Want premium HD, what service for R5000?

[autoboy]

Hi everyone,

I want to get premium HD channels using the R5000 and I want to know which service will be best for me.

Currently I am running Comcast in Los Altos CA. (SF bay area) I have 2 PVR150s for SD and a HDhomerun that only gets local QAM HD channels free and clear (some SD digital but none are worth watching). I really want as much HD content as I can get because all my TVs are huge HD displays with 5.1 surround.

Should I go:
Dish: Seems to have the most content right now. Should I worry about h264 in Sage?

DirectTV: There are a lot of boxes that can take the r5000. Are there any h264 boxes yet? I couldn't find good info on this

Comcast Cable: If I did this all I would really get is HD Discovery, ESPN and some movies channels that I may or may not subscribe to. This looks like the easiest way and I would be willing to go this route as long as they are going to offer more HD channels. It seems Comcast is too focused on PPV and ONDemand.

Programs I watch are on:
Networks
History Channel
Discovery Channel
National Geograhic (would love to get this but is not offered by comcast)
Food Network
HGTV
ESPN
MTV
PBS

I would watch movies on TV but in SD it looks like crap so I don't bother.

Thanks for your input.

[Fluffdaddy]

Ok I start off. Been using a Dish 211/w R5000 for 3 months. So I'm new at this.

If any bad info please correct me.................Ok guys

Pros:
1) Comcast would be great, No MPEG-4 (H.264) worries

2) Dishnet tons of HD programming and MPEG-4 (H.264) irds are compatible.
Dish 411/ViP 211 series of receivers and ViP 622 DVR are compatible with R5000-HD

3) DirecTV: Lots of IRD MPEG-2 ird Compatibility with R5000

Cons:
1) Do your comcast system offer stb's that R5000 can mod?
http://www.nextcomwireless.com/R5000/cableinfo.htm

2)Dishnet: Big MPEG-4 (H.264) worries. Still a work in progress getting good playback in Sage. But it is being done by some here and the avs forums.......................... Just not by me just yet.

3)DirecTV:No R5000 Compatibility with Directv MPEG-4 (H.264) irds just yet


Comcast in my area does have Non-Firewire port STB I seen them at friends homes. But when I asked them about getting one if I signed up as a new customer they give me the "hairy eyeball" like I was try to pull something illegal.................When I ask about buying my own DTC2000 and having them activate it I was told out right....................NOPE, NO, NO WAY AND NO HOW
so comcast was out


DirecTV and me don't get along from way back, so never consider them

So that left Dishnet for me. Plus I really love the Voom channels

[mikesm]

Originally Posted by autoboy

Hi everyone,

I want to get premium HD channels using the R5000 and I want to know which service will be best for me.

Currently I am running Comcast in Los Altos CA. (SF bay area) I have 2 PVR150s for SD and a HDhomerun that only gets local QAM HD channels free and clear (some SD digital but none are worth watching). I really want as much HD content as I can get because all my TVs are huge HD displays with 5.1 surround.

Should I go:
Dish: Seems to have the most content right now. Should I worry about h264 in Sage?

DirectTV: There are a lot of boxes that can take the r5000. Are there any h264 boxes yet? I couldn't find good info on this

Comcast Cable: If I did this all I would really get is HD Discovery, ESPN and some movies channels that I may or may not subscribe to. This looks like the easiest way and I would be willing to go this route as long as they are going to offer more HD channels. It seems Comcast is too focused on PPV and ONDemand.

Programs I watch are on:
Networks
History Channel
Discovery Channel
National Geograhic (would love to get this but is not offered by comcast)
Food Network
HGTV
ESPN
MTV
PBS

I would watch movies on TV but in SD it looks like crap so I don't bother.

Thanks for your input.

Go Comcast. Get a DCP501, and get them to provision it. they know how to do it in the SF bay area. Get it modded with an R5000-HD and your in business. Or get a comcast DCT and get it modded.

thanks,
mike

[autoboy]

Yeah, I considered the DCP501 but there really aren't many HD channels on Comcast. I would really prefer to get DirectTV and get the 150 new HD channels they are releasing. HD History channel = awesome. Comcast says they are releasing 600 new HD "channels" All I have heard is that those channels are just shows on On Demand and Comcast is just faking everyone stupid enough to believe them.

[jvalj]

Another R5000 option to consider is StarChoice, which I am on the verge of getting. Many people in California have dishes from the Canadian service which has 20 HD channels including US networks. Check satellite Guys for more info.

[mikesm]

Originally Posted by autoboy

Yeah, I considered the DCP501 but there really aren't many HD channels on Comcast. I would really prefer to get DirectTV and get the 150 new HD channels they are releasing. HD History channel = awesome. Comcast says they are releasing 600 new HD "channels" All I have heard is that those channels are just shows on On Demand and Comcast is just faking everyone stupid enough to believe them.

Well, your system (Los Altos) is an older 550Mhz system that is finally being upgraded now. So by the end of the year or so, you should see a lot of improvement.

R5000 MPEG4 is still dicey under Sage, and so the cable MPEG2 R5000-HD has the most troublefree operation in Sage.

Thanks,
Mike

[autoboy]

Mike,

You seem to be an authority on this so I will trust you. I also hate DirectTV because I had my parents on it and everytime they came to upgrade their dish they didn't put the right order in. They had the parts, but didn't allow their techs to change the order on site. They came 3 times and I took off work to help 3 times before I got so frustrated that I just gave up. Comcast came and also got the order wrong, but the guy changed it onsite and was done in less than an hour after hooking up 5 TVs.

One more question before I buy the DCP501, what is a comcast DCT? There seems to be lots of versions of it. And how do I get one to own?

[mikesm]

Originally Posted by autoboy

Mike,

You seem to be an authority on this so I will trust you. I also hate DirectTV because I had my parents on it and everytime they came to upgrade their dish they didn't put the right order in. They had the parts, but didn't allow their techs to change the order on site. They came 3 times and I took off work to help 3 times before I got so frustrated that I just gave up. Comcast came and also got the order wrong, but the guy changed it onsite and was done in less than an hour after hooking up 5 TVs.

One more question before I buy the DCP501, what is a comcast DCT? There seems to be lots of versions of it. And how do I get one to own?

Ok, turns out I was a little confused. It's Los Gatos that is being rebuilt. Los Altos should be the normal 750 lineup. You should check out this thread for comments on HD service in the SF Bay Area on comcast: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...&page=61&pp=30

It's a long thread, but you might want to post there about people's thoughts on comcast HD and new channels coming. There are supposed to be 3-5 new HD channels coming the the SFBA this summer, in addition to the set added in May.

There are two ways to get an R5000-HD added to a cable system. Get your box and have them provision it. Then get an R5000-HD installed in it. Or, get a already provisioned box from comcast, lease it and get it modded anyway.

I have done the first, and mkanet, another Sage user and comcast customer in vallejo, has done the latter.

If you want to go the first approach, which is legally more pure, the only customer owned box that comcast will provision is the DCP501. This is because it was never put into major service by the MSO's, so there isn't a question of the box being stolen from another system. Comcast SFBA knows how to provision this, HD channels included. If you call them and the CSR gives you a hassle, try online CSR's who generally know what they are doing. If that doesn't work, call the Comcast SFBA VIP line at 1-800-884-3642, which will absolutely know how to do this. They may ask you to call the normal number first, so I would try the normal process and escalate as needed. Once they provisioned it, it worked just fine, HD channels included.

Mkanet took a different approach. He went to comcast, got a leased DCT5100 set top box, and then shipped it off for modification. Technically, you don't own it, but since the mod can be reversed if you need to tun the box back in, it's not that big a deal. You'll pay for the normal outlet fee plus HD, so it's about $11/month to lease if this is the 2nd or 3rd box you have. You can see our interactions in the R5000-HD thread in the hardware forum.

Note you need to ask for the 5100 specifically, and the more modern boxes like the 6000 and 3000 series have encrypted firewire connections. The Nextcomm folks will refuse to mod these boxes because of the DMCA restrictions on bypassing encryption. Technically, you could get a DCT2500 series SD box and have Comcast add HD channels to it, but this is complicated (they ask why get HD channels on a box that can't play HD content?)

Set of the R5000-HD up in Sage is really easy. Right now I ran into a bug with the new 2.5e drivers, but 2.5d works great for me.

Dish may be a better deal eventually once the h.264 issues in Sage are worked through, but MPEG2 is pretty solidly supported and I think is a lot less hassle to get going.

You should read over the other threads on the R5000-HD and sage and see what people are saying about issues with Dish and their experiences with cable MPEG2 varieties of R5000-HD's. And the avsforum thread on Comcast HD services.

You really can't go the DirecTV approach as their new boxes (which support the new HD channels) can't be modified with the R5000-HD. The older boxes can, but they have crap for HD available?

Thanks,
Mike

[autoboy]

Ok, I ordered 2 DCP501's for 170 each. Not too bad a price and well worth it over paying $11 a month forever. How well to they work as recievers? My current Sony isn't much to get excited about.

[chrisc16]

Since cable operators now have to let you bring your own cable box (as long as you rent a cablecard from them), I'm hoping that soon an electronics company (Motorola?) will make a generic HD-capable box that can be R5000'd. I have Time Warner, and I've heard that they are stingy about authorizing non-standard cable boxes.

-Chris

[mikesm]

Originally Posted by chrisc16

Since cable operators now have to let you bring your own cable box (as long as you rent a cablecard from them), I'm hoping that soon an electronics company (Motorola?) will make a generic HD-capable box that can be R5000'd. I have Time Warner, and I've heard that they are stingy about authorizing non-standard cable boxes.

-Chris

Nope. To be cablelabs certified for the cablecard host means no unencrypted data paths. That means no r5000 mod possible.

thx
mike

[autoboy]

Ok, I got my 2 DCP501s and they are working on provisioning them. Do I need to leave them on when they provision them? Will the reciever unit still draw power without a load on the speakers?

[mikesm]

Originally Posted by autoboy

Ok, I got my 2 DCP501s and they are working on provisioning them. Do I need to leave them on when they provision them? Will the reciever unit still draw power without a load on the speakers?

That was fast! Yes, they need to be on in order to be "hit". It should happen pretty quickly - our comcast team is pretty good with the DCP501. When you called them, did they give you a hassle? How long did it take to get them to agree to provision them?

If you don't hook up anything to the speaker outs, the DCP501 safety circuits cut in to protect the amps and i believe it shuts them off. I think you can unplug the wiring harness to the amps if you like. That would turn them off for sure. You need the receivers' control circuits on in any case.

Good luck.

Mike

[autoboy]

The first guy gave me a hard time at first but was curious and got his supervisor. She knew the law but had never seen this box before so she spoke with another supervisor and they are sending in the numbers to the guy who can do it. Neither has done this before. I got Lupe from the Morgan Hill call center. Hopefully this works. The call was maybe 20 min and they called me back after talking to the other supervisor so all together it took 1 20min call, 20 min waiting, and 5 min after that. I was scared it would not work at first but it was pretty easy as long as you are nice. I'm still waiting on getting it going so there is a chance it won't work.

I left them off at first because I was afraid they would draw a lot of power, they are HUGE! The cable tuner area was warm so I figured that stayed on while the system was plugged in for firmware updates and stuff. I guess I am wrong. I'll have to see if this works. Do they get hot? I'm planning on leaving them in a pretty confined space of my HT. Some folks say they use about 30W and get as hot as a standard box so I'm not going to worry too much. I'll check on them in an hour or so before I go to bed just to be sure.

[Fluffdaddy]

Happy to hear it's working out for you guys.

My local Comcast reps just played dumb (or maybe they wasn't playing) and just suck with the party line that "they don't do it". And after 2 csr and 2 supervisors over 30 mins at their local mini-office I give up, even though I'm in the right. It was not worth the hassle, an I have not been a Comcast customer in over 10 years..........and now I remember why.

[mikesm]

Originally Posted by autoboy

The first guy gave me a hard time at first but was curious and got his supervisor. She knew the law but had never seen this box before so she spoke with another supervisor and they are sending in the numbers to the guy who can do it. Neither has done this before. I got Lupe from the Morgan Hill call center. Hopefully this works. The call was maybe 20 min and they called me back after talking to the other supervisor so all together it took 1 20min call, 20 min waiting, and 5 min after that. I was scared it would not work at first but it was pretty easy as long as you are nice. I'm still waiting on getting it going so there is a chance it won't work.

I left them off at first because I was afraid they would draw a lot of power, they are HUGE! The cable tuner area was warm so I figured that stayed on while the system was plugged in for firmware updates and stuff. I guess I am wrong. I'll have to see if this works. Do they get hot? I'm planning on leaving them in a pretty confined space of my HT. Some folks say they use about 30W and get as hot as a standard box so I'm not going to worry too much. I'll check on them in an hour or so before I go to bed just to be sure.

Not too bad. Like said, they know what to do with them here in the SFBA.

Yes, they are boxes. They are receivers too, which is why the size is the way it is. Mot boxes run hot, even without the amps off. I have mine in the garage next to the Sage server and the NAS server. No need to have that in the living room... That way I can turn my clients on and off based on viewing, and the server can stay up and running recording and such all the time and out of site.

Thanks,
mike

[autoboy]

I was thinking about leaving them in the garage but it already gets so hot in there. I have two cars that I put in the garage and the room can get over 110 degrees F. The server is well built and can handle the heat but I was thinking I would just eliminate my server in the garage and use my main PC in the living room. I have plenty of space in the cabinet. Without the need for PCI analog tuners, and a single 500GB drive costing only $100, I'm wondering if the server is not required anymore.

How do I activate the digital cable connection on the box? It just tunes analog cable now and the guide and menu buttons do nothing. Is the box just not added yet?

[mikesm]

Originally Posted by autoboy

I was thinking about leaving them in the garage but it already gets so hot in there. I have two cars that I put in the garage and the room can get over 110 degrees F. The server is well built and can handle the heat but I was thinking I would just eliminate my server in the garage and use my main PC in the living room. I have plenty of space in the cabinet. Without the need for PCI analog tuners, and a single 500GB drive costing only $100, I'm wondering if the server is not required anymore.

How do I activate the digital cable connection on the box? It just tunes analog cable now and the guide and menu buttons do nothing. Is the box just not added yet?

Right, once the box is "hit", the guide button and the rest all start to work.

It shouldn't take that long. Make sure they have the right set of numbers though, they type them in by hand and I had an error holding up mine.

thx
mike

[mkanet]

Okay I went down the DCP501 route, since my 5100's were falling apart they were so old. No problems getting them provisioned. But ran into one MAJOR issue. I dont seem to have access to HD On Demand movies. I get an immediate error #13; which is supposed to mean that there's a problem at the server side. But this happens ONLY in HD channels. In order for the R5000 to get access to the On Demand channel, the box needs to actually be in PLAY mode. This is going to be a major bummer if the DCP501 has this limitation that the 5100's dont have. Nobody ever warned me about this limit and said the R5000 will take care of anything thats in HD even on an SD box; and also have no problems with On Demand. I'm not sure what to do at this point since 5100's are almost impossible to find and from personal experience and other people, the 5100's (at least in the SF Bay Area) have problem tuning into higher frequency channels lately.