DirecTV "Whole Home" DVR Questions - Page 3

Okay, I've made some progress. When I first set up my powerline adapter in the kitchen for On Demand, I connected it to an extension cord (I know, this is a no-no but it was the most convenient way to do it at the time) and it seemed to work fine. Well, after removing the extension cord and plugging it directly into the wall outlet it began to function as well as my wired HR21 in the basement, i.e., viewing from either location played back perfectly, no studdering.

Now, onto the living room where until now, didn't function at all with the WHDVR service. This powerline adapter was not only plugged into an extension cord, it was plugged into a power strip...a BIG NO-NO but it had also functioned fine for On Demand. Okay, so after connecting that one directly into the wall outlet it began to work but not perfectly....I was still getting studdering when accessing programs from the other two DVRs and the kitchen DVR (with the corrected powerline connection) also studdered when accessing the still troublesome living room DVR. Accessing the living room DVR from the wired DVR in the basement, however, now plays perfectly.

So, the next thing I'll try is swapping the two powerline adapters and see if that makes a difference since the one that is now working in the kitchen is a Netgear and the one in the living room that has improved but is still unacceptable is a ZyXEL, (both are 85Mbps units). For the record, the adapter plugged into the router is also a ZyXEL, same model as the living room unit. What's unique about the ZyXEL is that it's not your typical wall-wart type of powerline adapter connection, it has an electrical cord instead (like a lamp) that just plugs into an outlet....not sure if this has anything to do with it. As I said, I'll swap them and see if the ZyXEL performs any better in the kitchen but more importantly will be whether or not the Netgear performs as well in the living room as it does in the kitchen...if it does I'll just get another one.

Thanks rad for bringing me up to speed on the WHDVR service.

This is not true at all. You can have unsupported Whole Home Service without having a SWM setup. The CSR you spoke to just didn't know how to do it.

Go to DBSTalk and look for the thread about setting up unsupported Whole Home Service over ethernet. There are instructions there about who to email and a form letter to use that ususally works well.

yes, what Beerstalker said.

I have unsupported MRV using the ethernet network at my house with no SWM setup. I used the DBSTalk suggested email approach after the MRV beta expired and MRV has worked for me perfectly ever since.

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=177590

This link.

My latest results are that swapping the powerline adapters did not help. The ZyXEL does in fact work as well as the Netgear when moved to the kitchen but moving the Netgear to the living room and plugging it directly into the outlet (the way it should be plugged in) did not help with the studdering problem I've been seeing from that room when trying to access programming from the wired HR-21 in the basement. Communication between the two rooms with powerline adapters (the kitchen and the living room) is still abysmal.

Also, any prior positive results I've reported are proving to be inconsistent (as rad warned me they might be) so it looks like I'm throwing in the towel on the powerline adapters...not on WHDVR though, DECA units have been ordered and are on the way.

Just ran across forum after learning about DTV whole home system. Talking to DTV not very clear on this. They want 200.00 to install. I have hr21 and some older receivers. Is it best to setup letting them do a all new install, or can I cat5 this or do this myself. I already have 4 lines coming into my house. Never have much luck with DTV techs, never once setup my dish correct outside with birdbog..

SR said they install all new wires, slim cable? Is all this necessary? From my impression, I can use one DVR and use other receivers to share DVR?

Anyone have the time to respond to my post.. thanks

HDDVRISSUES, you might want to check out http://www.dbstalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=137 which has a bunch of info on Whole Home DVR.

First of all, you need to have HR20 or greater HD DVR's and H21 or greater HD receivers to be able to view content between HD boxes. You can't view recorded content on any other receivers.

If you have the right hardware and want to use your own ethernet cabling DIRECTV will enable WHDVR function for you, $3/month service fee, but it will be in 'unsupported' mode. If you have ANY problems with WHDVR you're on your own they won't help. The trick is finding a CSR that will enable the feature for you, they normally want you to spend the money for the money for them to install the supported option, see http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=177590 on how to try to get them to enable it for you.

For the $200 fee DIRECTV will come out and upgrade you to a SWiM setup, install any needed DECA adapters, broadband DEC and replace any receivers that aren't SWiM compatible. The upgrade itself doesn't come with any commitment extension, but if receivers need to be replaced that would cause a new commitment (AFAIK).

FYI, the $200 includes the switch, and if they have to change anything on the dish. You are actually paying for the equipment. The installation is free.

A SWM (single wire multiswitch) switch is actually a really cool device. From what I understand you only have to have one line to the dual tuner DVR then use a splitter at the receiver. Normally you have to run a cable for each tuner in the house. I will probably get one eventually but right now to cut down on cost I sent the email through the website to directv and am waiting. They say they will get back to me in 24 hours...its been 18. I will post the results of my submission through the website when I get them.

FYI, you don't use a switch with a WHDVR setup, it's either a SWiMLNB or a SWiM8 or SWiM16 module.

Also, while you're correct there's only one coax line to a HD DVR with SWiM you don't then has a splitter there. The splitter would be located back where the switch is that he has that will then feed his receivers.

It works!!! No swm, no Deca, just 2 compatible DVR's, and Ethernet cable connecting them through my switches and routers. Then follow the directions on the DBS forum and fill out the online form and 24 hours later it works. It is very cool too!

So with a swm i still have to run 2 physical coax cables to my dual tuner DVR? I thought that was the point. I thought after it came out of the swm it duplexed or something and you could use the existing single lines in your house to a dual tuner instead of having to run extra lines everywhere there is a dual tuner. Maybe i misunderstood.

No, you need only 1 cable to a HD DVR with SWiM.

Example, you have a SWiMLNB which has one single coax coming out of it and need to connect four HD DVR's. That single cable would connect to a four port splitter, and those four single coax runs then go to each HD DVR. There is no other splitter involved except for that one.

So the 1 coax cable goes into tuner 1/swm and you don't use the tuner 2 input on the DVR?

In a SWiM environment that is correct, nothing is connected to the DBS tuner 2 input. The exception is for a HR20-100 with a DECA adapter, it requires a special way to connect a DECA.

I have a question:
I will be installing a HR 24 DVR complete with Ethernet connection and satellite signal.
The second DirecTV box I will get is the HR 24... Due to placement reasons I cannot get satellite signal into this box.
If I put this box on Ethernet can I watch recorded programs on the HR 24 DVR on this non DVR box?
Please note that there will be no satellite signal in the non DVR box I am relying on the Ethernet to pull recorded programs from the DVR on this box.
Thanks advance.
Ash

Sorry but each DIRECTV receiver must had an active connection to the satellite dish, you can't do what you want to do.

Just in case this helps anyone. After 5 painfull calls to Directv's CSRs I finally got DT to activate the whole-home DVR by telling those clowns I already had the installation but the tech didn't activate it. Silly I know, but look who I was talking with. Anyway... here is my set up and it works like a champ. I have two dd-wrt flashed routers, a Linksys E2000 and a d-link DIR615. The linksys is setup as an AP and is plugged into the DVR, the d-link is in the bedroom and is set up as a client bridge AP connected wirelessly (802.11N) to the Linksys. HD works flawlessly with absolutely no lag. Both recievers can access the internet. Wireless can be done with no problems which is counter to what some on here believe. Any questions PM and I will help.

With wireless YMMV, so much depends on distances involved, number of walls between end points, construction of the house and even how close neighbors wireless setups are and channels being used. When I was testing wireless even just changing the WAP 90 degrees would take a reliable connection and put it in the dumpster.

I've always said, if you want to try wireless or powerline give it a shot, just get your hardware from someplace you can return for a refund in case it doesn't work.

I think the idea is that you already have a working wireless network and that you shouldn't pay DT for an additional unnecessary IP over coax network. They wanted $200 and needed me to wait over two weeks on an install. LOL... not going to happen. I agree that I probably wouldn't try it if I had poor signal strength in my home. But then again unless I lived in a concrete bunker i'm sure I could find a repeater, or several, that would work for much less than $200.

Sloan

FYI - I just spent 30mins with the cancellation department of DirecTV because the CSR refused to turn on the Whole-home service and I told them I wanted to cancel my service. I explained to the customer retention person that all I wanted to do was pay for the $3/month fee, not the $200 they wanted to install it and the equipment I don't need, since I have CAT5 cables to every DVR location.
Well after the customer retention person tried different ways to add the service, he stated that the ONLY way they can now add the Whole-home service is to add the install kit. Because I threatened to cancel, they are installing it free. I told them I did not want to waste their money or time, but he stated it was now impossible to add the service without the DECA, SMW equipment.

Its sad that you have to threaten to quit to get something that they give to new customers for free. And yes, I would have quit. I spend way to much money on this to not have the same or better features of Cable.

I have a HR21 and HR23 DVRs.

I got it turned on by a front line CSR, it's just the luck of the draw as to whether you get one who can figure out how to do it. You came out of it very well though.

I was a C-band user until the bitter end. Why? Besides being cheaper, it meant I didn't have to deal DirecTV or Dish. Unfortunately, C-band programming went dark in December, so I'm giving DirecTV a try. DirecTV will pay the installer $100 to do a 'whole house' installation. The installer tells me that buys only one hour of his time. Ridiculous! Even in my prime I couldn't do all that has to be done in an hour and it's highly unlikely the installer can either. Since I'm a bit long in the tooth to be climbing around on the roof, I figure he can use his hour to install the dish. I already have RG-6 lines from the roof to the wiring closet and from there to each room of the house, so he doesn't have to do any wiring at all.

My equipment arrived yesterday (HR24, H24, 5 LNB dish and SWM box). LNB's to the SWM, single coax from the SWM to the splitter and power and room connections to the splitter. OK, done, done, and done. The distributor I bought the gear from said they might as well throw in a Deca adapter... free during the current DirecTV promo. Why not? Free is good, right? Anyway, since every room of the house has Gigabit Ethernet connection that run back to the router in the wiring closet, i figured I just connect the receivers that way. So what about the Deca adapter? No need for it in this scenario, right? My question is... what are the pro's and con's of using the Deca approach as opposed to simply connecting the receivers directly to the router? The only 'pro' I can think of is that, using the Deca approach, your not burning up network bandwidth with the video stream.

Sorry, I'm sure the answer is already posted, but I'm getting terribly confused. First I have no intention of paying DirecTV $200 to do what I've already done. This is a new install and the SWM is in the box as is the Deca. I hooked up the receivers, splitter, power injector, and ran an RG-6 to the roof. All the installer has to do is mount the dish, connect the wire, and do what ever he needs to do to activate the system. Currently I have both receivers (HR24 and H24) hardwired into the house gigabit network. My question is, is the installer more likely to activate MRV this way, or should I pull the Ethernet lines and connect the Deca? I got it free as part of the deal, so it doesn't matter to me either way. Since the installer is only going to bless me with one hour of his time, I want to make sure I have everything possible wired and good to go.

"Best" would be the supported DECA network. If you have a good ethernet then it will work as well, but you will need to go through a bunch of hoops to get MRV activated as "unsupported".

I think your installer has an over rated opinion of his worth @ $100/hour.

I have whole home service connected in my house with 2 HR23-700s. My question is why do they need to run a phone line to the back of one of the units? My wife accidentally sucked the line up with the vacuum splitting it the other night and it hasn't seemed to have any effect on the DVRs. Is the phone line necessary?

I did a few searches and the posts I found were all several years old and related to the way DirecTV handled firmware updates.

Thanks

If you have the Cinema Connection Kit installed, which connects the DIRECTV coax network to your ethernet network, then you don't need the phone line. If not then the phone line being connected to at least one receiver allows you to do purchases of PPV's via your remote.

This may have already been covered somewhere, but I've read through several threads and have come away only more confused.

I have DirecTV Whole Home service set up (HR24 as my main box). I am trying to figure out a way to connect my system to the internet, without having to pay DirecTV for the "professional installation". When my system was initially set up in October, the installer told me to simply connect a cat-5 cord to my DirecTV box, but that does not appear to be working.

A few posts have led me to believe that both boxes need to be connected to the router via cat-5 and others seem to indicate that a more complex setup is required.

So, my question is, how can I connect my Whole Home system to the internet to access On-Demand, etc.

Any info would be much appreciated. Thanks!

You need what they call a broadband DECA adapter. It hooks up to the same coaxial cable network that all of your DirecTV boxes are hooked into and then has a Cat5 network cable that hooks into your home router. This will give all of your Whole Home receivers access to the internet.

You can try to call and talk to DirecTV and explain to them that you thought that this was supposed to be included in your initial install and see if they will send you one for free, or possibly send someone to install it for you if you aren't comfortable doing it yourself. A lot of people are able to convince them to send them the DECA adapter for free, but most of the time you will have to pay $50 for the tech to come install it.

Of you can just buy one yourself and install it. Sometimes you can find good deals on them on ebay, otherwise Solid Signal is usually a good place to buy them from.
http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp...0)&c=Satellite

I have been doing research on this but yet I am still confused. I have 2 HR-21s, 1 upsatirs and 1 downstairs. I have a router that is on the opposite side of the house. But it used to have Directv in that room. So the room is has Directv access.

My questions are: Can I create my own Whole Home DVR network? If so, what do I need and how do I hook it up?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!!