What if I buy a FIOS DVR on Ebay?
sxrd60inch
Enthusiast - Level 3

Can I "own" it and pay Verizon for activation without renting the STB I have?  If not, what do people buy these for?

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Re: What if I buy a FIOS DVR on Ebay?
beetlejuice2
Specialist - Level 1

If its not stolen and bricked.....meaning the person who is selling it paid full price for it because they failed to return it to Verizon then you can have it activated from what I know, but you will still have to pay the monthly fees regardless.

Why do people buy them? Probably because they don't know they will still have to pay those monthly fees. They find out afterwards. With the new media servers starting to finally roll out I wouldnt want one of the current ones anyways.

Re: What if I buy a FIOS DVR on Ebay?
mfizzy
Specialist - Level 1

Dont buy it. Verizon will not activate it! Get a Ceton or Homerun tuner. All you will need is a cable card from Verizon. You will be a lot happier.

Re: What if I buy a FIOS DVR on Ebay?
chomper87
Enthusiast - Level 3

If you want to try something easier than the Ceton or HDHomerun,

Take a look at this STB from Samsung. Though it's not a DVR.

http://www.samsung.com/us/video/blu-ray-dvd/GX-SM530CF/XAA

Re: What if I buy a FIOS DVR on Ebay?
bobbo527
Specialist - Level 3

@sxrd60inch wrote:

Can I "own" it and pay Verizon for activation without renting the STB I have?  If not, what do people buy these for?


No, you're only wasting your money. Verizon will NEVER activate it because to them it is a stolen box. Those boxes on ebay are almost always stolen or those that were never returned and in Verizon's eyes they are all stolen.

Re: What if I buy a FIOS DVR on Ebay?
bobbo527
Specialist - Level 3

@beetlejuice wrote:

If its not stolen and bricked.....meaning the person who is selling it paid full price for it because they failed to return it to Verizon then you can have it activated from what I know, but you will still have to pay the monthly fees regardless.

Why do people buy them? Probably because they don't know they will still have to pay those monthly fees. They find out afterwards. With the new media servers starting to finally roll out I wouldnt want one of the current ones anyways.


They won't activate it even if it was a failed to return box.

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Re: What if I buy a FIOS DVR on Ebay?
sxrd60inch
Enthusiast - Level 3

Thanks everyone for the replies.  These answers prompt me to ask more questions but it's probably better to start a new thread.

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Re: What if I buy a FIOS DVR on Ebay?
tns2
Community Leader
Community Leader

You can purchase a DVR/STB from some other Vendor.  Currently the only one I know of is Tivo, although their have been others in the past.  You will still have to rent a Cablecard to make it operate.

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Re: What if I buy a FIOS DVR on Ebay?
rudra
Enthusiast - Level 2
It will work perfectly fine; however, you need to consider something before purchase. The content format keeps changing with technology change. Like recently when the content changed to mpeg, older boxes became useless. If there is any such change an you had purchased the box, your money will be completely wasted. It is better to rent the equipment as in that case Verizon will also take care of the technical issues with equipment or for any changes needed you will get the replacement box from Verizon.
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Re: What if I buy a FIOS DVR on Ebay?
CRobGauth
Community Leader
Community Leader

It will not work fine.

As several people stated above, Verizon will not activate any box that is not gotten from them directly.

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