Hacking Dish Network

Is it possible to (legally) hack the signals from the satellite TV providers ? Or are they just too robust to defeat? I see a lot of abandoned dishes, wondering if anything can be done with them. No, charcoal cooker is not the answer.

I think I did see an article in a magazine for "hacking" a dish to get the free channels.. I think "Make" had it a few years ago

Not legally...illegally, yes, but it's kind of a PITA and far from computer-noob-friendly. There are some fun things to do with satellite dishes though. FTA satellite TV (low-quality content), and long-range WiFi links are two that come to mind.

I think you will only get free channels, nothing scrambled. I talked to a guy that did it. He said it was neat because he got a lot of channels from the other side of the world, but it was cumbersome to use.

Bird bath?

DrBoost wrote: I think you will only get free channels, nothing scrambled. I talked to a guy that did it. He said it was neat because he got a lot of channels from the other side of the world, but it was cumbersome to use.

This is free-to-air satellite, cheap and legal to set up (although ideally you want a motorized dish setup for this, which bumps up the price), but don't expect prime content.

There are a good deal of FTA channels (Nasa / Cspan alternatives / and some public access).

Illegally for premium content? yes, it's possible. but at that point you might has well use BT and watch it later.

Hmm. Long range wi-fi you say? I use wi-fi on camera systems, this could be interesting.

cwh wrote: Hmm. Long range wi-fi you say? I use wi-fi on camera systems, this could be interesting.

It is a parabolic antenna. 30 miles wouldn't be hard.

Yep with big enough dishes you can keep going until the curvature of the earth gets in the way. You just use pro-grade "cantennas" as a feed horn with two OpenWRT routers (you need to be able to set the max allowed ACK timing to waaaaay over default) and away you go.

http://www.skifactz.com/wifi/wifi_dish.htm

I used a home made cantenna pair to join my parent's workshop with their house for a while ... it worked well until someone walked between the two antennas. Very line of sight, very sensitive. I ended up running a cable which cured the issues. But still, it's a fun thing to experiment with.

There used to be stores all over Canada that were dedicated to this. Because DishNetwork/DirecTV had no presence in Canada and because of Canadian laws it was legal to intercept the signal and use it however you wanted. Stores would sell you all of the equipment (dish, receiver, hacking implements and software) you needed and you got free satellite. The satellite companies and the people hacking the satellite systems were in a constant battle, with the satellite companies changing their encryption, then the hackers breaking it a few days later and selling the updated software. That all stopped a few years ago when the satellite companies came up with new methods to do things (or maybe the law changed, I'm not sure), and as far as I know, nobody in Canada does this any more.

The legal part (as I understand it from my lawyer-friend) is this: Anything that is broadcast is free-reign. Per FCC rules (in the US), anything you broadcast cannot interfere with any other broadcast, however your broadcast may be affected by other radio broadcast. Big weird oxymoron there.

There are also provisions for the information that is broadcast being public and subject to interception. The main thing protecting broadcasts like Dish is that the content is copyrighted. Stealing it without paying for the service is like selling a pirated copy of Harry Potter.

So the stuff they broadcast is a generic signal that can be intercepted by anyone. But the signal can't be interpreted without their box and sim card... theoretically. There is also a big grey area with the fact that the satellites are in orbit and that could be legally interpreted as not under FCC jurisdiction.

Anyway, its a very large can of worms. I gotta think that the discovery of your piracy would be nearly impossible to detect though.

Therefore... watching with pirate-like interest

The illegal part is if you crack their signal you're breaking the DMCA. Stupid-ass law, but there it is.