Re: Sirius "Never Pay Another Bill" Plan

[Boston Blackie]

In article <221120040915323944%john@johnweeks.com>,
"John A. Weeks III" <john@johnweeks.com> wrote:

> I just added a few XM radios to my plan, and I again went 2 years. In
> speaking with XM, they told me that they will refund any unused part of
> a plan if you drop that radio from the plan. Make sure you ask the
> same thing of Sirius. Your radio could always get broken, and a new
> one would likely be cheaper than any insurance plans or warranty deals.
> I expect the satellite radios to be $25 to $40 in 3 years, so it isn't
> worth it to buy an extended warranty or protection plan.

When I signed up to Sirius, they wouldn't do that. Things might have
changed since then.

The most dramatic improvement both systems could offer would be a smart
card that you can move to receiver to receiver. That way if you traded
cars or lightning struck, you'd still have a working radio account.

I'd vote for that!

[John A. Weeks III]

In article <bblackie-E05BD5.10274822112004@comcast.dca.giganews.com>,
Boston Blackie <bblackie@mail.com> wrote:

> The most dramatic improvement both systems could offer would be a smart
> card that you can move to receiver to receiver. That way if you traded
> cars or lightning struck, you'd still have a working radio account.
>
> I'd vote for that!

Same here. I have several radios already, and I'd like to add
several more, but I cannot justify paying all these monthly fees.
A card would be a lot easier to move around from radio to radio,
rather than having to unhook and carry a box around. Each unhook
and reconnection adds yet more chances of something getting broken.

-john-

--
====================================================================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708 john@johnweeks.com
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
====================================================================

[Truth]

> The most dramatic improvement both systems could offer would be a smart
> card that you can move to receiver to receiver. That way if you traded
> cars or lightning struck, you'd still have a working radio account.
>
> I'd vote for that!

But they wouldn't. Else they would just let you have as many radios as you
want and just pay ONE fee, not a fee for every radio used.

Why don't they do that? So that you don't activate radios for all your
friends. As is, with XM, you can have 5 of your friends sign up under
your account and get service for only $5 a month or whatever the discount is.

[Mark S.]

"John A. Weeks III" <john@johnweeks.com> wrote in message
news:221120041148254783%john@johnweeks.com...
> In article <bblackie-E05BD5.10274822112004@comcast.dca.giganews.com>,
> Boston Blackie <bblackie@mail.com> wrote:
>
>> The most dramatic improvement both systems could offer would be a smart
>> card that you can move to receiver to receiver. That way if you traded
>> cars or lightning struck, you'd still have a working radio account.
>>
>> I'd vote for that!
>
> Same here. I have several radios already, and I'd like to add
> several more, but I cannot justify paying all these monthly fees.
> A card would be a lot easier to move around from radio to radio,
> rather than having to unhook and carry a box around. Each unhook
> and reconnection adds yet more chances of something getting broken.

I can see the hacks coming out for it already!!! :-)

[John A. Weeks III]

In article <cntfml$csm$1@nntp-stjh-01-01.rogers.nf.net>, Mark S.
<vo1one@gee-mail.com> wrote:

> "John A. Weeks III" <john@johnweeks.com> wrote in message
> news:221120041148254783%john@johnweeks.com...
> > In article <bblackie-E05BD5.10274822112004@comcast.dca.giganews.com>,
> > Boston Blackie <bblackie@mail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> The most dramatic improvement both systems could offer would be a smart
> >> card that you can move to receiver to receiver. That way if you traded
> >> cars or lightning struck, you'd still have a working radio account.

> I can see the hacks coming out for it already!!! :-)

One would think that folks would have hacked Dish Network by now.
It uses smart cards (on most receivers), and they have millions
of subscribers, but as far as I know, Dish hasn't been hacked yet.
I certainly think hackers would put the effort towards a service
that can potentially cost $110 a month or more rather than something
that costs $8 on a longer term plan.

-john-

--
====================================================================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708 john@johnweeks.com
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
====================================================================

[Bonehenge]

On Mon, 22 Nov 2004 18:59:21 GMT, Truth <yenc@sucks.com> wrote:

>> The most dramatic improvement both systems could offer would be a smart
>> card that you can move to receiver to receiver. That way if you traded
>> cars or lightning struck, you'd still have a working radio account.
>>
>> I'd vote for that!
>
>But they wouldn't. Else they would just let you have as many radios as you
>want and just pay ONE fee, not a fee for every radio used.

The card would have to be in the radio for the radio to work. You'd
need two cards to use two radios at the same time.

My GSM cell phone and DirecTV receivers use variations of this
technology.

Barry

[Mark S.]

"John A. Weeks III" <john@johnweeks.com> wrote in message
news:221120041434104433%john@johnweeks.com...
> In article <cntfml$csm$1@nntp-stjh-01-01.rogers.nf.net>, Mark S.
> <vo1one@gee-mail.com> wrote:
>
>> "John A. Weeks III" <john@johnweeks.com> wrote in message
>> news:221120041148254783%john@johnweeks.com...
>> > In article <bblackie-E05BD5.10274822112004@comcast.dca.giganews.com>,
>> > Boston Blackie <bblackie@mail.com> wrote:
>> >
>> >> The most dramatic improvement both systems could offer would be a
>> >> smart
>> >> card that you can move to receiver to receiver. That way if you
>> >> traded
>> >> cars or lightning struck, you'd still have a working radio account.
>
>> I can see the hacks coming out for it already!!! :-)
>
> One would think that folks would have hacked Dish Network by now.
> It uses smart cards (on most receivers), and they have millions
> of subscribers, but as far as I know, Dish hasn't been hacked yet.
> I certainly think hackers would put the effort towards a service
> that can potentially cost $110 a month or more rather than something
> that costs $8 on a longer term plan.

What?! Nagravision, the encryption that Dish network and Bell ExpressVu
uses has been hacked for a long time now. Not only that, but even longer
ago has Dish's smartcard security has been compromised. Now, any idiot can
hack Dish with a FTA receiver burned with firmware downloaded from the
internet. A cardless, ECM-proof solution, and has been for the past year or
so and will be for the next year or so until they switch to Nagra2, which I
think has been hacked in Europe already so the FTA box hacks will have to be
updated with new firmware, whoopee. DirecTV on the other hand hasn't been
hacked since April or May, but since people can hack Dish, not too many
people are bothering with DirecTV. Or maybe they are and we just haven't
seen it yet. I'm not suggesting anyone should hack anything, I'm just
stating what's out there currently.

[Mark S.]

"Bonehenge" <Keep_it_in_the_newsgroup_please@aol.com> wrote in message
news:ecj4q09estqld7ojoeka2ko9e1p4pocsni@4ax.com...
> On Mon, 22 Nov 2004 18:59:21 GMT, Truth <yenc@sucks.com> wrote:
>
>>> The most dramatic improvement both systems could offer would be a smart
>>> card that you can move to receiver to receiver. That way if you traded
>>> cars or lightning struck, you'd still have a working radio account.
>>>
>>> I'd vote for that!
>>
>>But they wouldn't. Else they would just let you have as many radios as
>>you
>>want and just pay ONE fee, not a fee for every radio used.
>
> The card would have to be in the radio for the radio to work. You'd
> need two cards to use two radios at the same time.
>
> My GSM cell phone and DirecTV receivers use variations of this
> technology.

Your DirecTV access card is married to the receiver it is in. You cannot
take it to your friends house and use it in their DirecTV receiver, you'd
have to bring your whole box over. GSM SIM cards can be used in other
phones, provided the phone you're putting it into isn't SIM locked onto
another provider, however it is a lot easier to unlock a GSM phone in most
cases than it is to unmarry a DirecTV access card. SIM cards can also be
copied with the right equipment and you could place many accounts onto one
card so you don't have to swap cards when switching to your prepaid account
while overseas, or whatever. However, I wouldn't use two phones on the same
account at once. That would set off alarm bells everywhere at the provider
and the account would be shut down for security purposes and you'd have to
buy a new SIM.

[Truth]

> >> The most dramatic improvement both systems could offer would be a smart
> >> card that you can move to receiver to receiver. That way if you traded
> >> cars or lightning struck, you'd still have a working radio account.
> >>
> >> I'd vote for that!
> >
> >But they wouldn't. Else they would just let you have as many radios as you
> >want and just pay ONE fee, not a fee for every radio used.
>
> The card would have to be in the radio for the radio to work. You'd
> need two cards to use two radios at the same time.

No, just copy the card. Mail copies to all your friends.

> My GSM cell phone and DirecTV receivers use variations of this
> technology.

And you could buy cards for them for years from all sorts of sources.