Multi Room setup to replace DirecTv Whole-home DVR

[Mikey1969]

Hello all,

I don't see anything for DirecTv or Whole Home that seems to answer this question, and I'm not sure if this is the right part of the thread to ask this, so please be gentle if it's elsewhere, or I'm in the wrong board...

I currently have DirecTV service with their Whole Home package. We have 2 DVR's that can have recordings scheduled remotely, and we can watch on up to 6(I think) regular set-top boxes in the house. I'm looking to replace this, and just have a few questions.

We're getting tired of banging our heads against each other on recordings and playback. My brother in law lives with us, plus we have 3 kids in the house, so we get locked out of watching shows, or recordings get bumped quite often. As I understand it, this would be solved with multiple video cards if I built a home DVR system.
Question 1: Is there a limit in the software to how many streams can be watched/recorded at the same time, or is it only hardware?

The boxes are all running through my standard coax setup, which also gets VOD and YouTube content using my internet connection.
Question 2: Do I just use standard set-top boxes in all my rooms after this, or do I somehow need a media center PC in each room as well? Also would VOD and PayPerView ordering work as before?

I had a few more, but now I've forgotten them. Basically, I am just wondering how the software works, especially with a multi room situation, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Mike Wells

[KeithAbbott]

Not sure if you are aware of this or not, but SageTV was purchased by Google last June, at which time development and sales of the existing hardware and software solution ended. We are still waiting to see what, if anything, Google has to offer in the future. Since June, many users have switched to other solutions, and many of us are continuing to use our existing setup. Personally, I wouldn't recommend implementing a new SageTV system at this point with the current status of the product.

[Mikey1969]

No, I was not aware of that. Thanks for the heads up, I'll plan my project elsewhere, unless I hear more about SageTV.

Thanks again!

[davenlr]

Originally Posted by Mikey1969

No, I was not aware of that. Thanks for the heads up, I'll plan my project elsewhere, unless I hear more about SageTV.

Thanks again!

You dont mention what your new source is going to be, but if it is cable, a 4 tuner cable tuner card, with cablecard, Windows Media Center on the server, and multiple Xbox360 extenders appears to be the closest replacement for sage Ive seen.

[Mikey1969]

I plan on keeping DirecTv, I just want a system to replace my current equipment(2 HD DVRs and 2 HD receivers) that I can control, expand the tuner capabilities if I want to record and watch more simultaneous stuff, expand HDD space if needed, etc... Also it sucks that I can schedule a recording on any TV, but to make any changes and manage recordings, I have to go to the room the DVRs are in...

So yeah, I plan on still sticking with DirecTV, need my NFL Sunday ticket, even though I only follow a single team...