dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
Search similar:


uniqs
915

rambo
@71.95.36.x

rambo

Anon

[CATV] hdhomerun prime or ceton 6

i've never had cable tv before, so i might need a lot of help from you guys.

i only been with charter since 2/5/13, and since i just moved location on 7/19/14
i'm thinking of getting cable tv and i want to save as much as i can on tv.

i have 2 tv downstairs and 4 tv upstairs
i have 1 cable line upstairs in loft room being used by modem and router
can i use splitter? so i can set hdhomerun or ceton next router
other line unoccupied in different upstairs room

1 cable line not sure if its cable line or from dishnetwork line from previous owner in family room and i have a router extender there.

i want to get hdhomerun prime 3 tuners but i'd have to buy 2 receivers plus 2 m-card. or should i go with ceton 6 tuners?

also i want the cheapest package from charter tv which is spectrum SELECT package for 39.99 for 1 year then 59.99 standard rates apply plus m-cablecard fees. Will that be my final price or will it raise after each year? if so how much will it raise?

will i get $2 bill credit for using my own equipment?
mdavej
join:2004-06-09
united state

mdavej

Member

I've had both. I prefer Ceton because it only requires one card instead of two, as you said. I have a similar setup as you, with 5 TVs and one Ceton InfiniTV 6 ETH. I have 4 Echoes and one Xbox 360 as Windows Media Center Extenders. Since I already have coax everywhere but no ethernet cable, I use a DECA adapter in every room I have an extender.

I would put the tuner(s) (Ceton or Prime) upstairs with your router via a splitter.

I assume your HTPC will also be in the loft?

All your other TVs get their signal over ethernet, be it DECA, Moca, powerline or cat5 or 6. So you have to think about how you're going to get ethernet in every room.

Each TV needs an extender or some other streaming device. Since you have no premium channels, you can use any DVR software you want: WMC, Myth, XBMC, whatever. With WMC you'll want to use extenders. With the others you can use a small PC, raspberry pi, Roku, smart TV, whatever, in conjunction with XBMC or Plex or MB3.

Charter is pretty good about not raising TV package prices much. I would expect them to rise a few dollars every few years.

You pay $2 for the card and get no credit back.

Will 6 tuners really be enough for 6 TVs? If you're recording 4 things at once, for example, only 2 other TVs in the house can watch a different live channel. So think about how many different channels you need simultaneously in the whole house, not just total number of screens.

I highly recommend you visit the HTPC forum as AVSforum.com for more advice. With 6 TVs and a new LAN, you are taking on a very big project.

If all of this seems too complicated, you might consider using Tivo instead.

Good luck

howardfine
join:2002-08-09
Saint Louis, MO

1 edit

howardfine

Member

Not to hijack the thread but maybe it's related or helpful.

What about Windows 8 not supporting media extenders? I don't mind using Win7 but, eventually, support for that will be dropped (though I guess that may be far future). It seems a waste to have to get a XBox just as an extender. And what will Win9 do?

However, I only have one TV but would watch TV in my office if someone wants to watch the bigger screen, preferably on one of my two computers. From what you said, @mdavej, can I route the Ceton through ethernet and watch it on my computer instead of using extenders?
mdavej
join:2004-06-09
united state

mdavej

Member

said by howardfine:

Not to hijack the thread but maybe it's related or helpful.

What about Windows 8 not supporting media extenders? I don't mind using Win7 but, eventually, support for that will be dropped (though I guess that may be far future). It seems a waste to have to get a XBox just as an extender. And what will Win9 do?

However, I only have one TV but would watch TV in my office if someone wants to watch the bigger screen, preferably on one of my two computers. From what you said, @mdavej, can I route the Ceton through ethernet and watch it on my computer instead of using extenders?

Technically Ceton Echo works with Win 8.x. You just have you use your phone as a remote and GUI. Who knows what the future holds for WMC or even cable card in general. All I know is, all my WMC related stuff has paid for itself several times over. So even if everything stopped working tomorrow (which it won't), I'd still come out way ahead.

There are many ways to watch. Any PC running WMC can access network tuners (Ceton or Prime). I have several PCs that can access live and recorded TV (copy freely at least). Prime has the advantage though since it's DLNA compliant, meaning any DLNA device can access its tuners, not just PCs and WMC extenders. Having said that, the Prime's DLNA interface is absolutely terrible, so I would never use it anyway.

The reason I use extenders instead of PCs is they're cheaper, simpler and quieter and give me access to all my protected recordings from HBO and the like. But if you have a Roku or something like that, then you don't really need to record anything from HBO since you can get it from HBO GO anytime.

howardfine
join:2002-08-09
Saint Louis, MO

1 edit

howardfine

Member

So, if I get an appropriate PC with a tuner card, I can hook that up to my TV but also plug it into my router and watch TV on my computers in the office via the router without an extender?

I've always had trouble trying to connect all the dots with this.

EDIT: Just looked up a Ceton InfiniTV6 tuner and it looks like what I want. Correct me if I'm wrong but, with an appropriate PC and cable card, I plug that into the PC and another cable to my router and I'm all set for one regular TV and two office computers where I can watch and record up to six different channels at once. True?

rambo
@71.95.36.x

rambo to mdavej

Anon

to mdavej
I'll be going with ceton 6.

Yes, the HTPC will also be in the loft.

Wish I had coax in everyroom, but I'll probably get a powerline. I have about 3 or 4 ethernet cable lying around.

we made the loft an entertainment room, so theres the tv, a roku, xbox, xbox 360, a raspberry pi raspbmc, and one laptop and other blueray and media streamer box laying around. so i have plenty of option to choose from in that room.

upstairs
room 1 has smart tv. (needs ceton echo?)
room 2 has tv, and laptop with xbmc and wmc installed.
room 3 has netbook with xbmc installed, xbox 360 and tv.
room 4 and 5 wont be adding

downstairs
room 6 desktop with xbmc installed, tv.
family room tv (needs ceton echo)

I guess i'll be needing 5 powerlines for the room and loft directly to router.?

I think 6 tuners might be enough, we probably won't record anything unless we're away for the whole day. so that means i can use 6 different channels on 6 tv simultaneously?
mdavej
join:2004-06-09
united state

mdavej to rambo

Member

to rambo
Howardfine, yes you can watch live TV on other PCs running WMC. Just set up each WMC program to connect to the same tuners as you main PC. I wouldn't recommend a tuner card but the ethernet version of the Ceton so your main PC doesn't have to be on all the time.

If you don't have any protected stuff like HBO, all can be shared among your PCs. Or you can have each PC record its own. The InfiniTV 6 supports 6 channels at once.

Rambo, you have lots of options. I personally think WMC and extenders all around is the easiest, most consistent interface. But you can probably make all that other stuff work somehow if you prefer. I've dabbled with Pi's and XBMC and MB3 and Plex but didn't care for any of it. Matter of taste and willingness to tinker I guess.

If live TV on a smart TV without an extender is important, you probably need to go with Primes instead of Ceton because of DLNA. But as I said before, it's not a smooth experience.
aguen
Premium Member
join:2003-07-16
Grants Pass, OR

aguen to rambo

Premium Member

to rambo
said by rambo :

room 1 has smart tv. (needs ceton echo?)

Ceton Echo's need enet connection to WMC server, then HDMI to TV.

6 tuners will = 6 simultaneous TV watching BUT with your enet over powerline + basic internal network, you may have a network capacity/choke problem.

Rambo
@71.95.36.x

Rambo

Anon

I'm assuming I should cut it down to just using 4 TV simultaneously so it doesn't have network capacity/choke problem?

I'm thinking of just connecting 4 TVs for now.
aguen
Premium Member
join:2003-07-16
Grants Pass, OR

aguen

Premium Member

said by Rambo :

I'm thinking of just connecting 4 TVs for now.

I'm just providing you with some numbers for right now. I have 2, 1 hour programs I've recorded here on my WMC PC. They are 1080i programs recorded off our local CBS affiliate. One file is ~4.5 GB on disk and the other is ~4.9 GB on disk. The 4.9 GB file = 39.2 Gb/60 min. = ~.65 Gb per min. or ~.011 Gb per sec.

Factor that against 4 streams over your enet powerline bridge devices. I don't know what the max bandwidth is for the pwr line bridges but I know it's much less than a Gb.

I'm currently using 1 enet to moca bridge in my home between my WMC PC with a Gb nic to a Gb switch with the one side of the moca bridge connected to the switch. The bridge in the bedroom connects to a 100Mb switch port and then to an Xbox Extender to the TV. The Moca Bridge devices are only good for ~100Mb. I occasionally will get some drop out and a NETWORK problem message pop up on the TV screen with just one live TV show being viewed as well.

Just some info to consider perhaps.

Rambo
@71.95.36.x

Rambo

Anon

Ahh, thanks mdavej and aguen for being helpful with quick response and superb information. I'll definitely look more into it and see what I can get out of it, and decide what I should do at the moment. Again, thanks for the info guys.