# managing modems?



## greg.y (Nov 5, 2008)

Does anyone know who DIRECTV uses to manage their modem pools?

The ReplayTV sets have a phone jack and an LAN connection, so there must be some sort of modem pool to handle all the incoming phone/data calls when they update their listings.

I'm trying to find out vendors that manage modems for a completely different project, but there's not much info on the web. I figured that a company that already has to manage lots of incoming data calls might have some information about vendors, and maybe even a recommendation.

Thanks,

Greg


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## rudeney (May 28, 2007)

Keep in mind that D* does not update guide data via modem like Replay and stand-alone TiVo DVR's do. D* only uses the modem to upload information from the receiver like PPV's purchased via the remote. Other than VOD (which is via Internet connection), D* uses the satellite signal for all data incoming to the receiver. But to your question, I have no clue who they use for handling the incoming modem calls. This post lists some phone numbers the modems dial, so it might be a start:

http://www.dbstalk.com/showpost.php?p=1869666&postcount=1


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## Getteau (Dec 20, 2007)

greg.y said:


> Does anyone know who DIRECTV uses to manage their modem pools?
> 
> The ReplayTV sets have a phone jack and an LAN connection, so there must be some sort of modem pool to handle all the incoming phone/data calls when they update their listings.
> 
> ...


I can't help out much with a modem pool, but I did a couple of fax projects at my previous company and I used the T1 cards from Brooktrout and the Genifax product from OmTool. We basically had 2 - T1 cards in an HP DL380 G3 that connected directly into T1 cards in the phone switch (the old days where you had banks of modems is long gone). My math is probably rusty, but IIRC each T1 gave me 24 - 14.4 ports. So in this server, I had 48 fax ports. I won't name the company, but if you've received a faxed copy of your e-ticket or boarding pass from an airline based in Houston, you got it from that server.


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## terron (Oct 11, 2008)

check out Multitech, Bay Networks (Nortel) and whomever owns Lucent


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

terron said:


> and whomever owns Lucent


Avaya?


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## terron (Oct 11, 2008)

carl6 said:


> Avaya?


ya, couldn't remember who bought them out.. I would have said Ascend, but I remembered Lucent bought them out


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## ThomasM (Jul 20, 2007)

greg.y said:


> Does anyone know who DIRECTV uses to manage their modem pools?
> 
> Greg


Not sure who manages their modem pools, but often you can find out by seeing who the customer is to a particular toll-free number. Here are the numbers the DirecTV receivers dial out to:

800-713-9276 <-- Providing viewing habits
866-685-8469 <-- ?
866-709-2073 <-- Monthly dialin to verify receiver is on premise
888-777-9737 <-- ? (first spotted being used 6/08)
800-531-5602 <-- Used by HR2x/R22 when running modem test

Good luck!


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## greg.y (Nov 5, 2008)

Wow. Thanks for all the great info.


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## CATCRAW (Mar 27, 2008)

My HR44 just started making outgoing calls this week to the numbers listed above. Is it common for it to be making outgoing calls 15 - 20 times a day? I only discovered it as it happened while I was on the phone line and I heard the dialing and started checking.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

Big Brother watching you, you habits.


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## CATCRAW (Mar 27, 2008)

Thanks!!


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