[mbunting]

I have a ReplayTV 5080 that is still sealed in it's box. I have not cracked the seal because I am undecided on whether or not to keep it.


I previously had 3 Sony SAT-T60's (Directv receiver w/ TiVo) and had DIRECTV. However, at my new home just moved in this past weekend) I cannot get Directv signal due to a large row of trees (not on my property).


I'm able to get DISH NETWORK line of sight...and I'll probably go with them or AT&T Digital Cable. But, I can't freakin' decide


If I go with Dish - I can get the Dish PVR unit (508) and return the Replay TV 5080.


If I go with Dish - I can also decide against the PVR unit and get the basic satellite receiver they offer...and then connect my new 5080 to it.


But I'm worried about compatibilty problems between the 5080 and the Dish receiver (Ir blaster woes?) - but should I be?


I really like the broadband options on the ReplayTV 5080 - and this is why I purchased it the other night. I have a Broadband connection and also have a Linksys Wireless router. I would definitely want to pair the two together....but I may have to go the wireless route if at all possible. Maybe not for the current 5080 I own - but if I like it (5080) then I would more than likely buy a 5040 or another 5080 for our bedroom (for my wife) and the only way I would want to hook up this 2nd RTV receiver is so I could network shows (using a wireless connection).


By chance is the 5080 compatible with wireless networks?


Sorry for all the questions...i did go over the FAQ's but I saw nothing that might help in regards to what I'm asking. Thanks in advance for any and all help!


Mike

 

[KenL]

Quote:

Originally posted by mbunting ...If I go with Dish - I can also decide against the PVR unit and get the basic satellite receiver they offer...and then connect my new 5080 to it. But I'm worried about compatibilty problems between the 5080 and the Dish receiver (Ir blaster woes?) - but should I be?

I'd argue it's better than the 508. Blaster works flawlessly once you get it situated. I've been using DISH with Replays for years and I've never had a problem.
Quote:

Originally posted by mbunting ...By chance is the 5080 compatible with wireless networks?

Should work fine, but once you get the second unit you'll almost certainly want to hardwire cat5 to do the live streaming.
Quote:

Originally posted by mbunting ...Sorry for all the questions...i did go over the FAQ's but I saw nothing that might help in regards to what I'm asking.

That's an awful lot of questions. But we'll let it slide, just this once. Since you apologized and all.


I'd also note that you really should try out a Replay first... especially since you are so accustomed to TiVo. Some longtime TiVo users find the Replay interface somewhat advanced, a few never fully adjust, so do try it out first.

 

[Tiyuri]

Assuming your Linksys router is 802.11b you can do wireless pretty easily. You just need to buy a Linksys WET-11 to connect the 5080 to so it can bridge the ethernet and the wireless. You can stream shows over 802.11b but standard quality only (medium, maybe if you have a very strong signal) and there will be the occasional hiccup that interrupts the stream for a few seconds.


To find out more about using wireless on 5xxx and 4xxx series Replays search for "wireless" or "WET-11".

 

[majik]

Quote:

Originally posted by mbunting I have a ReplayTV 5080 that is still sealed in it's box. I have not cracked the seal because I am undecided on whether or not to keep it.

If you buy then return items to stores, they usually open them to check the contents even if they are sealed. So don't be too worrysome about this. They open the items no matter what because the package can be resealed (ie. someone buys a 75Gig HD, opens it, swaps it, shrinkwraps it, takes it back). I resently returned a 75Gig HD that I had not opened, and they just opened it anyway.

Quote:

Originally posted by mbunting I really like the broadband options on the ReplayTV 5080 - and this is why I purchased it the other night. I have a Broadband connection and also have a Linksys Wireless router. I would definitely want to pair the two together....but I may have to go the wireless route if at all possible. Maybe not for the current 5080 I own - but if I like it (5080) then I would more than likely buy a 5040 or another 5080 for our bedroom (for my wife) and the only way I would want to hook up this 2nd RTV receiver is so I could network shows (using a wireless connection). By chance is the 5080 compatible with wireless networks?

From SonicBlue's website...

features:
http://www.sonicblue.com/video/repla...0_features.asp


The ReplayTV 5320, software support for wireless USB (802.11 b) Network Devices and software support for video sharing and streaming between ReplayTV 5000 and ReplayTV 4000/4500 are estimated to be available Q1 2003.



So to answer your question, yes, but in the near future.

 

[MasterK]

Quote:

Originally posted by majik From SonicBlue's website... features: http://www.sonicblue.com/video/repla...0_features.asp The ReplayTV 5320, software support for wireless USB (802.11 b) Network Devices and software support for video sharing and streaming between ReplayTV 5000 and ReplayTV 4000/4500 are estimated to be available Q1 2003. So to answer your question, yes, but in the near future.

This applies only to using a USB Ethernet adaptor directly with the Replay unit and has no bearing on the other wireless options available.


As a previous poster mentioned a Linksys WET11 or simillar wireless bridge will work fine for a single unit but may be slow for in house streaming between 2 units. For that you may want to wait for an 802.11a bridge to be available.

 

[asinshesq]

Quote:

Originally posted by majik ...The ReplayTV 5320, software support for wireless USB (802.11 b) Network Devices and software support for video sharing and streaming between ReplayTV 5000 and ReplayTV 4000/4500 are estimated to be available Q1 2003...So to answer your question, yes, but in the near future.

Actually, this is not correct. Wireless works fine. The quote from the website just says that inside of your house, a 4xxx unit cannot yet stream to a 5xxx unit. but a 4xxx can stream to a 4xxx inside your LAN, and a 5xxx can stream to a 5xxx in your LAN, and either can 'send' shows over the internet to the other.

Quote:

Originally posted by Tiyuri ...You can stream shows over 802.11b but standard quality only (medium, maybe if you have a very strong signal) and there will be the occasional hiccup that interrupts the stream for a few seconds....

Right, but just to avoid confusion for a newbie, let me add that streaming is different from sending a show to a friend with a 5xxx unit. You should be able to send shows fine with a wireless connection, even in high quality, since that does not require much bandwidth compared to live streaming to another replay on your private LAN. To put this in context, the 802b11 wireless spec allows throughput of 11 mbps max (and lower as the distance gets greater). Streaming a show in real time to another 5xxx on your own LAN takes something like 2-7 mbps (it depends on the speed), while sending a show to another person on the net is constrained by whatever the upload speed is on your broadband connection (typically well under 1 mbps). (The normal dsl or cable modem can give you as little as 128 kbps of upload speed and maxes out at less than 1 mbps of upload speed, in contrast to the much faster download speeds you can get when you are surfing the net or retreiving files from some site).


I've read that medium speed streaming takes about 8 mbps, but I don't understand that. Here's my math:


one hour of video = 1 gigabyte of storage at low quality


and since 1 byte = 8 bits,


one hour of video = 8 gigabits of storage at low quality


This means that one second of video is 1/3600 of that amount, or 2,222,222 bits


So, I would thnk that live streaming at low qualtiy would take about 2.2 mbps of throughput.


And medium quality takes up twice as much storage as low quality, so throughput for streaming medium quality video should be about 4.4 mbps. I forget what the ratio is for medium to high, but I would imagine that high ends up taking something like 8.8 mbps.


Anyone care to fix my math if I got this wrong? Thanks.

 

[Amazingly Smooth]

Ethernet has overhead so the effective link speed is between 1/3 and 1/2 of the maximum rate. With regard to future software features, I would not count on them actually ever happening. RTV has a poor history of sticking to their "plans". Usually they just offer what you want and give you what they've got. Of course, I could be wrong this time, but it would not be the norm for RTV.


Cheers


P.S. Don't steal the RTV "service".