# Whole-home DVR over ethernet?



## SiliconTiger (Oct 20, 2009)

My current equipment: HR22-100, HR21-100, and HR24-200.

I have whole-home DVR service. None of the DVRs have Ethernet connected, just single coax (SWM dish), and a single DECA (first gen I believe) in the home run cabinet.

Everything works fine, but playing a recorded show from a remote DVR definitely has some lag. No loss of video or audio, but controlling it (play, fast forward, rewind) has noticeable lag. Perhaps this is just the way it is, or any suggestions on how to improve the lag/latency?

My more important question though is I am adding another TV in another room where I do not have a coax but I do have wired Ethernet (and wireless too). I’m getting a Samsung 7150 which seemingly has RVU capability. I would like to add the new TV to the whole-home DVR service, but without needing to pull coax into the room with the Samsung 7150.

I know I need to get the new Genie DVR, likely replace my HR21-100.

I can get Ethernet to all my DVRs, so ideally the simplest route is to enable whole-home DVR using Ethernet instead of the coax+DECA combination. Is it possible to do this? So that the Genie DVR, HR22-100, and HR24-200, and the new Samsung 7150 TV will all be on the whole-home DVR service all using wired Ethernet?

Thanks for advise and suggestions!


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## Supramom2000 (Jun 21, 2007)

You can use your new Genie as a "bridge" to all receivers for internet. I do it and it works very well. You just plug ethernet from your router directly into the Genie. The HR44 can also act as a wireless bridge, while the HR34 can not. I've also used the CCK (Cinema Connection Kit) as my internet connection.


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

You don't need to all ethernet in order to use your RVU TV over ethernet. The only hump you need to get over is getting DIRECTV® or its tech to use ethernet over coax. I would suggest you call DIRECTV® and order the Genie without meting the RVU TV. Once that is installed, call DIRECTV® and have them add the RVU TV to your account. You may need a DECA momentarily to be able to activate the RVU TV


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## SiliconTiger (Oct 20, 2009)

Supramom2000 said:


> You can use your new Genie as a "bridge" to all receivers for internet. I do it and it works very well. You just plug ethernet from your router directly into the Genie. The HR44 can also act as a wireless bridge, while the HR34 can not. I've also used the CCK (Cinema Connection Kit) as my internet connection.


In your setup, do you not use any DECAs at all - just ethernet connecting your Genie and the rest of your DVRs?

If so, did you have to use a DECA(s) initially to get your whole-home to setup properly, and then removed once it was setup?

Thanks!


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## Supramom2000 (Jun 21, 2007)

I have a DECA on my old R22. I think there are various names for the different internet connection kits, but I'm really not up on all that. 

When my system was originally set up, they installed a CCK as I did not have a DVR near my router. After I got a Genie, I found out about using it as the bridge and put the Genie near the router so I could do that. I don't think did anything special, jut undid the CCK and plugged ethernet into the Genie.
Hope that helps.


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

SiliconTiger said:


> In your setup, do you not use any DECAs at all - just ethernet connecting your Genie and the rest of your DVRs?
> 
> If so, did you have to use a DECA(s) initially to get your whole-home to setup properly, and then removed once it was setup?
> 
> Thanks!


You can run DIRECTV® Whole-Home on ethernet if you want, as long as you have capable receivers, H25 don't have ethernet ports, neither do minis. There is no need to "initialize" with DECA and then remove them, that would only apply to RVU TVs as there is a built in test that test the MoCA network's. This test will fail if TV is connected with ethernet directly to router


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## SiliconTiger (Oct 20, 2009)

peds48 said:


> You can run DIRECTV® Whole-Home on ethernet if you want, as long as you have capable receivers, H25 don't have ethernet ports, neither do minis. There is no need to "initialize" with DECA and then remove them, that would only apply to RVU TVs as there is a built in test that test the MoCA network's. This test will fail if TV is connected with ethernet directly to router


Ok. In my current configuration, none of my 3 current DVRs (HR22-100, HR21-100, and HR24-200) are connected to ethernet. My SWM dish is connected to a 8-way splitter, and 3 of the outputs of the splitter are each directly connected to each DVR. One of the other outputs of the splitter goes to a DECA (gen 1 I believe), and the DECA connects into my router via ethernet.

I'm thinking that I will replace my HR21-100 (oldest unit) with a new Genie DVR, and continue to have the Genie DVR just use coax for whole-home (and not ethernet). No change to the setup of the other DVRs or the SWM/8-way splitter setup.

Then if I understand correctly, if during the setup of my Samsung 7150 TV I just need to temporarily run coax from an output port of the 8-way splitter to the Samsung. The Samsung will also be connected via wired ethernet. Once whole-home is setup and the Samsung is working properly as a whole-home client, then I can remove the coax and whole-home should still "just work" on the Samsung via ethernet.

Will what I describe work? It seems the simplest way to install the new Samsung TV with minimal changes to my existing setup..

Thanks everyone for your help on this!


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

SiliconTiger said:


> .
> 
> Then if I understand correctly, if during the setup of my Samsung 7150 TV I just need to temporarily run coax from an output port of the 8-way splitter to the Samsung To a BroadBand DECA which connects to your RVU TV with ethernet.


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## SiliconTiger (Oct 20, 2009)

peds48 said:


> > .
> >
> > Then if I understand correctly, if during the setup of my Samsung 7150 TV I just need to temporarily run coax from an output port of the 8-way splitter to the Samsung To a BroadBand DECA which connects to your RVU TV with ethernet.


Ok, I understand. Is the "Broadband DECA" that I need something like this that I can get off Amazon, e.g. http://www.amazon.com/DIRECTV-Broadband-Ethernet-Adapter-Generation/dp/B00DVK1ITI

Also, just to confirm, once I add the Samsung TV as a whole-home client using coax+Broadband DECA+Ethernet, I can then remove the coax+Broadband DECA and just connect the Samsung TV via ethernet to my main router and everything will work?

Thanks!


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

SiliconTiger said:


> Ok, I understand. Is the "Broadband DECA" that I need something like this that I can get off Amazon, e.g. http://www.amazon.com/DIRECTV-Broadband-Ethernet-Adapter-Generation/dp/B00DVK1ITI


Yes, that is the correct device.


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

SiliconTiger said:


> Also, just to confirm, once I add the Samsung TV as a whole-home client using coax+Broadband DECA+Ethernet, I can then remove the coax+Broadband DECA and just connect the Samsung TV via ethernet to my main router and everything will work?
> 
> Thanks!


Correct, as far as "it should" work, on a properly set up network it should work. But "hack" networks seems to be the norm now. So, YMMV


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

Personally I doubt the lag you see is a result of using deca and that moving to Ethernet will make it go away on the system you have now... It's the HR21 and 22 that are just dog slow I'd bet.when you get the genie, I'd ask if you can also maybe get that HR22 replaced with a HR24 with the built in deca as well, that might help more than anything. Just a though..


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## lugnutathome (Apr 13, 2009)

Although I don't utilize "smart TVs" I do run several DirecTV clients wired and wireless on a Frankenstein network consisting of a DECA core and some switched Ethernet spines for my longer runs. I can discern no apparent difference between the networks which join via a CCK (broadband DECA) down in my systems "head end" as I refer to it.

I have also run these clients using switched Ethernet directly to a more compact broadband DECA adapter (or running the WVB off of switched Ethernet) as well as in the hybrid environment. End of the day it is Ethernet either way. Just in DECA (The "E" is Ethernet) the packets are sent in RF "channels" which require translation from one fabric to the other so in general there will be some "lag" in this transition if you have it compounded with some really long coax/Catx runs. My worst case is switched Ethernet both ways from a 145 foot run to a 191 foot run. A FF request has to travel out 336 line feet to the source server and its response back that same distance.

Conversely my longest crossover between fabrics is 276 feet one way and the fabric translations do seem to add a touch more time to things but only perhaps it is what you are expecting. In general a client streams a couple of seconds behind the HDMI (or other straight to TV) output by nature of how the Genie processes. If you have live TV running at one end of the room directly from the Genie and from one of its clients at the other end of the room running the same same programming they will be several seconds apart.

I find the HR24-500s I use are the best at the time rollback after an FF run however. Even the Genie itself doesn't do it as well as witnessed in my stretched infrastructure.

Also as was mentioned, the newer platforms do perform better than the old. I have a couple of HR22-100s that are PAINFUL to use other than as remote servers)

Don "interested in how you perceive your potential upgrade's effect on the lag" Bolton


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## SiliconTiger (Oct 20, 2009)

Here's an update on this. I was able to successfully add the Samsung TV as a whole-home Genie client (via its internal RVU) WITHOUT using a DECA adapter directly connecting the Samsung.

So here's a summary of my new equipment & configuration:
- HR24, HR44 Genie, and C41 Genie Client [I took out my old HR21 and HR22]
- Samsung 7150 also added as a Genie Client via its internal RVU
- HR24, HR44, and C41 are all connected with coax. None of directly connected with Ethernet.
- Single DECA (first gen I believe) in the home run cabinet. One of the other outputs of the 8-way splitter goes to a DECA, and the DECA connects into my router via ethernet.
- Samsung 7150 is only connected via ethernet, via two levels of ethernet switch/routers

I had expected I would first have to run a temporary coax from an unused output of the 8-way splitter to another (temporary) DECA and then plug that into the Samsung via Ethernet in order to get the initial MoCA test to pass, but I tried first with the above setup and it just worked (after of course calling DirecTV to add the Samsung as another Genie client).

As to the question of lag discussed above, I've found the HR44 Genie is MUCH better than the HR24. Now that the Samsung TV can stream recordings from either, it's easy to do an apples-to-apples comparison and the HR44 is much more responsive. Makes sense I guess given it has upgraded hardware, but for those wondering if the HR44 is better (i.e. faster response) at whole-home streaming compared to HR24 or earlier models, the answer is definitely yes!

Thanks everyone for your help & advice on this.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

SiliconTiger said:


> As to the question of lag discussed above, I've found the HR44 Genie is MUCH better than the HR24. Now that the Samsung TV can stream recordings from either, it's easy to do an apples-to-apples comparison and the HR44 is much more responsive. Makes sense I guess given it has upgraded hardware, but for those wondering if the HR44 is better (i.e. faster response) at whole-home streaming compared to HR24 or earlier models, the answer is definitely yes!
> 
> Thanks everyone for your help & advice on this.


This isn't quite apples to apples since the Samsung needs to always "talk" to the HR44, and can't "talk" to the HR24 directly.


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