August 2019 Update: We've been using an HDHomerun Prime tuner box since November 2011. It's powered on continuously and it has worked perfectly for almost 7 years for watching and recording TV programs. We've always done the recordings with Wimdows Media Center, first on Windows 7 and later on Windows 8.1. Because it connects directly to your internet router or gateway it gives you the ability to watch live TV on any computer or tablet (maybe even a phone?) in your home that uses wi-fi or a wired ethernet connection. Also, using standard Windows file sharing, we can watch recorded TV shows on any device, too. Back in 2011 we were annoyed when Comcast kept increasing the monthly rental cost of their DVR; it worked great but they just kept jacking up the price. We bought the HDHomerun, and with the savings from cancelling the Comcast DVR the new tuner box paid for itself in about 10 months. Over the years we've saved many hundreds of dollars, and the HDHomerun is still working perfectly.
I feel so good I quit Comcast after 40 years ! yes I was a " loyal customer " yeah right Comcast that is why you kept sticking it to me all those years! Well I am sick of paying $200 a month earning just $1100 a month on SS to help pay the Comcast CEO salary of 36 million a year! 36 million a year? Really! F Comcast !
So I take the stinkin SCAM BOX back thinking my bill would go down then this A$$hole walks out with this TV box and forces me to take it! so its either take the fuckin TV box or jack up my internet ! anyway got a law suit goin against those a$$holes ................BUYER BEWARE NOTHING IS FREE! DONOT TRUST THESE TYRANTS!!
@@stanburdick9708 How's the lawsuit going? I wish we'd do a big class action suit on all those scammers. Don't know how they are allowed. It is thievery, plain & simple. Keep up posted. Good luck.
Everyone should drop Cox like a rock and cut the cable. Stop paying their ever increasing exorbitant prices and get free channels OTA which you can combine with online services like Netflix and Amazon Prime for nominal fees.
***** Yeah, there's the catch. And with market monopolization there is little other choice. Love that red tape that makes it impossible for any startup company.
The best thing is to get is an outdoor directional antenna, and you can get over 60 channels or more depending on where you live, and for movies download kodi. It's time to fix the cable providers.
Lon - glad to see my science teaching impacted you in a positive tech-geek sort of a way. Great video! I live in VA but have a home in CT as well. In both cases I have thrown cable over the cliff and go with Over the Air (OTA) TV. In Ct, two roof mounted and amplified HD antennas do the trick and I am on low ground and surrounded by trees in Centerbrook. The technology that allowed me to gain a wife acceptable experience (DVR and remote) was "Tablo" paired up with a Nexus Player and soon - Apple TV. 4 (not Roku). Fold all of the major local Ct stations in with Netflix, Hulu, and other apps and you have more TV than you can stand. Again... Great video! Cheers, Dave Clarke (5th grade teacher)
Stop drilling holes in your floors! Ive had my WMC for 3 years. I tried everything under the sun and feel I have built the windows media center to the best it can be! If you prep your family for the slight delay on start up they will be fine with it! Plus there is in option to set up the xbox to power on to WMC right away on start up of the Xbox! I built a desktop with parts from tiger direct, I had a brand new Xbox, and bought two used ones on eBay for around $50. The disc trays don't work on them but that was my angle to get the best price because I didn't need the trays to work to stream the media! Don't waste your time with power line adapter, the best can't handle the HD signal! The best option is MoCA adapters! Which stand for "media over coaxial". The brand that I use and is also used for Verizon is called action tech! I know they have a name you've probably never heard of but if they're good enough for Verizon they're good enough for me and they work beautifully! You can pick them up on amazon for about $100 for a pair, I have 2 pairs! You just use your existing coaxial connections, your wife will love you! Email me and I can explain more! Paulerik35@hotmail.com
That's dope that you can stream live TV channels over DLNA. Why are you running the windows media center extension on the Xbox? You know you can stream things, using DLNA, directly over the network? On the Xbox, just to go the system video player and look for the DLNA device.
I just installed two of these for Silicon Dust at the Cable Show in LA. They had a problem (TWC, the local cable company) with the channel plan being used at the convention center not being properly recognized by the data bases. After 3 hours of attempting to get the cards paired to the HomeRun"s we installed tuning adapters in front of them and they worked OK. It should be noted that if you want to watch switched video with the HR primes you will need a tuning adapter.
Been using media center since Win XP first had it. I have 2 HD homerun primes in the house, every tv (3) has its own computer with all of the recorded tv shows being stored on a NAS. Really nice setup once you get it installed and running. And as a plus we can also use our tablets (android) to view tv in places where there is no TV.
would it still work without the coax cable? I was wondering if I could share my comcast subscription with my brother that lives far. Could I just activate it on my home and then just plug it on my brother's home with just the cable card?
I use sling TV, it has its issues but its worth it. Sony will have individual channel purchases soon. I only watch 2-3 channels on cable anyway. (All streamed live cable)
I'd love to see your take on Tablo TV a competitor HD Home run that is self conatined. You con't need a NAS or file server. Other people have rated it highly.
Someone mentioned DTA's (Digital Adapters) from the cable company. Where I'm located, the first two Standard definition adapters are free and each additional is $1,00 a month. The HD Adapters are all $3.50 a month. Having said, that you would still need the cable company to hook you up at the tap and charge you for using their services ie: Economy package, basic cable or whatever. So, they charge you a flat rate for whatever package you have. The Standard Adapters have an on screen channel guide and can get all the channels a regular cable box gets including HBO etc. A standard adapter is capable of getting the HD channels as well but they won't be in HD because there is no HDMI output on the back of the box, hence you would need an HD adapter to receive the HD channels in HD. Most of the HD channels are just counterparts of the non-HD channels anyway. But if you have a nice TV, you would want an HD adapter to take advantage of the higher resolution and picture quality obviously. I am a cable installer for a major cable company, and 'no', it isn't Comcast or TWC btw.
***** The reason for the 'scrambling' is because that particular cable plant (system) switched from analog to digital. The entire world is switching from analog to digital. Digital give you things like HD and multi room DVRS etc. It's all about frequency ranges. The bigger digital get the smaller analog gets because of the frequency bands. There is a limit to how much you can 'squeeze' into analog. Digital is the future. Analog will eventually become a thing of the past. It is the evolution of electronics basically.
***** The only person you can't teach is the one who claims to know everything. You are one of those people. And by the way, I get free cable since I work for the cable company. So stick that up your ass. lol
***** BRAVO!! We are such recipients of the extortion from our cable company that you so speak of. We are surrounded by trees where we live so even satellite isn't an option. They have continued to raise our rates to the point that I'm ready to just do over the air free local stuff, and hack my neighbors wi-fi! just kidding but seriously, I'm wondering if this new FCC open internet law will benefit us at all? In the meantime I had a quick question. You say the cable company provides you this card? What motivates the cable companies to provide us these cards to use to get their channels for free? or am I missing something? Thanks !!
Hi Lon, I bought a use windows 7 computer from Micro Center and I picked up the HD homerun prime. I ran the Digital Cable Advisor and I passed on Memory, Processor, but failed on Graphics (it says "we recommend that you update your video card to one that supports hard where acceleration"). Do I need to update a new video card just to have this work with HD Homerun Prime. TIA
I'm using the hdhomerun prime with a windows media center htpc in my living room, an Xbox 360 extender in my basement and a Ceton Echo windows media extender in my bedroom. The Echo is small enough to sit on top of my wall mounted lcd tv in my bedroom perfectly. Can't see one wire. All are hard wired using Cat 5e Gigabit ethernet. I also have a NAS device on my network which stores all my movies. I use Media Browser on my htpc to browse and play all my movies. Media Browser also works on the extenders. I love my setup. One location for all tv recordings and movies viewable on any tv. Works great!
Hi Lon, I have windows vista. So of course I don't have WMC. I'm really thinking of getting the device. Should I upgrade my vista to Windows 7 to use WMC or is their another way to pull this off an even cheaper way. TIA
I used to have basic cable and the high speed internet (12 MBPS I guess) from comcast. I was using small digital adapter they sent me to watch TV. I upgraded my internet to blast plus and that gave me preferred digital as well. But I couldn't watch tv using the old adapters unless I pay $1.99 for a codec every month/tv to watch tv which made no sense to me! So do I call them and return the useless boxes and order cablecard then buy the homerun prime? I have xbox 360 but not familiar of how to use it with such device. I am using google device with xbmc can the homerun take advantage of that?
Sorry for another addendum , other plus's are that computers can be used ts DVRs and you can program them to record series, and new/replay/ or all programing. in the acquired program guide (from comcast) You can also save these to a NAS and retrieve on another computer/netbook , tablet, notebook. for a smal price you can d/l and app to let you watch the channels on your droid or ios.
is there any available converter in just 1 kit?like i will plug in my cable on the kit then plug the hdmi cable to my tv then presto digital cabled!?like theres no need to use pc or any other console just to watch a plain cabled program in digital??
have you tried using it with xbmc? your can run it off a rasberryPi with xbmc instlled cheaper than putting a bunch of xbox's to each tv Pi is only about $30
Buy a TiVo Romeo and get the card from Comcast insert the card into the tivo and if you buy the machine with all in service no monthly fees ever set up the card during guided setup and your up and working with the added feature of being able to record programming.. TiVo also has a device called TiVo Mini that depending on the TiVo Romeo model records either 4 or 6 Chanel's at once. The Mini allows you to control any tuner in the Romeo or TiVo Bolt not presently recording to then use it to watch live tv or anything previously recorded. It has all in service so no monthly charges. I've been using tivo's since 2007 and my XL Premiere machine still runs fine with all in service for 9 of the 10 years of ownership.
Im confused..So you get the hd homerun box, the aircard from comcast. then an xbox 360 for each tv and a computer?? And this replaces the comcast setop box thats $8 a month? Doesnt this just make it like 50 times more expensive and difficult to setup then just having the box?
If you already have a dta box from comcast and are paying for basic cable, can you still connect the coax cable to the hd homeRun Prime (without a decryption card) and connect it to a PC. Will it work?
Hi Lon, I have 2 Xbox 360's, 2 computers, 4 tablets 4 cell phones all on my network along with HDHomerun prime. Everything is wireless except 2 computers and 2 Xboxes. The problem is I am getting a error message on the second xbox 360 say low bandwidth. I am running 33.77 Mbps on download and 2.35 on upload. Any suggestions on fixing this issue. TIA
Hi Lon....After troubleshooting, I found that 2 of my ports on the router was only pushing out 10mbps and the other 2 are pushing out 30mbps. Then I check the speed on the switch and they're all pushing around 30mbps. Thanks again. Im still investing in a gigabyte switch
you can watch any tv, sat channel and any movie, tv show or sporting event on xbmc and linux... I do, and I don't have to put up with window$ or comca$t...
hi, can you show me how you did it and what plugins or extensions or whatever are the best? i tried before and it was gimmecky and buggy and hardly anything worked. when i wanted to watch something it just wouldn't play like 95% of the time. just getting a few episodes or movies to play is nothing to brag about the xbmc system. i want to have wide selection and no errors or freezes or hang-ups. i must have done something wrong when i tried to do it. can you show me how to set it up right with all the needed channels and where to get them (what to type in or click and where)? thanks.
An acquaintance I know has a Comcast box that was not turned in and apparently he was given the credit anyway. This box is identical to the he ones that are used today 5/17 and I was wondering is that person able to use that box in order to get free cable? Isn't it somehow programmed so that Comcast can see their box being used ? This was just a hypothetical question but, if anyone has any information about his situation, I'd appreciate any answers! That would be great to know thanks! :-)☺
I wonder why the lack of an HDMI. I understand being able to use it on multiple devices through DLNA, but with the cable card adapter built in, just seems to defeat it's own purpose . Thanks got the information !
I'm so used to the point and click remote settings of a set top box. Can I just purhcase a Tivo box with lifetime subscription to have similar experience?
Xfinity/Comcast has been sending letters talking about Tivo no longer working with their cablecard, but I'm not sure how HDHR is impacted, if no cablecard will work at a certain date.
As for Media center -- if you have WIN8 and forward it will cost you $100 per computer to get WMC. It used to come with WIN 7 and Vista, but Vista is less features such as playing back recordings at faster speed with sound, and sliding against the progress bar to relocate video playback
I started experiencing issues with my Charter - Motorola cable boxes after purchasing two new LG 6000 Smart TV's last year. Charter insisted the issue was solely related to my TV's, but LG and even Motorola pointed out it was a firmware issue relating to my cable boxes. Charter refused to budge on the issue so after watching your video I purchased a HD HomeRun Prime box. The whole process was an utter disaster. First off my local Charter office refused to provide me with an M Card. After complaining to their corporate office and going back in the local office my local rep told me they were out of M Cards. So, I had to schedule an appointment with a Charter engineer at $59.99 an hour and a $99.00 base charge. It took two hours for the engineer to discover that we needed an M Tuner. After another hour and still no signal the engineer gave up. After reading some posts in multiple forums I discovered that the M Tuner was connected in correctly and after changing the cable configuration and calling Charter's head office again to have them resend a configuration signal to the M Tuner I was finally up and running. 20 minutes later the HD HomeRun Prime Box went down taking the APC fuse in my panel box as well. A quick trip to Home Depot and $49.99 later I had the fuse replaced and I had power back to my main bedroom. All said I am in to this $131.00 for the HD HomeRun Box, $218.98 for Charter Support, another $5.00 a month for the M Card and Tuner ( times 1 month $2.50 for the M Card and $2.50 for the M Tuner. Yes they charged me. I did not receive any credit.) and $49.99 for one APC Fuse and still no TV. Not only that but during the twenty minutes the box was up and running my Smart TV would reboot every time I tried connecting directly to the box; however, my Windows 8.1 Medica Center PC which worked flawless. While I admit I don't know if it was my TV or the Prime box, my two smart TV's connect to several other DNL devices in my house just fine. Also the HomeRun box wound up getting so hot it started melting the back of the unit. Silicon Dust insists the issue was a bad M Card and Charter insists it's a bad HD HomeRun Prime box and both refuse to cover or replace anything. I am holding out hope that B&H, the company I purchased the Prime box from will give me a credit or at least an exchange. No matter what though, I am done with my little experiment which while interesting only proved one thing and that is no one wants to take responsibility for their product or service any more. LG and Costco are now saying that they will replace my TV's if they do not work with Dish or Direct TV. So, I guess I just continue to shovel move cash at the problem and hope for the best.
I have my Windows 7 computer hooked up to the my cable line and tv I wish I knew of a way to I have my computer unencrypted channels ? I did go through the Windows Media Center set up and it does not unencrypted channels :(
I built an HTPC rather than using a laptop for use with my HD Home Run Prime (same model as shown in the video). The HD Home Run Prime requires the use of a SDV (Switched Digital Video) tuner adapter in my area and probably most metropolitan areas. So in addition to the HD Home Run tuner, there is a separate box that connects to the HD Home Run tuner with a USB cable (that's what the USB port on the HD Home Run Prime is for). Getting Charter/Comcast/Time Warner to correctly setup your CableCard is a challenge because they don't have much experience with these devices. Use the digital tuner setup in Windows Media Center and make sure that Charter/Comcast/Time Warner put BOTH the CableCard ID and the Host ID; without the Host ID, the premium channels and any SDV channels won't work. My kid's XBox 360 worked okay over wireless for the standard definition channels, but not for the HD channels. I don't have any experience with the PS3. My computer in my office is connected via powerline adapters, and that works very well for me even with HD channels.
Hi, great channel. You helped me learn about the my cloud which ended up making my decision easier. Quick question on the home run. I currently only pay for internet with my cable provider if i plug the coax line to this will any channels be picked up you think? Or would i have to get a outdoor antenna
Do you know if the homerun connect can send dolby digital sound to a wired device. I have an android tv box with Kodi patched to receive dolby, and a ps3
Hey Lon thanx for the Reply. I'm a bit confused I believe the Comcast is connected already. The last person living here had it connected. on the home run prime is the picture quality HD in 1080 pi. and when you but the home run prime can Comcast tech support help you set up the device. how difficult is it to connect it. I called Comcast and they told me you just need to get a receiver from us.
Silicondust and Simple TV has a product (Simple TV 2) that suppose to make this process more user friendly. You can also use a Roku and download the Simple TV app and use it as an additional set top box for an additional room.
It may be different in your area or with your provider, but for Spectrum here in Ohio, they charge roughly $2 for a cable card and $7 for a box per month. This isn't very much of a difference for one tv, but I'm setting it up for 3 PCs (total of 9 tuners), so it can add up pretty quick. I already had the Windows Media Center machines, so that's no extra cost to me to use the DVR. Spectrum charges for DVR, so not only would the cable boxes cost $15-16 more per month for a third less tuners, I would have to pay an additional $10 for their DVR service (without the flexibility that I have with PCs). So, in my case, the yearly savings would be over $300, almost enough to pay for all 3 Homerun boxes.
HELP? maybe you can help me. I have a PC with built in tv tuner & I have happily watched & recorded tv thru media center for years with cable company cable wire plugged directly into the tuner built into my PC. (i am disabled and TV & PC are a big part of my life) Now the cable company makes me use a small box between wall & TV & it is a pain now trying to watch thru computer & media center I got it to sort of work but uhg... u know? will this homerun work with cable card (if my cable provider has them) and my PC instead of xbox 360? then i wont need little cable box, is that correct? Also wondering if i can just get a tv tuner to replace the one built into my pc that will take cable card? any advice would be appreciated. Thanks, Lisa
Lon- what apps have you found best to stream to that handles DRM channels? so far the ps3 seems to work best with its own media player app...but I have had network errors (dropouts). the hd home run app doesn't like the drm channels
***** So if I just have basic Comcast service (expanded cable box with programming guide) I will only get the channels I am subscribed to and none of the HD channels?
Lon Thanks for the great info. I have a question for you. How many of the HDhomerun boxes should I buy still a little confused on that part. I have 5 cable boxes in the home right now and it's costing me.
I have comcast and I did something similar. I use my xbox for live tv but when I got Plex it changed everything. My tv feed goes to WMC ATSC tuner and recorded there. Then Plex pushes the media all over my house and all over the world. Most newer TVs have DLNA which Plex handles but its even better with Chromecast, Chromecast support JUST became free to everyone (used to be only plexpass). Plex is an XBMC fork but is much simpler to setup. I love being able to download media I recorded to my tablet and watch on plane, or when my show airs and Im out of the country, I just connect on wifi and watch via Tablet, Chromecast or Web Browser. Doesnt work for live TV (DVBLink does) but once its done recording, game on.
In the past, this setup was awesome. Worked great with windows 7 and xbox 360 consoles connected over moca. But since advent of streaming and lack of updating of windows media center to windows 10 and above, this is not a practical approach anymore. I ended up selling my xbox 360's and migrating to youtubetv. Unfortunately, it was a lot of upfront cost for a solution that didn't last a very long time. It was frustrating that only windows media center had drm management that was practical for consumer use.
I use Ceton Infinitv instead, but same type of thing. Comcast is notorious for insisting that you need a technician visit for a cablecard install. The FCC has mandated that they have to provide one without the technician visit.
Great video series. Like you, I'm trying to lower my cable bill by first trying to get rid of the rented boxes. Also, my wife needs a VERY simple interface. XBMC will do everything I want, but it's too fragile and flakey. Windows Media Center with HomeRun Prime may work for us, but I don't understand how it works. Is it true that you only need one instance of WMC running that services several TVs with different viewers pushing different buttons on the WMC?
homerun prime can u extend to other TV in the house or do u need and extender such as ceton. I'm like your wife just hit the clicker and the TV comes on. Does homerun have an extender. Do u need a pc connect to each TV to use homerun in each room. To date is there tuner that is wireless to pitch Verizon boxes?
it is not that hard to unlock the frequencies as I worked for Time Warner and I unlocked the boxes at my house. they were able to receive every channel and it would run a constant stream
Question, what media box is good to use to record shows that will work with my antenna in the attic?, also that antenna is run by a regular cable cord.
I have been using Beyond TV from snapstream with my HD Homerun, and plan on getting the cable card from the cable company and buying the prime version of the HD Homerun, and use it with Beyond TV when Charter this month goes all digital. Hope this helps!
Yes, they have a software product called BeyondTV Link. Works just like the regular interface but connects thru network to main BTV server computer. I do recommend direct Cat cable instead of Wifi. I have a computer connected to each one of my TV's and like you, upset some family members by drilling and nailing to get network cable through out the house.
Love The HdHomeRun Connect W Plex ! But I Want The HomeRun Prime W 6 Tuners ! When Wil It B Out ? Any One Know Or Heard Any Thing As To When?? Thanks !
Lon. I love your channel. I'm a Spectrum customer and they now have TV Choice, a la carte channels. I can return all my set-top boxes (STB) and stream everything and use Roku, cast to Chromecast, and perhaps my Fire Stick. That leaves recording. Caveat - we never fill the HD built into the STBs. What would you suggest for this scenario? Thanks
Hi Lon, I use HDHomeRun Prime with cablecard and use it with quad core HTPC using windows 7 Media Center. I basically get 3 tuners and all the encrypted channels on my cable through Brighthouse. I stream to several xbox 360's throughout the house via ethernet cable, not wireless. I do not experience any lag. With cablecard tuners however you miss out on the On Demand functionality with your cable company I can also watch all the channels on my Sony PS3, each channel shows as like a separate folder. Works very well. I have a 3TB video server, I also run PlayOn server on the htpc and can stream to any device in the house all my movies and tv shows in 720p .wmv format. It works fine for me in that resolution. Every portable device I have (ex iPad, kindle, chromebook, etc) can connect to the URL m.playon.tv in the house and stream media from my video server. PlayOn is a great product now.
I do not have to home run thing just a tuner card for my pc and it gives me some ch but not the encrypted ones I try the cd that come with it and Windows media center does anyone have any ideas about how I can get the encrypted ch's. THX. :)
I'm just wondering if you can use that coax cable wire as an ohm battery for modems and for the PC and other things. they do have ohm batteries now for cars I just didn't know if they could use it now for the PC or for a television set to make it truly wireless.
Good find! Xbox 360s have come down in price, but this product, unfortunately, has not, so it's going to take many months (if not years) before it pays for itself and even longer before it starts saving you money.
Hmm... This wasn't exactly what I was looking for. This thing seems like a train wreck. I keep hearing everyone talk about how they want to stop paying monthly rental fees, so they go and buy a box that can do everything their cable box can do, and boom, now they're done with the process... And yet, none of the articles I've read reference any hardware, how to set it up, etc. And it seems like all this stuff is expensive, too! All I want is to be able to keep my cable subscription, and not be screwed by rental fees every month! But apparently this is some cryptic mystery that I can't seem to solve. Hopefully someone can help me. :(
If you have to use a cable card, you still have to pay for cable service. All you save is a couple of bucks. To save money you have to cut the cable period.
coolnegative Yes. The FCC forces all large cable companies (including Charter) to allow you to use CableCARD devices... and FCC even forces them to allow you to self-install (avoiding the expense of having a"technician" come to your house).
The thing about HBO only working with approved devices is probably to help control piracy. It would be that way to help prevent someone from somehow copying the movie as it plays. Of course DVDs will make it harder because lots of people copy them (although they really should not).
Those versions would be Vista, and 7, Windows 8 has an a ton of problems, and XP only does the driver dance w/analog cards, which in most areas are pretty much useless unless you are controlling a cable company's STB.
I just bought my hd homerun prime, im not having much luck with wifi xbox and leaving a computer on as a server for Microsoft media center.. Have you found any other way around it?
Cox here in Las Vegas has a great number of channels on cable that do not work on the SiliconDust Prime box. I have had two technicians here and a third is scheduled for Monday (Tomorrow.) The Supervisor of the technicians is to come out and see what he can do to get my service running. FX Channel-- AMC Channel--Spike Channel and a bunch of others do not come in on the Box. I am running WMC on Win 7 and am missing a bunch of channels. If I can't resolve the problem the Box will go back to Amazon Tomorrow. Reading the Blogs on the SD support provided little help other than to verify hat others are having similar experiences with the box. The tech seem to think that an attachment to the cable system which allows some digital channels to be viewed cannot be used with the Silicon Dust system. I haven't reviewed all the tech stuff yet but, it ain't looking good right now. I also have a Sony Media Box which has the same missing Channels , but does not even show the channels for tuning.
So that said, has technology advanced to the point where I can just buy one box that takes the cable card and has the basic guide menu and compatible remote vs having to spin up a WMC instance and leave it running so I can navigate channels? I also don't like paying for extra electricity if I can avoid it. I think TiVos can do this but man - the box is pricey service costs are not cool. Plus I have enough streaming devices already so don't need the rest of the bloat that comes with that.
August 2019 Update: We've been using an HDHomerun Prime tuner box since November 2011. It's powered on continuously and it has worked perfectly for almost 7 years for watching and recording TV programs. We've always done the recordings with Wimdows Media Center, first on Windows 7 and later on Windows 8.1. Because it connects directly to your internet router or gateway it gives you the ability to watch live TV on any computer or tablet (maybe even a phone?) in your home that uses wi-fi or a wired ethernet connection. Also, using standard Windows file sharing, we can watch recorded TV shows on any device, too. Back in 2011 we were annoyed when Comcast kept increasing the monthly rental cost of their DVR; it worked great but they just kept jacking up the price. We bought the HDHomerun, and with the savings from cancelling the Comcast DVR the new tuner box paid for itself in about 10 months. Over the years we've saved many hundreds of dollars, and the HDHomerun is still working perfectly.
I feel so good I quit Comcast after 40 years ! yes I was a " loyal customer " yeah right Comcast that is why you kept sticking it to me all those years! Well I am sick of paying $200 a month earning just $1100 a month on SS to help pay the Comcast CEO salary of 36 million a year! 36 million a year? Really! F Comcast !
So I take the stinkin SCAM BOX back thinking my bill would go down then this A$$hole walks out with this TV box and forces me to take it! so its either take the fuckin TV box or jack up my internet ! anyway got a law suit goin against those a$$holes ................BUYER BEWARE NOTHING IS FREE! DONOT TRUST THESE TYRANTS!!
They lie on the phone to me all the time, making bogus promises 😠😡
AT&T is also bad but they're alot better than comcast. (or xfinity which is also owned by comcast)
@@stanburdick9708 How's the lawsuit going?
I wish we'd do a big class action suit on all those scammers.
Don't know how they are allowed. It is thievery, plain & simple.
Keep up posted. Good luck.
Everyone should drop Cox like a rock and cut the cable. Stop paying their ever increasing exorbitant prices and get free channels OTA which you can combine with online services like Netflix and Amazon Prime for nominal fees.
We still need Internet and they've caught on, the price is increasing hard and will start hitting home as soon as present contracts expire.
*****
Yeah, there's the catch. And with market monopolization there is little other choice. Love that red tape that makes it impossible for any startup company.
Son37Lumier
Son37Lumiere ✅ done!!
Yea spectrum now charges as much for just internet as they do their current package special.
Wow, a blast from the past!!
Facts
The best thing is to get is an outdoor directional antenna, and you can get over 60 channels or more depending on where you live, and for movies download kodi. It's time to fix the cable providers.
Lon - glad to see my science teaching impacted you in a positive tech-geek sort of a way. Great video! I live in VA but have a home in CT as well. In both cases I have thrown cable over the cliff and go with Over the Air (OTA) TV. In Ct, two roof mounted and amplified HD antennas do the trick and I am on low ground and surrounded by trees in Centerbrook. The technology that allowed me to gain a wife acceptable experience (DVR and remote) was "Tablo" paired up with a Nexus Player and soon - Apple TV. 4 (not Roku). Fold all of the major local Ct stations in with Netflix, Hulu, and other apps and you have more TV than you can stand.
Again... Great video!
Cheers,
Dave Clarke (5th grade teacher)
+Lon Seidman Yes it is the same guy... Just a whole lot older.
+Lon Seidman Will do - sometime in February.
Comcast now changes the same price for a cablecard as they do for a box rental($10). Lon, how do you feel about this?
1 cablecard can replace 2 or 3 STBs with the Prime.
Stop drilling holes in your floors! Ive had my WMC for 3 years. I tried everything under the sun and feel I have built the windows media center to the best it can be! If you prep your family for the slight delay on start up they will be fine with it! Plus there is in option to set up the xbox to power on to WMC right away on start up of the Xbox! I built a desktop with parts from tiger direct, I had a brand new Xbox, and bought two used ones on eBay for around $50. The disc trays don't work on them but that was my angle to get the best price because I didn't need the trays to work to stream the media! Don't waste your time with power line adapter, the best can't handle the HD signal! The best option is MoCA adapters! Which stand for "media over coaxial". The brand that I use and is also used for Verizon is called action tech! I know they have a name you've probably never heard of but if they're good enough for Verizon they're good enough for me and they work beautifully! You can pick them up on amazon for about $100 for a pair, I have 2 pairs! You just use your existing coaxial connections, your wife will love you! Email me and I can explain more! Paulerik35@hotmail.com
That's dope that you can stream live TV channels over DLNA. Why are you running the windows media center extension on the Xbox? You know you can stream things, using DLNA, directly over the network? On the Xbox, just to go the system video player and look for the DLNA device.
I just installed two of these for Silicon Dust at the Cable Show in LA. They had a problem (TWC, the local cable company) with the channel plan being used at the convention center not being properly recognized by the data bases. After 3 hours of attempting to get the cards paired to the HomeRun"s we installed tuning adapters in front of them and they worked OK.
It should be noted that if you want to watch switched video with the HR primes you will need a tuning adapter.
Been using media center since Win XP first had it. I have 2 HD homerun primes in the house, every tv (3) has its own computer with all of the recorded tv shows being stored on a NAS. Really nice setup once you get it installed and running. And as a plus we can also use our tablets (android) to view tv in places where there is no TV.
would it still work without the coax cable? I was wondering if I could share my comcast subscription with my brother that lives far. Could I just activate it on my home and then just plug it on my brother's home with just the cable card?
Yes, it is possible. All depends if the cable company left his line active or not. You can test it out, just bring a box or a modem there to see.
I use sling TV, it has its issues but its worth it. Sony will have individual channel purchases soon. I only watch 2-3 channels on cable anyway. (All streamed live cable)
I'd love to see your take on Tablo TV a competitor HD Home run that is self conatined. You con't need a NAS or file server. Other people have rated it highly.
How many stations are channels do you get with antenna? Thank you very much if you have time to reply happy holidays
Someone mentioned DTA's (Digital Adapters) from the cable company. Where I'm located, the first two Standard definition adapters are free and each additional is $1,00 a month. The HD Adapters are all $3.50 a month. Having said, that you would still need the cable company to hook you up at the tap and charge you for using their services ie: Economy package, basic cable or whatever. So, they charge you a flat rate for whatever package you have. The Standard Adapters have an on screen channel guide and can get all the channels a regular cable box gets including HBO etc. A standard adapter is capable of getting the HD channels as well but they won't be in HD because there is no HDMI output on the back of the box, hence you would need an HD adapter to receive the HD channels in HD. Most of the HD channels are just counterparts of the non-HD channels anyway. But if you have a nice TV, you would want an HD adapter to take advantage of the higher resolution and picture quality obviously. I am a cable installer for a major cable company, and 'no', it isn't Comcast or TWC btw.
***** The reason for the 'scrambling' is because that particular cable plant (system) switched from analog to digital. The entire world is switching from analog to digital. Digital give you things like HD and multi room DVRS etc. It's all about frequency ranges. The bigger digital get the smaller analog gets because of the frequency bands. There is a limit to how much you can 'squeeze' into analog. Digital is the future. Analog will eventually become a thing of the past. It is the evolution of electronics basically.
*****
The only person you can't teach is the one who claims to know everything. You are one of those people. And by the way, I get free cable since I work for the cable company. So stick that up your ass. lol
***** No one is forcing or threatening you to purchase cable services, hence there is no 'extortion'. Best of luck to you.
*****
BRAVO!! We are such recipients of the extortion from our cable company that you so speak of. We are surrounded by trees where we live so even satellite isn't an option. They have continued to raise our rates to the point that I'm ready to just do over the air free local stuff, and hack my neighbors wi-fi! just kidding but seriously, I'm wondering if this new FCC open internet law will benefit us at all? In the meantime I had a quick question. You say the cable company provides you this card? What motivates the cable companies to provide us these cards to use to get their channels for free? or am I missing something? Thanks !!
Hi Lon, I bought a use windows 7 computer from Micro Center and I picked up the HD homerun prime. I ran the Digital Cable Advisor and I passed on Memory, Processor, but failed on Graphics (it says "we recommend that you update your video card to one that supports hard where acceleration"). Do I need to update a new video card just to have this work with HD Homerun Prime. TIA
hardware.....sorry
Also I receive my lower channels 2-22....my cable company is having a hard time
I'm using the hdhomerun prime with a windows media center htpc in my living room, an Xbox 360 extender in my basement and a Ceton Echo windows media extender in my bedroom. The Echo is small enough to sit on top of my wall mounted lcd tv in my bedroom perfectly. Can't see one wire. All are hard wired using Cat 5e Gigabit ethernet. I also have a NAS device on my network which stores all my movies. I use Media Browser on my htpc to browse and play all my movies. Media Browser also works on the extenders. I love my setup. One location for all tv recordings and movies viewable on any tv. Works great!
Hi Lon, I have windows vista. So of course I don't have WMC. I'm really thinking of getting the device. Should I upgrade my vista to Windows 7 to use WMC or is their another way to pull this off an even cheaper way. TIA
mines didn't have it but I do have xbmc on the ouya...but first I guess i'll order the homerun prime...lol
one more question Lon.....have you heard of SAMSUNG SMART MEDIA PLAYER (GX-SM530CF) ....if so is it worth it? it cable card compatible to
I used to have basic cable and the high speed internet (12 MBPS I guess) from comcast. I was using small digital adapter they sent me to watch TV. I upgraded my internet to blast plus and that gave me preferred digital as well. But I couldn't watch tv using the old adapters unless I pay $1.99 for a codec every month/tv to watch tv which made no sense to me! So do I call them and return the useless boxes and order cablecard then buy the homerun prime? I have xbox 360 but not familiar of how to use it with such device. I am using google device with xbmc can the homerun take advantage of that?
Sorry for another addendum , other plus's are that computers can be used ts DVRs and you can program them to record series, and new/replay/ or all programing. in the acquired program guide (from comcast) You can also save these to a NAS and retrieve on another computer/netbook , tablet, notebook. for a smal price you can d/l and app to let you watch the channels on your droid or ios.
is there any available converter in just 1 kit?like i will plug in my cable on the kit then plug the hdmi cable to my tv then presto digital cabled!?like theres no need to use pc or any other console just to watch a plain cabled program in digital??
have you tried using it with xbmc? your can run it off a rasberryPi with xbmc instlled cheaper than putting a bunch of xbox's to each tv Pi is only about $30
Buy a TiVo Romeo and get the card from Comcast insert the card into the tivo and if you buy the machine with all in service no monthly fees ever set up the card during guided setup and your up and working with the added feature of being able to record programming.. TiVo also has a device called TiVo Mini that depending on the TiVo Romeo model records either 4 or 6 Chanel's at once. The Mini allows you to control any tuner in the Romeo or TiVo Bolt not presently recording to then use it to watch live tv or anything previously recorded. It has all in service so no monthly charges. I've been using tivo's since 2007 and my XL Premiere machine still runs fine with all in service for 9 of the 10 years of ownership.
Im confused..So you get the hd homerun box, the aircard from comcast. then an xbox 360 for each tv and a computer?? And this replaces the comcast setop box thats $8 a month? Doesnt this just make it like 50 times more expensive and difficult to setup then just having the box?
If you already have a dta box from comcast and are paying for basic cable, can you still connect the coax cable to the hd homeRun Prime (without a decryption card) and connect it to a PC. Will it work?
Hi Lon, I have 2 Xbox 360's, 2 computers, 4 tablets 4 cell phones all on my network along with HDHomerun prime. Everything is wireless except 2 computers and 2 Xboxes. The problem is I am getting a error message on the second xbox 360 say low bandwidth. I am running 33.77 Mbps on download and 2.35 on upload. Any suggestions on fixing this issue. TIA
Lon, I hard wired all devices and still having these issue. I may have start all over to see whats pulling the signal
Tenda (S105) 5 port Ethernet Switch 10/100 Mbps.
Hi Lon....After troubleshooting, I found that 2 of my ports on the router was only pushing out 10mbps and the other 2 are pushing out 30mbps. Then I check the speed on the switch and they're all pushing around 30mbps. Thanks again. Im still investing in a gigabyte switch
you can watch any tv, sat channel and any movie, tv show or sporting event on xbmc and linux... I do, and I don't have to put up with window$ or comca$t...
hi, can you show me how you did it and what plugins or extensions or whatever are the best? i tried before and it was gimmecky and buggy and hardly anything worked. when i wanted to watch something it just wouldn't play like 95% of the time. just getting a few episodes or movies to play is nothing to brag about the xbmc system. i want to have wide selection and no errors or freezes or hang-ups. i must have done something wrong when i tried to do it. can you show me how to set it up right with all the needed channels and where to get them (what to type in or click and where)? thanks.
Leo Arce
Did he ever show you? I see this was a long time ago.
An acquaintance I know has a Comcast box that was not turned in and apparently he was given the credit anyway. This box is identical to the he ones that are used today 5/17 and I was wondering is that person able to use that box in order to get free cable? Isn't it somehow programmed so that Comcast can see their box being used ? This was just a hypothetical question but, if anyone has any information about his situation, I'd appreciate any answers! That would be great to know thanks! :-)☺
I wonder why the lack of an HDMI. I understand being able to use it on multiple devices through DLNA, but with the cable card adapter built in, just seems to defeat it's own purpose . Thanks got the information !
I'm so used to the point and click remote settings of a set top box. Can I just purhcase a Tivo box with lifetime subscription to have similar experience?
Xfinity/Comcast has been sending letters talking about Tivo no longer working with their cablecard, but I'm not sure how HDHR is impacted, if no cablecard will work at a certain date.
As for Media center -- if you have WIN8 and forward it will cost you $100 per computer to get WMC. It used to come with WIN 7 and Vista, but Vista is less features such as playing back recordings at faster speed with sound, and sliding against the progress bar to relocate video playback
I started experiencing issues with my Charter - Motorola cable boxes after purchasing two new LG 6000 Smart TV's last year. Charter insisted the issue was solely related to my TV's, but LG and even Motorola pointed out it was a firmware issue relating to my cable boxes. Charter refused to budge on the issue so after watching your video I purchased a HD HomeRun Prime box. The whole process was an utter disaster. First off my local Charter office refused to provide me with an M Card. After complaining to their corporate office and going back in the local office my local rep told me they were out of M Cards. So, I had to schedule an appointment with a Charter engineer at $59.99 an hour and a $99.00 base charge. It took two hours for the engineer to discover that we needed an M Tuner. After another hour and still no signal the engineer gave up. After reading some posts in multiple forums I discovered that the M Tuner was connected in correctly and after changing the cable configuration and calling Charter's head office again to have them resend a configuration signal to the M Tuner I was finally up and running. 20 minutes later the HD HomeRun Prime Box went down taking the APC fuse in my panel box as well. A quick trip to Home Depot and $49.99 later I had the fuse replaced and I had power back to my main bedroom. All said I am in to this $131.00 for the HD HomeRun Box, $218.98 for Charter Support, another $5.00 a month for the M Card and Tuner ( times 1 month $2.50 for the M Card and $2.50 for the M Tuner. Yes they charged me. I did not receive any credit.) and $49.99 for one APC Fuse and still no TV. Not only that but during the twenty minutes the box was up and running my Smart TV would reboot every time I tried connecting directly to the box; however, my Windows 8.1 Medica Center PC which worked flawless. While I admit I don't know if it was my TV or the Prime box, my two smart TV's connect to several other DNL devices in my house just fine. Also the HomeRun box wound up getting so hot it started melting the back of the unit. Silicon Dust insists the issue was a bad M Card and Charter insists it's a bad HD HomeRun Prime box and both refuse to cover or replace anything. I am holding out hope that B&H, the company I purchased the Prime box from will give me a credit or at least an exchange. No matter what though, I am done with my little experiment which while interesting only proved one thing and that is no one wants to take responsibility for their product or service any more. LG and Costco are now saying that they will replace my TV's if they do not work with Dish or Direct TV. So, I guess I just continue to shovel move cash at the problem and hope for the best.
I have my Windows 7 computer hooked up to the my cable line and tv I wish I knew of a way to I have my computer unencrypted channels ? I did go through the Windows Media Center set up and it does not unencrypted channels :(
I built an HTPC rather than using a laptop for use with my HD Home Run Prime (same model as shown in the video). The HD Home Run Prime requires the use of a SDV (Switched Digital Video) tuner adapter in my area and probably most metropolitan areas. So in addition to the HD Home Run tuner, there is a separate box that connects to the HD Home Run tuner with a USB cable (that's what the USB port on the HD Home Run Prime is for). Getting Charter/Comcast/Time Warner to correctly setup your CableCard is a challenge because they don't have much experience with these devices. Use the digital tuner setup in Windows Media Center and make sure that Charter/Comcast/Time Warner put BOTH the CableCard ID and the Host ID; without the Host ID, the premium channels and any SDV channels won't work.
My kid's XBox 360 worked okay over wireless for the standard definition channels, but not for the HD channels. I don't have any experience with the PS3. My computer in my office is connected via powerline adapters, and that works very well for me even with HD channels.
Hi, great channel. You helped me learn about the my cloud which ended up making my decision easier.
Quick question on the home run. I currently only pay for internet with my cable provider if i plug the coax line to this will any channels be picked up you think? Or would i have to get a outdoor antenna
Do you know if the homerun connect can send dolby digital sound to a wired device. I have an android tv box with Kodi patched to receive dolby, and a ps3
Hey Lon thanx for the Reply. I'm a bit confused I believe the Comcast is connected already. The last person living here had it connected. on the home run prime is the picture quality HD in 1080 pi. and when you but the home run prime can Comcast tech support help you set up the device. how difficult is it to connect it. I called Comcast and they told me you just need to get a receiver from us.
Silicondust and Simple TV has a product (Simple TV 2) that suppose to make this process more user friendly. You can also use a Roku and download the Simple TV app and use it as an additional set top box for an additional room.
P.S.
You can stream your content similar to the sling box too.
is this usable today? I am reading teh cable companies charge just about the same or the same for the cable card as they do for a cable box.
Yes very much so - I am still using mine.
It may be different in your area or with your provider, but for Spectrum here in Ohio, they charge roughly $2 for a cable card and $7 for a box per month. This isn't very much of a difference for one tv, but I'm setting it up for 3 PCs (total of 9 tuners), so it can add up pretty quick. I already had the Windows Media Center machines, so that's no extra cost to me to use the DVR. Spectrum charges for DVR, so not only would the cable boxes cost $15-16 more per month for a third less tuners, I would have to pay an additional $10 for their DVR service (without the flexibility that I have with PCs). So, in my case, the yearly savings would be over $300, almost enough to pay for all 3 Homerun boxes.
HELP? maybe you can help me. I have a PC with built in tv tuner & I have happily watched & recorded tv thru media center for years with cable company cable wire plugged directly into the tuner built into my PC. (i am disabled and TV & PC are a big part of my life) Now the cable company makes me use a small box between wall & TV & it is a pain now trying to watch thru computer & media center I got it to sort of work but uhg... u know? will this homerun work with cable card (if my cable provider has them) and my PC instead of xbox 360? then i wont need little cable box, is that correct? Also wondering if i can just get a tv tuner to replace the one built into my pc that will take cable card? any advice would be appreciated. Thanks, Lisa
Do you have to have service with Comcast for the hd home run prime to work. or can you buy it and use it without purchasing Comcast service.
Hey Lon, what version of openelec are you running. I have 12.2 and my video stutters while watching hd streams on a raspberry pi
***** I am hardwired into a Gigabit switch. For some reason, the audio is also gets out of syn after a while
If I only have basic cable subscription from Comcast, can I use your method to watch all channels, including HD and other unsubscribed channel?
Am I understanding correctly that the Homerun Prime is just a DLNA device? There is no wired output, I.e. HDMI connector?
You can link plex to you're recorded shows and watch them anywhere you have wifi... You can always buy a media extender box which is family friendly
Will this work for Suddenlink to view digital channels I can’t see without a cable box as I do with tv cable boxes?
Lon- what apps have you found best to stream to that handles DRM channels? so far the ps3 seems to work best with its own media player app...but I have had network errors (dropouts). the hd home run app doesn't like the drm channels
So all the channels on the comcast lineup work except for the premium paid channels like HBO and Starz? And would this work with Frontier FiOS?
***** So if I just have basic Comcast service (expanded cable box with programming guide) I will only get the channels I am subscribed to and none of the HD channels?
Alex H That's correct
Lon Thanks for the great info. I have a question for you. How many of the HDhomerun boxes should I buy still a little confused on that part. I have 5 cable boxes in the home right now and it's costing me.
So this is like an external TV tuner for PC?
I want that Sega Genesis 1 model in the back. Does it still work??
is this product still relevant? still thinking about getting one.
I have comcast and I did something similar. I use my xbox for live tv but when I got Plex it changed everything. My tv feed goes to WMC ATSC tuner and recorded there. Then Plex pushes the media all over my house and all over the world. Most newer TVs have DLNA which Plex handles but its even better with Chromecast, Chromecast support JUST became free to everyone (used to be only plexpass). Plex is an XBMC fork but is much simpler to setup. I love being able to download media I recorded to my tablet and watch on plane, or when my show airs and Im out of the country, I just connect on wifi and watch via Tablet, Chromecast or Web Browser. Doesnt work for live TV (DVBLink does) but once its done recording, game on.
Tried to search for a cable card can't find any for sale any pointers? I don't want one through the cable company if I can help it..
***** hi
In the past, this setup was awesome. Worked great with windows 7 and xbox 360 consoles connected over moca. But since advent of streaming and lack of updating of windows media center to windows 10 and above, this is not a practical approach anymore. I ended up selling my xbox 360's and migrating to youtubetv. Unfortunately, it was a lot of upfront cost for a solution that didn't last a very long time. It was frustrating that only windows media center had drm management that was practical for consumer use.
What is your solution to home entertainment since the passing of the FCC 2015 and new technology? Everything is too expensive or really crappy.
I use Ceton Infinitv instead, but same type of thing. Comcast is notorious for insisting that you need a technician visit for a cablecard install. The FCC has mandated that they have to provide one without the technician visit.
if you have the apps already do you still need wifi...what about local chanels
My dlna compatible Sony bluray player has close to the operating system as a ps3 I'm sure it would also work.
Home Theater Junky your bluray player has a cable card slot?
Great video series. Like you, I'm trying to lower my cable bill by first trying to get rid of the rented boxes. Also, my wife needs a VERY simple interface. XBMC will do everything I want, but it's too fragile and flakey. Windows Media Center with HomeRun Prime may work for us, but I don't understand how it works. Is it true that you only need one instance of WMC running that services several TVs with different viewers pushing different buttons on the WMC?
Keep plugging Lon, saving money is always good!
Just one question. Does this work with an Actiontec MoCa WCB3000N01?
Hey I'm a new subscriber and was wondering where I could order the HD home run? Also how much does the cable card cost?
homerun prime can u extend to other TV in the house or do u need and extender such as ceton. I'm like your wife just hit the clicker and the TV comes on. Does homerun have an extender. Do u need a pc connect to each TV to use homerun in each room. To date is there tuner that is wireless to pitch Verizon boxes?
Hdhomerun prime is currently unavailable. Any other products on the market that serve the same function?
Does the hd homerun prime replace the cable and modem boxes?
it is not that hard to unlock the frequencies as I worked for Time Warner and I unlocked the boxes at my house. they were able to receive every channel and it would run a constant stream
tyler winningham l
tyler winningham how do you unlock without box
DOESN'T HELP ANYONE NIMROD UNLESS YOU SAY HOW TO DO IT
tyler winningham
Do an old lady with no money a favor and tell me how to do that please please.
tyler winningham I would luv to hear more about frequencies. More over just how to set them?
I ordered a large antenna and put in my attic, and get over 60 free channels, no more cable
Question, what media box is good to use to record shows that will work with my antenna in the attic?, also that antenna is run by a regular cable cord.
I don't have windows, so the Linux I can use?
@@DJaySplitSecond use the channelmaster stream+
I have been using Beyond TV from snapstream with my HD Homerun, and plan on getting the cable card from the cable company and buying the prime version of the HD Homerun, and use it with Beyond TV when Charter this month goes all digital. Hope this helps!
Yes, they have a software product called BeyondTV Link. Works just like the regular interface but connects thru network to main BTV server computer. I do recommend direct Cat cable instead of Wifi. I have a computer connected to each one of my TV's and like you, upset some family members by drilling and nailing to get network cable through out the house.
Love The HdHomeRun Connect W Plex ! But I Want The HomeRun Prime W 6 Tuners ! When Wil It B Out ? Any One Know Or Heard Any Thing As To When?? Thanks !
Lon. I love your channel. I'm a Spectrum customer and they now have TV Choice, a la carte channels. I can return all my set-top boxes (STB) and stream everything and use Roku, cast to Chromecast, and perhaps my Fire Stick. That leaves recording. Caveat - we never fill the HD built into the STBs. What would you suggest for this scenario?
Thanks
Do they make them for Comcast High Speed Internet/telephone router?
Hi Lon,
I use HDHomeRun Prime with cablecard and use it with quad core HTPC using windows 7 Media Center. I basically get 3 tuners and all the encrypted channels on my cable through Brighthouse. I stream to several xbox 360's throughout the house via ethernet cable, not wireless. I do not experience any lag. With cablecard tuners however you miss out on the On Demand functionality with your cable company
I can also watch all the channels on my Sony PS3, each channel shows as like a separate folder. Works very well.
I have a 3TB video server, I also run PlayOn server on the htpc and can stream to any device in the house all my movies and tv shows in 720p .wmv format. It works fine for me in that resolution. Every portable device I have (ex iPad, kindle, chromebook, etc) can connect to the URL m.playon.tv in the house and stream media from my video server. PlayOn is a great product now.
I do not have to home run thing just a tuner card for my pc and it gives me some ch but not the encrypted ones I try the cd that come with it and Windows media center does anyone have any ideas about how I can get the encrypted ch's.
THX. :)
can we watch all these channels on my 5 TVs in my home?
You probably don't know this question but will this box work on the Australian Cable TV Company Foxtel?
***** Thanks for that and thanks for the very quick response.
Will a USB to Ethernet adapter work, if u plug into hd homerun to the USB on the side of TV?
***** Thanks I got ati wonder tv and works great
So if you have the hd homerun you can use the Xbox as a cable bos as well. I didnt really get the concept of using the xbox
Thank you
does it allow you to record the media through windows media center?
so whats teh name of that box i couldnt understand how you said it
how can i connect a bros trend extender to a comcast hotspot. there's no way enter a user/password
Is this box still work with Comcast ?
does it only work with comcast?
I agree with you're wife there is a lot to be said about just turning it on hassle free.
I'm just wondering if you can use that coax cable wire as an ohm battery for modems and for the PC and other things. they do have ohm batteries now for cars I just didn't know if they could use it now for the PC or for a television set to make it truly wireless.
comcast cable card cost $9.95/MO and renting a box cost $9.95 no savings comcast makes you rent equipment
Good find! Xbox 360s have come down in price, but this product, unfortunately, has not, so it's going to take many months (if not years) before it pays for itself and even longer before it starts saving you money.
they work with dishnetwork
Hmm... This wasn't exactly what I was looking for. This thing seems like a train wreck.
I keep hearing everyone talk about how they want to stop paying monthly rental fees, so they go and buy a box that can do everything their cable box can do, and boom, now they're done with the process...
And yet, none of the articles I've read reference any hardware, how to set it up, etc. And it seems like all this stuff is expensive, too! All I want is to be able to keep my cable subscription, and not be screwed by rental fees every month! But apparently this is some cryptic mystery that I can't seem to solve. Hopefully someone can help me. :(
If you have to use a cable card, you still have to pay for cable service. All you save is a couple of bucks. To save money you have to cut the cable period.
Will this work with charter cable?
coolnegative Yes. The FCC forces all large cable companies (including Charter) to allow you to use CableCARD devices... and FCC even forces them to allow you to self-install (avoiding the expense of having a"technician" come to your house).
we will still need internet to run a laptop correct
Can you use more than one hd homerun prime with one Windows Media Center setup?
***** Lol clever name, thanks!
Wow...Almost 10 years I have been running a HD Homerun Prime!!
Just FINALLY got my WD PR4100 back working again! Still a GREAT NAS! 🙂
The thing about HBO only working with approved devices is probably to help control piracy. It would be that way to help prevent someone from somehow copying the movie as it plays. Of course DVDs will make it harder because lots of people copy them (although they really should not).
Hey Lon!
Just wondering whether on demand works or not? Channel 1. Thanks!
Those versions would be Vista, and 7, Windows 8 has an a ton of problems, and XP only does the driver dance w/analog cards, which in most areas are pretty much useless unless you are controlling a cable company's STB.
Do you have to pay Comcast extra/month to get HD channels?
I just bought my hd homerun prime, im not having much luck with wifi xbox and leaving a computer on as a server for Microsoft media center.. Have you found any other way around it?
I guess I'll be drilling and dropping lines... Argh! trying to save a buck but spending more money in the process..
Cox here in Las Vegas has a great number of channels on cable that do not work on the SiliconDust Prime box. I have had two technicians here and a third is scheduled for Monday (Tomorrow.) The Supervisor of the technicians is to come out and see what he can do to get my service running. FX Channel-- AMC Channel--Spike Channel and a bunch of others do not come in on the Box. I am running WMC on Win 7 and am missing a bunch of channels. If I can't resolve the problem the Box will go back to Amazon Tomorrow. Reading the Blogs on the SD support provided little help other than to verify hat others are having similar experiences with the box. The tech seem to think that an attachment to the cable system which allows some digital channels to be viewed cannot be used with the Silicon Dust system. I haven't reviewed all the tech stuff yet but, it ain't looking good right now. I also have a Sony Media Box which has the same missing Channels , but does not even show the channels for tuning.
So that said, has technology advanced to the point where I can just buy one box that takes the cable card and has the basic guide menu and compatible remote vs having to spin up a WMC instance and leave it running so I can navigate channels?
I also don't like paying for extra electricity if I can avoid it. I think TiVos can do this but man - the box is pricey service costs are not cool. Plus I have enough streaming devices already so don't need the rest of the bloat that comes with that.