HDHomerun Prime Owners Thread - Page 23

If you have a problem with gravity Velcro is good.

That about the only gripe I have with SD...I hate the "space-ship" form factor. Also the lack of hidden screw slots for wall mounting. Yep
Velcro can be your friend.

I'm just starting to use the Prime as a replacement to my PVR but am discovering I get intermittent symbol quality drop. It'll work solid for 30 mins or on certain channels, but after a while, it'll go thru 10 minutes of crazy symbol quality. How can I improve this? Other % are > 90%

Win 7 on WMC
Gigabit network - router, switch, cat6.
Running latest FW from April I believe (not beta)

What about the cable connection itself? Any splitters before it gets to the Prime? You lose 3dB at least through each splitter. I have mine with one splitter at the point of demarcation to go to the Prime and to the cable modem.

Do you have a tuning adaptor/resolver? How's the cabling from that to the Prime? Sometimes it will work better with an external splitter than with the internal splitter in the tuning adapter.

What's the condition of the cabling in your house? Is it RG6 or older and less shielded RG59? What type of couplings? Compression or crimp?

I wouldn't mind having to install multiple cable cards, but I would mind having to rent more! Half of my reason to go shared network video tuners is not having to pay more rental fees to content providers.

Not sure why Ceton has 4-tuner/card solutions, but SiliconDust only has 3-tuner solutions.

Me either but it is those clunky Cisco TA's that Charter uses that would really annoy me. If I need more tuners in the future I'll get a ceton 6-tuner.

I think you are trading network attached tuner for another tuner in the Prime, BTW.

Do you have a tuning adaptor/resolver ?
^^What's that? I don't think so. ^^

As for the splitters:
Outside ---2 way Splitter----Cable Modem & 4 way Splitter = 4 way splitter ----HDHRPrime & 2 TV's on basic cable coax connection

I'd like to keep a couple TV's connected on basic coax as emergency when my Prime acts funny.... like this moment described.

Some areas have Switched Digital Video and require the adaptor for it.

You have too many splitters, I think.

Also, what cabling and fittings are being used?

One other thing is if the channel frequency (not the channel number) as seen in the HDHR menu is around 700Hz and you have a LTE 4G device nearby it can cause interference because they're on the same frequency. The only solution for this other than turning 4G off on your device is better shielding of the cabling, fittings and the Prime itself.

+1

Every time you split, you halve the signal strength. So 1/2 goes to your cable modem, but only 1/8 ends up going to your prime and other tv's. If you can re-work it so the 4-way is the only splitter in the system, signal strength would be a lot better all around, except at the cable modem, which really doesn't need a really strong signal. A 3-way splitter would be even better. Those usually send half to one output and a quarter to each of the other two. I'd send the strongest (-3dB) to the prime.

A couple more things.. I have my 4G devices automatically switch to WiFi and use my router at home so that problem goes away.

I don't have issues with my prime being connected behind only one splitter with RG6 coming straight off the pole and into the house and RG6 everywhere else and using compression fittings everywhere.

My prime is very stable with only the occasional "Channel not Available" error after which the channel tunes anyhow. I have no back up STB because the whole purpose of the prime is to stop renting those from the CableCo.

Has anyone gotten a message saying "Your device will shut down if not accessed after a period of time" or something to that affect. It seems like a power saving mode or something. Was there an update sent out to TWC customers on this as I haven't seen it before?

I haven't seen that before but I'm on Charter.

Where was this message? Was it an overlay, a popup, or embedded in the video? I've seen similar messages on my STB when wanting to release the SDV channel but never on either of my cablecard tuners... I assume they just automatically respond with "Yes, I'm still using this channel"

I also can see a similar message on some of my TV's if I turn on a built in power saver mode.

I have a prime coming in the mail and trying to reconfigure my RG6 coax feeds. I have to have a 2 way -3.5 splitter and one leg going to my Comcast VOIP + Internet modem. I tried doing one more 2 way after that and the modem stopped working. So the cable modem has to have the strongest in the house.

My other leg off the first two way goes to a 4 way that currently has one feed going to a SA8300HD HDDVR STB that has worked great with that signal strength.

My idea is to just re-purpose that feed from the HDDVR to the HD HomeRun Prime hoping it's strong enough.

My question: Does the HD Prime 3CC have an internal webpage to show diagnostics like signal strength? If so what values are good enough? (I was doing this on the cable modem when I tested it today)

Last ditch effort would be to put back in a bi-directional signal booster I have from Comcast between the 2 way and 4 way splitter. I want to see if it'll work without this first though.

Thank you in advance for any suggestions/ideas.

There's a web-based diagnostics page. It is the ip address assigned by your router. You nedto have the Prime located as close as possible to the point of demacartion, preferably with only one splitter at that location to go to the modem.

There's a web-based diagnostics page. It is the ip address assigned by your router. You nedto have the Prime located as close as possible to the point of demacartion, preferably with only one splitter at that location to go to the modem. The

Sammy2 - Thanks for the info on it having it's own webpage served from itself.

Unfortunately unless I only want 2 devices to have Comcast cable feed I can't have the Prime on the first 2 way. Like I said before the cable modem only works if it's got one leg of a 2 way from the drop line to the house. So I have to take the 2nd leg of the two way and make the most of it. Either the 4 way I have now (-7; -9.5 total [my drop is +1dB based on cable modem at -2.5 + 3.5 (2 way splitter)] or I have a +8 bi-directional amp I can put between the 2 and 4 way splitter.

I think one or both of these configurations will work out. Just glad to hear the Prime has a readback on signal strength.

Any ideas on what range of signal strength is enough? Or other values/parameters on the diagnostics to pay attention to and ranges for them?

EDIT: Sammy2 I have to ask is that avatar image of your of Rose Tylor from Dr. Who?

The Prime is my only tuner. Everything from there is on my gig network. The whoole purpose to me is to avoid renting a STB. I suggest putting it at the location of you modem / router. I get in the high 90's to 100% signal strength and quality. Anything below 90% is problematic.

My avatar is Julie Christie as Lara in the 1965 classic Doctor Zhivago, one of my favorite movies of all time.

If your signal strength is low but signal quality is good, there's a $30 amplifier at Radio Shack that will work great.

Actually right now I'm doing good on signal strength. My problem is my SNR on my cable modem (best connection with only one two way after drop) is around 37 dB and sometimes drops below 35 dB and then I'm in trouble. Internet disconnects, etc... that just started yesterday though.

For reference here's my current strength/quality:

Tuner 1 Status:
Virtual Channel 748 CNNHD
Frequency 661.750 MHz
Program Number 16141
Authorization subscribed
CCI Protection unrestricted
CGMS Protection n/a
Modulation Lock qam256
PCR Lock locked
Signal Strength 98% (-0.8 dBmV)
Signal Quality 96% (34.5 dB)
Symbol Quality 100%
Streaming Rate 12.739 Mbps
Resource Lock 10.0.0.135

CableCARD Status:
Card Manufacturer Cisco
Card Authentication success
Card Activation success
3DES encryption supported
OOB Frequency 103.000 MHz
OOB Lock 1.544 Mbps
Signal Strength 100% (0.1 dBmV)
Signal Quality 100% (34.5 dB)
Channel List tuning-resolver

Here's the picture on my PC Monitor. It is even better on my HDTV because it is "calibrated" and set up better.

I do not remember exactly but I only see it when I turn on my TV & AVR. It is a similar to what the STB would send out, just like you mentioned. It is a popup. I keep my htpc on 24/7 and hit stop everytime I stop watching tv to release the tuner.

I'll try and take a pic when I use it today. It isn't a big deal but I know that TWC pushed out an update cause I see new channels now so maybe it came along with that update.

You may consider a powered amplified splitter, such as http://www.frys.com/product/5770182?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG. Since you still have issues with your cable modem even with a 2-way split, I'd install this amplified splitter from the main street line. You can then connect 3 devices directly to amplifier (cable modem, prime) and then 2-way split the last one to two of your TVs (they require the least signal strength). This will keep you at your current 5 connections, but keep 3 of them at about the same signal strength as from the street and 2 at half strength, due to the amplification. I run mine this way and have no issues (even the extra 2-way split to a cable box and PC single tuner). I did have issues when I ran a single 4-way splitter.

Considering your main issue may just be signal noise, have you made sure your line is grounded? Mine is grounded at the point it enters the house to my meter. Also make sure you don't have any unused coax connectors without a terminator installed.

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk 2

I am. But I recently read that I should set the controller to AHCI in my BIOS, which may increase throughput even more. I tried it, but it causes my system to BSOD. After further reading, I discovered that you should do this before installing Windows. If you do it after, the AHCI driver won't load. There is an ms hotfix, but it didn't fix it.

I'm going to keep looking, but I don't plan on installing from scratch.

Edit: I think I found my problem. My BIOS only seems to allow AHCI drives on SATA ports 1-4. I had installed the SSD to 5. I swapped the SSD with my old system drive which was on 1. Now it boots fine.
Also, I clocked boot time from when Windows first starts to load until the desktop, with it's icons and gadgets, was loaded. Just over 60 seconds.
Edited by leebo - 8/23/12 at 8:15pm

You can also fix post install AHCI switch with registry entries. That's how we Mac users get AHCI in bootcamp. With AHCI enabled and a 512GB Samsung 830 SSD as the boot drive Windows 7 x64 restarts in about 30-45 sec. My HTPC is dedicated with only HDHR Prime software, SP1, MSE, Media Browser and drivers.

@Sammy - I have my LTE devices switch to WiFi at home as well. Unfortunately, iOS still sends a signal to the tower every so often even when on WiFi. Additional, iOS does not appear to use WiFi when sleeping if cellular is enable. I had to disable LTE at home. Thought about connecting my AT&T 3G microcell again. My devices would switch over to it instead of the LTE towers.

I also use a powered Motorola 2-port cable amplifier with passive return for compatibility with cable modems. The amp definitely improved channel change speed. I also use a Motorola SB6141 Cable Modem which has built-in filters for MoCa (and gets me 110/20Mbps).

Has any1 been succesfull with this?:
http://www.phreefi.com/2012/01/accessing-your-hd-homerun-prime-from_16.html

I'm basically stuck @ step 9. I don't see anything similar to what is in the steps.
If I have a DD-WRT router, can I use that as a VPN instead and will it work that way instead of going the virtual machine route?

Never even knew about that.

I think ceton is working on this with their companion app which will work with any tuner.

I have successfully been able to transcode live tv from my hdhr dual using VLC to transcode and stream, accessing over the internet. I was pleased with the quality, am still testing. No ability to control remotely, it must be set up to run before you leave the house.

VPN approaches are probably futile from a quality standpoint. Upload bandwidth is the most limiting factor.