# DIRECTV Whole-Home DVR Service officially launched



## Doug Brott

*DIRECTV HD DVR Customers Can Now Record And Watch Shows, From Any Room of the House - All With A Single DVR*
_The DIRECTV(R) Whole-Home DVR Service Gives Customers the Power to Share Recorded Programs with up to 15 Televisions_

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Jun 07, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- DIRECTV, the world's most popular video service, is giving customers a virtual HD DVR in any room of the home with the launch of its new DIRECTV(R) Whole-Home DVR service, which is currently available to DIRECTV customers nationwide. In addition, beginning today, DIRECTV is launching a national print, broadcast and online advertising campaign to coincide with the launch of the new service.

With the new multi-room service, customers have even more control over their television viewing experience by being able to share recorded programs on any TV in the home, begin a program in one room and finish it in another, and access DIRECTV's DVR technology on non-DVR HD receivers.

The DIRECTV(R) Whole-Home DVR service eliminates the need for multiple HD DVRs by allowing customers to record and watch their favorite shows in up to 15 rooms in their home with a single HD DVR.

"We've created a connected whole-home service that is perfectly attuned to our customers viewing habits and lifestyles, delivering a DVR experience with maximum convenience and control," said Romulo Pontual, CTO of DIRECTV. "The DIRECTV(R) Whole-Home DVR service truly enables customers to watch what they want, where they want and when they want it, by simply using a single HD DVR."

The DIRECTV(R) Whole-Home DVR service is available for $3 per month and provides customers with features such as:


Access to a single, combined playlist of all of their recorded programs on any connected television in the home,
DVR controls in every room, including record, delete, pause and rewind functionality,
Stop a recorded show in one room and continue watching in a different room,
Manage DVR playlist from any connected room
Set separate parental controls for each TV
Watch recorded shows in HD in any connected room

For more information on the DIRECTV(R) Whole-Home DVR service please visit www.directv.com/wholehome or call 1-800-DIRECTV.

*About DIRECTV*

DIRECTV (NASDAQ: DTV) is the world's most popular video service delivering state-of-the-art technology, unmatched programming, the most comprehensive sports packages available and industry leading customer service to its more than 25.6 million customers in the U.S. and Latin America. In the U.S., DIRECTV offers its 18.6 million customers more than 130 HD channels and Dolby-Digital(R) 5.1 theater-quality sound (when available), access to exclusive sports programming such as NFL SUNDAY TICKET(TM), award winning technology like its DIRECTV(R) DVR Scheduler and higher customer satisfaction than the leading cable companies for nine years running. DIRECTV Latin America, through its subsidiaries and affiliated companies in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela, Colombia, and other Latin American countries, leads the pay-TV category in technology, programming and service, delivering an unrivaled digital television experience to 7 million customers. DIRECTV sports and entertainment properties include three Regional Sports Networks (Northwest, Rocky Mountain and Pittsburgh) as well as a 65 percent interest in Game Show Network. For the most up-to-date information on DIRECTV, please call 1-800-DIRECTV or visit directv.com.

SOURCE: DIRECTV

DIRECTV, Inc.
Jade Ekstedt
(310) 964-3429
[email protected]


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## trdrjeff

AWESOME!


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## Yog-Sothoth

And most likely a new DirecTV vs. Dish commercial....


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## DogLover

I received a flyer in the mail today as well, so the advertising has started.


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## Directvlover

I received the post card about it on Friday. But one thing I noticed on it was it said you could set up recordings on a dvr, from one of your other DVR's. When i tried to do that over the weekend, I didn't have that sort of functionality. Do you suppose that works now that it is officially launched?


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## Herdfan

I thought MRV was limited to 10 units?


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## MikeW

Doug Brott said:


> Access to a single, combined playlist of all of their recorded programs on any connected television in the home,


I just hope that someday the playlist will be sorted by DVR. I've already disabled three DVRs because the list is simply too long.


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## dwcolvin

Doug Brott said:


> *DIRECTV HD DVR Customers Can Now Record And Watch Shows, From Any Room of the House - All With A Single DVR*
> _The DIRECTV(R) Whole-Home DVR Service Gives Customers the Power to Share Recorded Programs with up to 15 Televisions_
> 
> EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Jun 07, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- DIRECTV, the world's most popular video service, is giving customers a virtual HD DVR in any room of the home with the launch of its new DIRECTV(R) Whole-Home DVR service, which is currently available to DIRECTV customers nationwide. In addition, beginning today, DIRECTV is launching a national print, broadcast and online advertising campaign to coincide with the launch of the new service.


Then what have we been doing since May 13? No wonder D* wasn't ready.


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## veryoldschool

:yawn:


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## ehilbert1

So there is only two tuners? I read where it said you can record two shows while watching two. I would atleast think recording 4 shows would be possible. Can someone help me out?


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## lugnutathome

Apparently *that* was the Beta Test phase

Don "which makes many of us the Alpha group. But you knew that already" Bolton



dwcolvin said:


> Then what have we been doing since May 13? No wonder D* wasn't ready.


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## steinmeg

dwcolvin said:


> Then what have we been doing since May 13? No wonder D* wasn't ready.


The flyer I got, which came with my bill mentions nothing about a $ 3.00 charge. I WONDER WHY?????


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## DogLover

Directvlover said:


> I received the post card about it on Friday. But one thing I noticed on it was it said you could set up recordings on a dvr, from one of your other DVR's. When i tried to do that over the weekend, I didn't have that sort of functionality. Do you suppose that works now that it is officially launched?


The one I received says "Record from any connected room with an HD Receiver". In the small print it says "Non-DVRs will allow you to schedule recording on the DVRs in your home. Scheduling from your DVRs will work as usual."

Hopefully, recording from other DVRs will be coming in the future .


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## DogLover

steinmeg said:


> The flyer I got, which came with my bill mentions nothing about a $ 3.00 charge. I WONDER WHY?????


Are you sure it's not in the small print? It's on the bottom of my flyer.


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## steinmeg

DogLover said:


> Are you sure it's not in the small print? It's on the bottom of my flyer.


Not in the small print at all.....( my flyer came with the montly invoice)


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## farmerdave4

I was wanting the Dish VIP 922 but hated the idea of only going back to multiple receivers again. I may consider switching after 11 years now.


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## naijai

dwcolvin said:


> Then what have we been doing since May 13? No wonder D* wasn't ready.


RC2 of the Whole Home Service


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## dwcolvin

ehilbert1 said:


> So there is only two tuners? I read where it said you can record two shows while watching two. I would atleast think recording 4 shows would be possible. Can someone help me out?


There are two tuners *period*. You can record two shows, watch a recording on the DVR, and watch another recording via MRV on another HD receiver/DVR.


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## DogLover

steinmeg said:


> Not in the small print at all.....( my flyer came with the montly invoice)


Ah. Mine came separately in the mail. (I don't get a paper bill.) It was a large postcard, maybe 6x12 or so. You'd think the fee would be something that they would have on all of the literature. However, mine also directs you to the website for more info, so perhaps they think it is sufficient if the fee is there (assuming it is there.)


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## djnaldo

It's a nice feature, but I'm not going to pay them another $3 a month.


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## Lord Vader

Just curious--I'm currently using MRV via my hard-wired ethernet connections; I don't have any DECA equipment. Does one need that in order to use the full functionality like recording from one room to the other? I know one can delete, watch, and pause from other rooms with a typical ethernet connection but was wondering if one needed DECA for full functionality.


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## sigma1914

Lord Vader said:


> Just curious--I'm currently using MRV via my hard-wired ethernet connections; I don't have any DECA equipment. Does one need that in order to use the full functionality like recording from one room to the other? I know one can delete, watch, and pause from other rooms with a typical ethernet connection but was wondering if one needed DECA for full functionality.


No. You're fine.


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## hasan

djnaldo said:


> It's a nice feature, but I'm not going to pay them another $3 a month.


You can get it free, and turn a bit of a profit for about 72 months if you sign up for the new promo for old customers. They are giving a 24 month credit of $10/month if you have a qualifying package, and autopay your bill. I just signed up for it and the credit is already showing on my bill.

So, in practical terms, you could have six years of free MRV (assuming no MRV price increase), and still buy a few coffees and have money left over.

That is, of course, if MRV really is of any interest to you.


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## Sander

Directvlover said:


> I received the post card about it on Friday. But one thing I noticed on it was it said you could set up recordings on a dvr, from one of your other DVR's. When i tried to do that over the weekend, I didn't have that sort of functionality. Do you suppose that works now that it is officially launched?


Setup recordings from a HD receiver on a DVR. Not from a DVR to a DVR. You can use an H21 receiver to record a show on a HR2x.


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## Directvlover

Gotcha...thanks for the clarification.


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## TheRatPatrol

Sander said:


> Setup recordings from a HD receiver on a DVR. Not from a DVR to a DVR. You can use an H21 receiver to record a show on a HR2x.


I hope one day we can set up recordings between DVR's.


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## premier1guy

Well, I was just told (CSR) that since I DON'T have an H24, I will have to pay $99 to get upgraded (from HR20) with an add-on, also replace my other H20, before I can do this.

No dice.


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## SteveInNC

hasan said:


> You can get it free, and turn a bit of a profit for about 72 months if you sign up for the new promo for old customers. They are giving a 24 month credit of $10/month if you have a qualifying package, and autopay your bill. I just signed up for it and the credit is already showing on my bill.


Where did you see this promo? It sounds interesting.


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## 2scoops

I'm glad they're rolling this out but they should really train their techs first. I had them come out Saturday and the two techs that came had no idea on how to hook it up. I have 2 HR20-100's they put the the deca's on and left. No splitters just connected it to the swim connection and left.:lol:


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## tonyd79

Lord Vader said:


> Just curious--I'm currently using MRV via my hard-wired ethernet connections; I don't have any DECA equipment. Does one need that in order to use the full functionality like recording from one room to the other? I know one can delete, watch, and pause from other rooms with a typical ethernet connection but was wondering if one needed DECA for full functionality.


The only thing you miss out on by not having DECA is full DirecTV support if something goes wrong. I use all the functionality of MRV everyday without DECA.


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## Canis Lupus

premier1guy said:


> Well, I was just told (CSR) that since I DON'T have an H24, I will have to pay $99 to get upgraded (from HR20) with an add-on, also replace my other H20, before I can do this.
> 
> No dice.


What equipment do you have now?


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## Lord Vader

tonyd79 said:


> The only thing you miss out on by not having DECA is full DirecTV support if something goes wrong. I use all the functionality of MRV everyday without DECA.


I'm not too worried about the "full support." I was just wondering if, from my bedroom HR21-100, set up a recording on my living room HR20-700 or HR22-100 (or any other room's HD DVR for that matter).


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## hdtvfan0001

veryoldschool said:


> :yawn:


For some strange reason this sounds vaguely familiar. 

Nice to see the announcement.


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## premier1guy

Originally Posted by premier1guy View Post
Well, I was just told (CSR) that since I DON'T have an H24, I will have to pay $99 to get upgraded (from HR20) with an add-on, also replace my other H20, before I can do this.

No dice.


Canis Lupus said:


> What equipment do you have now?


I have an H21, H20, and the HR20.


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## Big Dawg 23

I want MRV but not for $149.95 for installation and Parts. I will attempt to use Satpro website to get Deca Units. I could deal with the $99 but not the $49.95. I have Slimeline dish, SWiM, HR22 and R22. All should be a go.


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## DogLover

premier1guy said:


> Originally Posted by premier1guy View Post
> Well, I was just told (CSR) that since I DON'T have an H24, I will have to pay $99 to get upgraded (from HR20) with an add-on, also replace my other H20, before I can do this.
> 
> No dice.
> 
> I have an H21, H20, and the HR20.


I believe the CSR was wrong. The HR20 and H21 should be sufficient for MRV. The H20 does not have an ethernet connection, and will not do MRV. I don't know what their current policy is on exchanging those, but I thought that most got the H20s replaced for free (with new commitment).

You may want to call back to see if you can get a different CSR.


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## txtommy

I went on line to investigate the offer and received this notice:

"You're not eligible for this product. Please call Customer Service"

Is that just because my 5 DVRs are not correctly set up or some other reason? "Not eligible" to me implies that I cannot get the service even with an equipment upgrade. There is a difference between not properly wired and not eligible. My interest in this service is low, below 3$ per month and certainly below any required costs for an equipment upgrade, so I will not be bothered calling customer service. I would probably go for this only if it were totally free with my current plan.


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## premier1guy

Well, I did call later for another CSR:

She said you have to have a DECA unit for ANYTHING (20s/21s, etc) except the HR24, which means $99 for DECA for almost everybody. I asked her several times on this.

What a crock. The website says what "you need" and nothing mentioned about an upfront $99 fee (+$3/mo.). She said only the HR24 has no need for DECA, thus no cost ... and since they just rolled out the H24, almost everyone has the big hit. Whoopee.

Are they clueless or am I missing something?


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## DogLover

premier1guy said:


> Well, I did call later for another CSR:
> 
> She said you have to have a DECA unit for ANYTHING (20s/21s, etc) except the HR24, which means $99 for DECA for almost everybody. I asked her several times on this.
> 
> What a crock. The website says what "you need" and nothing mentioned about an upfront $99 fee (+$3/mo.). She said only the HR24 has no need for DECA, thus no cost ... and since they just rolled out the H24, almost everyone has the big hit. Whoopee.
> 
> Are they clueless or am I missing something?


No, just a difference in terminology. When you said $99 for an upgrade and mentioned a "24", I assumed you were talking about upgrading the receiver or DVR.

The CSR is correct, to use MRV (in a supported manner) requires both SWM (Single Wire Multiswitch technology) and DECA. SWM also has the benefit of allowing 1 wire to your DVR to feed both tuners.

The DECA (and SWM, if not already present) equipment is $99, with a $49 service call fee. It appears that you, along with many customers, automatically get the $49 service call fee waived. The DECA equipment along is more than $99 if purchased online from another vendor. Added to the SWM equipment and this offer is a terrific deal for equipment and installation.

However, only you can decide if it is worth it for your situation.


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## Rich

I'm getting a service call for DECA Thursday. Only have a couple reasons for doing this. One is that it's without cost and the other is that I'm curious as to what the installers (I'm supposed to be getting a supervisor and two installers or a technician and an installer [that should prove quite humorous since I've got yet to see someone from D* that I'd call a technician]) will make of my system.

Can't even begin to see how they will take one dish off-line and combine all eleven HRs into one DECA system without boring numerous holes in my new siding (that's not gonna happen). I imagine that they will end up putting up one SWiM switch and leaving me with a 24-500 and I'll stay on the Ethernet hook up that I've been using. You'd have to see my home and my system to understand why they won't be able to do it.

No matter what happens, I'll be keeping the Ethernet system that I built in place. The support from D* I don't need. Maybe this is just my pessimism taking control of my mind again, but I can't see an easy way to do it. If they can't come with a plan to do it easily, they won't do it at all.

Rich


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## ptrubey

For those that have been using MRV for a while - how reliable is it? I mean when watching a show that is recorded on a different DVR from the one hooked up to your TV. Any stutters, skips, or other video/audio wierdness?


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## bobnielsen

ptrubey said:


> For those that have been using MRV for a while - how reliable is it? I mean when watching a show that is recorded on a different DVR from the one hooked up to your TV. Any stutters, skips, or other video/audio wierdness?


While watching a program with WHD (MRV) I sometimes (rarely) get a popup which disappears before I can read it. However, my self-installed setup doesn't have the bandstop filter nor a green-label splitter so I expected to have some minor issues. If it gets worse, I will replace the splitter and add a filter. Otherwise I have no issues.


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## aukevin

I had the Whole-Home thing installed this past Friday, so far everything works really well. I have a HR24 and two HR21s, so hopefully I never run out of DVR space again LOL.


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## DogLover

I have no issues, and can't tell whether the show is local or MRV, unless I make a point to look, or to think about it. 

It takes a few more seconds for the show to start after you select play, if it is remote. Trickplay is probably very slightly less responsive. However, unless I think about it, I don't notice it. If I just watch a show, I would have to look in the info to see where it is recorded. (Some with really good reflexes may notice the difference in trickplay, but I don't.)


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## JeffinSD

This is probably answered in another thread, but what connection is necessary from the internet router to the receiver or equipment? I have an install scheduled on 6/18 and am concerned that the technician will not be able to easily fish the coax to the router and back to the receiver, SWiM or DECA? I really don't want to tear up my walls (interior or exterior) to get connected. I have two HD DVR's, and my understanding is that only one needs to be connected (hard wired) to the internet router. Neither DVR is within arms reach of the router, so some fishing will be needed. The way my internet is currently connected is I have the coax coming into the house under my roof eave through the stucco and in between the walls, so from the outside, its not visible. From there it penetrates through a wall jack and into my PC and then the PC to the router. Is is possible to run coax splitters from the outside connection to the DECA or SWiM? Not sure which needs the coax, or does the coax go from the router directly to the networked DVR? I hope this makes sense.


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## jpitlick

JeffinSD said:


> This is probably answered in another thread, but what connection is necessary from the internet router to the receiver or equipment? I have an install scheduled on 6/18 and am concerned that the technician will not be able to easily fish the coax to the router and back to the receiver, SWiM or DECA? I really don't want to tear up my walls (interior or exterior) to get connected. I have two HD DVR's, and my understanding is that only one needs to be connected (hard wired) to the internet router. Neither DVR is within arms reach of the router, so some fishing will be needed. The way my internet is currently connected is I have the coax coming into the house under my roof eave through the stucco and in between the walls, so from the outside, its not visible. From there it penetrates through a wall jack and into my PC and then the PC to the router. Is is possible to run coax splitters from the outside connection to the DECA or SWiM? Not sure which needs the coax, or does the coax go from the router directly to the networked DVR? I hope this makes sense.


You will need one coax from the SWM to the router location. A DECA will connect the coax via ethernet cable to your router. Your two HD DVRs will also have DECAs. That will constitute your DECA cloud. If you can't get a coax to your router, you could use powerline or wireless ethernet adapters to bridge a DECA to your router.


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## JeffinSD

Okay, that doesn't sound too bad. I currently have wireless gaming adapters that network the DVR's to the router and have used them for VOD, media share, etc. When I used the MRV during the beta phase, they worked fine for SD, but HD was problematic. Hopefully the tech will know what they are doing and make it work for me. I can't wait for this to be connected.


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## gslater

I've been having some trouble a while back when it was hot out and believe it's related to the dish (an AT9) or one of the LNB's. Because I don't have the protection plan, it's going to cost me to get it taken care of. I am seriously considering getting the whole home dvr upgrade (I'm running in unsupported mode right now with no issues) just for the new equipment. My question is this. If I get the upgrade would I get a new SWM enabled dish (I need 5LNB as my locals still come off 119) or would it be just as likely that the techs would attach an external SWM setup to my current dish? If the latter, then that still leaves me with any dish/lnb problems.


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## jpitlick

gslater said:


> I've been having some trouble a while back when it was hot out and believe it's related to the dish (an AT9) or one of the LNB's. Because I don't have the protection plan, it's going to cost me to get it taken care of. I am seriously considering getting the whole home dvr upgrade (I'm running in unsupported mode right now with no issues) just for the new equipment. My question is this. If I get the upgrade would I get a new SWM enabled dish (I need 5LNB as my locals still come off 119) or would it be just as likely that the techs would attach an external SWM setup to my current dish? If the latter, then that still leaves me with any dish/lnb problems.


My understanding is that if a tech encounters an old AT9 dish, that they are required to replace it with a Slimline. What LNB you get will depend on the number of tuners you have. If you have more than 8, you will get a regular 5 LNB and a SWM-16 switch. If you have less than 8, you will get a SWMLine LNB.

Edit: I didn't see your signature until after I posted. You will most likely get a SWMLine LNB and D* will swap your H20s for probably H24s.


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## greenelucky

Do the receivers need a network connection or does this all work through the coax?


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## Richierich

Directv just swapped out my HR20-100 for an HR24-500 after I had DECA/SWiM installed along with an SL3 LNB and two 8 Port SWiM Multiswitches.


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## jpitlick

greenelucky said:


> Do the receivers need a network connection or does this all work through the coax?


All receivers need a network connection, with the exception of the H(R)24s which have DECA built in.


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## 430970

I totally think this is cool, but two tuners just aren't enough.

For me, with only two TVs, I'll still need my two DVRs. Sometimes it's to record a "third" show, but other times it's because I'm recording two things and want to watch something different "live" on the other TV (and still be able to pause it).

I know MRV would still provide value in that scenario (so I don't have to double-schedule _everything_ to see it on both DVRs)... but I wish they'd come out with a 4 tuner box.

Then I could very easily see having only one DVR in all but the most TV-heavy households.


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## tonyoci

I haven't been following this can someone please help explain it.



> Whole-Home DVR service eliminates the need for multiple HD DVRs by allowing customers to record and watch their favorite shows in up to 15 rooms in their home with a single HD DVR.


This is misleading right ? I still need something in the room where I want to watch a show. So if the HR-20 is in the TV room and my son wants to watch a show in his room I still need something in that room ? What is that something ? I know an appropriate PC will work but what else ? Can I get another HR-xx receiver, not connect to the satellite and put that in his room ?

I'm confused


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## DogLover

tonyoci said:


> I haven't been following this can someone please help explain it.
> 
> This is misleading right ? I still need something in the room where I want to watch a show. So if the HR-20 is in the TV room and my son wants to watch a show in his room I still need something in that room ? What is that something ? I know an appropriate PC will work but what else ? Can I get another HR-xx receiver, not connect to the satellite and put that in his room ?
> 
> I'm confused


You could use just an H-XX receiver (non-dvr) in that room. It would need to be connected to the satellite.


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## fl_dba

richierich said:


> Directv just swapped out my HR20-100 for an HR24-500 after I had DECA/SWiM installed along with an SL3 LNB and two 8 Port SWiM Multiswitches.


Just curious as to why they gave you two 8 port SWiM multiswitches instead of one 16 port. I thought that was the preferred setup if you have or will have in the future more than 8 tuners.
Dave


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## Rich

Has anyone reached a conclusion as to how many HRs can be supported by DECA? I have been told by CSRs at D* that as many as fifteen can be hooked up, but I don't believe that. I'm having an installation tomorrow and want to connect nine HRs out of eleven to the DECA. I'm aware that eight is the number that has been bandied about, but I'm looking for a firm answer to my question. Anybody know, positively, how many HRs can be used in a DECA install?

Rich


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## Herdfan

rich584 said:


> Has anyone reached a conclusion as to how many HRs can be supported by DECA? I have been told by CSRs at D* that as many as fifteen can be hooked up, but I don't believe that.


Its in the PR in the first post, but the number that has been bandied about is 10.


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## greenelucky

jpitlick said:


> All receivers need a network connection, with the exception of the H(R)24s which have DECA built in.


I have an HD-DVR and and a standard receiver. So I all should need to do is upgrade the SD receiver to the HD and connect it to my network, correct?

I ask because a D* rep told me a tech has to come out install DECA and Internet kit.


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## Richierich

rich584 said:


> Has anyone reached a conclusion as to how many HRs can be supported by DECA? I have been told by CSRs at D* that as many as fifteen can be hooked up, but I don't believe that. I'm having an installation tomorrow and want to connect nine HRs out of eleven to the DECA. I'm aware that eight is the number that has been bandied about, but I'm looking for a firm answer to my question. Anybody know, positively, how many HRs can be used in a DECA install?
> 
> Rich


DECA can Support 8 DVRs or Receivers because a SWiM 16 would only Support 16 Tuners or 8 DVR/Receivers (Assuming all are Dual Tuners). Doug makes a good point that one Coax would be used for Router Connection leaving you with with just 15 Coaxs.

It could possibly support 6 DVRs (12 Tuners) leaving 4 Tuners left so if you had 4 Receivers that only had 1 Tuners then you would have 10 DVRs. The Key is it only supports 16 Tuners so any combination will work as long as the Total Number of Tuners does not Exceed 16 Tuners.


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## hdtvfan0001

rich584 said:


> Has anyone reached a conclusion as to how many HRs can be supported by DECA? I have been told by CSRs at D* that as many as fifteen can be hooked up, but I don't believe that. I'm having an installation tomorrow and want to connect nine HRs out of eleven to the DECA. I'm aware that eight is the number that has been bandied about, but I'm looking for a firm answer to my question. Anybody know, positively, how many HRs can be used in a DECA install?
> 
> Rich


It's not based on the # DVR's so much as the number of tuners - 16.

That would be 8 DVR's.

It could also be 6 DVR's and 4 HD receivers.

Etc.


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## Doug Brott

rich584 said:


> Has anyone reached a conclusion as to how many HRs can be supported by DECA? I have been told by CSRs at D* that as many as fifteen can be hooked up, but I don't believe that. I'm having an installation tomorrow and want to connect nine HRs out of eleven to the DECA. I'm aware that eight is the number that has been bandied about, but I'm looking for a firm answer to my question. Anybody know, positively, how many HRs can be used in a DECA install?
> 
> Rich


MoCA/DECA supports 16 devices .. one of those is likely to be a broadband connection leaving 15 devices .. Then, the HRs can "see" 10 DVRs at a time. I suppose with 11 DVRs it might be OK since it would "see" the other 10, but I'm not certain of that .. It might be 10 DVRs. Then beyond that, you could have 5 non-DVRs that would have access to the 10 DVRs as well on the same DECA cloud (Yes, that exceeds the 16-tuner limit of a SWiM-16).

Then, beyond the single cloud, I don't know what the limit on receivers is, but being realistic here .. it's not practical that many people will reach any limitations that are in place for these devices. MRV actually should help reduce the # of DVRs overall which could play into this.


----------



## jpitlick

greenelucky said:


> I have an HD-DVR and and a standard receiver. So I all should need to do is upgrade the SD receiver to the HD and connect it to my network, correct?
> 
> I ask because a D* rep told me a tech has to come out install DECA and Internet kit.


If you don't want DECA, then yes you would just upgrade your SD receiver to HR and connect it to your network and have D* activate MRV unsupported. You can always opt to get the SWM/DECA stuff later.


----------



## Herdfan

Could you in theory have one DVR and 15 Receivers with no broadband. That is what the PR seems to indicate with their 15 rooms language:



> The DIRECTV(R) Whole-Home DVR service eliminates the need for multiple HD DVRs by allowing customers to record and watch their favorite shows in up to *15 rooms *in their home with a single HD DVR.


----------



## hdtvfan0001

Herdfan said:


> Could you in theory have one DVR and 15 Receivers with no broadband. That is what the PR seems to indicate with their 15 rooms language:


In theory yes....also more likely one DVR and 14, with the last connection being used for the broadband DECA connection.


----------



## David Ortiz

Herdfan said:


> Could you in theory have one DVR and 15 Receivers with no broadband. That is what the PR seems to indicate with their 15 rooms language:


I'll worry about that when I have 15 rooms.  Or 15 TVs.

You can have whole-home DVR without broadband, so 15 receivers and 1 DVR should be possible.


----------



## fl_dba

I have 5 HD DVR's, is it possible to have full MRV using SWiM and DECA on only 4 of the 5 and keep one isolated so that one would only see it's local queue and it's queue would also not be merged into the other 4? The queue of the other 4 would all be merged together as normal for MRV.


----------



## wavemaster

fl_dba said:


> I have 5 HD DVR's, is it possible to have full MRV using SWiM and DECA on only 4 of the 5 and keep one isolated so that one would only see it's local queue and it's queue would also not be merged into the other 4? The queue of the other 4 would all be merged together as normal for MRV.


You can choose to "not share" that one's list, or leave it out of the DECA net completely.


----------



## iacas

I have an HR20-700 and an HR21-100. Both are connected via ethernet to a wireless series of routers (AirPort Extremes). Both connect to the Internet fine and all that jazz.

Today I called DirecTV and inquired about turning on this service. The woman on the phone told me that I'd need to have someone come to my home (not necessarily possible as my service and billing address aren't the same) and that I'd have to replace one of my DVRs with a new one, despite the fact that they're both HD DVRs.

I don't know what a DECA is but I've been a DirecTV customer since 2002 and everything about my DVRs is working really, really smoothly. So...

Is what she said true? Or can I somehow work around this? I'd LOVE to have multi-room capability, but I don't think I can have DirecTV come out and install it. They've always just mailed me the DVRs in the past...

Any ideas? What can I do?


----------



## Stuart Sweet

Check out this thread for instructions on how to use multi-room with your existing networking.

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=177590


----------



## David Ortiz

fl_dba said:


> I have 5 HD DVR's, is it possible to have full MRV using SWiM and DECA on only 4 of the 5 and keep one isolated so that one would only see it's local queue and it's queue would also not be merged into the other 4? The queue of the other 4 would all be merged together as normal for MRV.





wavemaster said:


> You can choose to "not share" that one's list, or leave it out of the DECA net completely.


If you just "not share" the 5th DVR's playlist, the 5th DVR will still see the other 4 DVRs. There is a playlist option to show only the local playlist, but the default upon reboot is to show the unified playlist (All).


----------



## iacas

Stuart Sweet said:


> Check out this thread for instructions on how to use multi-room with your existing networking.
> 
> http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=177590


Thanks. I'll check that out now.


----------



## Rich

Doug Brott said:


> MoCA/DECA supports 16 devices .. one of those is likely to be a broadband connection leaving 15 devices .. Then, the HRs can "see" 10 DVRs at a time. I suppose with 11 DVRs it might be OK since it would "see" the other 10, but I'm not certain of that .. It might be 10 DVRs. Then beyond that, you could have 5 non-DVRs that would have access to the 10 DVRs as well on the same DECA cloud (Yes, that exceeds the 16-tuner limit of a SWiM-16).
> 
> Then, beyond the single cloud, I don't know what the limit on receivers is, but being realistic here .. it's not practical that many people will reach any limitations that are in place for these devices. MRV actually should help reduce the # of DVRs overall which could play into this.


Thanx, Doug. I've actually decided to go with eight or nine HRs. I am having two SWiM-16s installed because the house is already wired in such a way that it is simpler to put two SWiMs in than one. Mainly because I have two dishes and am going to go back to only one dish. The installer should be able to install the two SWiMs in less than an hour and after that the rest of the job shouldn't take too long. Just a matter of hookups from that point on. All the cabling needed is already in place.

I do agree with you that I will be able to reduce the number of HRs that I have. Since I installed the Ethernet system it has become obvious to me that I don't really need as many HRs as I presently have. But I do have six TVs and each must have at least a receiver and I do need a couple more for backing up my programming. Nine will do nicely for now. That's down from twelve HRs a couple of months ago.

Rich


----------



## Bigg

richierich said:


> DECA can Support 8 DVRs or Receivers because a SWiM 16 would only Support 16 Tuners or 8 DVR/Receivers (Assuming all are Dual Tuners). Doug makes a good point that one Coax would be used for Router Connection leaving you with with just 15 Coaxs.
> 
> It could possibly support 6 DVRs (12 Tuners) leaving 4 Tuners left so if you had 4 Receivers that only had 1 Tuners then you would have 10 DVRs. The Key is it only supports 16 Tuners so any combination will work as long as the Total Number of Tuners does not Exceed 16 Tuners.


You can have 16 DECA devices in a cloud, it has nothing to do with the number of physical coaxes, as those can be split. A SWiM-16 can handle 8 HD-DVR's. If you want more than that, any sort of multiswitch setup that currently supports 22 tuners will work, but the DECA clouds have to be bridged together with an ethernet switch.

rich584,, a SWiM-16 and SWiM-8 in parallel could be bridged together using two DECA bridges connected to an ethernet switch that is also connected to a point on the network.

They shouldn't need to bore any more holes, if you have 8 coaxes going in now for two dishes, that is 4 more than they need. As long as there is a single home-run point with plenty of space for all that stuff, they can take 4 lines from one dish, split them to the two SWiM switches and go from there with splitters. Who knows if they will do that though, because bridging DECA through ethernet is not supported by them. If you have ethernet at them all, that's fine too. The only part that might not work is the software. That might explode. If it does, you could always swap out a couple of the HR's for H's and pull off of HR's. Just don't get tangled in all that coax.


----------



## Steve

Put another way, a single DECA cloud can only see a single SWiM, but multiple DECA clouds can see each other, up to a limit of 16 devices total for all clouds.

And the most # of DECA tuners you can currently have is 28, via two SWiM-16's, each connected to 7 HR's and a broadband DECA.


----------



## Rich

Steve said:


> Put another way, a single DECA cloud can only see a single SWiM, but multiple DECA clouds can see each other, up to a limit of 16 devices total for all clouds.
> 
> And the most # of DECA tuners you can currently have is 28, via two SWiM-16's, each connected to 7 HR's and a broadband DECA.


I think that's how it will end up for me. If the guy ever comes.

Rich


----------



## mstenbrg

I had the Whole Home/DECA install today, it was a nightmare as the tech didn't know what he was doing. On my H24, I can see recordings on my HR24 and HR20, but my HR20 and HR24 cannot see recordings from each other? Do I have something setup wrong?


----------



## Rich

rich584 said:


> I think that's how it will end up for me. If the guy ever comes.
> 
> Rich


The installer finally came at about one thirty this afternoon. We got nothing done, but I did explain how to do it to him and he agreed with me (and *VOS*, who I used as a reference, bless his soul).

So, he's coming back early Sunday morning and we'll see if we can get it working then. Took him a while to understand just what I was explaining to him and I actually saw him comprehend what I was talking about. He had a moment of clarity. An epiphany, if you will.

Rich


----------



## Bigg

Steve said:


> Put another way, a single DECA cloud can only see a single SWiM, but multiple DECA clouds can see each other, up to a limit of 16 devices total for all clouds.
> 
> And the most # of DECA tuners you can currently have is 28, via two SWiM-16's, each connected to 7 HR's and a broadband DECA.


A DECA cloud is limited to 16 devices, but once you bridge through a hub, you have one ethernet network, but two separate DECA clouds. If you are using all DVR's, each SWiM-16 can have 8 HR's plus a broadband DECA, as that's only 9 out of the maximum of 16. At that point, you are limited by the software and it's ability to "see" other boxes.


----------



## GCS

Long time reader/lurker, first time poster.

So I finally looked into MRV and called up DTV to ask about getting it. I was told they would need to move me to DECA and a SWiM dish. Costs -- $149 just as you guys know.

Not wild about the cost I complained to the CSR about and after being on hold for about 10-15 mins she came back and offered me an instant rebate of $75 for it so my cost came to $74.20 charged to my VISA.

I accepted it and then thought ... doe I really have to change equipment? After reading here the answer is no.

My question is should I go ahead and spend the $74 and let them switch me to DECA/SWiM and be done with it or have them turn it on over ethernet and save me the money (I was not told I had to agree to up for another 2 years for this deal either)??

I should mention that my house is wired with new cat 5e and gigabit switches as I run a home media server with all my DVDs/Photos/Music on it and I have access in all rooms with TVs.

Equipment is (2) HR-21s and (1) HR-20.

LMK your thoughts.

Thanks!

Greg


EDIT - FYI I was never on the BETA program.


----------



## hasan

GCS said:


> Long time reader/lurker, first time poster.
> 
> So I finally looked into MRV and called up DTV to ask about getting it. I was told they would need to move me to DECA and a SWiM dish. Costs -- $149 just as you guys know.
> 
> Not wild about the cost I complained to the CSR about and after being on hold for about 10-15 mins she came back and offered me an instant rebate of $75 for it so my cost came to $74.20 charged to my VISA.
> 
> I accepted it and then thought ... doe I really have to change equipment? After reading here the answer is no.
> 
> My question is should I go ahead and spend the $74 and let them switch me to DECA/SWiM and be done with it or have them turn it on over ethernet and save me the money (I was not told I had to agree to up for another 2 years for this deal either)??
> 
> I should mention that my house is wired with new cat 5e and gigabit switches as I run a home media server with all my DVDs/Photos/Music on it and I have access in all rooms with TVs.
> 
> Equipment is (2) HR-21s and (1) HR-20.
> 
> LMK your thoughts.
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Greg
> 
> EDIT - FYI I was never on the BETA program.


Considering what you get with a new DECA/SWM and perhaps new dish install, the $75 is a good deal. MRV performance with DECA is clearly superior here, and I have gigabit router and switches. The biggest improvement is trick play with MRV, plus less "glitchiness" overall. I was running unsupported with my home network with MRV and was pretty darn happy. I went for the DECA/SWM/New Dish install, and am very impressed with what I received versus the cost.

I'm running a hybrid network with two dishes (physically a large distance from each other). One system is non-SWM/DECA wiith one DVR, and is connected to the network wirelessly (N). The other system is DECA/SWM with two DVRs and one HD-Receiver. This hybrid system works beautifully. I do 99.9% of my MRV within the DECA cloud, but it is nice to be able to use the 2nd system (non-DECA) DVR when so needed.

For the purposes of installation/upgrade, there was not a single thing I had to do with the 2nd system....it was just ignored. When they installers left, I checked the 2nd system to see if it was integrated with the other 3 units, and all was well, with no intervention on my part whatsoever.


----------



## Rich

GCS said:


> Long time reader/lurker, first time poster.
> 
> So I finally looked into MRV and called up DTV to ask about getting it. I was told they would need to move me to DECA and a SWiM dish. Costs -- $149 just as you guys know.
> 
> Not wild about the cost I complained to the CSR about and after being on hold for about 10-15 mins she came back and offered me an instant rebate of $75 for it so my cost came to $74.20 charged to my VISA.
> 
> I accepted it and then thought ... doe I really have to change equipment? After reading here the answer is no.
> 
> My question is should I go ahead and spend the $74 and let them switch me to DECA/SWiM and be done with it or have them turn it on over ethernet and save me the money (I was not told I had to agree to up for another 2 years for this deal either)??
> 
> I should mention that my house is wired with new cat 5e and gigabit switches as I run a home media server with all my DVDs/Photos/Music on it and I have access in all rooms with TVs.
> 
> Equipment is (2) HR-21s and (1) HR-20.
> 
> LMK your thoughts.
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Greg
> 
> EDIT - FYI I was never on the BETA program.


Sounds like you've already got a good MRV system. I'm quite satisfied with my Ethernet system and it's nowhere near as good as yours. I am having the DECA system installed Sunday and if it works (the installer was here yesterday and he's been installing DECA systems for Directech since they have been available to the general public, but he's never attempted to do a DECA install on a system like I have) I'll be able to compare the two systems better than I can now.

I don't understand how anyone can compare two systems or two anythings without having both. I should be posting about the experience Sunday or Monday. The installer did play with my Ethernet system and he told me I wasn't going to see much difference in the two. But, I gotta see it for myself. I'm also getting a 24-500 Sunday and I'll finally be able to compare it to my 20-700s.

Rich


----------



## GCS

Thanks for the input.

I guess I have to figure out what I want to do then. My install is not until the 24th.

From what I was told I would be getting a new dish as well.

As I mentioned I only have the 3 HD-DVRs I listed as far as satt stuff goes and it will sure be nice to see stuff recorded on the other DVRs in other rooms (this was a major reason I was going to go to FIOS as soon as they show up in my neighborhood).

I am also massively behind the times on the Satt units -- guess I need to look into the H24s as I have no idea if I should switch out anything.

My only complaints about the ones I have is that they sure as heck seem to have gotten horribly slow in the last year or so (i.e. everything takes a while to work -- channel changes, recordings, etc). That and the fact that each of these cost me $300 each and I don't own them kinda sucks as well -- but of course that is for one of the many other threads here, LOL.

Thanks

Greg


----------



## Rich

GCS said:


> Thanks for the input.
> 
> I guess I have to figure out what I want to do then. My install is not until the 24th.
> 
> From what I was told I would be getting a new dish as well.


I would not be satisfied until I had both systems to compare and $75 seems like a more than fair price for that. You've got nothing to lose except that small amount of money (sorry, I always assume a fair amount of affluence in the membership of the forum, if money is a factor, I apologize) and if you don't get the DECA install you'll always wonder.



> As I mentioned I only have the 3 HD-DVRs I listed as far as satt stuff goes and it will sure be nice to see stuff recorded on the other DVRs in other rooms (this was a major reason I was going to go to FIOS as soon as they show up in my neighborhood).


It is my understanding that the FIOS DVRs kinda...suck. That's just from reading posts, I've never even seen one.



> I am also massively behind the times on the Satt units -- guess I need to look into the H24s as I have no idea if I should switch out anything.
> 
> My only complaints about the ones I have is that they sure as heck seem to have gotten horribly slow in the last year or so (i.e. everything takes a while to work -- channel changes, recordings, etc). That and the fact that each of these cost me $300 each and I don't own them kinda sucks as well -- but of course that is for one of the many other threads here, LOL.


That slowness you see in your HRs (kinda hard to say this without knowing which models they are. When posting about an HR the whole model number is the key. Such as HR2x-xxx. If that 20 that you listed is a 20-100, that's about as bad an HR as you can get.

The 21s (and that includes the 22s and the 23) are noticeably slower than the original HRs, the 20-700s. I have nine of them and see none of the slowness issues that many others have reported. I do have a 21-700 which is much slower even tho it was made by the same manufacturer (the last three digits denote who made them) than any of my 20-700s. I have two 20-700s with 2TB internal drives in them and they are faster than the 20-700s with smaller internals or externals. But none are "horribly slow". I do know what you meant when you said that tho.

Rich


----------



## Bigg

GCS said:


> Thanks for the input.
> 
> I guess I have to figure out what I want to do then. My install is not until the 24th.
> 
> From what I was told I would be getting a new dish as well.
> 
> As I mentioned I only have the 3 HD-DVRs I listed as far as satt stuff goes and it will sure be nice to see stuff recorded on the other DVRs in other rooms (this was a major reason I was going to go to FIOS as soon as they show up in my neighborhood).
> 
> I am also massively behind the times on the Satt units -- guess I need to look into the H24s as I have no idea if I should switch out anything.
> 
> My only complaints about the ones I have is that they sure as heck seem to have gotten horribly slow in the last year or so (i.e. everything takes a while to work -- channel changes, recordings, etc). That and the fact that each of these cost me $300 each and I don't own them kinda sucks as well -- but of course that is for one of the many other threads here, LOL.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Greg


If you're going to get Fios, don't sign a contract with DirecTV. Fios doesn't re-compress their HD, and they support Opencable. Try it with Ethernet. If it's a disaster, you can always pay the $75 and have DECA installed- or if your ethernet is all home-run, just segment the HR2x's on their own network switch.


----------



## chrpai

Bigg said:


> or if your ethernet is all home-run, just segment the HR2x's on their own network switch.


When you home run your drops off a switch ( like the poster said ) each of those devices is already on it's own segment. I suppose he could be paranoid and put them on their own switch and then uplink it to your existing switch for wan connectivity ( On Demand Streaming ) but it's very unlikely that will buy him anything over the gigabit switch he already has. Simply put it's unlikely that the switch fabric will be stressed to the point of causing problems.

IMO, if you have an existing quality ethernet in place, DECA is a solution looking for a problem to solve. Other then going from 2 RG6 and 1 RJ45 to 1 RG6 to the receiver, I just don't see the benefit.


----------



## gslater

jpitlick said:


> My understanding is that if a tech encounters an old AT9 dish, that they are required to replace it with a Slimline. What LNB you get will depend on the number of tuners you have. If you have more than 8, you will get a regular 5 LNB and a SWM-16 switch. If you have less than 8, you will get a SWMLine LNB.
> 
> Edit: I didn't see your signature until after I posted. You will most likely get a SWMLine LNB and D* will swap your H20s for probably H24s.


Thanks. Went ahead with the upgrade. They got to it in just a couple of days. New SWMLine dish with all signals in the mid 90's to 100 and they swapped out the two H20-100's for H21-100's. Was hoping for something newer but the tech said that they went through their H24's within a week of receiving them and now all they have left is H21's. In fact he said they are still sending them H20's which doesn't do them a lot of good these days.

Even so the H21's give me access to the DVR's and also media share. The other good news is that they gave me a 50 dollar credit without ever saying anything about it. It just showed up that way so the entire upgrade only cost me 100 bucks (plus another 2 year commitment).


----------



## Bigg

chrpai said:


> When you home run your drops off a switch ( like the poster said ) each of those devices is already on it's own segment. I suppose he could be paranoid and put them on their own switch and then uplink it to your existing switch for wan connectivity ( On Demand Streaming ) but it's very unlikely that will buy him anything over the gigabit switch he already has. Simply put it's unlikely that the switch fabric will be stressed to the point of causing problems.
> 
> IMO, if you have an existing quality ethernet in place, DECA is a solution looking for a problem to solve. Other then going from 2 RG6 and 1 RJ45 to 1 RG6 to the receiver, I just don't see the benefit.


Yeah, you're right. I was sort of thinking of crappy switches, but a good gigabit switch isn't going to have any problem with routing.

Plus, you can still have SWiM without DECA but with ethernet, if it's beneificial. If not, like you say, it will work just fine with two RG-6 and a CAT-5.


----------



## GCS

rich584 said:


> I would not be satisfied until I had both systems to compare and $75 seems like a more than fair price for that. You've got nothing to lose except that small amount of money (sorry, I always assume a fair amount of affluence in the membership of the forum, if money is a factor, I apologize) and if you don't get the DECA install you'll always wonder.
> 
> It is my understanding that the FIOS DVRs kinda...suck. That's just from reading posts, I've never even seen one.
> 
> That slowness you see in your HRs (kinda hard to say this without knowing which models they are. When posting about an HR the whole model number is the key. Such as HR2x-xxx. If that 20 that you listed is a 20-100, that's about as bad an HR as you can get.
> 
> The 21s (and that includes the 22s and the 23) are noticeably slower than the original HRs, the 20-700s. I have nine of them and see none of the slowness issues that many others have reported. I do have a 21-700 which is much slower even tho it was made by the same manufacturer (the last three digits denote who made them) than any of my 20-700s. I have two 20-700s with 2TB internal drives in them and they are faster than the 20-700s with smaller internals or externals. But none are "horribly slow". I do know what you meant when you said that tho.
> 
> Rich


My units are (1) HR20-100, (1) HR20-700, (1)HR21-700

The HR21 appears to be the worst as it's delay is very noticeable.

Greg


----------



## Rich

GCS said:


> My units are (1) HR20-100, (1) HR20-700, (1)HR21-700
> 
> The HR21 appears to be the worst as it's delay is very noticeable.
> 
> Greg


The HR21-700 might seem slow to you, but consider this: It's an extremely dependable HR. I will admit that I just got thru sending two of them back to D* because I wasn't using them, but there was nothing wrong with them. The 20-100 is the one of the worst HRs that D* has unleashed on an unsuspecting public. All the 21s, 22s and the 23 are slower than the 20-700. I have no idea how fast the 20-100 is since, even tho I've had quite a few of them, none of them worked.

If I had to rank the HRs for dependability, the 21-700 would be my second choice behind the 20-700. Speed is a different story, but I'd rather have a dependable, slow HR than a POS such as the 20-100.

As an aside to all you folks who have working 20-100s, you can dispute this till the cows come home, you're not going to change my mind. The tech who worked with me last Sunday to install the DECA system said that he was very glad that I didn't have any 20-100s. Apparently, there is a known problem with the 20-100s and the DECA setup.

Rich


----------



## Stuart Sweet

I wouldn't call it a known problem, but yes the HR20-100 needs a different configuration. 

For my money, they've all been pretty good for me but the HR21-200 and H21-200 have been the best.


----------



## Steve

rich584 said:


> [...] Apparently, there is a known problem with the 20-100s and the DECA setup.


Not _really_ a problem. It's more that the HR20-100's have to be wired to the DECA adapters a bit differently than the rest of the non-DECA HR's. Connecting it is quite simple, if the installer knows what s/he is doing and has the extra 2-way splitter that's required.


----------



## Rich

Stuart Sweet said:


> I wouldn't call it a known problem, but yes the HR20-100 needs a different configuration.
> 
> For my money, they've all been pretty good for me but the HR21-200 and H21-200 have been the best.


I've got one HR21-200 and it's been running well for an awfully long time. But, it replaced an HR21-200 that started to burn up. No exaggeration, my son woke me up in the middle of the night to tell me it smelled like something was burning in his room. I just touched the top of the 200 and it came pretty close to burning my skin. It hurt, it was so hot. Then it gets replaced with the same model that looks like it's gonna run forever. Hard to figure these things out. 

Rich


----------



## Rich

Steve said:


> Not _really_ a problem. It's more that the HR20-100's have to be wired to the DECA adapters a bit differently than the rest of the non-DECA HR's. Connecting it is quite simple, if the installer knows what s/he is doing and has the extra 2-way splitter that's required.


Well...

Rich


----------



## durian

so, according to directv.com this is ALL you need to get whole home dvr service:

What you need for Whole-Home DVR. 
To start recording and watching your favorite programs in any room, one of your TVs needs to be connected to an HD DVR and your other TVs need to be connected to HD receivers. HD Access[?]This service allows you to watch HD programming 
on all of your HDTVs connected to HD receivers

i have 2 tv's, both hooked up to hd dvr's. so i called today to subscribe to this service. turns out in addition to the above "all you need" you also need to pay for a service call, and you need to purchase equipment to hook your recievers up to the internet.

they make it sound like they just turn it on, like the rest of their services. what a joke. no thanks directv...the dissappointments continue.


----------



## mobandit

durian said:


> so, according to directv.com this is ALL you need to get whole home dvr service:
> 
> What you need for Whole-Home DVR.
> To start recording and watching your favorite programs in any room, one of your TVs needs to be connected to an HD DVR and your other TVs need to be connected to HD receivers. HD Access[?]This service allows you to watch HD programming
> on all of your HDTVs connected to HD receivers
> 
> i have 2 tv's, both hooked up to hd dvr's. so i called today to subscribe to this service. turns out in addition to the above "all you need" you also need to pay for a service call, and you need to purchase equipment to hook your recievers up to the internet.
> 
> they make it sound like they just turn it on, like the rest of their services. what a joke. no thanks directv...the dissappointments continue.


Try reading this then call them back: http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=177590


----------



## joed32

The DVRs have to be hooked up to each other with cat-5 cable, not just to TVs.


----------



## Steve

Steve said:


> Not _really_ a problem. It's more that the HR20-100's have to be wired to the DECA adapters a bit differently than the rest of the non-DECA HR's. Connecting it is quite simple, if the installer knows what s/he is doing and has the extra 2-way splitter that's required.





rich584 said:


> Well...


I hear you. In fairness to the installers, tho, my guy's hand-out from his managment on how to connect the HR20-100 showed the more complicated connection method, with the band-stop filter. I'm not sure why.

The easy way to connect it doesn't involve a BSF at all. You put the 2-way splitter between the DECA adapter and the HR20-100 and connect to both the HR20's SAT1 and SAT2 inputs. Finally, the DECA's CAT5 cable plugs into the HR20's top ethernet port.


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## Rich

Steve said:


> I hear you. In fairness to the installers, tho, my guy's hand-out from his managment on how to connect the HR20-100 showed the more complicated connection method, with the band-stop filter. I'm not sure why.
> 
> The easy way to connect it doesn't involve a BSF at all. You put the 2-way splitter between the DECA adapter and the HR20-100 and connect to both the HR20's SAT1 and SAT2 inputs. Finally, the DECA's CAT5 cable plugs into the HR20's top ethernet port.


The installer I had was really intelligent. I don't have a 20-100, and I didn't ask him about them, but it does seem kinda problematic. Especially considering the newness of these installs. I do know that the TECHNICIAN that I had didn't think that what I wanted to do would work, so even tho he had done all the DECA installs for his company, he found my system problematic. (I never expected to be able to use the term "technician" when referring to a D* person, but this guy deserves the title, in my opinion, hence the capital letters.)

It's really just semantics, we both know what we both meant. 

Rich


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## Drucifer

durian said:


> so, according to directv.com this is ALL you need to get whole home dvr service:
> 
> What you need for Whole-Home DVR.
> To start recording and watching your favorite programs in any room, one of your TVs needs to be connected to an HD DVR and your other TVs need to be connected to HD receivers. HD Access[?]This service allows you to watch HD programming
> on all of your HDTVs connected to HD receivers
> 
> i have 2 tv's, both hooked up to hd dvr's. so i called today to subscribe to this service. turns out in addition to the above "all you need" you also need to pay for a service call, and *you need to purchase equipment to hook your recievers up to the internet*.
> 
> they make it sound like they just turn it on, like the rest of their services. what a joke. no thanks directv...the dissappointments continue.


For MRV, you do not need to be connected to the Internet. But not being connected to the Internet means you are missing out on some additional DirecTV features.


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## Bigg

durian said:


> so, according to directv.com this is ALL you need to get whole home dvr service:
> 
> What you need for Whole-Home DVR.
> To start recording and watching your favorite programs in any room, one of your TVs needs to be connected to an HD DVR and your other TVs need to be connected to HD receivers. HD Access[?]This service allows you to watch HD programming
> on all of your HDTVs connected to HD receivers
> 
> i have 2 tv's, both hooked up to hd dvr's. so i called today to subscribe to this service. turns out in addition to the above "all you need" you also need to pay for a service call, and you need to purchase equipment to hook your recievers up to the internet.
> 
> they make it sound like they just turn it on, like the rest of their services. what a joke. no thanks directv...the dissappointments continue.


Not really. Just plug them into your Ethernet network, and you're good to go. If you want DECA, yeah, but Ethernet works too.


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