Watching Television is the ultimate source of entertainment. After a hectic and tiring day, watching your favorite show on television refreshes your mind. You may wait for your favorite program or show to be aired on cable every day. There is no doubt that people love to watch cable. But the truth that cannot be denied is the large bills they pay every month. According to research, the average cable bill per month is more expensive than all household expenditures.
A report says that on average, people pay almost $217.00 per month as their cable bill. This amount is greater than all the combined major utility costs of $205.00 per month. People feel that paying cable bills is a serious dent in their budget. While families look out the ways to minimize the expenses, they also do not want to compromise on cable.
As a solution to this problem, some people get an affordable and reliable internet connection such as CenturyLink internet and subscribe for streaming services. On the other hand, many think it is ok to cut the cord and steal it from their neighbor. Moreover, many cable providers are acknowledging this problem and are offering affordable plans.
Many people find this unethical way tempting to avoid the cable bill. As time passes, the number of cable thefts keeps rising, and only a few of them are being caught.
Why is it so easy to steal Cable?
As we talked about, people do not want to pay from their pocket and even do not want to compromise on cable. So instead of looking out cable alternatives, they make ways to watch their neighbors’ cable without their consent i.e., by stealing it.
How to detect if your cable is being stolen:
Stealing cable from your neighbor is illegal, and if you get caught, you can be in serious trouble. There are many ways through which you can make sure that your cable is not being stolen by your neighbor.
Make sure that you are getting full signals. If you feel any changes in your signal quality, perform the following steps:
1- If you see the double image of the picture or the pixilation, then there might be a problem.
2- If your cable signal pauses for a second or two and then skips, and if this starts happening frequently, then there are chances that your cable has been stolen.
3- There are several online tools out there that can help to determine your cable internet speed. Check the speed against the speed that your service provider is promising.
4- You can look at the cable lines and find any sign of splitting in them. It may be difficult to find because your neighbor might have buried the wires or even split them from the pole and not directly from your house.
5- Reach out to all the unknown wires that you do not recognize. Find out where are the leading and report it to the cable service provider.
Ways to steal Cable from a neighbor:
If you live in an apartment, there are many places to splice your neighbor’s cable connection. It depends on the wiring and age of the building. If the building is new, there is a central panel, and all individual apartment feeds would run there. Older buildings are wired on the outside, and your cable could be spliced at any point your neighbor finds convenient.
If you catch your neighbor stealing your cable:
What if you find that your neighbor is splicing up on your cable for a long time?
The first step in stopping theft is preventing it. Try to use locks, alarms and set a strong password. If it is difficult to access, it cannot be stolen, or at least it would be harder to steal. Even if your neighbor succeeds in stealing despite all your tries, call the police and hand over him to the police for this illegal and unethical act.
Nowadays, many cable providers are aware of this problem of stealing cable. To prevent it, they put safety measures to protect your cable. While buying a cable connection, do not forget to ask your service provider to let you know everything about it.
