What are my options for extenders?

[pmd5700]

I have a HDHomeRun Prime. I have an Xbox 360. I have a couple of PC's. I want to know what my options are with the different devices.

PC's:

• Assuming each PC has W7MC I should be able to watch live TV and record TV on each one, correct? Both at the same time?
• Can I watch shows recorded on PC1 on PC2?
• If I want to store all my shows on one PC can I set shows to record from PC1 onto PC2 and then watch them on either PC1 or PC2?
• If one PC doesn't have W7MC or has a different operating system I can only watch Live TV and record copy-freely shows, correct?

Xbox 360:

• I can watch Live TV and recorded TV, correct?
• Can I watch recorded TV from PC1 and PC2?

I apologize if any of this is confusing. This is the best way I could write it out.

[signcarver]

First you must state what tuner/provider

With cablecard tuners you can run in to more protections (I have seen this with OTA as well but since windows 7 not as often) and protected programs can only be viewed on the PC that made the recording or a "true" WMC extender such as an xbox (another PC is not an extender)

If all your content is not protected, you can do things like asked about, but if you are using networked/shared tuners, each will use its own tuner if you are tuning the same channel at the same time (not share a tuner... extenders view "from" the pc so the in a sense share a single tuner if watching the same show) and scheduling recordings can also be tricky as you may end up having both record the same show.

My provider protects all channels so I using individual PCs really isn't an option for WHDVR and I must go the extender route.

As to your second question about the 360, it really only connects to one of the PCs and that one must be on. Since you supposedly will set up the libraries of the PCs to point at one another, if both PCs are on, you will be able to see the content from both, assuming not protected...

[pmd5700]

I have Brighthouse with a Cable Card and Tuning Adapter. The tuner is the HDHR3-CC

[signcarver]

My understanding is BH has removed protections from most channels so you should be good to go for just about all but HBO and such... I would however strongly recommend recording off just one PC, have that be the PC the xbox connects to and just add its recorded tv folder as a location for recorded tv on the other PC... then you only record on that 2nd PC when you need an extra copy of a protected show with it. At one of my locations I often record the same shows to 4 laptops (I schedule 2 to get the rebroadcast later in the evening that most cable channels seem to do in order to not tie up too many tuners at once) as my provider protects all and 4 people want to watch it on their laptops over lunch (luckily all handle protected content well and don't use eDP for the built in display)

Speaking of which, does anyone know if mipi registers as ok for protected content (I know eDP doesn't work and LVDS does work)... we got a few new tablets that use it and I am hesitant to spend the $10 to get WMC on them if they can't display protected content... I may have to wait for the SD DVR project before I can use these.

[pmd5700]

Thanks for the responses! I think I'll try to do what you're saying. Is there an easy way to figure out which channels are copy once, copy freely, etc.?

[TheOsburnFamil]

Thanks for the responses! I think I'll try to do what you're saying. Is there an easy way to figure out which channels are copy once, copy freely, etc.?

It's been a while since I've used it and you'll need to do some digging on this forum-- but, when the Ceton Tuners first came out, someone wrote a little script that hits each channel on each tuner and will spit out signal strength as well as encryption status. It puts it all in a nice little page.

[mdavej]

You can also simply look at your current recordings. If the info window doesn't say "copy protected" at the bottom left, you're golden. Or if you tell us your cable system, we can probably tell you what's protected.

Here's the signal strength script: http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/vie ... 423#p73423

EDIT: Looks like this script probably only works on Ceton tuners. Sorry

[signcarver]

On the prime if you run a channel scan (on the device itself) it should show a DRM icon next to each channel that has DRM... for BH my understanding this will now only be for HBO and such... a year ago this wouldn't have been the case and there may still be a few that haven't changed... I believe Indy didn't change until around February of this year. If your area does mark everything, I suggest asking about it on their forum on dslreports.com

Though the DRM indicator on the primes's channel lineup is a good indicator, it is always best to check each program the way others suggested as WMC can decide to protect the program anyway... newer firmware on both prime and ceton removed the requirements of legacy protections but WMC can still act on them if it chooses... I really haven't seen WMC do this often since the vista days but I do remember a local clear qam station being flagged occasionally as the commercials said copy never (and this was on windows 7, and not with a cablecard tuner and in fact suggested using a cablecard tuner as a possible workaround)... eventually these went away.

[pmd5700]

On the prime if you run a channel scan (on the device itself) it should show a DRM icon next to each channel that has DRM... for BH my understanding this will now only be for HBO and such... a year ago this wouldn't have been the case and there may still be a few that haven't changed... I believe Indy didn't change until around February of this year. If your area does mark everything, I suggest asking about it on their forum on dslreports.com

Though the DRM indicator on the primes's channel lineup is a good indicator, it is always best to check each program the way others suggested as WMC can decide to protect the program anyway... newer firmware on both prime and ceton removed the requirements of legacy protections but WMC can still act on them if it chooses... I really haven't seen WMC do this often since the vista days but I do remember a local clear qam station being flagged occasionally as the commercials said copy never (and this was on windows 7, and not with a cablecard tuner and in fact suggested using a cablecard tuner as a possible workaround)... eventually these went away.

Good point! I looked at the channels under the primes menu and only see 2 channels with DRM (WGNA and CNBCHD).