InfiniTV 6 ETH Upgrade Process

[bigcity]

What is the process of moving from a current 4 tuner PCIe tuner card to the new 6 tuner ETH? Do you have to repair the card with the new tuner and call the cable company? Also can one tuning adapter support all 6 tuning channels or do you now need a second tuning adapter again.

Lastly, I have a gigabit router and the WMC PC has a gigabit card, however I only have a 100meg 24 port switch that serves up to my extenders all over the house. If I have the ETH and the WMC PC attached directly to the gigabit router and the extenders all connected to the switch will I have any speed issues or should I upgrade to a gigabit switch as well?

[foxwood]

What is the process of moving from a current 4 tuner PCIe tuner card to the new 6 tuner ETH? Do you have to repair the card with the new tuner and call the cable company?

The card is paired to the tuner, not the PC, so yes.

Also can one tuning adapter support all 6 tuning channels or do you now need a second tuning adapter again.

The current TA firmware supports 6 channels (erkotz from Ceton has already posted that he has worked with all the major Cable providers to address this issue).

Lastly, I have a gigabit router and the WMC PC has a gigabit card, however I only have a 100meg 24 port switch that serves up to my extenders all over the house. If I have the ETH and the WMC PC attached directly to the gigabit router and the extenders all connected to the switch will I have any speed issues or should I upgrade to a gigabit switch as well?

You should be fine, as long as the PC to ETH link is through a gig switch.

[JohnW248]

What is the process of moving from a current 4 tuner PCIe tuner card to the new 6 tuner ETH? Do you have to repair the card with the new tuner and call the cable company? Also can one tuning adapter support all 6 tuning channels or do you now need a second tuning adapter again.

Lastly, I have a gigabit router and the WMC PC has a gigabit card, however I only have a 100meg 24 port switch that serves up to my extenders all over the house. If I have the ETH and the WMC PC attached directly to the gigabit router and the extenders all connected to the switch will I have any speed issues or should I upgrade to a gigabit switch as well?

You do have to re-pair the cableCARD, every tuner has a unique host ID and that is the number the cable company pairs to the cableCARD. To change, first print out the Host ID screen of your current tuner and card, then when you call tell them you are MOVING the cableCARD to a NEW host and give them the old cableCARD info and the new host ID. They should be able to move them without problems. One tuning adapter will support all six streams---all Cisco TA 1520s are on FW that supports six, Moto you need to check and make sure you have the latest FW. There is no option to use two TAs, so if your cable company doesn't have the right FW and is running Moto, it will only see four tuners.

You should get a giga switch. You can get just a 5 or 8 port and daisy chain it to the router and 24 port so that the internet feeds the new switch and the computer and the tuner and a jumper connects that switch to the 24 port 10/100 switch. You don't want the tuner and the computer on the router because routers have a funny habit of snooping packets. There are lots of issues with the SD network tuner that were resolved by removing the connection of the computer and tuner from the router and putting them on a giga switch. Trendnet is one supplier that makes a giga 24 green switch that is reasonable and sometimes on sale at Newegg.

Of course you'll have to run tv set up again in Media Center since you have a new tuner, before you do that you should run the Ceton Diagnostic tool and remove tuners information and then discover tuners and then start your Media Center TV Set-up.

[barnabas1969]

You should get a giga switch. You can get just a 5 or 8 port and daisy chain it to the router and 24 port so that the internet feeds the new switch and the computer and the tuner and a jumper connects that switch to the 24 port 10/100 switch. You don't want the tuner and the computer on the router because routers have a funny habit of snooping packets. There are lots of issues with the SD network tuner that were resolved by removing the connection of the computer and tuner from the router and putting them on a giga switch. Trendnet is one supplier that makes a giga 24 green switch that is reasonable and sometimes on sale at Newegg.

I agree with John on this point.

[bigcity]

Thanks for the updates, I'll compare some prices on the gigabit switches I thought I remembered reading somewhere about issues with the router in the loop. Sounds like a pretty easy process, I'll have to check on my tuning adapter model to see what version it is running. Can you only tell if it will support 6 tuners by the firmware version? Will it create any problems if the tuner only supports 4 and it tries to record and there isn't one availabe, assuming it just errors out as normal like it would now if there was something wrong with the tuning adapter. Just didn't want it crashing out all recordings.

[JohnW248]

Thanks for the updates, I'll have to check on my tuning adapter model to see what version it is running. Can you only tell if it will support 6 tuners by the firmware version? Will it create any problems if the tuner only supports 4 and it tries to record and there isn't one availabe, assuming it just errors out as normal like it would now if there was something wrong with the tuning adapter. Just didn't want it crashing out all recordings.

If you have a Cisco 1520, then it will support six streams, I think that the Moto has to be running FW 1.36 or higher to support six streams. If your TA only supports four tuners, then only set-up four tuners in Media Center when you run TV Set-up and when they upgrade the FW re-run Set-up and do six tuners. Otherwise you'll get "no signal" whenever it tries to use the tuner that can't return data from the TA. Since Media Center has it's own method of allocating tuners, this can be a problem. With only two tuners, Tuner 1 is live tv and Tuner 2 is Recorded tv, If Tuner 2 is in use with a recording it will roll to tuner 1, etc. As you add tuners it gets more complex as to choices and you always have the option to open a channel in the guide (edit channel, edit sources) and uncheck some tuners. That can be a bit of a busy job to keep from re-running tv set-up, but it is another way to do it, it also lets you rearrange the order that MC uses to select tuners. Just remember the order you put them in is for live tv and not recording. Maybe somebody has a map of the choices.

[bigcity]

Bummer well here's to hoping that isn't an issue when I get home and can check the firmware version of the tuning adapters. Been wanting to have 6 tuners for awhile, so hoping I'm not disappointed b/c Brighthouse is behind the times.

[erkotz]

Bummer well here's to hoping that isn't an issue when I get home and can check the firmware version of the tuning adapters. Been wanting to have 6 tuners for awhile, so hoping I'm not disappointed b/c Brighthouse is behind the times.

I did work with Brighthouse to get them updated, so you should be good. If you (or anyone with an InfiniTV 6) still sees the open firmware, please open a support ticket and we will reach out to the operator.

[bigcity]

Good to hear, I will double check the firmware when I get home and if all is well I'll be ordering my new unit tonight. Thanks for the quick replies! Disappointed I didn't find this sooner I knew the beta forums moved over here but didn't realize it was this active until I started searching for tips on swapping last night.

[foxwood]

What is the process of moving from a current 4 tuner PCIe tuner card to the new 6 tuner ETH? Do you have to repair the card with the new tuner and call the cable company? Also can one tuning adapter support all 6 tuning channels or do you now need a second tuning adapter again.

By the way, if I was going to make that switch, I think I'd be inclined to get a second Cable card for the new Tuner and make sure it was working OK, before returning the first cable card. For the sake of a few bucks, it sounds like less of a hassle than doing a straight cutover.

(Though having said that, there's always the possibility that the cable company would cancle the wrong cable card when you returned the old one. Shouldn't happen, but Cable Companies do lot's of things that they shouldn't!)

[staknhalo]

Yeah, overlap sounds wise ^

[bigcity]

So if I did overlap I guess the process would be the same, I would have to assign the new card to the new tuner and then rescan and setup in WMC to see if the new setup was working. If so then I could remove the old and return.

Does the tuning adapter get tied to the cable card as well or does it just get tied to the account in general and work as an accessory, just so I know if I need to get another tuning adapter as well? I wish there were other options for the turning adapter, I've gone through like 3 of them already. I'd pay good money to have it all in one box.

[erkotz]

Tuning Adapters are only (persistently, there is technically a dynamic, run-time pairing with the CableCARD) paired with the account. There is no need to get a new TA/have your operator do anything to your TA if you are switching to a new device.

[bigcity]

I have a cisco box and this was the software version shown from the web interface STA1.0.0_1520_LR_F.1601. I know the info screen also only refers to 4 tuners. Good or no good?

[TeddyR]

bigcity: The STA1520s have been able to do 6 streams since FW 1402 (though 1402 had issues with more than 4 streams in some situations). 1501 fixed those stream and other timing issues. 1601 is the current stable and can do 6 streams with no issues..

[bigcity]

Sweet 6 Tuner and new 24 port switch purchased!

[bigcity]

So really all I need to do is go pick up another cable card and plug it in to the new tuner and remove the original tuner to test. That won't be so bad, although I think the problem might be that they won't let me pick up a cable card I think a tech may have to bring it to me and then stare at me wide eyed as I do all the work to set it up lol.

[lucidrenegade]

So really all I need to do is go pick up another cable card and plug it in to the new tuner and remove the original tuner to test. That won't be so bad, although I think the problem might be that they won't let me pick up a cable card I think a tech may have to bring it to me and then stare at me wide eyed as I do all the work to set it up lol.

They are legally required to let you do a self-install of a cable card. From the FCC website (http://www.fcc.gov/guides/cablecard-know-your-rights):

"By November 1, 2011, all cable operators must allow self-installation of CableCARDs. Your operator may decline your request for self-installation if your equipment manufacturer or vendor does not provide you with instructions on how to install a CableCARD and offer a toll-free telephone number for product support. FCC Rule 76.1205(b)(1)."

Obviously Ceton provides installation instructions, so if they give you any crap, threaten to file a complaint with the FCC.

[erkotz]

So really all I need to do is go pick up another cable card and plug it in to the new tuner and remove the original tuner to test. That won't be so bad, although I think the problem might be that they won't let me pick up a cable card I think a tech may have to bring it to me and then stare at me wide eyed as I do all the work to set it up lol.

They are legally required to let you do a self-install of a cable card. From the FCC website (http://www.fcc.gov/guides/cablecard-know-your-rights):

"By November 1, 2011, all cable operators must allow self-installation of CableCARDs. Your operator may decline your request for self-installation if your equipment manufacturer or vendor does not provide you with instructions on how to install a CableCARD and offer a toll-free telephone number for product support. FCC Rule 76.1205(b)(1)."

Obviously Ceton provides installation instructions, so if they give you any crap, threaten to file a complaint with the FCC.

Feel free to open a support ticket with us - we have contacts at most operators and can work to resolve trouble getting a CableCARD without an FCC complaint.

[jziggity]

I have a cisco box and this was the software version shown from the web interface STA1.0.0_1520_LR_F.1601. I know the info screen also only refers to 4 tuners. Good or no good?

My Cisco TA "software version" is showing "1501" at the end. Is it possible for the end user to upgrade the TA's software, or does the cable company have to do that?