HD Homerun Questions

Ask about SiliconDusts HomeRun tuners here.
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joeer77

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HD Homerun Questions

#1

Post by joeer77 » Tue Sep 15, 2020 6:00 pm

Hi Everyone. Thinking about cutting the cord. I've been running two Ceton cable cards on WMC since 2011 and I'm fed up with basic TV pricing with Comcast.

My plan is to ditch my two Ceton InfiniTV 4 cards out of my Windows 7 WMC HTPC and switch to HD Homerun 2 or 4 tuner network tuner. I will continue using EPG123 and WMC as much as possible. I will also use my 2 Xbox 360s as extenders. Some questions I have:

1. I assume Windows 7 WMC will recognize the HD homerun tuner without issue after I install Homerun drivers?
2. Do you have to assign each tuner to WMC PC like with Ceton or are they floating? This may affect if I purchase the 2 or 4 tuner version. I also read a review on Amazon where each watching device permanently consumes a tuner (Ipad, Iphone, etc). Is that right or are they floating for whichever device wants to use it? There will only be 5 channels I want to watch so leaning towards the 2 tuner card.
3. I have two other Windows 7 PCs on my network I would like to be able to watch TV on. With Ceton I had to assign a tuner for each remote PC to watch in WMC (Ceton tuner pooling). With HD Homerun, can I watch TV just using HD Homerun software and not tie up a tuner?
4. My antenna TV reception is best in a different part of the house than where my HTPC is. My plan was to connect HD Homerun to a wireless bridge 5ghz/AC band and send to router. Has anyone tried that? Does it work? Does HD homerun have built in 5ghz/AC band? Is it good?

Thanks in advance!

stuartm

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#2

Post by stuartm » Tue Sep 15, 2020 6:51 pm

1. yes WMC will see the tuners. of course you will need to rerun tuner setup in WMC to be able to use the tuners.
2. You can use them as pooled tuners and WMC should try each tuner you have configured in tuner setup until it finds one not in use.
3. No, watching something with any device will mean a tuner is in use by that device and not available to other devices. Also I am not sure how well SD software access plays with WMC access. When a device stops using a tuner then the tuner should return to the pool for use by any device.
4. There is no built in wireless in the HD homerun. as always YMMV accessing the tuners via wireless bridge, I think some people may have it working.

adam1991

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#3

Post by adam1991 » Tue Sep 15, 2020 10:34 pm

joeer77 wrote: Tue Sep 15, 2020 6:00 pm Hi Everyone. Thinking about cutting the cord. I've been running two Ceton cable cards on WMC since 2011 and I'm fed up with basic TV pricing with Comcast.

My plan is to ditch my two Ceton InfiniTV 4 cards out of my Windows 7 WMC HTPC and switch to HD Homerun 2 or 4 tuner network tuner. I will continue using EPG123 and WMC as much as possible. I will also use my 2 Xbox 360s as extenders.
Hey, I was in the same position in 2011--and went the exact same OTA route in 2015.
joeer77 wrote: Tue Sep 15, 2020 6:00 pm Some questions I have:

1. I assume Windows 7 WMC will recognize the HD homerun tuner without issue after I install Homerun drivers?
2. Do you have to assign each tuner to WMC PC like with Ceton or are they floating? This may affect if I purchase the 2 or 4 tuner version. I also read a review on Amazon where each watching device permanently consumes a tuner (Ipad, Iphone, etc). Is that right or are they floating for whichever device wants to use it? There will only be 5 channels I want to watch so leaning towards the 2 tuner card.
3. I have two other Windows 7 PCs on my network I would like to be able to watch TV on. With Ceton I had to assign a tuner for each remote PC to watch in WMC (Ceton tuner pooling). With HD Homerun, can I watch TV just using HD Homerun software and not tie up a tuner?
4. My antenna TV reception is best in a different part of the house than where my HTPC is. My plan was to connect HD Homerun to a wireless bridge 5ghz/AC band and send to router. Has anyone tried that? Does it work? Does HD homerun have built in 5ghz/AC band? Is it good?

Thanks in advance!
1) yes

2) floating

3) because floating, watch to your heart's content. If a tuner is available, whatever wants it will take it until you don't want it anymore.

4) wired only. Go wired. Trust me.

joeer77

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#4

Post by joeer77 » Wed Sep 16, 2020 5:18 pm

Thanks guys. I'm leaning towards the 2 tuner HD HomeRun.

Does anyone have an antenna they prefer? I have older rabbit ear antenna that works ok but I want a new one. I've seen a few on youtube and online that look interesting.

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garyan2

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#5

Post by garyan2 » Wed Sep 16, 2020 7:01 pm

Might be overkill for your situation, but I use the Lava Omnipro HD-8008. I have it sitting in my attic space with power and coax going into a closet. This one fit all my needs since I needed VHF and 360 degree coverage for UHF. I'm surrounded by mountains and have transmission towers 180 degrees apart. I've never had an issue with it.
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

joeer77

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#6

Post by joeer77 » Mon Sep 21, 2020 8:57 pm

Thanks for inputs.

Picked up a duo tuner. Connected it to a Linksys wireless bridge and I'm able to stream two channels over my network! I like how you can watch on your phone. Haven't tried using it with WMC yet. Impressed so far.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk



joeer77

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#7

Post by joeer77 » Wed Oct 05, 2022 12:09 am

Hi everyone. I have a long overdue update.

1. I have cut the cord. I have a antenna and HDHomerun duo setup connected to a Linksys wireless bridge (RE6300). I get every local station sent to any PC with this setup.
2. After much trial and error, I've had to abandon WMC on Windows 7 PCs. Why?
2a. I get serious black pixel-ation when streaming wireless TV signal from the wireless bridge to my router. This occurs on 4 different PCs I've tested. The issue goes away if I ran a CAT6 cable from HDHomerun to router. (Took me days to figure this out!) It seems WMC is very picky about this signal. HDhomerun app, Kodi, Next PVR, Plex can all display video correctly over wireless. Why must WMC be so picky??
2b. WMC refuses to tune to channel 49.1. Multiple PCs state: "No signal detected". This is important channel for me and is deal breaker. Has anyone else had this issue?? I can't fix it after much searching. Every other tuner app I've used works fine.

I can't see going back to WMC due to 2a and 2b unless someone has some great ideas. I'm still searching for the next best solution. The HDhomerun app is my favorite if I just want to watch TV. Next PVR is ok for recording TV. I don't like how long it takes for Next PVR to see the tuners after a reboot. TIA

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garyan2

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#8

Post by garyan2 » Wed Oct 05, 2022 3:04 am

I think the difference between WMC and the other apps may be that WMC streams directly to video and the others buffer the stream which will allow time for dropped packets over your wireless bridge to be recovered for a more coherent stream. This is just a guess on my part.

Don't know about 49.1. Is the power low? WMC prefers higher signal strength signals for a more reliable recording (probably due to my above guess).
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

joeer77

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#9

Post by joeer77 » Wed Oct 05, 2022 3:09 pm

garyan2 wrote: Wed Oct 05, 2022 3:04 am I think the difference between WMC and the other apps may be that WMC streams directly to video and the others buffer the stream which will allow time for dropped packets over your wireless bridge to be recovered for a more coherent stream. This is just a guess on my part.

Don't know about 49.1. Is the power low? WMC prefers higher signal strength signals for a more reliable recording (probably due to my above guess).
Thanks Gary. I think you may be right regarding the buffer.

49.1 is the same station as 12.1 in my area. Just a different channel (Fox12 and Fox12+ it's called). The signal levels for 12.1 and 49.1 are the same when I check the HDhomerun config GUI. The signals are lower compared to ABC or CBS stations but still tune in. WMC can tune 12.1 without issue.

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