Comcast Rolling Out AnyRoom DVR - Page 4

I did call comcast and they don't seem to have a clue about timing. It's my understanding that the anyroom hub and terminals are from Motorola. The old Cisco equip will not work with the anyroom setup. I suppose it's possible Cisco has new equip for the setup. I don't understand why St. Paul gets the Motorola equip and Minneapolis/suburbs are stuck with the Cisco junk. I hope that will change for the Anyroom setup.

This post is from Comcast's Ted Hodgins, Sr. Director, Video Product Development - Navigation, in Media & Entertainment, "New Guide for Scientific Atlanta Cable Boxes" blog.

The blog has a lot of good information about the new guide and the deployment schedule.

I'm glad I I popped in here. I called up Comcast today and will have someone coming in tomorrow for the setup. BTW, I'm in DC.

You'll enjoy it .... However, if you have a house alarm system that dials out during an alarm, and you are also using Comcast as your home phone carrier, be sure to run a self-test of the alarm before the crew leaves to make sure the alarm still dials out properly (as a precaution).

I had that problem the first time Comcast came out to install the modem.

I'll second that.  We had to take our second line back to AT&T because Protection One's signals weren't compatible with Comcast's VOIP.  Some other alarm providers (such as ADT, I understand) have no problems from Comcast connections.

Minneapolis is Cisco/SA equipment because the Minneapolis system used to be owned by Time-Warner -- and Time-Warner at the time was using primarily SA equipment. I'm not just talking about STB and DVRs -- I'm talking all of the networks routers, switches, hubs, etc., etc.

Fortunately, I'm with ADT ..... the installers just forgot to run dial tone via Cat5 back from the new modem location to the front end alarm intercept box because their dispatcher was pushing them to hurry on to the next job. I did not realize that I'd lost my alarm dial-out capability until ADT tried to run a routine monthly check calling-in from their end. Comcast sent out another installer to run the new Cat5 dial tone line and all is well .... especially after I called Customer Service to ask about why they were trying to charge me another $40 to fix something that should have been installed in the first place. The polite CS rep promptly reversed the charge .... bottom line, watch your monthly billing statements like a hawk

Wow, this sounds like a lot of work and potential frustrations and problems just to pay a few $$$ less every month on a box versus a DVR. Yea, I know it adds up with multiple boxes...just a thought I had while contemplating getting Any Room. So how is this working out for everyone now that its been around for a few months? I'm assuming that since there aren't many complaints, there aren't many issues. Guess its almost worth it, just for the larger hd. But without being able to control live tv, its like a half a$$ dvr...just saying.

You have to realize that with simply 2 DVRs you still have to get grandpa or grandma to walk up or down stairs to see a segment you recorded that might be of interest to them. With AnyRoom they can stay in their granny flat and watch it from the comfort of their own rocking chairs and thus one less opportunity for them to fall down stairs and break a hip, etc.

Basically, this has worked well for us. My wife can watch the recorded shows she wants at the upstairs TV she sometimes likes to watch without having to learn how to record them or delete them. The only AnyRoom problem we have noticed is that sometimes (about once a day or so) while watching a recorded program on the client box, the audio/video goes black, sometimes for as much as a minute. When the video comes back, you can rewind and watch what you missed, but the going black thing can get annoying. I have no idea whether this "going black" problem is unique to our boxes or common to all. A Comcast CS told me to unplug both boxes, then plug the server in first and then the client, to see if the connection would be "stronger." But I haven't done that yet because unplugging the server means a multi-day guide reload, which bugs the heck out of me.

FWIW, "Going black" has not yet happened here in Beaverton with AnyRoom ..... Still working flawlessly for almost 4 months now.

Just got it today...two things I don't like...

1) Can't schedule recordings from satellite units (knew this going in)
2) Can't use slow motion on satellite units (did not know this until I tried)

Otherwise, the extra DVR space will be nice.

Motorola and Comcast are probably working on a software update to enable your item 2.

Just guessing on my part regarding them working on it right this minute, however your item 2 is controlled by the software.

Anyroom is not yet available in my area, but supposedly will be ready early 2011.

For those who already have this service installed, how will it affect current wiring for the main dvr box?

In my home, the main TV is already about 10 feet from the jack which follow a splitter for the internet and the tv. Internet is very fast and I have my own surfbaord modem. Will they have to alter this setup? Or does most of their install consist of placing the filter on the outside to keep neighbors from accessing the info? of course there is the "install" from the main box to the child boxes...but isn't that mostly wireless?

I'm wondering if a brand new anyroom dvr install will somehow jinx my current cable/internet setup and slow it down.

At least in my area there is the filter for the home only to block the frequency the boxes talk on from leaving. They don't communicate wirelessly, its over the coax at a very high freq. It should not affect your current setup unless there is a bad filter on the home.

In my home, each of the TVs coax lines that are about a foot or two behind the set which run/exit directly outside the house. No sets are connected or share a coax line inside the house. The outside lines are hidden underneath the siding and come together in the back of the house and then to the tele pole.

So will this potential coax communicate at the main line in the back of the house, or on the pole. Or will they want to run coax lines within the house ?

thanks for the help. I'm not all that techie with this stuff..yet

They will put the filter where the wires come together at the first splitter which is probably on the outside on your house's siding. They usually only drop a single line from a pole and start splitting it at the house.

So, are you thinking there may be no need to alter the coax lines inside the home? ie, they won't need to readjust the line that is split to run the internet and the TV I plan to house the main parent DVR? That would be the ideal...

The filter is placed right before the ground, so on the end of the drpp before all the splits like George-O stated. As long as your coax is good quality to carry the high frequency they won't replace anything, and they will test it all before they leave. If there is a bad cable the it may be another story since its under the siding, but that is a bridge not worth worrying about yet. If that is an issue you can always decline the install. It may be worth having them check the wiring first. I've seen it a few times that either the coax is pinched, nicked by a nail or staple when it runs behind something like siding or baseboards.

Also make sure Comcast tests your alarm system's ability to call out to your monitoring center (only if you presently have a monitored home alarm system).

Appreciate the help guys! Thanks.

So I have my big screen HDTV downstairs which currently has the HD DVR Service from Comcast. My router and cable modem are right next to the TV

Upstairs in the bedroom I have an HD Box, (without any ethernet jack in the room).

I was hoping to get the Anyroom DVR service in the bedroom so I could start watching something downstairs and finish watching it upstairs.

Since it says I have to have a networked set-top box, I assume that means that I have to have an ethernet jack installed in the bedroom? Is it possible for it to be wireless? (or would that be too slow)

I tried to have Comcast come out to set it up, but the installer said there would have to be a cable running from one box to the other and without it he would not be able to install it. He said that a wire would have to be run (unfortunately since I rent here we wouldn't be able to have any wires run) He said that he would not be able to do the install unless I had an electrician come to run a wire.

I wasn't here when he came, my gf was, but she relayed to me the message, it was a little vague.

I just wanted to confirm, since after calling comcast numerous times, they seem to be confused. So an ethernet jack would need to be put into the bedroom to make this work? Are there any alternatives for it to be wireless if that is the case?

Thank you very much,

~J

The boxes will talk to each other over the coax cable, no ethernet is required. The tech will need to install a filter at the ground block so neighbors can't possibly pick up your hub's recordings. I don't see a need for an electrician unless the coax does not exisr at these locations, but it sounds like it does.

I called back, got a different story. But they are saying a cable literally has to be run from the main DVR to the other box so that they can share recordings? I would have thought this could just run over the existing coax. They have to put a hole in the wall and run a wire from the main box upstairs. That just doesn't sound right. So if I wanted to share the DVR with 3 different rooms, 3 different wires would need to be run all from the main box to the different rooms?

~J

Call again and talk to another person for better clarification per my info below:

As long as you have a cable entry point "dedicated" to your rental unit where there is an existing splitter that feeds your living room and bedroom from there, then you are okay. The filter trap is put just before the splitter where the existing cable enters the unit.

However, if the apartment complex is setup to feed multiple apartment units from a single common splitter (which is common in condos and apartments), then yes Comast will need to weed your system out from your neighbors by running new coax from the main DVR to your bedroom and also to any other rooms that you want on the AnyRoom service ..... Unfortunately, that's just "the way it is" (as the late Walter Cronkite used to say).

Your only other option is to move to a different complex that is wired independently for each unit or a house, etc.

That is an interesting point George, however I would think it could still be done in apartments without too much issue. The filter is normally placed at the ground block for s single family home. For apartments it can be placed after the main panel that feeds the different units.

The boxes will talk to each other over the existing coax in the home. The is no need to run lines from the hub to the terminals. If you did the would not in theory get anything other that what the hub was watching and could not tune another channel. Unless I am missing it.

You are .... here is what many appartment builders used to do:

They ran mains to different clusters of units and placed splitters in between walls to service two or more separate appartment units, etc. His upstairs outlet could be coming from a splitter in the wall he shares with the neighoring unit while his main room unit may be fed from a splitter in the wall shared with the downstairs main room of another adjacent neighbor, etc.

This type of wiring is often found in older multi-unit buildings that sometimes offer cable TV as part of the rent (20 years or older). Back then, AnyRoom was probably just a vague concept (if even that), plus many multi-unit residential housing builders would build them just as cheap as they could (meaning lots of communal wiring and shared splitters in between walls). Plus, the older splitters (and often the coax) used back then could be problematic with AnyRoom.

An older appartment building can be a cable company installer's worst nightmare.

I've had the anyroom DVR service for a month or so now, and I've had a recurring problem with the recorded content not being available on the satellite systems.

When I press the DVR button for either of my two satellite boxes, I get a 'service not available, please try later' error. I've called Comcast on this, and they suggested I reset all the DVRs in order, main DVR first followed by satellite DVRs. After doing this, the service started working again...until the next day, when I received the same error message again.

Has anyone else seen this issue and had it permanently resolved? I'd prefer to avoid a tech visit to my house if possible, but having to reset three DVRs anytime I want to use the service is not acceptable to say the least...

Thanks!

The unit's talk to each other via IP addresses that are getting dropped after 24hrs from the home office. This is an installation issue that happend to me .... the installer installed the filter trap in the wrong location. Make them install it right!