Need help knowing what to buy

[dnedzel]

I am new to the whole PVR world and I am hoping someone can help me understand what I need to buy from SageTV.

I have 2 non-HD TV's in the house and I will soon add an HD, flat screen TV in a home theater setup in our den. I have my computer in my office away from any of the TV's. I have comcast, the cable enters the house in the computer room where there is a modem for internet access and a 'T' connector which branches off to the TV's. The TV in the living room has the comcast set-top box with it. My pc is configured as: Windows XP, AMD Athlon 64x2 Dual Core, 2.20 Ghz, 2GB RAM and a draft 802.11N wireless network (D-Link).

I want to be able to watch live TV on all 3 TV's, to schedule recording from any of them and to watch recorded programs on any of them.

What do I need to order?

- SageTV Hybrid Media Center in a Box Bundle (STVHBR) for the PC
- SageTV HD Theater (STVBSTP) for the HD TV in the den
- ??? for the other two non-HD TV's. Haugpage MediaMVP? other device?
- USB WiFi adapters for each TV client device. Which device is supported?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Sorry if I have posted to the wrong forum, please point me to right place.

thanks,
- Derrick

[MitchSchaft]

Forget MediaMVP and just get the HD200 for all your TV's. I would skip wireless if you can drop some cat5e to each spot.

You running satellite or cable as your TV source?

[dnedzel]

Mitch,

HD200 seemed a bit expensive for non-HD TV's, but perhaps I should just bite the bullet and pay - I will eventually upgrade those TV's.

The source is Comcast Digital Cable.

I live in an old house, so running cat5e to all the rooms is a challenge, which is why I am looking at wireless.

thanks!

[carlgar]

See http://www.geektonic.com/2009/08/how...heater-to.html for information about use HD200 wireless mode. I used the Encore ENUWI-N (2.4Ghz) for a couple of days, but I only have a G mode wireless network and I went back to wired.

You probably would want at least 3 tuners if you want to watch live TV on 3 different channels. However, I think you will soon stop watching live TV and will watch mostly recorded TV. So the number of Tuners you need or want is your biggest decision. You probably need at least 2 tuners (the HD PVR to record from the set top box and a another to record clear QAM channels). Go to http://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun/channels_us to get an idea of what channels you can get with clear QAM.

You only need one of the bundles because you only need one copy of the Sage software.

You may also need to get an signal amplifier if you split you signal too many times.

You also need to consider your disk space.

[SWKerr]

The HD Theater package (STVBSTP) includes the server license. Buying the Hybrid Media Center in a Box Bundle (STVHBR) would just give you a unneeded server license. You just need the HD Theater package and a tuner card for the server.

Newegg has the Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 Media Center Kit on sale now for $122.99. This card would allow you to capture your local stations in HD via QAM on your cable input. It would also let you capture analog output from your cable box. It includes an IR blaster to change the channel on the cable box. If you want to capture the encrypted channels in HD from your cable box you will eventually need to add an HD-PVR.

If you want to be able to watch Hulu and Netflix shows the extender may not work as well as a HTPC but it will cost less and be easier to setup. If online content is important to you then you may want to consider a dedicated HTPC instead.

Another option for the analog sets is to run the output from your PC to the old sets. I do this today on my old analog sets in the Bathroom and Garage. I use IR extenders to control the Sage functions. YOu would need a box to convert the signal to coax and the IR extenders which would still run you about $100 so I would probably still consider the extenders unless you have something like that already.

[dnedzel]

This is pretty complex, thanks for all the suggestions!

[stanger89]

It's not that bad, you just need:

SageTV Media Center
3 HD200s (ideally, or you can "get by" with MVPs*)
however many tuners you need to meet your simultaneous viewing/recording needs.
IR blaster if you want to record channels only available with the box.

*The MVPs will work, but if you're recording HD, the server has to transcode any HD, or any non SD MPEG-2 other videos you'll want to play. That means you'll need more server horsepower.

[dnedzel]

Wow - a shopping list. Perfect!

[freedml]

The name is a little misleading, because the HD-200 is for ANY tv. The critical thing is that it puts no processing load on the server. Each MediaMVP puts a HUGE processing load on the server.

Wireless G just don't work (HD200 or wMVP). You can try Wireless N, but, frankly, at this point, I wouldn't buy more than one HD200 if you're not willing to run a network cable to each tv or until you've verified that you can make N work at each location.

[dnedzel]

Thanks again for all the advice, this is very helpful!

[reggie14]

I'd be pretty nervous about trying to get 802.11n working on 3 extenders at once. While I think its probably going to be pretty reliable streaming video to one client, maybe even two, I think it would be pretty hard to stream to 3 at a time.

If you can't run cat5 to each TV, another option is trying Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) adapters that let you use your existing coax cable that you're using with cable TV. It won't even interfere with standard analog cable TV going over those lines.

[bjwise96]

Originally Posted by reggie14

I'd be pretty nervous about trying to get 802.11n working on 3 extenders at once. While I think its probably going to be pretty reliable streaming video to one client, maybe even two, I think it would be pretty hard to stream to 3 at a time.

If you can't run cat5 to each TV, another option is trying Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) adapters that let you use your existing coax cable that you're using with cable TV. It won't even interfere with standard analog cable TV going over those lines.

Just wanted to echo these comments. I tried streaming over Wireless N bridges (that was the only traffic over the bridges) and it just didn't cut it. I looked at running cat5, but with my house layout it was really going to be a pain. So I went with the MoCA adapter. I had a bit of trouble setting them up. The default settings disabled pass through of non network traffic. Once I changed that setting it worked great. I now have my Cable Modem, TV, and in-house network traffic all going over the same coax cables. No trouble streaming HD content.

I use the NetGear MoCA adapter: http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/30743/51/

Bryan

[freedml]

At a couple hundred $ per run, not a cheap solution...

[Taddeusz]

If you have absolutely no way to get CAT5 to your TV's MoCA is really the only way to go if you don't mind spending the money. Ethernet over power is a no-go for HD.

Personally, we just bought a new home. I spent the better part of this past Saturday morning running CAT5e through my attic. Pulled out the power drill to go through the tops of the walls. Fun stuff. Still need to drop speaker wire for the rear speakers. If you have the means absolutely nothing beats dropping CAT5e.

[stanger89]

Yeah, it may not be the most fun job, but it's rarely impossible.

[Taddeusz]

Originally Posted by stanger89

Yeah, it may not be the most fun job, but it's rarely impossible.

No kidding. The aftermath of laying down in fiberglass insulation isn't exactly pleasant. Not to mention the temperature difference compared to the outside. I have a feeling I nearly got heat exhaustion from the experience. Definitely going to wait till it cools off more to do the speaker wire.

[stanger89]

I'm lucky in that my basement has ceiling tiles so I can go from below. Though in some ways above might still be easier

[Taddeusz]

Originally Posted by stanger89

I'm lucky in that my basement has ceiling tiles so I can go from below. Though in some ways above might still be easier

The worse one was an existing RG-59 drop where I wanted RG-6 and CAT5. The RG-59 was original and was stapled to the frame. Fortunately the hole was large enough for all three cables. To make things worse I had less than a foot to work with. It was located near the edge of the roof.

[pjpjpjpj]

Try the attachment in the first post here:
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...38&postcount=1