# Problem using HR34 connected to router



## T-Mac (Feb 16, 2012)

Originally my HR34 was installed with the CCK (wired version) connected to my router for downloading VOD. I recorded and watched several VOD movies with this setup without any problems.

After reading on here that the HR34 was capable of being connected directly to a router, I eliminated the CCK and simplified my wiring. Since doing this I have downloaded 3 VOD movies and each have experienced multiple instances where the movie freezes for several seconds then skips ahead, missing part of the scene.

A post I made on the HD receiver forum about this was replied to by another member who experienced the same issue, so he re-wired his setup with the CCK and no longer has the freezing/skipping ahead. http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?p=3009149#post3009149

I suspect this could be a "show-stopper" issue for using the 34 without a CCK and may be the reason D* does not connect them directly to a customer's router. This weekend, I plan to re-wire my setup with the CCK and try another VOD.

Anybody else notice this issue?


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

T-Mac said:


> Originally my HR34 was installed with the CCK (wired version) connected to my router for downloading VOD. I recorded and watched several VOD movies with this setup without any problems.
> 
> After reading on here that the HR34 was capable of being connected directly to a router, I eliminated the CCK and simplified my wiring. Since doing this I have downloaded 3 VOD movies and each have experienced multiple instances where the movie freezes for several seconds then skips ahead, missing part of the scene.
> 
> ...


I don't have a 34 to know/test this, "but" did get confirmation that not using the CCK was a supported method/setup.

Having just checked your link, I'm still not sure the CCK has anything to do with it.

Since you're planning to work of this it might be worth playing with it a bit. Download a VOD through the ethernet port, change to CCK and do it again. Then check the two recordings.


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## dexware (Mar 17, 2012)

I was also having some odd issues with the HR34, like tuners getting stuck, etc., the day after I got rid of the CCK. So I un-terminated that connection and put the CCK back in. No problems since. I might try it later down the road when the HR34 is more stable.


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## T-Mac (Feb 16, 2012)

veryoldschool said:


> I don't have a 34 to know/test this, "but" did
> Since you're planning to work of this it might be worth playing with it a bit. Download a VOD through the ethernet port, change to CCK and do it again. Then check the two recordings.


All the VODs downloaded with the CCK = no freezing/skipping; All VODs downloaded after removing the CCK = freezing/skipping.

I will reconnect the CCK and download one of the same VODs that I had problems with. If it doesn't freeze, I'd say that's conclusive.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

T-Mac said:


> All the VODs downloaded with the CCK = no freezing/skipping; All VODs downloaded after removing the CCK = freezing/skipping.
> 
> I will reconnect the CCK and download one of the same VODs that I had problems with. If it doesn't freeze, I'd say that's conclusive.


Having "some idea" of what's going on, I can't think of anything in the receiver that would be different between the ethernet port and the DECA, so it's hard to figure out how it would be the cause.


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## T-Mac (Feb 16, 2012)

I did more testing of this issue.....

Downloaded another VOD movie with the HR34 ethernet port connected to my router. During the first 15 minutes of viewing, the movie froze and skipped two times.

Next, I added the CCK back to the setup. Downloaded the same movie. No freezing or skipping.

One other finding. Without the CCK, VODs downloaded significantly faster. Almost 1:1 (2 hour movie = a little over 2 hours of download time). With the CCK, VODs dowloaded slower at about a 1.5:1 rate. The same 2 hour movie took a little over 3 hours to download.

I have no idea what that may indicate, but I'm leaving the CCK connected. Slower downloads with no freezing/skipping beats faster downloads with playback problems every time.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

Very odd.
What router do you have?
While I don't have a 34, I do have the wireless CCK, and using the wirless link, would suggest it might be the weakest point, yet I don't have any slowdown with VOD.
1:1 for HD is the speed DirecTV sends them at.


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## T-Mac (Feb 16, 2012)

My router is an Apple Airport Extreme, but the CCK is connected to a Netgear powerline hub. I know that can be problematic, however I get excellent results in my house with this setup. My PS3 streams Netflix movies in "HD" quality with flawless results and speed tests show identical speed and line quality results as being connected directly to the Airport.

Wish I had a wireless CCK for testing, but I'm not going to buy one just for that.


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## drainsurgeon (May 7, 2012)

I have HR34 and HR24 swm 16 module used sraight wire from netgear router to 34 and got alot of freezing and skipping, then tried hardwire cck still same problem, then tried wireless cck same problem. I cant view anynlive programs from 34 to 24 without freezing and skipping any suggestions are welcome. Thanks


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## T-Mac (Feb 16, 2012)

drainsurgeon said:


> I have HR34 and HR24 swm 16 module used sraight wire from netgear router to 34 and got alot of freezing and skipping, then tried hardwire cck still same problem, then tried wireless cck same problem. I cant view anynlive programs from 34 to 24 without freezing and skipping any suggestions are welcome. Thanks


Did you experience freezing/skipping with VOD downloads or just live programs that you recorded?

My problem is with VOD movies. I have not experienced freezing/skipping when recording live programs.


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## drainsurgeon (May 7, 2012)

With my 34 its vod problems now my 24 is freezing and skipping on live recordings


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## dsw2112 (Jun 13, 2009)

T-Mac said:


> I did more testing of this issue.....
> 
> Downloaded another VOD movie with the HR34 ethernet port connected to my router. During the first 15 minutes of viewing, the movie froze and skipped two times.
> 
> ...


I think this likely indicates a problem with the NIC on the HR34 itself. While I don't have an HR34, I know two people that are connected to the router without a CCK. Neither has this type of problem.


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## codespy (Mar 30, 2006)

drainsurgeon said:


> With my 34 its vod problems now my 24 is freezing and skipping on live recordings


You are not alone, I am having same issues too, using a SWiM16.


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## T-Mac (Feb 16, 2012)

I'm now having freezing & skipping with VOD even when the CCK is connected to the internet rather than the HR34 directly. So, I don't know what's causing the issue but I'm writing off VOD as a useable feature for me. It's ridiculous to wait 2 hours for a movie to download, only to find out there is corruption in the data.

Does anybody with a HR34 watch a lot of VOD without any problems? If so, please describe your internet connection.


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## Beerstalker (Feb 9, 2009)

Out of curiosity are the VOD programs 1080p?


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## T-Mac (Feb 16, 2012)

No 1080P, all have been HBO, Showtime, Starz, etc.


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## T-Mac (Feb 16, 2012)

I'm starting to think this is a software problem with the HR34. Other people are having this issue:

link


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## bman3333 (Jun 9, 2010)

T-Mac said:


> I'm starting to think this is a software problem with the HR34. Other people are having this issue:
> 
> link


Where do they have your power inserter connected on your wiring diagram? You might want to try experimenting with locating it behind your SWM splitter.


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## T-Mac (Feb 16, 2012)

bman3333 said:


> Where do they have your power inserter connected on your wiring diagram? You might want to try experimenting with locating it behind your SWM splitter.


My setup is the bottom picture labeled "PI-configuration with BB DECA". http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?p=2934400#post2934400


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## bman3333 (Jun 9, 2010)

T-Mac said:


> My setup is the bottom picture labeled "PI-configuration with BB DECA". http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?p=2934400#post2934400


My HR34 VOD freeze/skip problem has completely gone away since moving my PI to the coaxial cable coming in to the house and before our 4 way splitter that the broadband adapter and our HR34 and H25 are connected to. This way, the power is not going through the signal and data splitter at all. This would make me presume the issue is caused by electromagnetic interference on the shared coaxial cable. Perhaps the coaxial that was run was lower grade? I am not an electrician nor electrical engineer, but the fact that the my issue was resolved when the PI was taken off the shared coax makes it seem a likely suspect.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

bman3333 said:


> My HR34 VOD freeze/skip problem has completely gone away since moving my PI to the coaxial cable coming in to the house and before our 4 way splitter that the broadband adapter and our HR34 and H25 are connected to. This way, the power is not going through the signal and data splitter at all. This would make me presume the issue is caused by electromagnetic interference on the shared coaxial cable. Perhaps the coaxial that was run was lower grade? I am not an electrician nor electrical engineer, but the fact that the my issue was resolved when the PI was taken off the shared coax makes it seem a likely suspect.


This had nothing to do with the "power" not going through the splitter.
What this setup does [and mine is setup this way too] is to have some load between the PI and the receivers. This "load" can come from a long coax, or a splitter, as shown in the image the OP showed for his setup.
The nature of the problem seems to be that the PI has a DC block on its output, which is a capacitor and the RF DECA signal can see this as a poor impedance match. Adding line length or the insertion loss of a splitter helps improve the impedance matching.


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## grcooperjr (Mar 19, 2008)

Hi T-Mac

Yeap, you have the same issues allot of us have with VOD downloads and the Hr34. I have had the pause - skips on VOD's since I got it installed. What’s weird is yours is opposite of what most experience. I have both a Decabb and a cck to try. If either is inline, I get the random pause-skip. If I connect the Hr34 directly to my router and remove the Decabb or cck, the issues go away. 
Another thing I’ve noticed is VOD performance is affected by available bandwidth. I have a fios 30x30 connection and it works good. My neighbor has the same setup (Hr34 & H25’s) with DSL.(1mpbs x 128k) The VOD is not usable at all regardless of how it is hooked up.
You didn’t say what bandwidth you have but I suspect that may be part of it. Of course I might be wrong too.

As far as the rest of the preformance with the Hr34 & H25, Lately it's been good other than the VOD.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

grcooperjr said:


> My neighbor has the same setup (Hr34 & H25's) with DSL.(1mpbs x 128k) The VOD is not usable at all regardless of how it is hooked up.


3 Mb/s is almost the minimum for VOD to be of any use, regardless of the receiver type/model.


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## T-Mac (Feb 16, 2012)

I have Comcast internet and consistently test at 20+ mb/s so I don't think that's my issue.

I don't know if connecting through the netgear powerline hub or recently adding an ooma voip to my setup may be causing the issues.

What's weird is that the first few VOD movies I downloaded were perfect using the powerline hub and the wired cck. After a few weeks, I added the ooma to the powerline hub, also removed the cck, and connected the HR34 directly to the powerline hub. That's when I started getting the freezing and skipping. I then added the cck back to the network and placed it in the powerline hub's #1 slot to give it priority over the ooma. Still freezes and skips. I plan to completely remove the ooma from the network so I will be back to the original configuration that worked and test another VOD. If it's fine, then my assumption will be that the ooma and HR34 being on the same powerline hub is the problem.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

T-Mac said:


> I don't know if connecting through the netgear powerline hub or recently adding an ooma voip to my setup maybe causing the issues.


I don't know either, "but" having been following this thread from the beginning, know DECA fairly well, and you started with a problem using the ethernet port, so your network has always been suspect [to me].
You had some success moving to the CCK, but it was slower, which it shouldn't have been. This too has turned into being problematic, and the only thing in common so far, has been your home network.

Completely unrelated to VOD, was another user who had network problems and his turned out to be "cured" by removing his ooma.

In an earlier post, was someone mentioning changing where their PI was connected, but since you started with a problem on the ethernet port, it seems very unlikely "this problem" has anything to do with the DECA.

You could run some tests to determine the status of your DECA networking, but it more than likely will show there isn't any problem, which is why I haven't mentioned doing it before.

"To me" there are two red flags here:


ooma
powerline
I can't say/know for sure if either are the source of your issues, but I'd try and see if removing either/both can be done for testing/troubleshooting.


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## T-Mac (Feb 16, 2012)

Thank you VOS for your suggestions and patience. I'll keep testing and reporting my findings.


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## grcooperjr (Mar 19, 2008)

veryoldschool said:


> 3 Mb/s is almost the minimum for VOD to be of any use, regardless of the receiver type/model.


 I agree with ya VOS... I don't know why DTV didn't tell him that instead of stringing him on. He's givin up now on ever getting VOD working on his HR34, but his netflix works fine other than a bit slow on the buffering.


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## grcooperjr (Mar 19, 2008)

T-Mac said:


> Thank you VOS for your suggestions and patience. I'll keep testing and reporting my findings.


T-Mac, Is it possible to hardwire it for a test. a long cat5 patch cord is a cheap test to eliminate stuff. 100 footer is around 12 bucks from Monoprice


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## T-Mac (Feb 16, 2012)

New test, new conclusion:

Last night I disconnected the ooma from the powerline hub where the broadband deca is also connected. I started recording a VOD and after about 30 minutes started watching the movie. Result: I made it through the entire movie with no freezing/skipping.

That sure makes it seem that the ooma was the problem all along. I'll test another VOD before I make this final judgment. 

I guess the work-around is rather low-tech. Whenever I want to record a VOD, disconnect the ooma. Shouldn't be a big deal since I probably won't watch a lot of VOD after my 3-month free premium channels expires in a couple of weeks.


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## bman3333 (Jun 9, 2010)

veryoldschool said:


> This had nothing to do with the "power" not going through the splitter.
> What this setup does [and mine is setup this way too] is to have some load between the PI and the receivers. This "load" can come from a long coax, or a splitter, as shown in the image the OP showed for his setup.
> The nature of the problem seems to be that the PI has a DC block on its output, which is a capacitor and the RF DECA signal can see this as a poor impedance match. Adding line length or the insertion loss of a splitter helps improve the impedance matching.


I understand my problem was not due to electrical interference. My issue must have been caused due to the installer placing the PI on the BB DECA coax. Although he had over 40 feet of line length AND used a two way splitter, it still caused the VOD freezing/skipping.

Glad you were able to help t mac diagnose and fix his issue!


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## T-Mac (Feb 16, 2012)

Additional testing leaves me more confused....but happy for now.

I disconnected the broadband deca (cck) from my powerline ethernet hub and unplugged its power adapter. So at this point, it's just a paper weight connected to a 2-way splitter from my power inserter. The other coax goes to my HR34.

I then connected the HR34 ethernet port to my powerline hub along side the ooma. I downloaded two VOD full-length movies and both played without any freezing issues at all. I even made a telephone call with the ooma while one of the movies was downloading.

I don't know what causes the freezing, but for now I'll stick with the setup above. Any thoughts on why this setup works?


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## grcooperjr (Mar 19, 2008)

T-Mac said:


> I don't know what causes the freezing, but for now I'll stick with the setup above. Any thoughts on why this setup works?


This is what I was told by a DTV engineer that I was working with on mine last month...

the Hr34 has a built in Deca for use with the RVU clients that other DVR's don't have and for some reason he could not explain if the external Deca or CCK is inline the two conflict at times during VOD downloads.

So the only fix for the pause/skip on VOD recordings is to take the Deca or CCK out of line. Mine has been out for awhile and It works fine here.

The only issues I have now is with Frontier droping their connection when they renew their DHCP lease. I'll lose internet during the renew process at times and of course it always happens during peak use.


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## jkm2730 (Aug 17, 2012)

grcooperjr,

I just started up Directv last week and have an HR34 and another HD receiver with whole house setup. I also use FIOS internet and noticed that you to have a setup similar to this. Since install I can NOT schedule recordings on my HR34 from directv.com, TV apps don't work on my HR34 (they do on my other receiver), my iPad app does NOT see the HR34 and can't control it and my iPad can NOT stream as it says "I'm not in the same WiFi network as my HD DVR"-obviously not the case. I can get VOD on the HR34 and TVApps work on my bedroom HD Reciever.

I have spent hours on the phone with directv case management trying to fix this and they don't have a clue. So I just wanted to know if you can do any of the things I have listed above, that I can't do. Not sure if this could be a FIOS router issue.


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## grcooperjr (Mar 19, 2008)

Hi jkm2730

I don't know what to tell ya... I have no issues going on line and scheduleing online. I don't do it oftem but it works fo me. I connected directly to the HR34 via cat5. 

I don't normally have my Decabb in line. I don't use an Ipad or the direct2pc app or any of the other apps. so I'll have to defer to someone that does.

My big issue is the VOD ramdomly pausing.. It reall sucks not being able to use VOD when you want it. At least we are not paying for it currently...


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