comshaft does need to "register" the box so the encrypted channels (maybe those above 200) are decrypted (is that a real word?). But, they could just be feeding those lines to people so that customers just opt to rent the extra boxes from them instead... hence the name Comshaft

Did you try out RCN in your area at all yet? My dad has it in Lexington, MA and loves it (Digi cable along with Internet and phone service).

I tried RCN but its not offered for my street / neighborhood at this point.

You're dealing with Digital Cable, so the box does have to be registered, as there are MAC addresses that the system has to know about to let be recognized and authorized on the cable network. Also the Conditional Access system on the box has to be authorized to your account to let you get the channels that you are subscribed to from the head end. You would have to get the Exact same box as you currently have, as the head ends sometimes cannot communicate even with other models of the same brand as there are many variations of Digital systems (like DAVIC versus DOCSIS), or there might be a difference in how some of the interactive features, like the Program guide, are loaded on the different boxes (an older box might use a different kind of EPG). Digital cable boxes run in the $500 area and usually are not a good investment, as it's likely you might have to replace it sooner than you'll earn back that savings in rental fees.

Thanks Kirin, that pretty much answers the question for me...I think that I'll end up renting. The digital cable technology and industry sounds suspiciously like the cell phone technology / industry.

Thanks!