HDHomerun Prime Owners Thread - Page 31

Thanks for about TA feedback. Look like I can pick up all the channels right now without TA. So what is the purpose for the TA?

I am paying triple play now for 109...it was 99 on the website but of course it was not for my market...free HD DVR for 3 mon or 6 mon (I have to check the contract or the promo on the website again) and free HBO for 3 mon...the internet 20Mbps but I get 25 from speedtest.

So here is my new problem. I finally got the talk to the billing department about $9.25 charge for CC..took them awhile to check..then they said that the local office that I picked up the CC charge me for cable box (that's why I have to pay $9.25)...but then he can not remove the cable box charge and offerred and put on my credit the charge on my account for six months...so I have six months to go to the local office to remove the charge for the box which I never got.....Of course I so happy about this...about 30 minutes later when I was trying to change the channels (it was on local network channel in HD), it said "Subcription required".........so got online to chat with tech support to find out that CC was deactivate...so the only solution is to go to the local office to activate the CC on the billing system and look that I have to pay 9.25/mon for the CC here in Houston area.

I already read the link above about CC and few tech support told me also first CC is free...after this 9.25 charge, all the tech support I chatted with or talked to could not tell me it's free for the first one...they all said it's depend on your market.

The FCC rules require that they give you, in writing, their "rack" rates at least once a year and whenever you request it. Demand it. If they don't give it to you contact your local franchise authority for which they are also required to indicate the contact information on your monthly bill.

What you are saying here is all wrong.
Edited by Sammy2 - 1/25/13 at 6:14pm

You should really get familiar with http://www.fcc.gov/guides/cablecard-know-your-rights and use it when talking to your provider if necessary.

http://www.fcc.gov/guides/regulation-cable-tv-rates

http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/evolution-cable-television

This model appears to have been discontinued. I just purchased the 3 tuner model and when I tried to price out the 6 tuner model I couldn't find it at any of the major retailers that carry Silicon Dust products. B&H lists it as "no longer available" and it's not listed for sale on the Silicon Dust store either.

It has been out of production for six months or so.

If I recall correctly, the 6-tuner model was kind of ridiculous. It required 2 separate cablecards and was priced as much, or more, than two separate 3-tuner models.

Talked to my supervisor about the upcoming changes I want to make.
The initial reaction is OK. (Going to her favorite Italian place for dinner helped.)
She reviewed the Digital Preferred ($83.90) channel lineup and said I still need that as compared to the Digital Starter ($65.95) but later she softened her position. So digital Starter is a possibility.

I'm gonna get 1 CableCard to start with. Set everything up and run for a week or two to shake out the HTPC and WMC and HD-DVR Prime. I've not touched WMC so I have a lot of work to do.
If all goes well I than can return the Comcast HD-DVR and drop my HD related fees and make the second Comcast box the primary and that drops off the $9.95. And get the $2.50 credit.

I'll see what happens at the local Comcast store.

Stay tuned ... do not adjust your set ... I'll be right back.

Classic Cableco tactics. Basically, they know you really don't want to switch because thats such a hassle, but you want to lower your cost. What they typically do is steer you into some sort of time limited discount. Most people take the offer and it reduces their bill for a while.

I turned in my STB in for an $8 credit and downgraded from Digital Preferred to Digital Starter TV, and also from Blast Internet to Performance Internet. My bill is $60 lower for 1 year then will go up after a $20 discount expires. They are counting on me not wanting to hassle about the $20...

If you are using Windows 8, hurry up and request free key for WMC. Windows 8 does not come with Media Center. You have to pay extra for Windows Media Package that I found out couple days ago.

Make sure your supervisor understands that it also means no Video On Demand, or Remote-ordered Pay Per View.
(This is why we still have a Comcast HD cable box - not DVR, just for VOD, but all the DVR'ing is done by the HTPC)

Have any Comcast VOD users here looked into the Xfinity Xbox application?

I have been using Anyroom DVR, but like to archive recorded content, which led me to purchase an HD Homerun Prime. I'm currently just using it with my laptop to archive content while still running Anyroom for live TV and recordings which will be deleted.

I'm planning to build an HTPC and use extenders in the hopes of replacing the Comcast DVR and using a single system. As part of putting together the system, I need to decide whether to go with Ceton extenders or Xbox. I'm not a gamer, but I like the idea of getting HBO Go and I think it would be worthwhile to go for the Xbox if the Xfinity Xbox app is equivalent to the set top box On Demand service. This system does have a cost since an Xbox Live Gold account is required, but it might be worth it, if I can replace the STBs.

The Comcast FAQs seem to suggest the content offerings are similar, but would like a real world account of the depth of content.

I don't generally order pay per view VOD content, just network content and Subscription (HBO, Encore))

This is why I have several hundred Blu-ray rips "on demand". Never used PPV anyhow and didn't use VOD too much either so it is not missed at all. If I really wanted to do that I suppose I could pay $5/mo for a Charter STB or for a special VOD event go grab one at the local office on my way home from work and then return it few days later.

You may want to post this in the Comcast thread.

No, I'm in the ATL w/Comcast. I don't know how much more clearly to say it - they DON'T USE SDV and TAs anywhere.

And the 'additional outlet fee' BS is unfortunately more common with Comcast now, and means that in a lot of areas you can expect to pay around $7.50 a month for each card after the first.

Yes people (including myself) have complained to the FCC and Comcast corporate about this, and have gotten nowhere so far.

Generally Comcast does not use tuning adapters... occasionally there may be an area that they acquired that might need them... the fact that the poster who first asked the question said they were available for pickup for $1.99/month makes me think that there may be some channels in that area that might need one (perhaps a foreign language package) as I usually never see comcast even mention them.

Hi folks, I've been a HTPC user for a few years now. Combining my infiniTV + WMC + WHS for watching recordings from any PC. Also stream a lot of media from my WHS on lots of devices in XBMC.

So I've built another HTPC to replace my cable box in the basement and I also like to be able to watch TV on the laptop. I'm getting a W8 tablet over the next couple of months and should be able to watch TV on that as well. The problem is with the infiniTV I need to lock tuners to specific PCs and of course I'm running out fast and experiencing the conflict issues again with lack of tuners for recordings.

So instead of getting another infiniTV for my main HTPC so that it has 4 for itself and 4 for distributing to other PCs, I thought about getting a HDHomerun PRIME instead for the network. So I'll be able to add this to my network away from the main HTPC, doesn't matter if it's asleep or not and allow me 3 more tuners for other PCs.

From memory when first researching cablecard devices, and from searches, the HDHomeRun can share all 3 tuners to any PC? So on my basement HTPC I can add all 3 tuners, and I can do this on my laptop as well. But when one is actually in use for watching or recording, it means that another PC can't use that specific tuner and just tries the next one? This would allow me to have a lot more freedom with other WMC PC's around the house and I only really record on the main HTPC anyway, especially given that it will have all its 4 tuners back.

I'm mainly asking because it is on sale on Newegg today and I was going to be buying either this or another infiniTV over the next week or 2 and just wanted to confirm I can use it the way I want to.

Yes, you can share any tuners to any PC on your network as they are "pooled" for use by any PC requesting a tuner. They have a new 4 tuner model coming out this year. It is supposed to be in the Spring but I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't show up until the Summer but who knows.

Thanks for the fast reply. I think 3 tuners should be ok since these won't be for recording hardly ever and I doubt I'd ever have more than 3 systems streaming TV in addition to my main HTPC.

I couldnt find much information elsewhere on this topic so I thought I'd post it here. I have a non-slim xbox 360. If I were to buy a homerun prime, could I stream tv to the 360 as a standalone device? I dont necessarily care about DVR functionality (we dont have a DVR now). I just want to replace comcast's ever rising rental fees for a set top box.

So now that the homerun prime is capable of streaming to dlna devices, has or is anyone doing what i'd like to do or does a 360 still necessitate using a computer in the middle of the chain?

Currently the PS3 is the only DLNA device that works for DCTP-IP for Copy Once content but others stream DNLA okay. You may want to look or post in this forum at SiliconDusts' website.

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind.

With regard to the new firmware, been running it for a week now with no issues whatsoever. Rock solid here.

okay, so lets say I get a homerun prime and use it with my current xbox 360. I have a dell studio xps 13 laptop (core 2 duo 2.40ghz, 8 gigs ram) running. If I have to use this computer as an intermediate between the homerun prime and the 360, does it have to be on and running 24/7? Or can I turn it on a few minutes before I want to watch tv? (again I dont really have much interest in recording.

That should work. You can even use it for recording if it is asleep. WMC will wake it to record and put it back to sleep but it has to be on the network.

Anyone getting errors playing back cable channels on the laptop? It seems to work fine if I plug the laptop via hdmi to an external display. However, when using the laptop in built display I get this error:

http://imgur.com/uRvS6Qk

Is your laptop HDCP compliant?

Actually, that's not quite the right question as displayport is HDCP compliant, just not for WMC and protected content and many internal displays are connected through displayport for both laptops and all-in-ones... also many tests for compliance will ignore an integrated display as bluray playback has an exemption for integrated displays. I also see it in windows 7 for h.264 protected content (regardless of internal/external display) with integrated intel "hd" graphics though usually see a black screen... my newest win 8 laptop has no problems with protected h.264 content with hd4000 graphics (finally) but does still have the problem in win 7 on either display.

This is a win 8 laptop with hd4000 graphics (asus zenbook ux31a touch). The integrated display is 1920x1080 full hd looks great, only if I could get cable tv to work on it. As soon as I drag the window to the external display (connected via hdmi) it works just fine. As soon as I start to drag it to the integrated display the video stops and it shows the above error message.

I updated to the latest intel display driver, still same error.

Found this for win 7 (not sure if it applies to win 8?): http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2392252
Edited by ymarker - 1/26/13 at 3:46pm

well the laptop is in my room, which for some reason retains a LOT of heat. So I always turn the laptop off at night and generally leave it completely off when not in use, so as to not add excess heat to my room. I'm happy to sacrifice the dvr feature as long as I can simply watch tv by turning on both my laptop and the 360 when I need it and turn both off when i dont. So in this circumstance, can I use this or will i have to set it up as brand new everytime I shutdown/restart? I'd assume that I should be able to do this without issue but it never hurts to ask.

Try reducing the program screen to a normal window and then back to full screen. Sometimes that clears up issues like that.