U-Verse has whole home DVR now.

[rahlquist]

As noted here http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Uverse-Whole-Home-DVR-Arrives-97315 AT&T is ready to roll their whole home DVR solution with capability of recording 4 shows at once and displaying them to any U-verse TV in a home.

:crying: :crying: :crying:

[dtrell]

sweet. now to get u-verse in akron...ill hold my breath..time warner has such a grip over the political machine in akron, it wont happen anytime soon...and forget FIOS...

[rahlquist]

I'd run cat5e to every tv in my house if Directv would get theirs to market before 2010.

[sunking]

As noted here http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Uverse-Whole-Home-DVR-Arrives-97315 AT&T is ready to roll their whole home DVR solution with capability of recording 4 shows at once and displaying them to any U-verse TV in a home.

:crying: :crying: :crying:

Don't worry, it'll happen. After all wasn't it shown 3 or 4 years ago at CES? It must be right around the corner by now!
:hurah:

[PCampbell]

I have u-verse and there is no sign of whole home dvr. If you record 4 shows at once or 2 HD shows the the bandwith is used up and no other TV can be used.

[tunce]

Boy it is getting closer to the point that I am looking hard at U-verse. I do love Directv but if the price point is there and they provide the "wants" I am looking for like this one, which is number 1 on my list. I will change providers. Also id dose not hurt that they can provide high speed internet access unlike Directvt

Thank the Lord for a free market society!!

[Doug Brott]

I have u-verse and there is no sign of whole home dvr. If you record 4 shows at once or 2 HD shows the the bandwith is used up and no other TV can be used.

yup, this is what I recall as well .. Sure, you can record 4 things on the same DVR .. but if you have other DVRs, they can only record one of those 4 things .. not a 5th program .. oh and more than 2 HD programs at the same time (in the entire house) .. forget about it.

That would really mess me up as there are times when I record 3 or 4 HD programs at the same time (on different DVRs of course).

[rahlquist]

yup, this is what I recall as well .. Sure, you can record 4 things on the same DVR .. but if you have other DVRs, they can only record one of those 4 things .. not a 5th program .. oh and more than 2 HD programs at the same time (in the entire house) .. forget about it.

That would really mess me up as there are times when I record 3 or 4 HD programs at the same time (on different DVRs of course).

Mind you I cant say the recording aspect is the part that appeals to me in this, its the MRV.

[PCampbell]

They will not give you a second DVR. The HD sucks compaired to Directv. I only need to keep the TV for 90 days to get the internet and IP Phone. The internet is great and the phone is only 20.00 a month here.

[RAD]

If UVerse wasn't bandwidth starved (no more then 2 HD streams) I might be willing to give this a shot, MRV is something that I'd really like to get back after losing it when I got rid of my Replay boxes.

[fornold]

I tried to get UVerse installed at my house just for the internet since it is the only wired option available where I live. ATT was too stupid when they wired up our neighborhood, out of about 40 homes they can service about 10 due to the convoluted path the wires are laid in the ground. The sales agent was shocked I wasn't interested in the TV service, but I signed up for it just to get free installation. There is no contract so I was going to cancel after the first 30 days (which are free). I found an old portable TV that I set up in my network closet and told the installer that is the only TV I wanted hooked up.

Even after the failed installation I get weekly calls, emails and postcards wanting to get me to sign up. The latest info does include mention of the whole home DVR.

I have friends that have the TV service and the HD quality is horrible, it is compressed to death.

[Grentz]

I'd run cat5e to every tv in my house if Directv would get theirs to market before 2010.

Heck I already have that done!

Maybe this will light a little fire under Directv to get MRV a bit quicker though, you never know!

[RAD]

Heck I already have that done!

Maybe this will light a little fire under Directv to get MRV a bit quicker though, you never know!

With both Verison FIOS and Uverse now having this (and E* with their RF output soluition to send NTSC to a 2nd set) DirecTV really needs to get moving on this IMHO.

[fl panthers]

yup, this is what I recall as well .. Sure, you can record 4 things on the same DVR .. but if you have other DVRs, they can only record one of those 4 things .. not a 5th program .. oh and more than 2 HD programs at the same time (in the entire house) .. forget about it.

That would really mess me up as there are times when I record 3 or 4 HD programs at the same time (on different DVRs of course).

do you actually work or moderate and watch tv

[elaclair]

do you actually work or moderate and watch tv


Hey, us IT guys can multi-task! You'd be surprised at just how often you can find me watching a program on the main set, running tests on the HR-21 in the bedroom, logged in to work on my laptop, and mastering a DVD on my iMac.....:D All the while reading DBSTalk.

[Tom Robertson]

As Doug says, I have many times with 4 HD items recording, sometimes as many as 5 plus some SD. (As soon as Comedy Central and MSNBC go HD, I'd blow Universe out of the water for the whole neighborhood!) :)

Mr. DIRECTV, I'm glad you're listening to us--4 tuners is not a whole house DVR. :) (No, this is not foreshadowing any information, merely pointing out how many of us there are that use lots of tuners.) :)

Cheers,
Tom

[inkahauts]

I don't like Uverse current solution, but MRV is the right step. I have a feeling that at some point, MRV will do for DVRs, what DVRs did for recording programs... It will fundamental change the way people view tv.

[Tom Robertson]

Inkahauts, MediaShare, now that I've built up a library, is a big TV viewing changer for me. :)

I expect MRV will continue that direction as I now build up a library of HD content from premium channels. Woohoo!

Cheers,
Tom

[cartrivision]

As Doug says, I have many times with 4 HD items recording, sometimes as many as 5 plus some SD. (As soon as Comedy Central and MSNBC go HD, I'd blow Universe out of the water for the whole neighborhood!) :)

Mr. DIRECTV, I'm glad you're listening to us--4 tuners is not a whole house DVR. :) (No, this is not foreshadowing any information, merely pointing out how many of us there are that use lots of tuners.) :)

Cheers,
Tom

I'd have to agree with this. I for one am really hoping that what DirecTV has referred to as a "whole home DVR" will be a DVR that can be arbitrarily expanded two tuners at a time by adding another (or several) networked DVRs to the mix, and that MRV allows any group of networked DVRs to look like one big N tuner DVR that can record up to N conflicting programs based on a single Prioritizer List that can be added to from anyone on the DVR network.

[houskamp]

As Doug says, I have many times with 4 HD items recording, sometimes as many as 5 plus some SD. (As soon as Comedy Central and MSNBC go HD, I'd blow Universe out of the water for the whole neighborhood!) :)

Mr. DIRECTV, I'm glad you're listening to us--4 tuners is not a whole house DVR. :) (No, this is not foreshadowing any information, merely pointing out how many of us there are that use lots of tuners.) :)

Cheers,
Tom
Same here.. I have 6 (3 DVRs) tuners and still occationaly have to look for a free tuner.. allmost everything I record/watch is HD (if not HD I send emails :D )

[RAD]

As Doug says, I have many times with 4 HD items recording, sometimes as many as 5 plus some SD.

Cheers,
Tom

Give me MRV so I can make use of those other tuners in my home that are all on my network. Too many times I have to go to one TV or the other to watch something that's been recorder on that DVR because both tuners in the main set were busy.

[Tom Robertson]

Magic 8 ball says "Signs look good." ;)

[RAD]

Magic 8 ball says "Signs look good." ;)

It would sure be nice if that happened SOON, I would think that would give the customers of the other DBS service something to think about since that's something IMHO is a major function that their DVR's don't have ( E*'s TV2 NTSC output doesn't count, can't get HD resolutions from it).

[purtman]

What is the capacity of a UVerse DVR?

[Tom Robertson]

Too small... ;)

[bhelton71]

What is the capacity of a UVerse DVR?

Too small... ;)

If the numbers I saw on the UVerse users forum are still valid - as Tom so eloquently stated - way too small. 160GB - 120 Hrs SD or 24 hrs HD.

From March '08 - http://www.uverseusers.com/content/view/128/1/
From May '08 - http://www.uverseusers.com/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,2/action,printpage/topic,7779.0/

[fornold]

If the numbers I saw on the UVerse users forum are still valid - as Tom so eloquently stated - way too small. 160GB - 120 Hrs SD or 24 hrs HD.

From March '08 - http://www.uverseusers.com/content/view/128/1/
From May '08 - http://www.uverseusers.com/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,2/action,printpage/topic,7779.0/

This is from the UVerse site.

DVR program recording capacity: 133 hours SD recording, up to 37 hours HD recording, or any combination of the two

[GCanada]

We just signed up for uverse internet. 10meg service. They kept trying to get us to switch to there tv service also saying they have same amount of hd channels and better quality. I just laughed at them. Now we can ditch our home phone also. Going w/ t-mobile @ home for $10/month. Whole house is wired w/ cat6. What is mrv?

[Tom Robertson]

We just signed up for uverse internet. 10meg service. They kept trying to get us to switch to there tv service also saying they have same amount of hd channels and better quality. I just laughed at them. Now we can ditch our home phone also. Going w/ t-mobile @ home for $10/month. Whole house is wired w/ cat6. What is mrv?

T-mobile@home launched here last nite. :)

MRV is being to play items on a DVR from another DVR, at the very least. More advanced MRV features might include more remote control of the other DVR like scheduling, todo list editing, etc.

Even more advanced features would allow the schedulers on multiple DVRs to work together to decide which DVR will record what items so all the tuners become virtual in the network of DVRs.

No idea which feature sets DIRECTV will include over time, other than the playback features. I'd also like to be able to delete recordings remotely.

Cheers,
Tom

[wingrider01]

I have u-verse and there is no sign of whole home dvr. If you record 4 shows at once or 2 HD shows the the bandwith is used up and no other TV can be used.

QFE

2HD streams + 2SD streams is not enough at all. Not even for normal viewing in my household. Great idea, less then stellar implementation of the entire concept

[Ken S]

I gotta disagree on MRV with DVRs at each location as being the ultimate solution. It's a hack that allows better use of the existing technology. Having DVRs with individual HDs and tuners spread throughout a home ends up being expensive and maintenance intensive. The UVerse implementation is a step in the right direction though.

I'd suggest that a client server model with one DVR able to record multiple channels at once feeding smaller "extender" boxes over a network at each TV location to be far more elegant.

Even better still would have the data actually being stored at a central server and only sent to the home units upon request...but that's going to require more bandwidth than most providers have/make available today.

Would anyone really miss having RG6 strung all over their house?

I'm not saying MRV is bad...it's not...but I hope it's just a short-term, stop-gap solution on the way to far better technology.

[purtman]

Does this Uverse DVR allow an external hard drive?

[carlsbad_bolt_fan]

Who cares?

It's AT&T. And AT&T will ALWAYS find a way to screw something up.

[purtman]

Thanks for such an insightful comment. Anybody else have something productive to add to this?

[rahlquist]

I'd suggest that a client server model with one DVR able to record multiple channels at once feeding smaller "extender" boxes over a network at each TV location to be far more elegant.

+100 The extenders should be no larger than a cigar box, and should allow any server on the same subnet to serve them as long as they are activated.

[Mightyram]

If UVerse wasn't bandwidth starved (no more then 2 HD streams) I might be willing to give this a shot, MRV is something that I'd really like to get back after losing it when I got rid of my Replay boxes.

Just remember DirecTV bought ReplayTV... so I imagine some of their MRV technology will be filtering into the DirecTV boxes...

[RAD]

Just remember DirecTV bought ReplayTV... so I imagine some of their MRV technology will be filtering into the DirecTV boxes...
Yep, know that. Hope so or maybe they just bought Replay for the patents?

[Ken S]

+100 The extenders should be no larger than a cigar box, and should allow any server on the same subnet to serve them as long as they are activated.

Check out www.popcornhour.com

[Tom Robertson]

I gotta disagree on MRV with DVRs at each location as being the ultimate solution. It's a hack that allows better use of the existing technology. Having DVRs with individual HDs and tuners spread throughout a home ends up being expensive and maintenance intensive. The UVerse implementation is a step in the right direction though.

I'd suggest that a client server model with one DVR able to record multiple channels at once feeding smaller "extender" boxes over a network at each TV location to be far more elegant.

Even better still would have the data actually being stored at a central server and only sent to the home units upon request...but that's going to require more bandwidth than most providers have/make available today.

Would anyone really miss having RG6 strung all over their house?

I'm not saying MRV is bad...it's not...but I hope it's just a short-term, stop-gap solution on the way to far better technology.

MRV is the enabler to exactly what you suggest. Client server using DLNA.

Tho, remember more homes have RG59/RG6 already strung throughout the house than CAT5e. :)

Cheers,
Tom

[rahlquist]

MRV is the enabler to exactly what you suggest. Client server using DLNA.

Tho, remember more homes have RG59/RG6 already strung throughout the house than CAT5e. :)OMG Tom tell me they aint bringin back some thinnet derivitive!

[Tom Robertson]

OMG Tom tell me they aint bringin back some thinnet derivitive!

I've heavily invested all my liquid assets and triple mortgaged my homes to further my portfolio in the thinnet connectors and taps companies... :p

Nope, DIRECTV isn't bringing back thinnet, but what's the difference between an H21 receiver and a MRV client as Ken S would install? Not very much, yet the H21 can work on an existing RG59 infrastructure using SWM technology--the thin MRV client can't. :)

Or can it?... (MoCa anyone?) :)

The other issue is that of 100Mbs ethernet can't handle more than 3 HD streams in most instances. Not just at the source, but also throughout the infrastructure. My existing RG6 infrastructure can handle more than 32 HD streams depending upon how many WB68s and SWM8s I use this week. :)

Cheers,
Tom

[RAD]

The other issue is that of 100Mbs ethernet can't handle more than 3 HD streams in most instances. Not just at the source, but also throughout the infrastructure.

That's going to be one of those 'it depends' things. Depends on how you have your switches located and what connects to where and what the interconnect links are.

[PCampbell]

Does this Uverse DVR allow an external hard drive?NO.

[houskamp]

In my opinion a "Whole house DVR" is:
1. 4-6 tunners MINIMUM
2. Serves 6-8 MINIMUM, this includes any combination of recordings and live tv..
3. 2TB storage MINIMUM

Let me know when someone has one :D
I personaly doubt we will see one for several years yet..

[Ken S]

MRV is the enabler to exactly what you suggest. Client server using DLNA.

Tho, remember more homes have RG59/RG6 already strung throughout the house than CAT5e. :)

Cheers,
Tom

Tom,

But it appears that UVerse is much closer than DirecTV. Obviously, they have some issues to work through, but they get the concept of a single recording device and clients.

For the DirecTV solution to work it too appears that it is going to require network access at every box.

Anyway, I'm not saying MRV from DirecTV is bad...I can't, but it doesn't exist yet...nor does a definitive statement on how it will work when/if it is ever released. Even if they only provide a DVR to DVR only solution it will be a better system than what we have now.

A month or so ago one of the cable companies won a lawsuit allowing them to continue doing a virtual HD system for their customers. While we don't hear much about that system yet...it really could be the future and a problem for DirecTV which just can provide individual bandwidth to its customers in the same way cable/Verizon/AT&T can.

It's interesting to watch it unfold...and will be very interesting to see how DirecTV and Dish deal with some looming technology issues. This type of thing is akin to what happened at AOL when broadband started to come on the horizon. AOL didn't do so well...of course part of that might be they picked the wrong dance partner (TWX).

[Ken S]

I've heavily invested all my liquid assets and triple mortgaged my homes to further my portfolio in the thinnet connectors and taps companies... :p

Nope, DIRECTV isn't bringing back thinnet, but what's the difference between an H21 receiver and a MRV client as Ken S would install? Not very much, yet the H21 can work on an existing RG59 infrastructure using SWM technology--the thin MRV client can't. :)

Or can it?... (MoCa anyone?) :)

The other issue is that of 100Mbs ethernet can't handle more than 3 HD streams in most instances. Not just at the source, but also throughout the infrastructure. My existing RG6 infrastructure can handle more than 32 HD streams depending upon how many WB68s and SWM8s I use this week. :)

Cheers,
Tom

Tom,

Are you suggesting MRV is going to work over RG6/59 with SWM only and not over the network? Talk about a recabling (I should say re-switching with power) nightmare. What do you think the percentage of homes is with SWMs?

If an H21 is the client for MRV that's not much different...agreed.

A 100mbs network could handle more...depends on a few things, but in reality it's getting hard to buy networking gear nowadays that is 100mbs only. Why the HR2x series wasn't fitted with 10/100/1000 is a mystery to me...although it probably saved a few cents per unit.

[Ken S]

In my opinion a "Whole house DVR" is:
1. 4-6 tunners MINIMUM
2. Serves 6-8 MINIMUM, this includes any combination of recordings and live tv..
3. 2TB storage MINIMUM

Let me know when someone has one :D
I personaly doubt we will see one for several years yet..

I think the basic home could survive quite well with 4 tuners...serving 4 clients. Storage...well that needs to be at a central server :). How many digital copies of American Idol does the world really need?

[Tom Robertson]

Tom,

Are you suggesting MRV is going to work over RG6/59 with SWM only and not over the network? Talk about a recabling (I should say re-switching with power) nightmare. What do you think the percentage of homes is with SWMs?

If an H21 is the client for MRV that's not much different...agreed.

A 100mbs network could handle more...depends on a few things, but in reality it's getting hard to buy networking gear nowadays that is 100mbs only. Why the HR2x series wasn't fitted with 10/100/1000 is a mystery to me...although it probably saved a few cents per unit.

No, I am definitely not suggesting MRV is going to work over RG6/59 only. Look at the predecessors: Media Share and DIRECTV2PC. DIRECTV would not spend this much time and energy making DLNA compliance in its server and its client to just chuck that out the window when going MRV. :)

A well meshed and switched network at 100mbs could handle more than 3 or 4 HD streams assuming multiple servers and clients and no single place where the streams converge to a single 100mbs line. (or underpowered switch.)

But that all defeats the whole house DVR. :)

At this point, I think it is safe to say DIRECTV has not released the intended whole house DVR they have talked about. :) I expect it will support 1000mbs, more than 2 tuners, and more storage.

And perhaps, maybe MoCA as well. All I know is DIRECTV is a recent member of the MoC alliance so perhaps that is in the back of their mind as a future technology?

Cheers,
Tom

[drded]

Whilst everyone is gushing over how wonderful this will be, will someone please be so kind as to post the current Uverse package prices to we can compare the service to Directv.

Thanks,

Dave

[Tom Robertson]

Whilst everyone is gushing over how wonderful this will be, will someone please be so kind as to post the current Uverse package prices to we can compare the service to Directv.

Thanks,

Dave

In my neighborhood, up front would be several million $$s or a good time machine. :) I'm not expecting Uverse for several years, if ever.

Cheers,
Tom

[PCampbell]

U200 59.00 with DVR plus 10.00 for HD (37 Ch). U-Verse is not even close to directv, there HD is the worst out there. A lot of there installs have problems with the IPTV part of the service. No way will I keep the TV after my 90 days are up.

[wingrider01]

We just signed up for uverse internet. 10meg service. They kept trying to get us to switch to there tv service also saying they have same amount of hd channels and better quality. I just laughed at them. Now we can ditch our home phone also. Going w/ t-mobile @ home for $10/month. Whole house is wired w/ cat6. What is mrv?

When and wehre did they start offering internet without TV, around here there is no option for that, just got off the phone with their sales weasels and they verified it. No TV, No internet

[hdtvfan0001]

yup, this is what I recall as well .. Sure, you can record 4 things on the same DVR .. but if you have other DVRs, they can only record one of those 4 things .. not a 5th program .. oh and more than 2 HD programs at the same time (in the entire house) .. forget about it.

That would really mess me up as there are times when I record 3 or 4 HD programs at the same time (on different DVRs of course).
The other part that is interesting is that the U-Verse DVR (which I get solicits for regularly "in the near future" here, as I'm in one of their bigger markets).....doesn't even have the hard drive storage I have in any one of my current DirecTV HD DVRs....so...even if you could play things in other rooms or units....the capacity limitations would be there over what we will be getting with the DirecTV version when it's released.

[CCDMan]

Maybe this will light a little fire under Directv to get MRV a bit quicker though, you never know!

Not as long as they think they can sell multiple units and make more that way. The home networked system they hyped at CES a few years back is likely dead as posssum in the road.

For my part, HDMI to every TV in the house (Blue Jeans Cable (http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/hdmi-cables/index.htm) has cables up to 100 feet that will take 1080p/60), a whole house audio (http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/article.asp?article_id=2149&page_number=1) system (nice anyway with or w/o TV), a Gefen 4 x 4 HDMI Matrix Switch (http://www.gefen.com/kvm/dproduct.jsp?prod_id=3331) (spendy but bulletproof) and Niles IR extension system (http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Item/Main.aspx?g=194750&i=190MSU440Z&tp=2187) and I am there already.

BTW, Gefen has an HDMI over Cat5 (http://www.gefen.com/kvm/dproduct.jsp?prod_id=4559) matrix now, but for the cost difference, HDMI cable is cheaper (but harder to run).

With my system, I chose to use a single HR20 and devote inputs to other sources - XM, PC, Ipods (with only two of us, normally only one TV at a time is used) but there is no reason you could not stack multiple DVRs for inputs, of course,

I am running 75 feet of BlueJeans HDMI right now at 1080p/60 with no booster and no problems. Great stuff!

[PCampbell]

When and wehre did they start offering internet without TV, around here there is no option for that, just got off the phone with their sales weasels and they verified it. No TV, No internet
If they cant give you a DSL they will or as I am doing you keep the TV for a bit then drop the TV. They will not change you back to DSL as they do not want to send out a tech to do it.

[Truffles100]

I've been test driving U-Verse for a couple of months and thankfully I only put my Directv programming on suspension.. without cancelling services altogether.

Some observations that are discouraging to me:
#1 - No HD VOD to speak of.. they only just added 3 movies in last couple of days.
#2 - Motorola boxes aren't able to send 5.1 audio over HDMI.
#3 - The whole 2HD/2SD stream limitation.
#4 - Only 1 DVR allowed. THDVR that is being implemented only allows you to view recordings from your DVR on other STB. You still can't pause or rewind live TV from the remote STB and you can't schedule recordings either.
#5 - Whole interface seems kind of outdated. I know it's a new service, but come on.

[wingrider01]

If they cant give you a DSL they will or as I am doing you keep the TV for a bit then drop the TV. They will not change you back to DSL as they do not want to send out a tech to do it.

Unfortunately they can get dsl here - at 768, sorry not giving up 10 MB for that junk.

Have seen some reports on the various forums that they are starting to disconnect the Uverse internet if you drop TV so you might want to be careful

[fornold]

If they cant give you a DSL they will or as I am doing you keep the TV for a bit then drop the TV. They will not change you back to DSL as they do not want to send out a tech to do it.

What pcampbell says is true. Just sign up for the whole deal (that way you get the free install). After a while (needs to be at least 30 days, but could have changed), just cancel the TV portion and keep the internet. That is what I doing, the sales rep I talked with said that was not a problem (even though he thought I would love the TV). This is especially true if you can not get the regular ADSL service like me. If you can get ADSL, they have been known to switch you to that if you drop the TV.

[fornold]

Unfortunately they can get dsl here - at 768, sorry not giving up 10 MB for that junk.

Have seen some reports on the various forums that they are starting to disconnect the Uverse internet if you drop TV so you might want to be careful

Right, if ADSL is an option they might turn that back on if you drop the TV.

[ebockelman]

In my opinion a "Whole house DVR" is:
1. 4-6 tunners MINIMUM
2. Serves 6-8 MINIMUM, this includes any combination of recordings and live tv..
3. 2TB storage MINIMUM

Let me know when someone has one :D
I personaly doubt we will see one for several years yet..

If we had the HDPC-20, we could do that today.

[PCampbell]

Right, if ADSL is an option they might turn that back on if you drop the TV.
I was upfront with the CSR and she checked with her supervisor and he said that would be ok. I plan to keep the phone and the internet so that may help. They need to send out a tech to switch back so it is not worth there time to switch back. The 6m is 35.00 a month and the old DSL 1.5m is only 25.00 they lose that also.

[wingrider01]

I was upfront with the CSR and she checked with her supervisor and he said that would be ok. I plan to keep the phone and the internet so that may help. They need to send out a tech to switch back so it is not worth there time to switch back. The 6m is 35.00 a month and the old DSL 1.5m is only 25.00 they lose that also.


If the statement comes from corporate they will do it, supervisor confirmation or not. The corporate line that is pushed is TV + Internet. As mentioned, it has been reported that AT&T is disconnecting internet when TV is canceled and ADSL is available on the net.

[PCampbell]

Will see on the 19th