By no means am I an expert. I just spent 3 days and many hours working with a n00b from DirecTV to connect four HDDVRs and one regular DVR with a SWM16 (Single Wire Multiswitch 16).
First and foremost, you will save a lot of time if you:
1. Have each of your coax lines labeled.
2. Disconnect each DVR from the power source and each coax line.
3. Follow the attached wiring diagram for the SWM16 and splitters.
4. MOST IMPORTANTLY, connect the coax to the SWM16 one connection and only bring ONE DVR up at a time.
We preconnected everything and tried to bring the DVRs up and two tv's worked and three did not. After about 8 hours of working with home office I asked the DirecTV installer to leave and get help for the next day. The next day he brought his trainer with him and decided that I needed a SWM16 instead of a SWM8 because I have 5 TVs. The SWM systems combines the two tuners into one wire, so if you have more 4 DVRs you have 8 tuners. I have 5 so I needed a SWM16.
So the very next day, the technician brought his supervisor because even with the SWM16 three TVs did not work. This is when we found out that you should disconnect each DVR and connect each input one at a time. You need to bring up the DVRs in a serial fashion so that it starts to load the software. After you start loading you may move on to the next connection. This takes longer, but it is the only way it will work.
Again, I am no expert, but if you have 5 or more TVs and want to use your SWM16 this should save you some time.
I'm open to any questions if you have them. Attached is the proper wiring diagram for the device.
First and foremost, you will save a lot of time if you:
1. Have each of your coax lines labeled.
2. Disconnect each DVR from the power source and each coax line.
3. Follow the attached wiring diagram for the SWM16 and splitters.
4. MOST IMPORTANTLY, connect the coax to the SWM16 one connection and only bring ONE DVR up at a time.
We preconnected everything and tried to bring the DVRs up and two tv's worked and three did not. After about 8 hours of working with home office I asked the DirecTV installer to leave and get help for the next day. The next day he brought his trainer with him and decided that I needed a SWM16 instead of a SWM8 because I have 5 TVs. The SWM systems combines the two tuners into one wire, so if you have more 4 DVRs you have 8 tuners. I have 5 so I needed a SWM16.
So the very next day, the technician brought his supervisor because even with the SWM16 three TVs did not work. This is when we found out that you should disconnect each DVR and connect each input one at a time. You need to bring up the DVRs in a serial fashion so that it starts to load the software. After you start loading you may move on to the next connection. This takes longer, but it is the only way it will work.
Again, I am no expert, but if you have 5 or more TVs and want to use your SWM16 this should save you some time.
I'm open to any questions if you have them. Attached is the proper wiring diagram for the device.
