# My MRV woes continue



## rickeame (Sep 5, 2006)

I am so sick of this system...I'm frustrated beyond belief.

FAMILY ROOM - DVR + the cinema add on that gives me on demand. I have the cinema thing connected to my network WIRED, manual IP address.

BEDROOM - HD receiver.

The BEDROOM is constantly saying "FAMILY is no longer connected to the network." Then it comes back two seconds later to refresh the playlist, then complains it's not on the network again. Over and over. Useless.

FAMILY will constantly complain it's not on the network when I try on demand, but then it will be and it will work. 

I'm about to just give up on this whole on demand thing -- it's been more hassle than it is worth. I'm not sure what is wrong or what it's expecting, but it's clearly unhappy with the network as setup in my house. Everything else in the house works just fine -- it's just directv that is having issues. 

Any ideas? I'm running out of them.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

Sure would help to know more about what all you have from DirecTV.
I'm using the coax [DECA] networking, have the CCK, in wireless mode, and everything here is working fine [and has for a very long time].


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

rickeame said:


> I am so sick of this system...I'm frustrated beyond belief.
> 
> FAMILY ROOM - DVR + the cinema add on that gives me on demand. I have the cinema thing connected to my network WIRED, manual IP address.
> 
> ...


Okay, gonna make some assumptions here... Gonna assume that you are on a SWM system. If you hit the dash key while watching TV, it should state if you are using SWM and if you're connected to the network.

If you are on SWM, disconnect the Cinema Connection Kit from your router. Once that is done, reset network settings on each of the your receivers. When you do this, you will not have access to the Internet or your home network.

The receivers should reset to an IP address of 169.254.x.x. That is fine. Once both receivers are reset, give them a few minutes to find themselves. They will, but it takes a bit longer than when you assign IP addresses via your router. See how the performance is for MRV at that point. If everything is working fine then, let us know and we can move on to resolving your issue.

Another thing you can do would be to check the PHY MESH numbers if you have a HR24/H24/H25 receiver. If you don't, you can't see those numbers.

- Merg


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

The Merg said:


> Okay, gonna make some assumptions here... Gonna assume that...
> - Merg


I've used up my daily allotment of assumptions, so I'm waiting to read what the hell is there. :lol:


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## rickeame (Sep 5, 2006)

BEDROOM is an H25NC-500. Downstairs is the DVR. We just got this in September. There is just one box at the hub of all of this that does SWM. From there it goes into a splitter the goes to the rooms. From the wall outlet, a single wire leading into the receivers. 

In the case of the FAMILY DVR, the wire comes into the cinema "thingy" and another coax goes from that unit into the DVR. An ethernet cable comes from my wall into the cinema "thingy".

Should be simple. Yet seemingly not. I'd of course rather plug the ethernet directly into the DVR, but apparently that's not an option (for some reason) and I need that extra box. Makes no sense to me, but I didn't build it.


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## rickeame (Sep 5, 2006)

The Merg said:


> Okay, gonna make some assumptions here... Gonna assume that you are on a SWM system. If you hit the dash key while watching TV, it should state if you are using SWM and if you're connected to the network.
> 
> If you are on SWM, disconnect the Cinema Connection Kit from your router. Once that is done, reset network settings on each of the your receivers. When you do this, you will not have access to the Internet or your home network.
> 
> ...


I'll give that a try. I can say that MRV worked before the introduction of the CCK. Once I did that (and got on demand downstairs), the whole thing went south.


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## rickeame (Sep 5, 2006)

As a followup. The CCK is connected and green lights all around. It has a manually assigned IP address that is fine and out of my DHCP reserved list, so no conflicts. When I test the network, here is what it says:

IP address: 192.168.0.250 OK
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0 OK
Default Gateway: 192.168.0.1 OK
DNS: 192.168.0.1 OK
Network: Coax Not Connected (9)
Internet: Not connected (9)

Result Code: 86-662

Note: the rest of the house is doing fine on the internet, including the machine I'm currently typing this on. If I reboot the CCK -- it will work again, then eventually stop.

Argh.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

Does the cinema "thingy" look like this [but with an ethernet cable connected]:









The system test you ran, what was the receiver model?

"Guessing" this was done from an HR24.
Resetting the network defaults, and then rerunning the SAT setup, followed by a reboot, "should" clear the coax networking error.


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## rickeame (Sep 5, 2006)

veryoldschool said:


> Does the cinema "thingy" look like this [but with an ethernet cable connected]:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yes, that's the CCK I have. The DVR is the HR24/500. I'll give that a go and see if it fixes the issue.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

rickeame said:


> Yes, that's the CCK I have. The DVR is the HR24/500. I'll give that a go and see if it fixes the issue.


So it now sounds like you have the same hardware I do, which works fine here.
What you [OK, I] should focus on is clearing out the:


> Network: Coax Not Connected (9)
> Internet: Not connected (9)


This is what we don't have in common.


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## rickeame (Sep 5, 2006)

veryoldschool said:


> So it now sounds like you have the same hardware I do, which works fine here.
> What you [OK, I] should focus on is clearing out the:
> 
> This is what we don't have in common.


Yeah, when I reboot the CCK -- I don't get those either. Then, over the course of a day or two, I will get that. I'm so far not a huge fan of the CCK.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

rickeame said:



> Yeah, when I reboot the CCK -- I don't get those either. Then, over the course of a day or two, I will get that. I'm so far not a huge fan of the CCK.


"But" the errors seem to be in the DVR.
"Even if" the CCK was the problem, the H25 should still keep the coax network "connected" status, though the internet error would stay.


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## rickeame (Sep 5, 2006)

veryoldschool said:


> "But" the errors seem to be in the DVR.
> "Even if" the CCK was the problem, the H25 should still keep the coax network "connected" status, though the internet error would stay.


Even though the coax routes through the CCK now? It's still in the middle.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

rickeame said:


> Even though the coax routes through the CCK now? It's still in the middle.


I'm not sure what you're saying or asking here? 

Yes the CCK is wired inline on the coax, but that isn't the point.
Mine is too to my H25, but :shrug:


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## lugnutathome (Apr 13, 2009)

Think of the CCK as a pipe fitting with an adapter. A "Tee" fitting that enables the free flow of DECA traffic but also adapts the DECA traffic in and out of a traditional Cat[X] network configuration. It is no more than that in essence.

Don "I'll leave my guessing about your problem to thos more qualified to help" Bolton


rickeame said:


> Even though the coax routes through the CCK now? It's still in the middle.


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## DaaQ (Aug 21, 2008)

It would help alot if you ciuld describe your entire system from lnb to receivers including any inline components such as splitters and the power inserter.

Is the power inserter on the same line as the cck? Is it infront of or behind the splitter? 
The PI will introduce rf noise into the line and mess with the networking of the coax.
If your PI is between the lnb and the splitter, move it to between a receiver abd splitter, keep it off of the cck line too.
Any of that make sense?


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

DaaQ said:


> It would help alot if you ciuld describe your entire system from lnb to receivers including any inline components such as splitters and the power inserter.
> 
> Is the power inserter on the same line as the cck? Is it infront of or behind the splitter?
> The PI will introduce rf noise into the line and mess with the networking of the coax.
> ...


Actually most of this doesn't makes sense.
A PI doesn't introduce "noise". It "simply" injects DC.
Now it also has a capacitor acting as the DC block, which may be what you're thinking/seeing, since RF and a large cap don't always "play nice".
Having it between the LNB and a splitter does improve the performance, since the splitter is a more resistive impedance than the cap is.
Line length may also improve this too.

This post here will show a setup and some fairly good Mesh rates too:
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?p=2934399#post2934399


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## DaaQ (Aug 21, 2008)

Maybe you can test or verify if you have the right setup or equipment, but having the PI between the lnb and splitter has caused issues with multiple h25s being able to "see" the dvr. Was 3 25s and 1 hr24.
Now it is entirely possible that coax length from PI to splitter was part of the issue, ie being to short. But just wiring it up to get it behind the splitter did resolve the issue of 2 out of 3 h25 not being able to pull up the play list.

I know that the PI only puts out voltage, but do you think that it is not possible for the inserter to cause any kind of interference?


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

DaaQ said:


> Maybe you can test or verify if you have the right setup or equipment, but having the PI between the lnb and splitter has caused issues with multiple h25s being able to "see" the dvr. Was 3 25s and 1 hr24.
> Now it is entirely possible that coax length from PI to splitter was part of the issue, ie being to short. But just wiring it up to get it behind the splitter did resolve the issue of 2 out of 3 h25 not being able to pull up the play list.
> 
> I know that the PI only puts out voltage, but do you think that it is not possible for the inserter to cause any kind of interference?


If you find that situation again, run the coax tests from the front panel [guide & right arrow buttons]. "More than likely" the noise is the DECA signal coming back into the splitter at a phase that is interfering.
We've seen this in the early test days.
The coax from the splitter to LNB is the most sensitive to line length, since the DECA signal is traveling in both directions.
The easiest thing is to add a BSF with the pigtail connected to the splitter input.
Changing the length of the pigtail by as little as 4" longer can reduce the Mesh rate enough to cause a system test error.

If you have some coax, connectors, and time to play with, you can make up a 16", a 12", a 8", and a 4" set of jumpers.
Run the coax tests, then add the 16" jumper to the input of the splitter and retest. You should see the same numbers.
Change the 16" to the 12", and retest.
Change and test for the 8" and 4".
If the 8" gives the best results, remove the jumper and shorten the coax from the LNB by 8".
If the 12" jumper gives the best, cut the coax by 4".
If the 4" jumper gives the best, cut the coax by 12".

You could do the same thing by simply cutting the coax in 4" steps, but if you cut too much, you've got to keep cutting until you get back to the right phase again. The jumpers give you tools for the next time. 
splitter to LNB has the DECA signal going


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## Diana C (Mar 30, 2007)

rickeame said:


> Even though the coax routes through the CCK now? It's still in the middle.


If you want to determine if the issue is the DVR or the CCK take the CCK out for awhile. Just bypass it go straight to the DVR. If your DVR stays "coax connected" then the problem is the CCK (perhaps you have a bad one).


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