Leaving satellite and creating home system

[Bdad]

Let me start off by saying that I'm a computer geek and build my own pc's, started a BBS back in the pre-internet days and trouble shoot for friends and neighbors. We used Comcast for internet and TV and then moved to Centurylink for dsl (7mb that runs just under 6mb true) and then Direct TV and now Dish for TV.

When we switched to Dish about a year ago the DVR we got only supported HD on the main TV with our bedroom 37" non-HD. When we called to cancel the service the tech said that a new unit was coming out in January that would provide HD to all house TV's and asked us to wait. Well it's March and Dish released Hopper which would solve our need except...the tech said we could switch at no cost and Dish says it's $400. So, it's time to plan to leave Dish and set up a house system that we own.

The house is 6 years old and has cable outlets in every room. I'm in process of setting up an external antenna for local stations that I will plug into the cable to replace the Dish. From there I want to try and use (I think) the cable system in the house to deliver OTA to each TV and then set up an htpc for the living room TV but allow access to the other TV's as well.

I want each TV to have OTA and internet access so I'll need an extender of some type (looking at the Ceton Echo). Someone suggested that I look into a MoCA. This brings me to a series of questions (please fill in the missing questions I should be asking as well):

1) Can I use a MoCA setup to allow each TV both internet and OTA? Any issues or things to be aware of?
2) Any issues with using a MoCA to allow the non family room TV's to access the htpc and if so anyone who has experience doing that?
3) Does the MoCA adaptor attach to the htpc or into the router (I use an Apple Extreme 2.4/5ghz for wireless)?
4) Any issues with signal using OTA and MoCA?
5) The cost of MoCA adaptors appears to run about $75 each which seems expensive given that one must need an extendor as well. Any extendors with integrated MoCA adaptors?

That will get us started. Thanks in advance for all thoughts, ideas, suggestions and direction.

 

[Bdad]

Step 2

Ok...I've been reading much of the day and am thinking the following:

MoCA - Netgear makes a unit (MCAB1001) that you can 4 of on Ebay (new) for $150 with free shipping. Hook one of these up to the router and plug it into the cable outlet. That gives me 3 units to put on other TV's.

TV's - Need an extender of some type for each. Roku, Pivos or other that has an ethernet outlet should do the job. However, ideally one needs a browser in the extender so that limits the choices. Still researching.

HTPC - Thinking a i3/8gb ram/2tb green wd hdd/Haug dual tuner card running Win7 for Media Center plus Plex. Plex lets me set up the box so that any connected device running the plex app can access the htpc. The cable connection into the tv card will give access to the OTA content and the eternet from the Netgear unit will give internet access. This lets me watch TV in the family room, stream content, put all my DVD movies on so it becomes a server and watch OTA.

Costs: One of the Netgear units at each TB $37.50 + Extender (say $80 each) + KB/Mouse combo @$25 each (?) plus OTA antenna ($100) + htpc ($650 or so). So a 3 tv system will run about $1000 but I own it with the only cost being internet ($20/month for my 6mb).

Thoughts?

 

[Bdad]

Cont'd

Getting a better handle on the MoCA piece. The htpc unit is turning out to be more expensive than I estimated to get a complete unit. Here's what I have so far using Newegg. Note that I have the OS so it's not in the price:

Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARX 2TB SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive Model #:WD20EARX Item #:N82E16822136891 $130

Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 Dual TV Tuner / Encoder 1229 PCI-Express x1 Interface - OEM Model #:1229 Item #:N82E16815116037 $110

CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 V2 (CMPSU-430CXV2) 430W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply Model #:CMPSU-430CXV2 Item #:N82E16817139026 $45

Logitech K400 (920-003070) Black USB RF Wireless Standard Keyboard Model #:920-003070 Item #:N82E16823126264 $40

G.SKILL Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-8GBSR Model #:F3-10666CL9D-8GBSR
Item #:N82E16820231417 $43

GIGABYTE GA-H61M-S2H LGA 1155 Intel H61 HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard Model #:GA-H61M-S2H Item #:N82E16813128524 $70

Intel Core i3-2120 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I32120 Model #:BX80623I32120
Item #:N82E16819115077 $128

LITE-ON Black Internal 12X Blu-ray Combo SATA Model ihes112-04 - OEM
Model #:ihes112-04 Item #:N82E16827106374 $60

Thermaltake Black SECC Japanese steel LANBOX Lite VF6000BNS Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case Model #:VF6000BNS Item #:N82E16811133045 $75

Total: $701 before shipping (no tax where I live)

 

[Gigahertz21]

Skimmed through so didn't read everything, saw that you mentioned MOCA and I just posted something the other day in this thread about it. I purchased 4 of the Netgear units through ebay, should get them this Tuesday.

http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?p=39930#post39930

Also, when it comes to these MOCA adapters, make sure you read through some of the reviews on Amazon for them, alot of people posted good information about splitters/frequencies/diplexers/amplifiers. MOCA adapters transmit data at around 1.5GHz and alot of splitters in homes installed by cable companies only go to 1GHz. But several people reported their units working fine even though they had multiple splitters that were only rated up to 1GHz so apparently the signal still passes through. Some people reported horrible speeds though until they replaced their splitters with higher frequency ones.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001N85NMI/?tag=snbforums-20

You sure it's really worth building an entire HTPC? I just use the newer WDTV Live Streaming units and they play back all my content. I'd like to build or buy some kind of NAS/server eventually though, my media collection is up to 3-4TB and is stored on external USB hard drives. I'd hate for one of them to die and lose everything but not sure what the best alternate option is. Everybody I've talked to online that has huge media collection says an Unraid server/NAS is the best thing to build but I'm not sure how hard it would be to configure since it's linux based. Not to mention I'd have to buy several hard drives and all the parts and that adds up. My media collection size will only increase though, so eventually putting everything on USB hard drives will not be practical.

If you're unfamiliar with UnRaid:
http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php/Overview

The best thing about it is you can have a hard drive fail yet not lose anything, with WHS and other OS'es if you want to have a backup it creates a full 1:1 scale backup. If you have 3TB of data, it will take 3TB of hard drive space to back it up. With Unraid it's just a fraction.

 

[Bdad]

and more...

I realized that I have an AMD x3 box sitting upstairs I built 2 years ago that's been sitting. I put an ati 4850 with hdmi out in it and just ordered a Hauppague 2250 for OTA program capture. It has a 7200rpm WD hdd in it with 8gb of ram.

I purchased 4 of the Netgear 1001's on Ebay this weekend as well for $150 (shipping included). I'll go ahead with the pc acting as a htpc for the main tv and use the NG's to handle access to my network using the cable as noted. My house is 6 years old and the cable was done by the builder so I don't know what the splitters are.

As for storage in anticipation of failure you could use only services. I know that Mozy and several others give you 2gb of storage for free and then have a small charge for additional space. Looking at Mozy just now you get 50gb per month for one PC for $6. I expect other services have similiar if not better deals. That would give you the backup offsite just in case. Uploading the first time might take a bit but you can run their software on the pc that will monitor any changes and upload new content and you can schedule when to do it.

Part of this whole thing is to have fun and learn. Part is to reduce the ~$100/month for cable/satellite to something that lets me have the choices and control (as much as possible).

I expect I'll find that I will mostly stream and that capture of OTA will not hav a lot of value but we all have to start someplace. Thanks for the comments and feel free to offer more thoughts.

 

[Bdad]

Extenders and content access

Ok...I ordered a Picos Aios for the MBR TV but have been reading the reviews and forums and the web browser (which is what drew me) is near worthless. The unit does not provide apps for Netflix, Amazon and other regular content providers(?).

Next I went to the now discontinued Logitech Revue which used Google TV and got reasonable reviews until the last update when a lot of people got irritated about what they perceived as a downgrade. Since Logitech has dropped most support it's a dead end but it did have a browser.

I looked at the Dune products but they are overseas (no-US) so that doesn't look worthwhile and support would be problematic.

That brings me back around to the Roku. No web browser but it does as good a job as any current product allowing access to web based content and has both wireless and ethernet (for my MoCA connection).

The WD TV Live gets very mixed results as well so I'm just not seeing much that allows the mix of a Roku for simplicity and the web browser of other units (some dc'd).

 

[Bdad]

Update

I contacted Pivos to ask a couple of questions before deciding whether to open the Aios unit or not and go some responses. Here is the info:

1) Will the Aios browser work the same as a normal browser? Ans: It's html5 and basic

2) Will Aios support Flash? Ans: No

3) Will Aios support/interface with Plex? Ans: No but the upcoing Xios will support something similar

Bottomline: The Aios is rough. It does not offer the same level of access as the Roku, Boxee or similar products. Perhaps when their next product comes out?

So, likely going to go with the Roku 2 XS since it not interfaces with Plex. No browser but since this unit will go to the MBR local channels and movies will be more useful.

 

[Bdad]

Pivos - Xios - Update

Just got a note back from Pivos. They said the Xios should be availalbe in about 30 days (didn't say whether announced or launched) but would not provide any details about the capabilities, features, price, etc.

 

[Bdad]

Vizio Google TV box?

Anyone come across any info on the specs of and release date for the new Vizio Google TV box? $99 is the anticipated price.
Just found this link to a short video clip on the unit at CES 2012: http://www.techofthehub.com/2012/01/first-look-at-vizios-google-tv-box.html