# Using my own Cat5e



## Kev4Bama (Aug 7, 2010)

wanting to explore my options if I was to use the existing Cat5e I have in my home(Every Room already wired to central location) and have it connected hard wired through my router should I be able to have MRV (unsupported) as well as use the VOD Cinema Plus, PC app ect all at the same time or would I need to add something to use the other features along with the unsupported MRV?


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

It works "fine", as we tested MRV with our own ethernet for over a year before DECA came out nationally. VOD & everything else works fine too.


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## Davenlr (Sep 16, 2006)

It will work just fine. Thats how I had my 5 units before upgrading to DECA. No issues at all. I used a gigabit switch, but the boxes are 100, so I doubt that made any improvement.


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## Kev4Bama (Aug 7, 2010)

Like I said just wanting to look at all of my options, The reason I ask is because on their site they say that if you have MRV than you need a connection kit but I am thinking that is is you are using DECA. Do you all think I would need a switch or can I just wire all of the rooms that I will be using together so that they all connect to the router. I didnt know if it is that easy or I need to have the router going into a switch and then to each reciever. The one thing I have never worked much with is networking I just know that every room in my house has at least one or more individual Cat5e cables and they all run to one location which is on the outer wall of the house but I could also access them from the attic before they go outside if I needed to run everything through a switch. Sorry for the stupidity in advance


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## Kev4Bama (Aug 7, 2010)

I have done some homework and this is what I have come up with. If I want to use my existing wiring than the best I can tell I would need to get a switch which my router would feed for the internet side of things and then the 3 recievers that I want to network together would plug into the switch individually. Am I on the right track? I have been giving myself how to make a home network 101 vs converting to SWM and doing the install myself. Weighing price either way.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

If you are going to have more than three devices in your home with Internet connections (computers, DVRs, TVs, game consoles, media extenders etc.), I highly recommend standalone Gigabit switches. 8 port (7 + a connection to your router) are going for around $40 at Amazon.com and often cheaper elsewhere.


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## poppagene (Jul 20, 2007)

Kev4Bama said:


> I have done some homework and this is what I have come up with. If I want to use my existing wiring than the best I can tell I would need to get a switch which my router would feed for the internet side of things and then the 3 recievers that I want to network together would plug into the switch individually. Am I on the right track? I have been giving myself how to make a home network 101 vs converting to SWM and doing the install myself. Weighing price either way.


There's no need for a stand alone switch for the directv side of things. The receivers don't function any differently if they are cabled directly into your router or if they are cabled into a switch which is cabled into a router. By all means get switch if your router doesn't have enough open ports to serve all the wired connections you need.

You should also make sure that you assign static addresses to all of the receivers and these addresses should be outsid eof the dhcp range of your router. A good place to start is with the thread on this:
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=185688

If your router has any open ports, you can start this process any time you want using cat5 to connect a receiver to the wall jack and connecting this run to the router. Go into setup on the receiver and assign it a static ip address and check the connection to the network adn the internet. Repeat the process for any and all remaining receivers if you wish. If all goes well you'll be ready to contact directv to hav ethe whole home dvr added to your account.


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

As mentioned, you can hook up the receivers directly to your router. Ther is no issue with that. However, if you do have a lot of devices wired on your network (and need a switch to handle all the devices), it would not be a bad idea to put all of the receivers on the switch. This would somewhat isolate the MRV traffic on your home network to the switch. In a way, you would somewhat be replicating the idea of the DECA cloud. Once again, there is no requirement to set things up that way and you might be perfectly fine with having the receivers connected directly to your router (I was).

- Merg


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## Kev4Bama (Aug 7, 2010)

Thanks for the help guys. I am weighing my options as to use my existing cat5e runs or setup SWiM parallel with the WB68. If I use my CAT5e I would have to put a switch in my garage, probably would build distribution panel there because while each room has runs to it all of them run from the wall plates to the outside of the house where my telephone box is. I wouldnt mind DirecTV putting my SWM in but I could probably do it myself cheaper especially if I installed a SWM16 and hooked up my tailgating H-21-200 off of the legacy port or used a SWM8 parallel with WB68. Other than that I would need the SWM 8 splitter and two DECA's since the H24-700 has one built in. Dont I also need an adapter for VOD/TV apps if I set up using SWM? My question is though the only way I would let Directv do it is if I could insure I would be able to get a SWM8 as opposed to a new lnb. So as you can see I have options I am just trying to teach myself how I would setup my SWM system as it relates to DECA's placement, ect


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

Kev4Bama said:


> I wouldnt mind DirecTV putting my SWM in but I could probably do it myself cheaper especially if I installed a SWM16 and hooked up my tailgating H-21-200 off of the legacy port or used a SWM8 parallel with WB68.


Since all you would need (even with the extra H21 connected) would be six tuners, there doesn't appear to be a need for an SWM16.

All of the receivers you've listed are SWiM compatible so their doesn't seem to be a need for legacy switchgear at all.


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## Kev4Bama (Aug 7, 2010)

harsh said:


> Since all you would need (even with the extra H21 connected) would be six tuners, there doesn't appear to be a need for an SWM16.
> 
> All of the receivers you've listed are SWiM compatible so their doesn't seem to be a need for legacy switchgear at all.


I use one of my H21-200's for tailgating and my tailgating setup uses multiswitch. The recievers are really hard to switch back and forth from SWM to multiswitch so on the 16 I can hook that one reciever up through the legacy ports and keep it multiswitch, or I can run my WB68 parallel to my SWM 8 so that I can use either the SWM or Multiswitch. The SWM 8 legacy ports will not allow HD access like the 16's will as I have learned so far.


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## poppagene (Jul 20, 2007)

Kev4Bama said:


> I use one of my H21-200's for tailgating and my tailgating setup uses multiswitch. The recievers are really hard to switch back and forth from SWM to multiswitch so on the 16 I can hook that one reciever up through the legacy ports and keep it multiswitch, or I can run my WB68 parallel to my SWM 8 so that I can use either the SWM or Multiswitch. The SWM 8 legacy ports will not allow HD access like the 16's will as I have learned so far.


If you're happy with your present setup, the simplest way for you to go is to put in that switch with runs to your router and the directv receivers. That's really all that you need.


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## Yog-Sothoth (Apr 8, 2006)

> I highly recommend standalone Gigabit switches. 8 port (7 + a connection to your router) are going for around $40 at Amazon.com and often cheaper elsewhere.


Here is a good one. It supports jumbo frames, and I have transferred files at up to 100 MB/sec with it/them (I have two). It's currently more expensive, but I got my second one for $32.99 from Amazon last week (the two switches are linked).


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