# Upgrade to MRV/DECA



## bigwad (Oct 19, 2006)

I know this question has been answered, probably many times here. But with the Ethernet connections, etc, I'm confused as hell. So if this question is redundant, I apologize.

I have 2 HR20's and an older SD DVR. I have a bigger dish, but it has the sidecar LNB's and I get some pixelating and audio loss occasionally. My neighbor has a newer dish and according to the guy installing it, the sidecar LNB's are my problem.

I want to add another HD DVR and an HD receiver to use thru 4 rooms using the 2 existing HR20's I already have. If I upgrade to the MRV:

1. Will I get the HR24, or will I get whatever they have available on the truck? I haven't yet been able to figure out thru reading whether the HR24 is required or not. I'm thinking it is not a requirement, leaving me at their mercy.

2. Will I be able to get, by request or not, an upgrade on the sidecar dish I have?

3. Will they install a new switch? I'm not sure which I currently have, so this may be a dumb question. 

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated or just a point to a current post that can answer my questions. Thanks


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

I'm moving this to the connected home forum. There are a lot of helpful threads there.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

bigwad said:


> I know this question has been answered, probably many times here. But with the Ethernet connections, etc, I'm confused as hell. So if this question is redundant, I apologize.
> 
> I have 2 HR20's and an older SD DVR. I have a bigger dish, but it has the sidecar LNB's and I get some pixelating and audio loss occasionally. My neighbor has a newer dish and according to the guy installing it, the sidecar LNB's are my problem.
> 
> ...



the odds are better that you'll get a HR24, but they're not 100%
the sidecar will get replaced with a slimline & SWiM
If you have more than eight tuners, then the SWiM LNB wouldn't be used and a "switch" would be.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

veryoldschool said:


> the odds are better that you'll get a HR24, but they're not 100%


Aren't the odds somewhere in the <70% range?


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

harsh said:


> Aren't the odds somewhere in the <70% range?


Pulling more "data" out of your rear end again?
I'm not going to post internal information on this here, but the 24s are earmarked for DECA/MRV installs/upgrades. 
If the installer's stock is short, then this won't be 100%.


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## hasan (Sep 22, 2006)

If I put an SWM system in, can I *retain* my home network based MRV system, and *not* use the DECA based MRV system?

I ask this because I have two separate dishes. I need one more tuner for the "main" system, and want to upgrade it to SWM. I want to leave the other dish and system "alone". Because I'm using wired/wireless home networking very successfully for MRV now, I don't want to complicate issues ....like trying to link two different dishes onto a single DECA based system.

I don't want to break what's already working perfectly. All I want is to have is the dish replaced (for SWM) on the main system and SWM implemented for 2 HD DVRs and 1 HD receiver on that system.

The topography looks like this:

Main System: (Home Theater Room)

AT9 Dish
HR20-700 hardwired to router/switch (right next to the HR21-200 below)
HR21-200 hardwired to router/switch
H21-200 wireless N to router/switch 30' away

Secondary System: (North End of House Room)

Slimline Dish
HR20-100 wireless N to router/switch 80' away

The above two systems are linked (obviously) via wireless, so I have full MRV functionality between the two systems, even though they are on two different dishes. I don't think this can easily be done if I went to DECA and SWM on both systems.

So, the basic question is:

Can I leave the Secondary System as it is, leave the Main System as it is (i.e., home networking), but change the Main System to use SWM, so I have enough tuners? Are SWM and DECA linkage a *requirement* with an SWM upgrade, or is DECA just an add-on that I could forgo and continue to use my own fully functioning in-home network?

I know I could put a multi-switch on the main system to get more tuners, but that would require pulling another line through the walls, which could be completely avoided by going SWM.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

DECA needs SWM, but SWM doesn't need DECA, so unsupported MRV is still an option.


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## hasan (Sep 22, 2006)

veryoldschool said:


> DECA needs SWM, but SWM doesn't need DECA, so unsupported MRV is still an option.


Way cool! So there is no reason not to go ahead with my preferred plan, or do you see a fly in the ointment that I'm not considering?


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

hasan said:


> Way cool! So there is no reason not to go ahead with my preferred plan, or do* you see a fly in the ointment* that I'm not considering?


Wireless networking, but knowing you that isn't your problem. :lol:


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## bigwad (Oct 19, 2006)

Thanks all, I'm making the call this afternoon!


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## Beerstalker (Feb 9, 2009)

Why are you using 2 different dishes? You don't have more than 8 tuners so your setup really would be a lot simpler if you just changed to SWM and DECA running off one dish for all of your equipment.

Even if you had more than 8 tuners they could just set you up with a SWM16 and you could still use SWM and DECA off one dish.


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

harsh said:


> Aren't the odds somewhere in the <70% range?


From the empirical data (and what I know) I'd say the odds are greater than 70% (but are not 100%) that a connected home system will receive an H24 or HR24 as a new receiver.


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## rjdude (Mar 9, 2005)

In the DECA cloud, I know the band stop filter is placed between the SWM and the first splitter; do you need DECA or filters for any NON-DECA receivers (e.g. H20)? I have two older H20's that don't support DECA (no ethernet ports). Do I have to worry about these within the cloud?


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

rjdude said:


> In the DECA cloud, I know the band stop filter is placed between the SWM and the first splitter; do you need DECA or filters for any NON-DECA receivers (e.g. H20)? I have two older H20's that don't support DECA (no ethernet ports). Do I have to worry about these within the cloud?


Bandstop filters are needed.
Receivers with DECA block the signal from reaching the SAT tuner. Any receiver without DECA needs a blocking filter to do the same.


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## waylonrobert (Apr 22, 2010)

rjdude said:


> In the DECA cloud, I know the band stop filter is placed between the SWM and the first splitter; do you need DECA or filters for any NON-DECA receivers (e.g. H20)? I have two older H20's that don't support DECA (no ethernet ports). Do I have to worry about these within the cloud?


Pretty sure those receivers will need to be upgraded if you want them to be used for MRV, as DECA still requires an ethernet port.


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## uncouth (Nov 7, 2007)

Have a related question, mainly: I have an older HR20-100 and a DECA upgrade scheduled. I've been hearing there's a lot of issues with the HR20 and DECA. Is it likely the receiver will be swapped out? Should I ask or insist on it if not?

On one hand, wife doesn't want to lose recordings.
On the other, I don't want MRV issues...


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

waylonrobert said:


> Pretty sure those receivers will need to be upgraded if you want them to be used for MRV, as DECA still requires an ethernet port.


This is true to have them "work" with MRV & would be swapped for H21/23/24s as part of the DECA/MRV upgrade package.
If the customer doesn't want MRV to these receivers, then a bandstop filter can be used and the H20s will work fine on the SWM system.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

uncouth said:


> Have a related question, mainly: I have an older HR20-100 and a DECA upgrade scheduled. I've been hearing there's a lot of issues with the HR20 and DECA. Is it likely the receiver will be swapped out? Should I ask or insist on it if not?
> 
> On one hand, wife doesn't want to lose recordings.
> On the other, I don't want MRV issues...


"Insist" isn't an option.
I can't say "most" have problems that can't be resolved. "Some" have had problems, but this would be dealt with on a case by case basis.


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## uncouth (Nov 7, 2007)

veryoldschool said:


> "Insist" isn't an option.
> I can't say "most" have problems that can't be resolved. "Some" have had problems, but this would be dealt with on a case by case situation.


Thanks for the quick reply. I suppose I'll see how it goes down tomorrow. Having it swapped out would likely land me on the couch for a night or two anyhow.  Too many shows on that box.


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## rjdude (Mar 9, 2005)

veryoldschool said:


> Bandstop filters are needed.
> Receivers with DECA block the signal from reaching the SAT tuner. Any receiver without DECA needs a blocking filter to do the same.


Thanks... I must have looked at the Multi-Room Viewing Receiver Compatibility list many times (as well all of the other DECA related information) and I can now see the answer was right there all along.


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## bigwad (Oct 19, 2006)

Just got off the phone, I have 2 HR20's already. They wanted 149 for another HDDVR, 49 for another HD receiver, 99 fee, plus another 49 for the installation. I politely declined. I guess I misunderstood a lot of stuff. 
I never thought it would be that much!


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

bigwad said:


> Just got off the phone, I have 2 HR20's already. They wanted 149 for another HDDVR, 49 for another HD receiver, 99 fee, plus another 49 for the installation. I politely declined. I guess I misunderstood a lot of stuff.
> I never thought it would be that much!


$99 & $49 are for the DECA/MRV networking upgrade.
Adding receivers would be in addition, but swapping out like for like receivers to work with SWiM, is part of the upgrade package price.


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## bigwad (Oct 19, 2006)

veryoldschool said:


> $99 & $49 are for the DECA/MRV networking upgrade.
> Adding receivers would be in addition, but swapping out like for like receivers to work with SWiM, is part of the upgrade package price.


From what I've read, it seems since I already have the HR20's, I am not really eligible for the receiver swap. Am I correct in that? And since I already have the 2 HR20's, I could get by with just 2 more Hxx HD receivers and forget adding another HDDVR to get coverage in all 4 rooms?.

Thanks for the help


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

bigwad said:


> From what I've read, it seems since I already have the HR20's, I am not really eligible for the receiver swap. Am I correct in that? And since I already have the 2 HR20's, I could get by with just 2 more Hxx HD receivers and forget adding another HDDVR to get coverage in all 4 rooms?.
> 
> Thanks for the help


The HR20s don't need swapping.
If you want to add two more locations to view MRV, then you need to add two clients [H21/23/24]. there would come with the 2-year commitment, but since they aren't DVRs, you can get some good/cheap deals for them
All other receiver would be changed to work with SWiM.


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## bigwad (Oct 19, 2006)

No deals for me to add 2 Hxx receivers and use my current 2 HR20's.
99 + 49 + 49(Hxx) + 99(Hxx) = about 300 bucks up front. Not worth it for me at this point.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

bigwad said:


> No deals for me to add 2 Hxx receivers and use my current 2 HR20's.
> 99 + 49 + 49(Hxx) + 99(Hxx) = about 300 bucks up front. Not worth it for me at this point.


At least you know what it would cost now for MRV at four locations.


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