InfiniTV4 PCIe vs USB Reliability

[cclark89]

Are the USB Versions any more reliable? Or is it a wash?

A tech with my Cable Co said it was always easier for them to get the USB ones up and running. I try and put as little weight on Cable Co Tech's opinions as I can...but thought I'd ask. I'd be willing to trade in some tuning speed etc. for more reliability.

[Moderator edit: split from the "InfiniTV looses CP Auth" thread]

[STC]

I would not know which is more reliable if at all.
My PCIe version is rock solid.
The reason I said 'it won't' above is because your error is certainly due to a faulty card, and Ceton are fantastically responsive in dealing with such a thing.

[newfiend]

I have both units a USB and a PCIe. The PCIe has been very solid no issues ever. The USB unit has been pretty much flawless as well. On my last HTPC it never missed a beat..set it and forget it.
I just built a new HTPC with a Z68 EVGA Micro board and it had an issue with locking up the Motherboard at the BIOS level during boot up. I contacted Ceton and they had a new BETA firmware update emailed to me within a few days. Applied the update and it's now fixed. Ceton Support is incredible!! They go the extra mile to make sure you’re a happy customer and that speaks volumes.

If you have the option for PCIe vs. USB I would go PCIe. Its cleaner and less cables.. But they both work exactly the same. The internal isn't any harder to set up than the external either. It's the same software and drivers so I don't know why one would be any more difficult than another to "setup".
newfiend~

[erkotz]

Are the USB Versions any more reliable? Or is it a wash?

A tech with my Cable Co said it was always easier for them to get the USB ones up and running. I try and put as little weight on Cable Co Tech's opinions as I can...but thought I'd ask. I'd be willing to trade in some tuning speed etc. for more reliability.

Your cable tech is making things up. The USB InfiniTV and PCIe InfiniTV are basically the same design other than the interface. Their performance should be identical, and one is not any easier to set up than the other (aside from having to physically place the card inside the PC).

Personally, I prefer the PCIe unit at home for normal day to day use, as it's one less box (and power brick) laying around. Also technically PCIe will use less CPU power to transfer data than USB (this has to do with how USB works, and is true of any peripheral, not just the InfiniTV) though this is such a small amount of difference, it's basically splitting hairs.

I do keep some USB units around my house for random testing - it's handy for me personally to grab it and slap it on a random machine (or laptop) without opening the case. I do recognize that normal people aren't constantly moving their tuner cards between PCs/carrying them around. The TWC reps get scared when they look at my account - something like 15 CableCARDs + TAs are on it.

[newfiend]

Erkotz.. Ever have to explain all that hardware to them in the past.. Haha.. I would hate to see your cable bill..lol

Sent from my SGH-i937 using Board Express

[erkotz]

Erkotz.. Ever have to explain all that hardware to them in the past.. Haha.. I would hate to see your cable bill..lol

Sent from my SGH-i937 using Board Express

No one's forced me to explain it. I generally either tell techs "my account's not broken - I actually have that many devices" or "no, I don't actually have 15 TVs - I work for a company that makes cable hardware" and that generally appeases them.

Honestly my cable bill isn't THAT bad. TWC is only charging $2 per CableCARD, and TAs are free. It was around $200 (Showtime + higher internet tier) but I was able to get on a promo pack which should bring it down to around $150 total.

[newfiend]

Thats really resonable considering all you have.. Comcast is nice and easy on the first CC but if you add another, they poke ya.. they add another outlet fee and charge you for the 2nd CC..which adds roughly almost another 7-10 $ on to my bill.. not a huge increase really but when I bought the USB unit I was expecting an additional $2 charge for the second CC. If you ever get tired of that 6 tuner card.. let me know.. lol I just built a new HTPC and the motherboard has more PCIe slots. I just posted my USB unit on eBay so i can fund a new PCIe unit and clear out the extra box and brick. Its so nice to be able to record 8 streams.. Can't wait to test out the ECHO Beta! Do you know if the Keyboard accessory is included with the echo or will that be a seperate item? Thanks..
Take Care..
newfiend~

[gpatlanta]

Outlet fee...what a joke. You own the outlets in your house not them. That's a load of crap.

[barnabas1969]

I've gotta agree with gpatlanta. I can't imagine my cable company charging me an "outlet fee". What kind of crap is that? They deliver a signal to my house. It doesn't cost them a penny more if I have one TV connected or ten. And... define "outlet". What if that "outlet" is the wall jack? Then, what if I split it after the jack... are they going to charge me more for installing my own splitter?

I've had Comcast before... and their service sucked compared to Brighthouse... in every way, including the video quality, pricing, and the service techs who show up at your house.

[newfiend]

I had this same discussion with Richard1980.. basically I am only using one Wall jack in the living room.. it comes in from there to a splitter which feeds Ceton #1, Ceton #2 and my Cable Modem. When I added Ceton #2 and they brought out the 2nd CC.. they add an "outlet fee" to the bill.. basically if you add another unit that can receive a TV signal in the same room or another room they see it like your adding another cable box to receive content. And that box needs a live feed so for them to activate the "outlet" they charge you. I could have added my own splitter but I had to have the guy out to activate the second CC and fix a signal issue I was having so i couldn't avoid the charge. I think its total BS too but I can't do anything about it.. even though both tuners are in the SAME BOX! It's the cable companies way of "making Love to you" if you get my drift...lol
newfiend~

[barnabas1969]

I'm sure Richard probably covered this, but the "outlet" fee seems like a way to cheat the rules and charge you just as much for a cable card as they charge for a cable box, even though they are supposed to make the cable cards cheaper than the boxes. Do they charge an "outlet" fee if you use more than one of their boxes?

[slowbiscuit]

Yes, it's not right, and yes they charge you an outlet fee for an extra STB. Note that Comcast card billing is all over the map, and entirely depends on local policy and/or the rep you get. Some areas get all cards for free, some get charged $1-1.50 each, some get $9-10 outlet fees and $2.50-3 credits for using cards instead of STBs, some get bogus 'HD Tech fees' applied even if you don't have their STB.

Yes, it's a joke.

[barnabas1969]

It just seems foreign to me. I've lived in this area of Florida since I was 20 years old. My father subscribed to cable when it was first available when I was a kid, but he didn't keep it long because he said it was just the same shows being repeated over and over.

So, my only experience with cable has been here in central Florida after I moved out of my parents' house. For about 6 months during my divorce, I lived in Vero Beach... and they have Comcast there. I hated Comcast.

For the remaining 21 and a half years that I've lived in this area, I've had Brighthouse Networks (formerly Time Warner). They don't care how many TV's you have connected. They also don't charge extra for HD vs. SD. They send all the local channels in ClearQAM with apparently the same level of compression as the OTA broadcasts... I can't tell the difference between the pictures on my ATSC tuners and my QAM tuners. They charge $3/month for each CableCard. They used to charge $4/month per Tuning Adapter, but they are now free after some people complained about this practice on dslreports.com.

[newfiend]

I wish I had more options for Internet and TV in my area. But unfortunately we do not yet.. I would like to try Fios..but it's not available here quite yet. Comcast has been 50/50 for me.. When their good their great when they suck..well..they suck. I have had missed appointments from them and that sucks because I have to miss work for them to show up because the wife doesn't understand my HTPC obsession.. As long as she can turn it on and use it to watch TV she's happy.. But a HTPC is always work .. And I have to be there to add hardware and configure it correctly. I have lost a few hours of work for them to just blow me off and not show up. But I will say that they have always credited my account for the missed appointments. And the Internet service is quite good in my area. The only thing that really ticks me off are the added B.S. fee's for Outlets etc..

[Kick4U]

A question for those with both units. Does the USB version degrade when the device is at full throttle (recording and streaming 4 shows).

FYI- The bandwidth rate of USB 2.0 is only 480Mbit/s, while PCIe 1.0 x1 is rated at 2.0Gbit/s. That's over 4 times the bandwidth.

[adam1991]

The tuner card has no bearing on what happens when you're streaming shows out of the HTPC. It comes into play only when tuning content and streaming it (via a network connection, technically) into the HTPC.

I don't remember the exact numbers, but some discussions recently talked about the bandwidth needed to record those shows. It isn't nearly what you think it is.

If you're driving only four cars down the highway, does it matter whether the highway has four lanes plus very wide berms, or 20 lanes? The extra 16 lanes don't do anything for you.

[newfiend]

A question for those with both units. Does the USB version degrade when the device is at full throttle (recording and streaming 4 shows).

FYI- The bandwidth rate of USB 2.0 is only 480Mbit/s, while PCIe 1.0 x1 is rated at 2.0Gbit/s. That's over 4 times the bandwidth.

nope.. it works perfectly.. no slow downs.. nada. I could easily record 3 shows and watch another on it and the system is still as responsive as ever. It's a solid product.
newfiend~

[erkotz]

A question for those with both units. Does the USB version degrade when the device is at full throttle (recording and streaming 4 shows).

FYI- The bandwidth rate of USB 2.0 is only 480Mbit/s, while PCIe 1.0 x1 is rated at 2.0Gbit/s. That's over 4 times the bandwidth.

Even watching 4 HD channels at once, the amount of bandwidth required is only about 80mbps - far less than what USB can offer.

[werds]

It just seems foreign to me. I've lived in this area of Florida since I was 20 years old. My father subscribed to cable when it was first available when I was a kid, but he didn't keep it long because he said it was just the same shows being repeated over and over.

So, my only experience with cable has been here in central Florida after I moved out of my parents' house. For about 6 months during my divorce, I lived in Vero Beach... and they have Comcast there. I hated Comcast.

For the remaining 21 and a half years that I've lived in this area, I've had Brighthouse Networks (formerly Time Warner). They don't care how many TV's you have connected. They also don't charge extra for HD vs. SD. They send all the local channels in ClearQAM with apparently the same level of compression as the OTA broadcasts... I can't tell the difference between the pictures on my ATSC tuners and my QAM tuners. They charge $3/month for each CableCard. They used to charge $4/month per Tuning Adapter, but they are now free after some people complained about this practice on dslreports.com.

Hmmmm interesting I saw one of your posts on DSLreports earlier today on this same subject. How many tuners does each tuning adapter support? 2 or 4? Also sounds like a messload of extra cables added in the process =/ (Currently have Comcast with no need for tuning adapters, but looking at possible move to Florida and the providers in the areas we are looking are Brighthouse or Comcast... trying to figure out what extra setup work I will need with our equipment if we have Brighthouse wherever we move to...)

[barnabas1969]

Hmmmm interesting I saw one of your posts on DSLreports earlier today on this same subject. How many tuners does each tuning adapter support? 2 or 4? Also sounds like a messload of extra cables added in the process =/ (Currently have Comcast with no need for tuning adapters, but looking at possible move to Florida and the providers in the areas we are looking are Brighthouse or Comcast... trying to figure out what extra setup work I will need with our equipment if we have Brighthouse wherever we move to...)

Each TA can support up to 6 tuners. I have two 3-tuner HD HomeRun Prime's connected to two TA's. Each host (HD HomeRun Prime, Ceton InfiniTV4/6, or the Hauppauge 2-tuner) needs to have it's own TA.

It's not a lot of extra cables... just one power, one coax, and one USB connected to each TA. One of the nice things about the HD HomeRun Prime tuners is that I was able to put the TA's and tuners in my wiring closet. The only devices sitting under my TV are the HTPC and an AVR.