# Loss of Whole-Home capability solved - but not by DTV



## jventre (Apr 29, 2004)

Until this past weekend I was able to connect my 2 HR21 receivers to the internet and share recorded programs via Whole-Home using my Powerline adapters to connect the receivers to my router and the internet. All of a sudden over the weekend the Whole-Home capability went away. While still connected to the router the Whole-Home status said it could not find any connected DVRs. I confirmed that both receivers still accessed the internet with no problem. DTV tech support told me I needed to install a deca on each receiver to get Whole-Home to work but unless I got used their professional installation I would lose the internet. They also had no real reason why it worked a few days ago. They felt it should not have worked for months. Since I use whole-home more than the internet on the DVRs I had them ship me the decas. They arrived today and I installed them with no problem, however, as I was told, I lost the internet connections on both DVRs. I was about to call DTV again to order the professional installation they mentioned but decided to plug the Powerline adapters back into the DVRs using the second ethernet connector on the back of the HR21 boxes. Lo and behold I now have both Whole-Home and Internet connections working with no problem. Why couldn't DTV tech support tell me this would work?


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## hilmar2k (Mar 18, 2007)

That's an unsupported connection method and therefore will not be suggested by DIRECTV.

This is all you need to connect it properly:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Broadband-Deca-...985?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19c564ec11


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## armchair (Jul 27, 2009)

With Whole Home via DECA, the DVR's Internet connection needs to be bridged with another DECA configured as the Cinema Connection Kit (aka Internet Connection Kit as suggested in the above link).

By reconnecting the ETHERNET cables, you've bypassed the DECA connection and your MRV is again back to ETHERNET/powerline adapters.

Problem not solved.


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## jventre (Apr 29, 2004)

I disagree that my problem is not solved. Under my old configuration viewing programs from one DVR on the other were choppy due to network speed. Under the new configuration playing programs is very smooth AND I have internet connection as well which I did not have with just the decas.


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## hilmar2k (Mar 18, 2007)

jventre said:


> I disagree that my problem is not solved. Under my old configuration viewing programs from one DVR on the other were choppy due to network speed. Under the new configuration playing programs is very smooth AND I have internet connection as well which I did not have with just the decas.


What you're doing will work, but is unsupported. The HR2x's were not meant to have both ethernet ports used simultaneously. I would recommend buying what I linked to in my earlier post and being connected properly.


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

armchair said:


> With Whole Home via DECA, the DVR's Internet connection needs to be bridged with another DECA configured as the Cinema Connection Kit (aka Internet Connection Kit as suggested in the above link).
> 
> By reconnecting the ETHERNET cables, you've bypassed the DECA connection and your MRV is again back to ETHERNET/powerline adapters.
> 
> Problem not solved.





jventre said:


> I disagree that my problem is not solved. Under my old configuration viewing programs from one DVR on the other were choppy due to network speed. Under the new configuration playing programs is very smooth AND I have internet connection as well which I did not have with just the decas.


You're both wrong. 

Since the OP is using DECAs on his receivers, the receivers themselves don't know the difference between ethernet and DECA (as an ethernet cable is plugged into them).

And while you do have an Internet connection by using the second ethernet port on the receiver, you could be causing yourself other issues. The HD-DVRs do not have an actual switch inside them to manage the traffic going between the two ethernet ports. Thus, the CPU itself has to give up processing power in order to manage the network there. This can cause poor performance using the receiver and also has been shown to cause receiver issues.

As for connecting an ethernet cable to each receiver, in this case you don't want to do that. Connecting an ethernet cable to just one receiver will bridge all your receivers to your home network, although once again, I'd advise doing that due to the reasons I posted above.

The best way to get Internet to your DECA Cloud is to use a Cinema Connection Kit like hilmar2k pointed out.

- Merg


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

The Merg said:


> You're both wrong.


Hey, I bet I can kludge mine together more than you can. !rolling


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## armchair (Jul 27, 2009)

The Merg said:


> You're both wrong.
> 
> Since the OP is using DECAs on his receivers, the receivers themselves don't know the difference between ethernet and DECA (as an ethernet cable is plugged into them).
> 
> ...


My mistake; my apologies to the OP. 

I was actually thinking about Hx24s having the internal DECA bypassed by connecting to the ETHERNET. The others are different.


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## Vin (Mar 29, 2004)

jventre said:


> I disagree that my problem is not solved. Under my old configuration viewing programs from one DVR on the other were choppy due to network speed. Under the new configuration playing programs is very smooth AND I have internet connection as well which I did not have with just the decas.


If you decide to heed the advice of the others regarding the use of a BB DECA for your internet connection rather than utilizing what 'appears to be' a built in switch in the HD DVRs, you'd still be able to use a powerline adapter to make that connection back to your router. This will have no impact on the improved WHDVR viewing of programs you're experiencing since installing the DECAs.


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