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    need help deciding on my whole house tv/video

    This is all over the place but I need to figure it out as a high point and what will work and not work.. and what to do. I do not know about all this so wanted to get yalls thoughts...

    my goals.
    1. cable tv all over house
    2. stream tv to web for phone when not home (we miss stuff due to kids sports so would like to have the ability)
    3. lower bills


    so with that..
    in the basement will be a
    1. 75" samsung tv or 80" sharp tv (or 92" hd projector if i can talk wife into it)
    2. xbox one
    3. hdhomerun

    so that does hit a few of what I want to do. Getting to the cable tv part... is lengthy...

    Ok so i currently have comcast double play. We have verizon for home lan line.. wife feels the need to have a lan line. Well at one point verizon was $60 a month so I found out our bill would go up some going triple play. Wife called verizon told them and they lowered our bill to like $35.
    Well a year is up and we looked.. $80.. GAHHHHH

    so im going to call for xfinity tripple play but talking to a bud I am now in a loss on what to do...

    my bud has a tivo with lifetime. He said he got a cable card from comcast for it. it has 4 tuners and is a dvr too. He said the cable card is a non HD one so he doesnt pay HD prices but it is a HD tivo.. not sure how that is working out...

    he then rented a HD cable box for his new tv in the basement he finished. They charged him $30 a month and after 4 months and not using it he said screw it.... returned it.. bought the tivo mini lifetime for like $250...
    it talks back to his main tivo.... dvr features, etc.....

    seems cool. What am I missing on his setup? we do not have dvr now.. i would love to have dvr... he has comcast triple play...

    we dont have fios in our area... i want to drop the lan line costs...

    so lets start there..
    HW - i5 4570T @2.9ghz runs @11w | 8gb ram | 128gb ssd OS - Win10 x64

    HS - HS3 Pro Edition 3.0.0.435

    Plugins - BLRF 2.0.94.0 | Concord 4 3.1.13.10 | HSBuddy 3.9.605.5 | HSTouch Server 3.0.0.68 | RFXCOM 30.0.0.36 | X10 3.0.0.36 | Z-Wave 3.0.1.190

    Hardware - EdgePort/4 DB9 Serial | RFXCOM 433MHz USB Transceiver | Superbus 2000 for Concord 4 | TI103 X-10 Interface | WGL Designs W800 RF | Z-Net Z-Wave Interface

    #2
    For streaming your home TV to your phones/tablets, it's hard to beat a Slingbox. They are relatively cheap and have decent quality.
    HS4Pro on a Raspberry Pi4
    54 Z-Wave Nodes / 21 Zigbee Devices / 108 Events / 767 Devices
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    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by rmasonjr View Post
      For streaming your home TV to your phones/tablets, it's hard to beat a Slingbox. They are relatively cheap and have decent quality.
      slingbox stream to web so when im on the soccer field to watch a football game???
      I had slingbox on my list until someone told me hdhomerun is so much better... I dont know



      Pete I hit quote and your post isnt filling in.. weird.. oh well... anyway..

      so years ago before this digital only CRAP..
      I had a computer in the garage... it had beyondtv and a hauppauge tv tuner card. Loved it... DVR, TV in garage..

      work on a car, have tv up or guys over in garage shootin shiet and drinkin a few brewskis.... but then all channels went digital and viola... all gone...


      my streaming deal is simple.. I dont need it.. but when we are out.. i wouldnt mind flicking on a football game or something. right now the xfinity2go app is ok.. not too many channels...


      my thing is my cable bill is $140 a month.. and lan line is $80... $220... so I want to get the tripple play and reduce the cost...

      we dont need dvr, we dont have it now and anything we want to watch later is on - on demand.... so it is really a moo point.

      So many people I know say how once you have dvr you will never go back to not having it... I doubt that but who knows. I do want to watch tv down in the basement for football and stuff if we have a party and trying to figure out a way where it is cost effective.

      the tivo/mini tv way would get us more tv choices in our bedroom as right now we only have 2 of the small cable boxes ($2 a month i think) and the 1 hd non dvr box.
      HW - i5 4570T @2.9ghz runs @11w | 8gb ram | 128gb ssd OS - Win10 x64

      HS - HS3 Pro Edition 3.0.0.435

      Plugins - BLRF 2.0.94.0 | Concord 4 3.1.13.10 | HSBuddy 3.9.605.5 | HSTouch Server 3.0.0.68 | RFXCOM 30.0.0.36 | X10 3.0.0.36 | Z-Wave 3.0.1.190

      Hardware - EdgePort/4 DB9 Serial | RFXCOM 433MHz USB Transceiver | Superbus 2000 for Concord 4 | TI103 X-10 Interface | WGL Designs W800 RF | Z-Net Z-Wave Interface

      Comment


        #4
        Here have HDHomerun boxes, DTV stuff and CC stuff and OTA stuff and do not really watch any TV.

        You can now subscribe to "cable" tiered packages of channels all streaming on the internet.

        Basic with local channels are free, base is reasonably priced and deluxe is $200 month (showtime, hbo etc).

        They also have digital in the cloud DVR services. You can record stuff and watch it on your home. It's all virtual.

        I read about last night and signed up for it to play with it.

        Here I thought that I would never stream HD TV cuz I didn't think it would work. It works fine with 5.1 and 7.1 sound. I am amazed.

        I stream live TV today with XBMC. IE: Garage TV can have one Cat5e/Cat6 wire to it. Most of ESPN stuff is there now, golf channel, et al.

        Google XBMC; read the granular references. I keep one Wintel box on line with subs to AOD, Netflix et al. These stream over to XBMC or UPNP.

        I feed back to in house video channels some stuff. IE: my home office TV has one RG-6 going to it. It carries HD plus inhouse video channels. It also has one XBMC box that carries the inhouse stuff plus everything else. The XBMC box has HDMI / DVI and optical/analog video out.

        Bestest broadcast HD picture is still OTA over Sateliite, FIOS or Broadband. (my personal opinion).
        Last edited by Pete; October 15, 2014, 04:35 PM.
        - Pete

        Auto mator
        Homeseer 3 Pro - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e 64 bit Intel Haswell CPU 16Gb
        Homeseer Zee2 (Lite) - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e - CherryTrail x5-Z8350 BeeLink 4Gb BT3 Pro
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        Comment


          #5
          I can relay my story to see if it can offer direction:

          Ditched cable, now have just Verizon FIOS internet 50mbs up / down for $67/month and pay for Netflix/Amazon Prime and HBO go courtesy of my girlfriend. All of my media (Music, Movies, TV) is housed on a central Winbox running Plex Server and SMB. I use Roku's on the standalone TV's running plex and the streaming services, on the HTPC in my den I run Plex and XBMC. Remote access to the media outside of the house is achieved via the plex app. Everything is centralized and runs very well. If you keep HDHomeruns you can use those with you Roku and XBMC as well.

          Comment


            #6
            We've been running WMC for a year. Have serval plugins such as amazon prime, mb2, blueray player, and 4 extenders so users can play movies, music, or any media in other rooms.

            Just recently pete turned me onto these digital engine boxes that cost less than $70. We also got 17 inch (16:9) HD touch screens to use the engine for HS Touch interfaces. Well we plan on running maybe xbmc, Plex, or Media Browser 3 . Plex and Media Browser have the potienal to stream content to remote devices such as smart phones or laptops while ur on the go.

            For the telephone, buy a magic jack next time you at Walmart. Their 50 bucks for the device and 1 yr of service, then only 25 bucks a year. Works great even on speeds as slow as 1.5 mb down and .75 up.

            Here's the kicker, we pay 47 dollars a month and get 200 channels, 50/50 FiOS Internet , and unlimited calling and long distance.
            HSPro: 3.0.0.194
            PL: Insteon PLM 3.0.5.20,Insteon Thermostat 3.0.1.1 , UltraM1G, RainRelay8, UltraECM3, UltraPioneerAVR3, BLBackup, weatherXML, Jon00 Network & PC Monitor
            HW : Win 7 64bit, Intel i7-2600, 16 GB DDR3 Ram, 60 Plus Insteon Dual Band Devices, Rain8 Pro2, Elk M1 Gold, Brueltech GreenEye.

            Comment


              #7
              http://youtu.be/g_0NmNvgP80
              HSPro: 3.0.0.194
              PL: Insteon PLM 3.0.5.20,Insteon Thermostat 3.0.1.1 , UltraM1G, RainRelay8, UltraECM3, UltraPioneerAVR3, BLBackup, weatherXML, Jon00 Network & PC Monitor
              HW : Win 7 64bit, Intel i7-2600, 16 GB DDR3 Ram, 60 Plus Insteon Dual Band Devices, Rain8 Pro2, Elk M1 Gold, Brueltech GreenEye.

              Comment


                #8
                Curious about your $47 / month deal with FIOS?

                Here I was able to get a bit of a roll back for the three services but its still over $100.
                - Pete

                Auto mator
                Homeseer 3 Pro - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e 64 bit Intel Haswell CPU 16Gb
                Homeseer Zee2 (Lite) - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e - CherryTrail x5-Z8350 BeeLink 4Gb BT3 Pro
                HS4 Lite - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenovo Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram

                HS4 Pro - V4.1.18.1 - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenova Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram
                HSTouch on Intel tabletop tablets (Jogglers) - Asus AIO - Windows 11

                X10, UPB, Zigbee, ZWave and Wifi MQTT automation-Tasmota-Espurna. OmniPro 2, Russound zoned audio, Alexa, Cheaper RFID, W800 and Home Assistant

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                  #9
                  phone: obiTalk devices with as low as 0.99 each month to keep the phone line (up to 2.99 with fax and 911 capabilities)

                  tv: get DVBLINK from DVBLOGIC to mass distribute your TV signal from coax/satellite/hdhomerun/etc to the network to stream to any client, WMC, XBMC, ROKU, anything with DLNA, web, phone, etc.

                  Slingbox great for outside the network for auto-bandwidth calculating otherwise the DVBLINK works great if you know what you are doing.

                  I just have a pc in each room hooked to a TV and run WMC/XBMC/network playback, etc. FULLY DVR/etc.

                  WAF 100%, children and guests also.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by Pete View Post
                    Curious about your $47 / month deal with FIOS?

                    Here I was able to get a bit of a roll back for the three services but its still over $100.
                    HSPro: 3.0.0.194
                    PL: Insteon PLM 3.0.5.20,Insteon Thermostat 3.0.1.1 , UltraM1G, RainRelay8, UltraECM3, UltraPioneerAVR3, BLBackup, weatherXML, Jon00 Network & PC Monitor
                    HW : Win 7 64bit, Intel i7-2600, 16 GB DDR3 Ram, 60 Plus Insteon Dual Band Devices, Rain8 Pro2, Elk M1 Gold, Brueltech GreenEye.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by TeleFragger View Post
                      This is all over the place but I need to figure it out as a high point and what will work and not work.. and what to do. I do not know about all this so wanted to get yalls thoughts...

                      my goals.
                      1. cable tv all over house
                      2. stream tv to web for phone when not home (we miss stuff due to kids sports so would like to have the ability)
                      3. lower bills


                      so with that..
                      in the basement will be a
                      1. 75" samsung tv or 80" sharp tv (or 92" hd projector if i can talk wife into it)
                      2. xbox one
                      3. hdhomerun

                      so that does hit a few of what I want to do. Getting to the cable tv part...
                      Not sure if you have a HDhomerun yet, but we got 2 channel tuner for less than $70 2 years ago. I would start your project by combining the a 2 channel HDhomerun with a decent TV antenna.

                      You can use WMC that's included with windows for free to start.

                      Note: if you ever want to use Esxi on your media server, you can't use a pcie based tuner. We learned the hard way and have a Ceton pcie card and wish I would have gotten the Ceton Ethernet 6 tuner.
                      HSPro: 3.0.0.194
                      PL: Insteon PLM 3.0.5.20,Insteon Thermostat 3.0.1.1 , UltraM1G, RainRelay8, UltraECM3, UltraPioneerAVR3, BLBackup, weatherXML, Jon00 Network & PC Monitor
                      HW : Win 7 64bit, Intel i7-2600, 16 GB DDR3 Ram, 60 Plus Insteon Dual Band Devices, Rain8 Pro2, Elk M1 Gold, Brueltech GreenEye.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Thanks Charlie. Very nice. Thinking the little 50 home subdivision is still at around 50% cable these days along with FIOS. Left the package there at the triple play set up while here went to using Ooma and keeping the analog copper telephone lines.

                        Yup here have one "in house" tuner and two HDHomerun's plugged into the MythTV box.

                        Still also have DirectTV (and DVRs) for keeping up the WAF.

                        It does well streaming live and recorded media to any of the XBMC devices. (DE's and tabletop touchscreen tablets) plus it removes all commercials which is icing on the cake.

                        Most recently have slowed down recording stuff as I have found that I can just stream live or recorded most popular TV shows from the internet or record them virtually in the cloud. Kept an RG6 going to the TVs plus using the XBMC box. RG6 provides broadcast and in house TV; while the DE's provide streaming in house, recorded stuff and whatever is on the internet these days. Recently playing with live transcoding down from MPG2 to MPEG4 which works well on the MythTV box.

                        Geez; looks like winter is coming fast here in the midwest; like someone turned off the summer switch and bypassed the fall switch. I saw falling leaves for some 2 days; then a wind swept them away and the turns turned leafless.

                        Funny this morning at 2AM looking at the irrigation system; noticed that the clock said it was 1970 (44 years ago)....dumb ARM with no clock thing...and forgot to check it....well fixed it and it triggered a cycle of watering which I had to circumvent.

                        In a recap then all you need is a pipe to the internet these days for all of your multimedia needs. You can al la carte everything else cheap (telephone and get rid of any tuner rental / stb's). Geez still remember moving my BUD just to watch a hockey game using a Houston Tracker reciever; painfully very slow.
                        Last edited by Pete; October 19, 2014, 10:33 AM.
                        - Pete

                        Auto mator
                        Homeseer 3 Pro - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e 64 bit Intel Haswell CPU 16Gb
                        Homeseer Zee2 (Lite) - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e - CherryTrail x5-Z8350 BeeLink 4Gb BT3 Pro
                        HS4 Lite - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenovo Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram

                        HS4 Pro - V4.1.18.1 - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenova Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram
                        HSTouch on Intel tabletop tablets (Jogglers) - Asus AIO - Windows 11

                        X10, UPB, Zigbee, ZWave and Wifi MQTT automation-Tasmota-Espurna. OmniPro 2, Russound zoned audio, Alexa, Cheaper RFID, W800 and Home Assistant

                        Comment


                          #13
                          TTT.....

                          so you guys are saying Magic Jack is good? I see TONS of bad reviews saying device doesnt work, it goes bad, etc...

                          i see for $60 RS has it with 12 months... I am going to go pick it up and maybe buy the insurance on it if they offer it.

                          so my receiver is getting fixed so Im going to still be slow with this thread but at least it will be going!
                          HW - i5 4570T @2.9ghz runs @11w | 8gb ram | 128gb ssd OS - Win10 x64

                          HS - HS3 Pro Edition 3.0.0.435

                          Plugins - BLRF 2.0.94.0 | Concord 4 3.1.13.10 | HSBuddy 3.9.605.5 | HSTouch Server 3.0.0.68 | RFXCOM 30.0.0.36 | X10 3.0.0.36 | Z-Wave 3.0.1.190

                          Hardware - EdgePort/4 DB9 Serial | RFXCOM 433MHz USB Transceiver | Superbus 2000 for Concord 4 | TI103 X-10 Interface | WGL Designs W800 RF | Z-Net Z-Wave Interface

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Forget magicjack. Just get an OBI100 and you're all set. You can use Google Voice for free or choose from one of the many other viop services they work with. The one I'm using is called Vestalink I believe, and was $70 for 2 years. It really isn't better than Google Voice (which I used with my Obi for several years) except it does have 911 and CNAM caller ID.
                            Originally posted by rprade
                            There is no rhyme or reason to the anarchy a defective Z-Wave device can cause

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Here I have used Ooma now for a few years and its been fine.
                              - Pete

                              Auto mator
                              Homeseer 3 Pro - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e 64 bit Intel Haswell CPU 16Gb
                              Homeseer Zee2 (Lite) - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e - CherryTrail x5-Z8350 BeeLink 4Gb BT3 Pro
                              HS4 Lite - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenovo Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram

                              HS4 Pro - V4.1.18.1 - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenova Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram
                              HSTouch on Intel tabletop tablets (Jogglers) - Asus AIO - Windows 11

                              X10, UPB, Zigbee, ZWave and Wifi MQTT automation-Tasmota-Espurna. OmniPro 2, Russound zoned audio, Alexa, Cheaper RFID, W800 and Home Assistant

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