Building a whole house DVR

[ktcmd]

I want to get a better understanding of how I can build my own whole house DVR.

What I have -
Comcast and two digital boxes.
XBOX 360
Many computers that I can plug a tuner card into
decent wireless network.
two TVs

What I want-
I dont have a ton of requirements for recording 80 shows and watching 70. I'd just like to navigate a guide and select what shows I want to record, and maybe set up a series recording (basically do the same thing I can already do with the Comcast DVR).

I am thinking I only need one tuner card for my computer and one cable card from Comcast.

If I get a tuner card and put in a PC and use Windows Media center or something like that (XBMC, etc) I can then:

Hook up my XBOX to it to view content that is recorded, but can I view live TV and change channels, etc?

Have the media center PC with the tuner card in it plugged into my other TV to view live TV and change channels, right?

 

[Wolfshadw]

With an HTPC with a cablecard TV tuner connected, you will be able to watch/record live TV for that system. With the XBox and the HTPC connected via a wired network, you can assign one tuner from your cablecard TV Tuner to the XBox (connected to another HDTV in another room). This creates a virtual TV Tuner card in your XBox and allows you to watch/record live programming. The XBox acts as a Media Extender.

Note: To my understanding, this only works over a wired network. If you do not have Cat5e/6 running between the two devices, you could look up Powerline Networking or Media over Coaxial Alliance (MoCA) networking.

My current setup uses a Ceton InfiniTV4 Cablecard Tuner (four tuners) installed in my HTPC. One of those tuners is assigned to my all-purpose PC so that on sports days, I can view the primary game on my HTPC and any secondary sporting event on my all-purpose PC's monitor. I lease one cablecard and no set top boxes from Comcast. I can not order Pay-Per-Views (not that I really want to add to my astronomical cable bill). Also, I don't get the TV Guide channel, but Windows Media Center downloads a channel guide for my area and show upcoming programming for up to two weeks in advance.

-Wolf sends

 

[ktcmd]

Thanks Wolf

out of curiosity and since I am lazy and Comcast support is horrible I have this question- can I get an HD cable card from Comcast do you think? I suspect it wont work because I do not pay for HD service - only digital.

But if there were an HD card and I could use that and get rid both of my cable boxes would be awesome.

 

[Wolfshadw]

Sorry, I didn't make that clear. You have to purchase a cablecard tuning device yourself and lease an actual cablecard from Comcast.

Cablecard Devices include:
Hauppauge WinTV-DCR-2650 - Dual Tuner
SiliconDust HDHomeRun Prime - Tri-Tuner
Ceton InfiniTV4 PCI-E - Quad-Tuner
Ceton InfiniTV6 Eth - Hex-Tuner
Ceton InfiniTV6 PCI-E - Hex-Tuner

With one of these installed in your network/HTPC, you would lease a cablecard (below) from Comcast to install into the TV Tuner device.

This device would not get you any additional channels. You'll only receive the channels you currently subscribe to. If HD channels are part of your current programming package, then you should get them (assuming you have an HDTV).

-Wolf sends

 

[ktcmd]

Sorry, I didn't make that clear. You have to purchase a cablecard tuning device yourself and lease an actual cablecard from Comcast.

Cablecard Devices include:
Hauppauge WinTV-DCR-2650 - Dual Tuner
SiliconDust HDHomeRun Prime - Tri-Tuner
Ceton InfiniTV4 PCI-E - Quad-Tuner
Ceton InfiniTV6 Eth - Hex-Tuner
Ceton InfiniTV6 PCI-E - Hex-Tuner

With one of these installed in your network/HTPC, you would lease a cablecard (below) from Comcast to install into the TV Tuner device.

This device would not get you any additional channels. You'll only receive the channels you currently subscribe to. If HD channels are part of your current programming package, then you should get them (assuming you have an HDTV).

-Wolf sends

Thanks again - yea this is all what I read between the lines of what you already said. This is going to work PERFECTLY! I just need to call Comcast and get that cable card and see what it would take to get an HD one. Even if I have to get SD only I think I can live... but we will see!

I hope this thread helps someone else down the road!

 

[Wolfshadw]

Just a quick note. Check to make sure you can run your XBox as a media extender.

-Wolf sends

 

[ktcmd]

Just a quick note. Check to make sure you can run your XBox as a media extender.

-Wolf sends

I have connected my XBOX 360 to my home PC already once and watched a movie or two as well as photos and music. So I am pretty sure that will work. The worst case is I will but stuck with a single TV DVR, just like I used to have with my old Series 1 Tivo. I only have 2 TVs in the house so it's not a big deal if that's what I end up with.

 

[youngsmeagol]

Also, I don't get the TV Guide channel, but Windows Media Center downloads a channel guide for my area and show upcoming programming for up to two weeks in advance.

-Wolf sends

I was thinking about doing an all-in-one build myself. If I'm playing a highly intensive game on my PC will the FPS be negatively affected if I'm recording 4 shows at the same time? How high-end does my processor have to be in order to play games and stream/record from 4 different media extenders.

Is there anything else I need to be worried about? Maybe the life span of my hard drive?

Also, I read that Ceton bought Media Center from Microsoft. How has that worked out?

 

[Wolfshadw]

I was thinking about doing an all-in-one build myself. If I'm playing a highly intensive game on my PC will the FPS be negatively affected if I'm recording 4 shows at the same time? How high-end does my processor have to be in order to play games and stream/record from 4 different media extenders.

Lacking personal experience, I couldn't say with any certainty, but I would expect you'd have a great deal of negative impact trying to play a high-end game while simultaneously recording four programs at once. For high-end gaming alone, most people recommend the top of the line Core I5-46704690 processor. If you intend to include recording programs, I'd definitely be looking at a high-end Core I7 processor, but even with that, I'd still expect a negative impact while gaming.

Is there anything else I need to be worried about? Maybe the life span of my hard drive?

The last thing you want to have happen is having a terabyte or so of recorded programs lost if/when a hard drive fails. If you intend to store a great deal of media on your drives, you definitely want a good back up capability.

Also, I read that Ceton bought Media Center from Microsoft. How has that worked out?

I don't think they *bought* Media Center, but leased it from Microsoft. It's been working just fine for me.

-Wolf sends

 

[youngsmeagol]

Also, I read that Ceton bought Media Center from Microsoft. How has that worked out?

I don't think they *bought* Media Center, but leased it from Microsoft. It's been working just fine for me.

-Wolf sends

Thanks a lot, Wolf. I looked up what you said about the Ceton needing a wired connection. They recommend using a moca network adapter on your coaxial installed by your cable company. This would have worked just fine for me except for the fact that the top floor coaxial isn't connected to the rest of the house. They did that to boost signal strength at the time.