# Networking Question for Genie HR44 Upgrade



## mfeinstein (Sep 1, 2007)

Because of the discontinuation of the GenieGo, I got the notice from DirecTV about needing to upgrade my DVRs. I have three DVRs (2 HR24s and 1 HR21) and one receiver (H24), all connected via wired Ethernet in my house. I have Whole Home DVR and watch shows in all locations from the three DVRs. And, through the GenieGo, I have downloaded programs or remotely watched programs from all three DVRs.

DirecTV made a pretty attractive offer to me to upgrade all the DVRs and the receiver to HR44s. Now I will have 4 DVRs and a lot more recording capacity. My question involves networking:

- Can I use my existing wired Ethernet connections to connect all four HR44s to my home network, giving them access to the Internet and to each other for Whole Home DVR?
- Do I need to worry about any other connections between these devices to make this work?

DirecTV seems to want to push wireless and other ways of connecting things together, but I want to keep things simple with my existing Ethernet wiring, which works great.

Any problems with what I want to do? Anything else I need to know? I looked around for other posts on this, and couldn't find exactly what I was looking for.

Edit: I have now read that you can't have more than one Genie on your network. My concern that the customer service person didn't know what she was talking about is confirmed! Or, she didn't explain it to me well. I asked if I would have DVRs at each location, and she said yes. So, I think I should just upgrade the one DVR to a Genie HR44 and leave the rest in place. This makes things more complicated as I would do all the recording on the Genie, I guess.

Please let me know if I have this right. And, can I assume that I can use Ethernet to connect the HR44 to the remaining DVRs and receiver.


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

mfeinstein said:


> Because of the discontinuation of the GenieGo, I got the notice from DirecTV about needing to upgrade my DVRs. I have three DVRs (2 HR24s and 1 HR21) and one receiver (H24), all connected via wired Ethernet in my house. I have Whole Home DVR and watch shows in all locations from the three DVRs. And, through the GenieGo, I have downloaded programs or remotely watched programs from all three DVRs.
> 
> DirecTV made a pretty attractive offer to me to upgrade all the DVRs and the receiver to HR44s. Now I will have 4 DVRs and a lot more recording capacity. My question involves networking:
> 
> ...


I'm guessing what the CSR was trying to say was she'd replace your system with a Genie system. That would've given you one main genie and three mini clients which would've given you full DVR capabilities at all four locations.

In your particular situation I would not do that either.

What I would do is I would replace the HR 21 and the h 25 with a Genie and a mini genie.

Right now you have seven tuners six of which can record 150 series links. What I'm suggesting would give you nine tuners all of which could record and 200 series links. It would also give you full DVR control at every location.

Id put the genie and the mini genie at the two most use locations and the HR 24s at the two least used locations. You'll have full control over the genie at both the genie and mini genie locations. You'll even see the same guide in terms of what programs are said to be recorded.

It also gets rid of that awful HR 21 you have. I'm sure you've noticed how slow it is compared to your HR 24s. And the HR 44 is much faster, frankly the mini client even does circles around an HR 21 in my experience. Heck it's faster than the last HR24 I had connected.

As for how you're wired, it's going to change completely. And it should.

First I'm 100% with you in agreement that wired is the best way to go over wireless. But what you have to understand is the genies and HR 24s can all communicate the Internet over the coax line. This keeps their communication off of your home network and generally avoid any chance of conflict from things on your network. While you may not have an issue now it's nice to have that separate for the future as well. So you only need to connect ethernet into the system in one place. Plus genies seem to work better when they're connected properly.

There's three ways to connect the system to the Internet, properly, one is to use the wireless connectivity inside the Genie which is the preferred method by DirecTV.

Two is to plug the ethernet cable into a broadband deca and it would be connected somewhere on the coax line in the system.

The third and technically unsupported way would be to plug in ethernet cable directly into the HR 44 genie only. You cannot Connect and ethernet cable to either HR 24 or the client.

Personally I'd let them connected wireless because that's what they will want to do and then after they leave reset the network settings and plug my ethernet cable directly into the HR 44 and call it a day. That's the way I've done mine and it works perfectly.


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## murf52 (Oct 9, 2015)

I have a related question. I have an HR34 and 3 minis. I got the free upgrade offer, but I'd like to replace one of the mini's with the HR44 and keep the HR34, so I don't have to watch everything I have recorded on my current DVR before upgrading. I don't care if I can't download content from it. Actually, I do, but I'll live with it.

Does anyone know if DTV will allow me to do this, or will they only swap out the HR34? I personally don't like the minis, because they are slow to respond, compared to the actual DVR.


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## mfeinstein (Sep 1, 2007)

Inkahauts, thanks so much for your complete answer! It makes sense to me, and I'll follow all of your recommendations, including the Ethernet connection.


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

murf52 said:


> I have a related question. I have an HR34 and 3 minis. I got the free upgrade offer, but I'd like to replace one of the mini's with the HR44 and keep the HR34, so I don't have to watch everything I have recorded on my current DVR before upgrading. I don't care if I can't download content from it. Actually, I do, but I'll live with it.
> 
> Does anyone know if DTV will allow me to do this, or will they only swap out the HR34? I personally don't like the minis, because they are slow to respond, compared to the actual DVR.


They won't let you have two genies active at once and you can't upgrade your genie unless you are after an hr54 and 4K viewing. And the client slowness is because you have an HR34. They are much much faster on a hr44/55. It's scary how different really.. newer clients might also be a little faster but really it's the HR34 holding you back.

I'd attempt to get them to send you an hr44 but I doubt they will do it. But if they did if you disconnect the HR34 from the coax and Ethernet before you call and ask them to do the swap you should be able to watch the recordings after it's been deactivated for a few days before you have to send it back... no guarantees though. I'd try and watch it down and maybe even put some things on a Netflix que first just in case. But also realize some things may be available via on demand for a while too...
Good luck!


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## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

inkahauts said:


> I'd attempt to get them to send you an hr44 but I doubt they will do it.


The MobileDVR doesn't work with the 34s. So it makes sense to offer an upgrade of the 34 to a 44.


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

trh said:


> The MobileDVR doesn't work with the 34s. So it makes sense to offer an upgrade of the 34 to a 44.


Hhhmmm. Good point. I guess that will be reason for it to now be considered an upgrade. Once we see that working regularly I'd suggest every person with a HR34 ask for that upgrade even if they don't care about mobile DVR.


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## murf52 (Oct 9, 2015)

inkahauts said:


> Hhhmmm. Good point. I guess that will be reason for it to now be considered an upgrade. Once we see that working regularly I'd suggest every person with a HR34 ask for that upgrade even if they don't care about mobile DVR.


Yah, they offered me a free upgrade because of my HR34 and my old gen 1 GenieGo. This was in the email I got today saying support for GG was being dropped. Thanks for explaining things.

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## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

I'm wondering if this 'upgrade' offer people are getting is only going to GenieGo owners with HR34s? 
(EDIT: This poster has an HR44 & GenieGo and he received the upgrade email: http://www.dbstalk.com/topic/223009-genie-go-upgrade/?p=3440454 )

Of course in another thread, someone who received this email offer called DIRECTV about the offer and couldn't find anyone who knew about it. http://www.dbstalk.com/topic/221948-mobile-dvr/?p=3440669


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## poppo (Oct 10, 2006)

inkahauts said:


> The third and technically unsupported way would be to plug in ethernet cable directly into the HR 44 genie only. *You cannot Connect and ethernet cable to either HR 24 or the client.*


Can you elaborate on the second part? Due to the way I already have wiring in my house, I have my HR54 and HR20s all connected via Ethernet to a dedicated Ethernet switch which then connects to my router. So just like DECA, all DVR network traffic between DVRs stays on the dedicated switch side of things. This has worked just fine. Just not understanding the why you say you can not connect an Ethernet cable to a HR24.


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

poppo said:


> Can you elaborate on the second part? Due to the way I already have wiring in my house, I have my HR54 and HR20s all connected via Ethernet to a dedicated Ethernet switch which then connects to my router. So just like DECA, all DVR network traffic between DVRs stays on the dedicated switch side of things. This has worked just fine. Just not understanding the why you say you can not connect an Ethernet cable to a HR24.


When you do that you disconnect t the internal deca. While it's possible as you know it's not recommended and frankly doesn't allow you access to some of the tools. And I see no reason for anyone to run a hybrid system which is what you'd have to do if you had a client where some where on deca and some where not.

Add to that you should have bsf on your HR20 or you could be hurting the tuners in it by letting the deca signal hit it Since it's at a higher voltage it could cause you issues in time. Decas have bsf built into them so when connecting a deca to an HR20 you are protecting it.

It's a lot more work to do it that hard way with Ethernet in a system with several different generations of equipment and to pinpoint what may be causing an issue at some point down the road...


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## poppo (Oct 10, 2006)

inkahauts said:


> When you do that you disconnect t the internal deca. While it's possible as you know it's not recommended and frankly doesn't allow you access to some of the tools. And I see no reason for anyone to run a hybrid system which is what you'd have to do if you had a client where some where on deca and some where not.
> 
> Add to that you should have bsf on your HR20 or you could be hurting the tuners in it by letting the deca signal hit it Since it's at a higher voltage it could cause you issues in time. Decas have bsf built into them so when connecting a deca to an HR20 you are protecting it.
> 
> It's a lot more work to do it that hard way with Ethernet in a system with several different generations of equipment and to pinpoint what may be causing an issue at some point down the road...


Well, I have been running it this way for at least 5 years (or whenever they first turned on SWiM for the HR20s) . First I have ever heard of tuners being hurt. And access to what tools?

I don't really see it as being the "hard way". It's just as simple as using DECA if you already have Ethernet available right there. Seems that if they didn't want you to use a direct Ethernet connection, they would not have put the jack on the HR54.

Note: I have no Genie clients. Just the HR54 and HR20s

But my question was mainly why you said you could use Ethernet directly on the HR44, but not on the HR24. Seems like that would not work unless you did connect Ethernet to the HR24. How could the HR44 communicate with the HR24 if the HR44 internal DECA is disabled?


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

poppo said:


> Well, I have been running it this way for at least 5 years (or whenever they first turned on SWiM for the HR20s) . First I have ever heard of tuners being hurt. And access to what tools?
> 
> I don't really see it as being the "hard way". It's just as simple as using DECA if you already have Ethernet available right there. Seems that if they didn't want you to use a direct Ethernet connection, they would not have put the jack on the HR54.
> 
> ...


99.99% of people aren't going to run two separate networks and would wire their DVRs into their regular router. We've seen that cause issues that are hard to figure out...

As for the Ethernet on the DVRs... genies have a built in deca bridge so if you plug Ethernet into it it will supply the internet over the coax network. No other receiver has that ability. All the hr24s are Ethernet or deca not both, they can bridge it internally.

I've always thought that was done in part because of clients...

And with deca there are test screens you can get to so you can check the speed and bandwidth loss etc between all deca capable equipment. Gives you an easy way to see where you have higher and lower losses in cable runs etc...

The knowledge of bsf have been around since day one. They also said out one of those on your SD swim receivers is all. They never felt they needed to say that for the hr20s etc since they are supposed to have a deca on then and decas have bsf built into the line that goes out of them into the receiver. This problem only exists if you have something shooting deca to receivers that aren't equipped to handle deca, so any system with a genie and any HR23 and earlier receiver would have this possible issue.


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## poppo (Oct 10, 2006)

inkahauts said:


> 99.99% of people aren't going to run two separate networks and would wire their DVRs into their regular router. We've seen that cause issues that are hard to figure out...


Two separate networks? I only have one LAN. The DVRs are simply plugged into a dedicated switch, and that switch then connects to the router. This was pretty much the standard setup people used when we first got "MRV". Using a dedicated switch keeps all non-Internet traffic between the DVRs. That's Networking 101.

Anyway, I am not here to argue how anyone should network things, simply stating that this setup has worked since day one. And my question was just about the "unsupported" option that you gave that did not seem to make any sense.


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

poppo said:


> Two separate networks? I only have one LAN. The DVRs are simply plugged into a dedicated switch, and that switch then connects to the router. This was pretty much the standard setup people used when we first got "MRV". Using a dedicated switch keeps all non-Internet traffic between the DVRs. That's Networking 101.
> 
> Anyway, I am not here to argue how anyone should network things, simply stating that this setup has worked since day one. And my question was just about the "unsupported" option that you gave that did not seem to make any sense.


My point is that 99% of people don't know networking 101 although almost everyone here does... .

Did I make sense this time about the genie vs other receivers when it comes To Ethernet and deca though? And if I where you I'd install bsf personally.


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## poppo (Oct 10, 2006)

inkahauts said:


> And if I where you I'd install bsf personally.


I have to say, I have had these HR20s since they first came out and never even heard of the bsf. But when I look it up, it says:



> The band stop filter has one purpose in life: it blocks the frequencies used by DIRECTV Connected Home and lets other frequencies through. Connected Home is DIRECTV's term for everything having to do with sharing programming, video on demand, and internet services like Apps, Youtube and Pandora. *A properly placed band stop filter is essential for making sure that these services work properly in a multi-dwelling unit (MDU) environment.*


Since I am not using DECA for the networking and am not in a MDU, I don't see how it would do anything, especially since everything works perfectly. :shrug:


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

poppo said:


> I have to say, I have had these HR20s since they first came out and never even heard of the bsf. But when I look it up, it says:
> 
> Since I am not using DECA for the networking and am not in a MDU, I don't see how it would do anything, especially since everything works perfectly. :shrug:


I know you don't think you're using deca. The problem is you are. If ethernet is connected to your genie and the Genie is out putting the deca signal throughout the coax. You cannot turn off of the Decca connection on a Genie. It's always on. Its always broadcasting. Again that's not the same as an HR 24 or any other receiver. Those it's one or the other. But if ethernet is connected or Wi-Fi is connected to your Genie then that Genie is sending the Internet signal via deca through the coax. If you have an HR24 in the system unplug it's Ethernet connection, reset network defaults and reboot it and you will be connected to the internet with it without touching the genie or anything else. It's always there.

Also understand that of course you would've never seen anything about having a BSF connected to your system for the way you have it set up. The reason for that is DirecTV will never send out any information on how to hook up your system the way you did. It was talked about a lot here though. The only thing they ever sent out was using bsf connectors on any swim capable hardware that wasn't also mrv capable. The only way they have ever supported a connecting to a MRV system in your home is through Decca. That would require deca units on your receivers which have a BSF built-in. No need to mention to the masses because frankly it's extra information that could only confuse people when it's hooked up properly.


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

Why waste all those Ethernet ports on your LAN when you can get away with just using one, specially if you had 24 series where they don't need an external DECA. 


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## poppo (Oct 10, 2006)

peds48 said:


> Why waste all those Ethernet ports on your LAN when you can get away with just using one, specially if you had 24 series where they don't need an external DECA.


Because in my situation it is not wasting anything. You still need at least one connection top your router and I have that from the dedicated switch. Keep in mind this was set up when MRV was first being tested and was the only way to really do it. so in my care I already have Ethernet ports going to all of the DVRs. So for me it was just as easy to plug in the existing cable to the DVR than stick a DECA in there (and plug it into the DVR)


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## poppo (Oct 10, 2006)

inkahauts said:


> I know you don't think you're using deca. The problem is you are. If ethernet is connected to your genie and the Genie is out putting the deca signal throughout the coax. You cannot turn off of the Decca connection on a Genie. It's always on. Its always broadcasting..


Are you sure about that? If I go to system Info - more. Under network, it says Ethernet - Connected, MoCA Network - Coax not connected, which seems to imply it is turned off since the Ethernet is plugged in. Again, why put an Ethernet port on there at all if it's always using the internal DECA?

In any case if my HR20s ever go bad, they are overdue for an upgrade anyway since I have the protection plan.

BTW, the installer did not even question my setup (and knew how it was connected).


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

poppo said:


> Are you sure about that? If I go to system Info - more. Under network, it says Ethernet - Connected, MoCA Network - Coax not connected, which seems to imply it is turned off since the Ethernet is plugged in. Again, why put an Ethernet port on there at all if it's always using the internal DECA?
> 
> In any case if my HR20s ever go bad, they are overdue for an upgrade anyway since I have the protection plan.
> 
> BTW, the installer did not even question my setup (and knew how it was connected).


Yes I am sure. It's saying that because it can find any other deca devices, not because it's not working... Again only genies do this... The HR24 and h25 do not.

As for why there is an Ethernet connection in any of these... If they are the only unit in the entire system then that's all you would need to connect it to the Internet. Just makes sense.

Also, the genie is designed to be the gateway for Internet into the Whole Home Service system. They recommend using the genie built in wifi on the two latest version to always connect the Internet. (I disagree wit going wireless over wired as I'm sure you do as well) I think they tell installers not to use the Ethernet because they don't want their techs touching people's routers or running Ethernet cables etc more than anything else. And also realize the normal setup for a four room system is one genie and three minis. Plug in that one Ethernet cord and walk away... There's lots of reasons. You seem to be missing the point that in theory and based on acceptable install instructions you'd never have hr20s (or any other deceive really) in this system without decas on them so they can utilize the deca signal. Your setup is not normal at all.

And I would imagine when a tech sees your system and your say it's working, they figure don't mess with it. And I doubt very few ever recall anything about bsfs since all the equipment that requires them has been discontinued and not really installed in over a year now, and it was all the SD stuff not hd. One thing we know, DIRECTV trains on how to connect stuff, not the reasons you need to connect things a certain way, and as I said before, they where never trained about using bsf on HR20 (actually, on the HR20-100 they where) because you'd never need them with a deca attached.

If you are happy with your hr20s speed and heat and electric pull etc, then I see no reason to swap them till they die either, or the next generation of hardware comes out and has something great that makes it reasonable to upgrade.

By the way, you only need one bsf to protect your hr20s. Just put it in the proper direction as far from the genie as possible but still on its own individual line before it gets split to other receivers...


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## poppo (Oct 10, 2006)

inkahauts said:


> As for why there is an Ethernet connection in any of these... If they are the only unit in the entire system then that's all you would need to connect it to the Internet. Just makes sense.


Still, it seems that if they are trying to make these units idiot proof, they would just remove the Ethernet connector and use the coax adapter That way every install is the same whether they only have one unit or many. As for "just making sense", that is how I feel about utilizing the Ethernet ports they put on all of the units. :grin:


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

I'd say it doesn't myself for my system and I'm sure many others too. I wouldn't want to waste my Ethernet connection to my tvs and other devices for the deca system when you can use the deca cloud to take care of all the DIRECTV stuff and have it isolated. That's if you have tvs and other devices like blu ray players that you want connected to the internet. 

I think one reason is also when stuff was made and how it was planned to be implemented ted in the field. 

It really boils down to Ethernet ports on boxes if it's the only box in the system. Deca if it isn't. At least for installers and approved configuration. Very few bother doing what you are today. One reason I wouldn't do it your way today is you gain nothing but more wires your way. I prefer the least amount of wires possible. I think I'm down to a few hundred. :lol:


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

One other thing to consider. DirecTV hasn't made a box in several years now with an ethernet port on it except for one and that's the main genie The H 25 did not have an ethernet port the genie light does not have Ethernet ports no clients have Ethernet ports. The other hardware was designed years ago before any of the stuff was as prevalent as it is today. They only made one generation of DVR's that had ethernet ports as well as deca built into them. Anytime you're gonna bridge and change technologies that much you of course are going to have both technologies available on at least one generation of units. 

Kind of like how long until the H25 you could use swim or non-swim to drive your system. Today you have to have swim for the newer equipment. Doesn't mean you should still hook up your old equipment the old way. Also doesn't mean the old way doesn't still work for the old equipment. It all just kind of is.


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## poppo (Oct 10, 2006)

inkahauts said:


> Very few bother doing what you are today. One reason I wouldn't do it your way today is you gain nothing but more wires your way. I prefer the least amount of wires possible. I think I'm down to a few hundred. :lol:


Again, keep in mind that this more or less was the "official" way to do it when we were first testing MRV as many of us did not have SwiM systems yet. As for cables, maybe I am just old fashioned (as well as old) and prefer not to have all of my eggs in one basket. Same reason I would never want a total server-client setup, and will always have multiple DVRs as long as I can. Heck even the "official" way is to use the HR54's internal PI too. However reboot your HR54 (or if it dies) and all of your other DVRs and stand alone receivers become bricks until it's done rebooting. So I use the stand alone PI (yes it is connected correctly) and solved that problem.


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

poppo said:


> Again, keep in mind that this more or less was the "official" way to do it when we were first testing MRV .


you can't call it official if is BETA. Anything after beta becomes "official"

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## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

peds48 said:


> you can't call it official if is BETA. Anything after beta becomes "official"
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


hence the reason he put quotation marks around the word official.


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

poppo said:


> Again, keep in mind that this more or less was the "official" way to do it when we were first testing MRV as many of us did not have SwiM systems yet. As for cables, maybe I am just old fashioned (as well as old) and prefer not to have all of my eggs in one basket. Same reason I would never want a total server-client setup, and will always have multiple DVRs as long as I can. Heck even the "official" way is to use the HR54's internal PI too. However reboot your HR54 (or if it dies) and all of your other DVRs and stand alone receivers become bricks until it's done rebooting. So I use the stand alone PI (yes it is connected correctly) and solved that problem.


It was never official in any way. When DIRECTV began offering Whole Home Service as a service it was swim and deca only. Testing was done with Ethernet in the cutting edge sure but the product was never released that way. And Cutting edge stuff was as open as you can have for a "closed beta program" if there ever was such a thing.

Interesting point in the eggs in one basket, but there's some great differences. Example... power supply in the genie. I agree I don't do that either. Because I have more than one box. If I only had the one genie and nothing else (or only clients) I would use it. It wouldn't matter at that point.

Deca however is on the same coax as your satellite signal. So if there's a problem with your coax nothings going to work anyway. Having the ethernet connected isn't going to solve the problem of not being able to get a satellite signal. However if you look at it the other way, if your Internet ever has a problem you won't have MRV but your coax might actually still be working if you have satellite. I think you actually create more variables to go wrong using your home network for MRV rather than the coax. You are introducing more points of failure not less. Total opposite of using the power supply internal or External when you have more than one receiver (non clients)

The multiple DVR thing is needed today for me but if they ever release an item like the hoppper 3 I'd have no problem moving to a single server and clients as long as it has the hard drive space and series links numbers I'd need. I can't think of a single show that can't be had some other way with ease if a DVR died. Besides unless you double record everything you have you aren't protected from losing programs, only how many.

The only reason I am not all streaming and maybe ota anyway is because of sports. So I can't lose hardly anything if a DVR dies and doesn't record something. And heck almost every game I watch is repeated somewhere for several days after it takes place too!


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

trh said:


> hence the reason he put quotation marks around the word official.


Eh I don't even think I'd call it beta. It wasn't a public beta. It was something that if you where on a particular forum you could find out about but DIRECTV never told any customers about it publicly.


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## poppo (Oct 10, 2006)

inkahauts said:


> I can't think of a single show that can't be had some other way with ease if a DVR died. Besides unless you double record everything you have you aren't protected from losing programs, only how many.


Unless you are on a slow or capped ISP as many of us who live rural are.

Yes, you are correct about the double recording but my wife has her shows and I have mine. Much easier to have them on separate DVRs (and just turn off sharing on those) than to have one all cluttered up with each other's stuff. But there are some shows that we both record.

Not to get too off topic, but it would not be so bad to have a single server IF DirecTV made it easy to back up your Series Manager. In this age of cloud based everything, how hard could that be? The biggest PITA with a replacement DVR is having to re-enter all of them, especially if the show is not airing. I still have a list of about 20 shows to add to my new HR54, but I can't until they come back on.


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

Yeah I've been asking for profiles basically for ages. Replay allowed you to create folders for people etc and it was so simple and so efficient!

As for the second part... series links is a big one and I really hope it's coming. Second I think they need to allow backup via a USB drive of actual recordings. But till they tie recordings to accounts that won't happen.


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## mfeinstein (Sep 1, 2007)

Thought I would report on the end of the story:
I followed the recommendation of inkahauts and swapped my oldest DVR for a Genie HR44 and my receiver for a Genie Mini. Everything worked as described. My only issue has been getting my devices registered with the Mobile DVR service. Some of them recognized the new Genie and just switched over. Some of them can no longer login to DirecTV in order to activate the Mobile DVR feature. DirecTV support has acknowledged that login problem (I've seen that one before, and it seems like it's back).

Thanks again for the help!


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## poppo (Oct 10, 2006)

inkahauts said:


> Deca however is on the same coax as your satellite signal. So if there's a problem with your coax nothings going to work anyway. Having the ethernet connected isn't going to solve the problem of not being able to get a satellite signal. However if you look at it the other way,* if your Internet ever has a problem you won't have MRV* but your coax might actually still be working if you have satellite. can't be had some other way with ease if a DVR died.


I missed this part the last time and disagree. Whether the Internet works or not has nothing to do with MRV working. I can pull the cable from my dedicated switch that goes to the router and MRV will keep working just fine. And IMO it's a lot easier to troubleshoot, as a simple look at the switch will often tell you what DVR (or any wired device for that matter) has the problem. Can't see that information easily on a coax cable. And if the coax does go bad, MRV will still work just fine too if using Ethernet.

And yes I realize that maybe most people these days may not have Ethernet run everywhere, but when I built my house, I wired it for everything. As such, I use it whenever I can. Wireless is ok (when it works), but nothing beats a hard wired setup IMO.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

poppo said:


> I missed this part the last time and disagree. ...... Can't see that information easily on a coax cable.


If you look at the coax menu both you and a CSR can find out how the coax network is functioning, if there is a problem and what device has it.

DECA/coax networking was designed for MRV. Ethernet wasn't. [this is close to an 8 year old argument].


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