# Whole Home Not Functioning - DECA Questions



## NNatic (Jun 10, 2007)

i have three receivers. One downstairs (HD DVR) right next to the router, One in the master bedroom (HD) with a hard wired connection and a third (SD DVR) in another bedroom with a hard wired connection.

The one in the master bedroom is often not able to find the DVR to stream the media from. It just brings up the to do list. I have statically defined IP addresses for all three boxes. I can also ping all three of them.

I was not here when the Multi room system was added on to my installation, but i see that there is a new piece (looks to be a deca) installed downstairs. This appears to be plugged into a multiplexer (its a coax splitter device for swm i believe) as well as the router. The installer never went upstairs at any time during the install so i know no additional equipment was placed on the receivers upstairs.

Now i am reading that the DECA will combine internet and satellite into one cable. Does this mean that i should remove my network cables? Does my older HD receiver (supports multi room) in the master need anything else between the wall and the receiver like another DECA?

I am a network admin and would prefer to use IP addresses and hard wires to connect my receivers. Is it possible to remove the DECA and just use good old routing to connect these? Could the DECA be getting in the way of this?

Is a 100 MB connection slower than the DECA can transfer the data?

Thanks a lot for your help.. i know this is a lot to answer.


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## Drucifer (Feb 12, 2009)

What model numbers are your HD & SD? Is there a DECA connected to your router?


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## Alebob911 (Mar 22, 2007)

You can only use one or the other (DECA or Ethernet) not both. Choose the method you prefer and then disconnect the other then reboot all the receivers so they can use the proper connection. As far as DECA vs Ethernet, you'll get various responses but DECA is the preferred and supported method for Directv.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

While you've given some info, you haven't given us enough to know what you have.
It sounds like you have "some" DECA networking, since there is one near your router for the internet connection.
All receivers "should" have a DECA to have them all connected. If any HD receivers are the 24 model, then they have internal DECA, but all older receivers with a network connection should have external DECAs added to them. If any are still connected with ethernet, then this is some hybrid setup.
DECA networking is made for MRV, so there really isn't any benefit to using ethernet instead.

Maybe you can look at all your receivers and see if they have a DECA and what model they are and then post.


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## NNatic (Jun 10, 2007)

Drucifer said:


> What model numbers are your HD & SD? Is there a DECA connected to your router?


HR23-700 - living room next to router
R22-100 - guest bedroom hard wired to ethernet cable
H23-600 - master bedroom

There is a DECA connected to my router. There are three lights on the deca the network is not lit. the other two are though.


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## NNatic (Jun 10, 2007)

Alebob911 said:


> You can only use one or the other (DECA or Ethernet) not both. Choose the method you prefer and then disconnect the other then reboot all the receivers so they can use the proper connection. As far as DECA vs Ethernet, you'll get various responses but DECA is the preferred and supported method for Directv.


So if i am to use the prefferred DECA solution, will I need an additional DECA on the receivers upstairs (model numbers in above post)?


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## NNatic (Jun 10, 2007)

veryoldschool said:


> While you've given some info, you haven't given us enough to know what you have.
> It sounds like you have "some" DECA networking, since there is one near your router for the internet connection.
> All receivers "should" have a DECA to have them all connected. If any HD receivers are the 24 model, then they have internal DECA, but all older receivers with a network connection should have external DECAs added to them. If any are still connected with ethernet, then this is some hybrid setup.
> DECA networking is made for MRV, so there really isn't any benefit to using ethernet instead.
> ...


I do know for a fact that the two upstairs (h23 and r22) do not have DECA's on the back of the receiver as the installer never came upstairs at all.

Will these function without an additional DECA on the receiver side?

I have been able to get it to work occasionally but it is just frustratingly spotty and has been working far less often than it has been working.

What do you recommend? if i need to call DTV to get an installer to install DECA's then i will do that. If you think i should pull the DECA from downstairs, i will do that


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

NNatic said:


> *I do know for a fact that the two upstairs (h23 and r22) do not have DECA's on the back of the receiver *as the installer never came upstairs at all.
> 
> Will these function without an additional DECA on the receiver side?
> 
> ...


You didn't get what you paid for, so I'd be calling and "explaining" [aka raising hell] this.
For this to work at all the downstairs receiver must have a DECA, or you simply have one DECA doing nothing.
Adding a DECA to each receiver upstairs is what "should have been done".
Three receivers with DECA, one bridging to your router and NO ethernet cables connected to your receivers [other than the one for the DECA].

Once everything is on the DECA network, the only other thing that you might need to do to stabilize everything is to use static IP addresses that are outside of your router's DHCP pool, though not everyone needs to do this.


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## NNatic (Jun 10, 2007)

veryoldschool said:


> You didn't get what you paid for, so I'd be calling and "explaining" [aka raising hell] this.
> For this to work at all the downstairs receiver must have a DECA, or you simply have one DECA doing nothing.
> Adding a DECA to each receiver upstairs is what "should have been done".
> Three receivers with DECA, one bridging to your router and NO ethernet cables connected to your receivers [other than the one for the DECA].
> ...


that makes sense. If i pull the DECA out, technically this should work as well then right?

Attached is my current setup. the only thing i forgot is that my HD DVR in the living room also has a cable going directly to the router.

My main concern there is that the DECA's lights are not right. power is green, network is not lit at all, and clink is blinking orange. What would cause that? I power cycled the DECA, but that did not resolve it.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

NNatic said:


> that makes sense. If i pull the DECA out, technically this should work as well then right?
> 
> Attached is my current setup. the only thing i forgot is that my HD DVR in the living room also has a cable going directly to the router.
> 
> My main concern there is that the DECA's lights are not right. power is green, network is not lit at all, and clink is blinking orange. What would cause that? I power cycled the DECA, but that did not resolve it.


[again] you still need to get some more info, to know better what is [or not] going on.
You might not have a SWM8, but a SWiM LNB on the dish. Do you see four coax coming in from the dish, or is there only one?
The cLink blinking orange is a sign there is a problem with the DECA signal. There either isn't another DECA for it to sync with, or the signal is way out of spec. What you have for the downstairs HD DVR?
Your options seem to be to either "fix the DECA" or scrap it and run ethernet to the downstairs DVR.


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

Wow. That is a messed up install. And you did have DirecTV come out to install the Whole Home DVR setup for you, correct?

- Merg


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## armchair (Jul 27, 2009)

VOS,

In addition to the concerns of the SWM8, it appears that the the BB DECA is the lone DECA module in the setup!

The TS stated he omitted the ETHERNET cable from the LR HD-DVR in the drawing. As a temporary work-around, the BB DECA could be removed but all those ports need terminating. It may be best just to remove the 4-way altogether and connect the LR HD-DVR to that IRD port...but

If the DVR is using the PI-IRD port to feed the splitter, the PI s/b on it's own split, IMO. The HD-DVR in LR and BB DECA could be combined on a separate split but use the SWS-2, not the 4-way. The 4-way may be better utilized in the closet, rather than the 8-way...

That is when the tech installs the missing DECA's and removes the ETHERNET cables on the receivers.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

armchair said:


> VOS,


"Yes" there are a lot of refinements that could/need to be done.
This is one very screwed up installation.


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## sungam (May 10, 2007)

Looks like all the tech did was install the Cinema Connection Kit and not the rest of a WH install. Maybe the order was written up wrong... You should be able to look up the order online and see what it says.


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## Drucifer (Feb 12, 2009)

sungam said:


> Looks like all the tech did was install the Cinema Connection Kit and not the rest of a WH install. Maybe the order was written up wrong... You should be able to look up the order online and see what it says.


There no DECA connected to router, so that is even wrong.


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## HoTat2 (Nov 16, 2005)

Drucifer said:


> There no DECA connected to router, so that is even wrong.


Actually, in the WHDVR installation, there should be only one DECA, the "Broad Band" one or "Cinema Connection Kit" (if installed) which is connected to the router or to an ethernet switch that in turn connects to a router somehow.

However in the OP's screwed up install here, there should be no direct ethernet cable connection to the router from the receivers. The living room DVR, R22, and H23.


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

HoTat2 said:


> Actually, in the WHDVR installation, there should be only one DECA, the "Broad Band" one or "Cinema Connection Kit" (if installed) which is connected to the router or to an ethernet switch that in turn connects to a router somehow.
> 
> However in the OP's screwed up install here, there should be no direct ethernet cable connection to the router from the receivers. The living room DVR, R22, and H23.


Not true. In a WHDVR installation, any H/HR2x receiver that is not a H24/HR24 also needs a DECA. In the OP's case, the HR23, R22, and H23 all need DECAs.

- Merg


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## HoTat2 (Nov 16, 2005)

The Merg said:


> Not true. In a WHDVR installation, any H/HR2x receiver that is not a H24/HR24 also needs a DECA. In the OP's case, the HR23, R22, and H23 all need DECAs.
> 
> - Merg


I was referring to how many DECAs *should be connected to the router *(or maybe to the router via an ethernet switch) in response to a previous poster "Drucifer,"
who said it is wrong to have a DECA connected to the router.


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

HoTat2 said:


> I was referring to how many DECAs *should be connected to the router *(or maybe to the router via an ethernet switch) in response to a previous poster "Drucifer,"
> who said it is wrong to have a DECA connected to the router.


Gotcha!

- Merg


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## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

The Merg said:


> Wow. That is a messed up install. And you did have DirecTV come out to install the Whole Home DVR setup for you, correct?
> 
> - Merg


Yes this WHDVR/DECA/SWM Installation Procedure is so new that it is hard to find an installer that really knows exactly what to do and how to do it.

I had to change mine around with the help of HDTVFAN0001 to get mine to work properly as it kept dropping DVRs off and sometimes got the error message "No Audio/Video Packet Received" when they were on the Host DVR.

I consider myself lucky that I knew someone who could help me get mine working Flawlessly but once you do it is a Killer System. I couldn't live without my MRV, I mean WHDVR Service.


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

richierich said:


> Yes this WHDVR/DECA/SWM Installation Procedure is so new that it is hard to find an installer that really knows exactly what to do and how to do it.
> 
> I had to change mine around with the help of HDTVFAN0001 to get mine to work properly as it kept dropping DVRs off and sometimes got the error message "No Audio/Video Packet Received" when they were on the Host DVR.
> 
> I consider myself lucky that I knew someone who could help me get mine working Flawlessly but once you do it is a Killer System. I couldn't live without my MRV, I mean WHDVR Service.


True. But in most cases of messed up installs, it usually comes from hooking up a DECA and ethernet at the same time to a HR24 or something installed backwards. In this case, the installer did not hook up one DECA to a receiver!

- Merg


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## NNatic (Jun 10, 2007)

well i am glad to be the owner of the botched install ha ha

This was entirely done by a DirecTV installer.

I called them last night after seeing that i needed additional parts installed and they are coming out free of charge to install three DECA's (one on each receiver) so that we can get this thing up and running now. 

Thanks for all of your help guys. I really appreciate it...i cant wait to enjoy my streaming.... it has been frustrating not having it work consistently when i was so stoked to use it. Now if i could get the time i spent thinking it was a routing issue back lol. 

They will be out between noon and 4 tomorrow.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

NNatic said:


> well i am glad to be the owner of the botched install ha ha
> 
> This was entirely done by a DirecTV installer.
> 
> ...


hopefully you can get him to set it up this way:


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## NNatic (Jun 10, 2007)

and i still need a DECA on each box correct?


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

NNatic said:



> and i still need a DECA on each box correct?


All MRV receivers that are not a H24/HR24 need a DECA.

- Merg


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

NNatic said:


> and i still need a DECA on each box correct?


Yes, HR23, H23 & R22 should all have a DECA connected inline on the Coax with an Ethernet feeder to the Ethernet port on your DVR/Receiver.

The fourth (apparently existing) DECA should have a power supply on one side (the tail end) and a coax connection to your SWiM on the other end. The Ethernet feed will connect to your router or switch.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

NNatic said:


> and i still need a DECA on each box correct?


Sorry, I guess I was only trying to show the differences from your pdf and "assumed" you already knew and were going to get the other DECAs.


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## toneman (Oct 23, 2007)

VOS--borrowing your diagram from post #23 and modifying it somewhat:

Will MRV and Internet function correctly if I remove the 2-way splitter and just have the one coax running from the PI IRD port to the Broadband DECA, with coax running from the SWM dish to each of my two HR24s? To describe my current wiring setup in somewhat more detail, the installer connected one HR24 downstairs (only connection is coax from wall outlet to back of receiver), the other HR24 in the bedroom (same deal), and the PI in a third room (again, coax connected from wall outlet to PI--why he did it this way, I have no idea). Currently the IRD port on the PI is unconnected...and other than MRV and On-Demand not (yet) working, my receivers function just fine; is it allowable to run coax from the PI IRD port to the coax port on the Broadband DECA (and then connect the ethernet cable from the Broadband DECA to my router) in order to then get MRV and On-Demand to function correctly on both of my receivers? Thanks in advance!


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

toneman said:


> VOS--borrowing your diagram from post #23 and modifying it somewhat:
> 
> Will MRV and Internet function correctly if I remove the 2-way splitter and just have the one coax running from the PI IRD port to the Broadband DECA, with coax running from the SWM dish to each of my two HR24s? To describe my current wiring setup in somewhat more detail, the installer connected one HR24 downstairs (only connection is coax from wall outlet to back of receiver), the other HR24 in the bedroom (same deal), and the PI in a third room (again, coax connected from wall outlet to PI--why he did it this way, I have no idea). Currently the IRD port on the PI is unconnected...and other than MRV and On-Demand not (yet) working, my receivers function just fine; is it allowable to run coax from the PI IRD port to the coax port on the Broadband DECA (and then connect the ethernet cable from the Broadband DECA to my router) in order to then get MRV and On-Demand to function correctly on both of my receivers? Thanks in advance!


I see no reason why it wouldn't work.


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## toneman (Oct 23, 2007)

Update--turns out it was bad coax cabling to one of the rooms that the receiver was connected to; I had him run another line from the outlet in one of the other bedrooms to my bedroom (rather than run an unsightly line on the outside and then drill through the outer wall to complete the run to my bedroom--basically I took the lesser of two evils, as far as how to run a new line was concerned), MRV over DECA now works correctly.

Side note--why it took three separate trips to figure out that the line was marginally bad (not bad enough so that the receiver could not pick up a signal, but apparently bad enough that it was causing just enough signal fluctuation to cause intermittent video stuttering and apparently, cause the two receivers to not see each other) is beyond me; don't these installers have equipment to perform line tests?


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## HoTat2 (Nov 16, 2005)

toneman said:


> Update--turns out it was bad coax cabling to one of the rooms that the receiver was connected to; I had him run another line from the outlet in one of the other bedrooms to my bedroom (rather than run an unsightly line on the outside and then drill through the outer wall to complete the run to my bedroom--basically I took the lesser of two evils, as far as how to run a new line was concerned), MRV over DECA now works correctly.
> 
> *Side note--why it took three separate trips to figure out that the line was marginally bad (not bad enough so that the receiver could not pick up a signal, but apparently bad enough that it was causing just enough signal fluctuation to cause intermittent video stuttering and apparently, cause the two receivers to not see each other) is beyond me; don't these installers have equipment to perform line tests?*


For the H/HR24s at least, the receivers themselves have such line testing equipment integrated into them which should have identified this problem. By pressing "Guide" and the ">" buttons on the front panel simultaneously, and selecting the "coax network" category. Then checking the PHY levels, and PHY mesh rate readings.

But I guess many installers are not aware of it unfortunately.


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## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

Once again a Case of Installers not being Trained Properly.


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