# Cable Set-top Box



## indoMLA (Feb 6, 2011)

I am looking for a set-top box for Du cable. I want to hook up tv in another room and since Du only gives you one box, I was wondering if it is possible to buy another one (rather then rent one from them for DHS30/month). If you know where I can purchase one and/or how I can connect tv in another room without it, please chime in. Thanks.


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## indoMLA (Feb 6, 2011)

Nobody has more than one tv hooked up in there home? No additional tv in the office, master bedroom, kid's room, or maid's quarters? 

BUMP.


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## pamela0810 (Apr 5, 2010)

I contact Du directly for an additional set-top box for my other bedroom and they told me that I'll need to pay extra subscription charges to get the channels that I need in the other room. So not only do I need to buy another set top box but I also need to pay twice the amount of money just to get the same channels.
So I did what works best for me....I download my fovorite programs and watch them on my laptop. 
I use my TV for matches, games, cartoons, only.


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## expatkid (Mar 19, 2011)

indoMLA said:


> I am looking for a set-top box for Du cable. I want to hook up tv in another room and since Du only gives you one box, I was wondering if it is possible to buy another one (rather then rent one from them for DHS30/month). If you know where I can purchase one and/or how I can connect tv in another room without it, please chime in. Thanks.


I have seen a lot of Supermarkets like Al-Khail, Grand Mall selling set top box, But whereas only the Set-top Box wont help, U need an Extra LNB also. i have also seen dual LNB`s available in these places, Just pick them up and tune your setup box accordingly and everything should work fine.


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## Confiture (Jan 9, 2011)

You could try a wireless sender and remote eye.

This plugs into the main box via scart / phono plugs and sends it via a wireless signal to a receiver which plugs into your tv in the other room.

The remote eye sits in front of your main box so you can take the remote controller to the other room and control the box from there too.

Picture quality can vary depending on distance and thickness of walls / ceilings though.


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## Confiture (Jan 9, 2011)

I thought an LNB was for a satellite dish? This is cable, no?



expatkid said:


> I have seen a lot of Supermarkets like Al-Khail, Grand Mall selling set top box, But whereas only the Set-top Box wont help, U need an Extra LNB also. i have also seen dual LNB`s available in these places, Just pick them up and tune your setup box accordingly and everything should work fine.


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## akdubai (Mar 10, 2011)

I think it's not technically possible to hook up a second set-top box without Du actually configuring it and allowing it. They definitely would have thought of that 

What you might consider is buying an RF transmitter/receiver and hook it up to the existing STB and the second TV. So you would be in the bedroom watching the STB from the living room. I think the bigger Emax or SharafDG had those.

A


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## indoMLA (Feb 6, 2011)

akdubai said:


> I think it's not technically possible to hook up a second set-top box without Du actually configuring it and allowing it. They definitely would have thought of that
> 
> What you might consider is buying an RF transmitter/receiver and hook it up to the existing STB and the second TV. So you would be in the bedroom watching the STB from the living room. I think the bigger Emax or SharafDG had those.
> 
> A


1. Why would Du need to configure and/or allow it? I assumed that since the signal is entering my home at a single point that all I would need is a device that can recognize it (much like the existing set-top box). The way you make it sound, the STB must be broadcasting to Du, but I don't think that is being done. 

I might grab a STB from a friend to test out this theory and hope I am right and that these boxes are just dumb and just do a specific task in unscrambling the signal Du sends.

2. I can't purchase a RF as if I go this route then I have to watch the same show/channel in my office that others are watching in the living room. But this is the exact thing I am trying to avoid.


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## akdubai (Mar 10, 2011)

indoMLA said:


> 1. Why would Du need to configure and/or allow it? I assumed that since the signal is entering my home at a single point that all I would need is a device that can recognize it (much like the existing set-top box). The way you make it sound, the STB must be broadcasting to Du, but I don't think that is being done.
> 
> I might grab a STB from a friend to test out this theory and hope I am right and that these boxes are just dumb and just do a specific task in unscrambling the signal Du sends.
> ...


Don't think in terms of traditional Signals, but IP connections instead. The MAC address on the STB has to be allowed. That's what the Du guy fiddles with when he visits your place the first time. That's what I understood from him. But like you, I hope you're right and the boxes are dumb. Tell me how that experiment goes.

Another option would be to buy the basic free to air package for 30Dhs or so for the second TV.


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## sandypool (Sep 12, 2009)

To be honest it's not unique to DU or the UAE, to have a second STB from telewest/NTL in the UK you had to pay extra for a second decoder card (or the internal decryption key as the ones here in the UAE have). Just installing another STB will not decrypt the channels for you as it is the box itself which talks to DU, the only free way to have other rooms with cable is to do what you don't want to do i.e. wire the output of one box to both TV's meaning you can only have one channel on at a time. There's no way around it I am afraid.


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