How does a satellite account get verified?

Bill.Satellite wrote:
The red button he is talking about is on the remote control and will activate certain features on certain channels like the local weather while watching the Weather channel or sports scores on ESPN, etc. This data is there at all times and is broadcast on a regular basis all day everyday. If you want to view it you push the button on the remote so you can see it. There is NO 2 way information being sent from the receiver to the satellite. That can only happen if the receiver is connected to the internet or a phone line.

Bill, Thanks for the answer, I thought that was probably the case but wanted an answer from the horse's mouth, so to speak!! :B It is kind of amazing - all the abilities built into these Genie receivers! I about wore my remote out during football season using Double-Play and Previous to watch four games at once. If they could just eliminate that one to two second delay when switching, life would be better than ever!:E

Satellite TV is basically one-way but, if you have satellite internet, then it's two-way.

I had satellite internet early on and the down link was via one-way satellite while the uplink was via 56K modem. Had to pay for the satellite internet provider as well as a local ISP to handle the uplink. It worked but it was a PITA.

GPS is another example of one-way satellite. Many people think the GPS receiver somehow communicates with the satellites but it is strictly a receiver, no transmitting.

The red button he is talking about is on the remote control and will activate certain features on certain channels like the local weather while watching the Weather channel or sports scores on ESPN, etc. This data is there at all times and is broadcast on a regular basis all day everyday. If you want to view it you push the button on the remote so you can see it. There is NO 2 way information being sent from the receiver to the satellite. That can only happen if the receiver is connected to the internet or a phone line.

GordonThree wrote:
There's no way the set top box is broadcasting to the satellites. Not that it's technologically impossible but it would add a lot of costs for little benefit to the company. Take a look at the weird LNB used by satellite Internet setups.

I've never had a red button receiver, but my guess is there's an amount of side-band info like weather, news headlines, etc being downloaded alongside the video and the button toggles a display filtered by details from your account information.

VOD and apps like the weather, etc., use an Internet connection when available to download the requested data or program. The weather app for instance lets you enter specific ZIP codes that you want the info for. There's no practical way the weather data specific to all 43,000 or so ZIP codes could be kept updated on a sideband sat signal just in case you happen to select a given ZIP or ZIP's. An easy test to prove that would be to just turn off the available Internet source and then try to access updated app data.

There's no way the set top box is broadcasting to the satellites. Not that it's technologically impossible but it would add a lot of costs for little benefit to the company. Take a look at the weird LNB used by satellite Internet setups.

I've never had a red button receiver, but my guess is there's an amount of side-band info like weather, news headlines, etc being downloaded alongside the video and the button toggles a display filtered by details from your account information.

accsys wrote:

Bill.Satellite wrote:
No, no signal is broadcast to the satellite from the receiver.

Bill, are you sure about this? I have noticed a certain amount of ability for two way communication (the red button) such as sports scores, etc. I guess these could always be broadcasts and the receiver only displays what you are asking for, if you ask for it?

Bill is correct, the receivers do not broadcast any satellite signal back to Dish. Some models like the Hopper series do use an Internet connection though, to manage interactive data for the various apps. The Internet connection is only needed for the apps and VOD, not for general program reception.

Ya, the red button does activate weather reports.

Bill.Satellite wrote:
No, no signal is broadcast to the satellite from the receiver.

Bill, are you sure about this? I have noticed a certain amount of ability for two way communication (the red button) such as sports scores, etc. I guess these could always be broadcasts and the receiver only displays what you are asking for, if you ask for it?

GordonThree wrote:
Check out this talk on cable and satellite encryption... Very interesting!

33c3 Security Conference: How Do I Crack Satellite and Cable Pay TV?

edit: fixed clicky

Thanks. Very interesting and I think it explains the answer to the OP's question about "how" the validation works.

Dave

The satellites have a "Control Channel" A carrier that is not carrying Television Signals.. NOTE: same is true of cell pones.

This "Control Channel" sends a signal.. Basiclly it goes like this

He receiver number 1172738911182.. You are authorized for the next 30 days.

This will be sent several times to insure that your receiver gets the message.

It then works. For 30 days (or however long the Authorization was for).