Sky Multiroom Workaround?? Answer!!?

[ExSkyEnginner]

Most forum users will be well awear of Skys Multiroom offer - you have a Sky subscription and pay an additional £10 per month you can have an additional viewing card that gets the same programmes as your existing card.

However, one of the conditions for the multiroom "mirror card" is that BOTH of your Sky Digiboxes must be connected to the same phone line. This is sky's clause to ensure both boxes are in the same house, and you havent given the box to your mate and split the cost!![/FONT]


But its a bit more than just having your box connected to a phone line, sky do send box callbacks at random times, miss 3 call backs and they will try to bill you for 2 seperate sky subscriptions and send an engineer to see if there is problem with the box/phoneline![/FONT]


]Now i was thinking this might work!! Somethin available in the states (but apparenlty works world wide) called magicjack!!
(google magicjacks, and then hacked/spoofed magicjacks)



Its an usb phone jack!! Plug into you internet connected pc and then plug the sky phone lead into it!!

These can be magicjacks can be hacked so you can have the caller id of any phone number!! Do a manual call back, and it may fool the sky system?!


]In theory i think it will work, but its completedly untested!![/FONT]


Also i know this will bring up legal issues!! i would like to ignore that as i have done nothin wrong...i just thought of a work around for sky multiroom, which could be used in the one property that doenst have handy phone points!!!


So i was thinking, buy this, change the number to the number the box is registered to; and once a week do manual call backs to sky from the box that sint connected to the registerd phone number!!

 

[ExSkyEnginner]

moderators....i think i posted this in wrong thread!! sorry!

 

[Citizen J]

I don't know whether this is worth all the hassle just for a £10 saving.

 

[ExSkyEnginner]

U save a lot more than £10.

A full package is up to £38, stick on Hd £10 thats £48

£48 * 2 seperate boxes is £96.

If u tried it the way i suggested, its Single box £48 + £10 for extra box = £58.

thats a saving of nearly £40 every single month!!!

 

[fernandez]

This is full of "maybes"/"apparently"/"ifs" and has one big flaw


Read post 3 here
Multiroom phone question - Sky - Digital Spy Forums
which says:

"That method will not work, as posted above Sky's "phone home" and manual callbacks contact different servers. This stops people giving relatives/friends multiroom boxes for use at a different address but returning the box periodically for a manual forced callback. Sky have been in this business for over 23 years and have thought of all these dodges that can be used fraudulently"

I would have thought that an ExSkyEnginner (engineer?) would have known and realised this

 

[ExSkyEnginner]

As an ex sky engineer (happy now?), we were always told to do force call backs, and even told to show customers how to do this, as more often than not they had broadband filters that would cause the call back to fail at these random times!! Sorry, but i know this as fact!! As for wether if the magicjack will def will work, i dont know, im testing the water to see if some else has done it!!

In the world of technology everything has a work around, you only have to look at the guy who hacked the ps3 this week, and the iphone before that!!
i dont even have to mention Ondigital, cabeltel etc.

 

[davemurgatroyd2]

You would achieve exactly the same thing by moving a "fraudulently" used Sky box back to its registered address every month or so for the "forced callback" - this is why the "forced callback" and "call home" callbacks phone different servers. 3 non responses to the "call hpme" signal flag the multiroom account on Sky's computer as "suspicious behaviour" regardless of forced callbacks. Do you really think that they have not thought of such scenarios after over 23 years in business.

 

[ExSkyEnginner]

Yes its just like moving the box to and from the registered address without the hassel!!

Could some 1 show me more info about these different call servers, as when i was workin for the sky installation team, this was unheard of, and once again would like to highlight that we were advised to tell customers how to do forced call backs as an alternative to problematic call back at random times dues to broadband filters fitted to their main line!

And again i wouldnt dwell on the whole 23 years experience malarky, do you really think they had prempted magic jacks back in 1987?

 

[fernandez]

And again i wouldnt dwell on the whole 23 years experience malarky, do you really think they had prempted magic jacks back in 1987?

Maybe 'magic jacks' weren't around 23 years ago, but then neither was digital TV.
No doubt Sky (and the persons responsible for the security of their systems) read this, and other forums like it, so if they weren't aware of it before they certainly are now

 

[davemurgatroyd2]

Yes its just like moving the box to and from the registered address without the hassel!!

Could some 1 show me more info about these different call servers, as when i was workin for the sky installation team, this was unheard of, and once again would like to highlight that we were advised to tell customers how to do forced call backs as an alternative to problematic call back at random times dues to broadband filters fitted to their main line!

And again i wouldnt dwell on the whole 23 years experience malarky, do you really think they had prempted magic jacks back in 1987?

If you look at a detailed phone bill you should see that the two different callbacks dial different freephone numbers and have done for several years.

 

[rbrt]

Maybe not fully in thread but related. I have a former multi room set up. dont pay the fee now as in main room sky+ box runs and in bedroom old basic sky box is in free sat mode.

if i cabled a second feed to bed room, have 4th spare lnb port and bought s/h sky plus box would it work as freeview + mode or would i need to pay multiroom again to make second + box work. if I paid MR fee would that be all that would be needed so as to get copy of lounge service.

also how different is freesat to 'freeview sky' as alt idea is a basic freesat box, wondering on channel line up as at moment can get see scuzz on old sky box but a pal with a pure freesat system doesnt?

 

[fernandez]

The record functions on a Sky+ box will not work unless you have at least a 1 Mix subscription or a Multiroom subscription or pay the £10/month to enable the recording facilities on FTA channels.

freesatfromsky channels listed here (FIVE/Sky3 require card)
FREESAT from Sky - What's on TV - FREESAT from Sky

Freesat channels here (with more available in non-Freesat mode*)
Free Digital TV Channels - freesat

* Everything listed here is available on a Freesat receiver, either in Freesat or non-Freesat mode List of free-to-air channels at 28E - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
INCLUDING Scuzz

 

[rbrt]

thanks for that, so might as well sign up for MR when ready again.

just those 'missing' channels then. I know freesat site
doesnt list them, its music and kids selections arent
frankly much better or different to terrestial freeview,
makes you wonder where they get 140 channels from
versus fv's 48 or so. noticing already as my sky box
died and using a FV stb instead and a magic eye to access
sky+....its just not no the same though the sky+ access
is welcome, hence thinking about combining with a new
FS or second hand sky box.

 

[Matt123]

Regarding 'ExSkyEnginner's question. I have been thinking about that yesterday and today.

I've been thinking how to 'bodge' old stuff together to do it. I have an old D-Link Voip box (need 2 really) where it can connect to the sky box on one side and the correct phone line on the other box. In different locations.

This box uses a 'sip' voip connection, where I think I would have problems there.



Like.... If I could get a openwrt firmware which handles linux 'asterix' like the Linksys WRT54G, but for my router. Both boxes will have there dial tones. Then add a few numbers in the dial-prefix of the sky box - which is really the new number of the remote VoIP box.
BUT... I can not figure out a easy way for the remote phone to go off-hook automatically!


EDIT: (now I have, connecting the ring/off hook LED to a small relay/transistor with something like a 600ohm resistor across it might do? but this is just a guess off the top of my head!!!)


The idea is so there are no computers required while this is on. Because it would be a waste of power.

Matt

 

[Rick1]

Sky have been in this business for over 23 years and have thought of all these dodges that can be used fraudulently"

They might have thought of them, but they haven't fixed them all

 

[Rick1]

I have actually heard of this working using VOIP. Not seen of heard of this working from anyone I know to trust.

Never heard of a "Magic Jack" though.

I can't see any reason that this won't work. As long as the box dials home and the caller ID shows it from the same number as the other box Sky aren't going to know.

You could always save the tenner a month and get a couple of linux boxes. no need to worry about call backs then