2 wire mediaport with 2 ota tuners

[cheezehead]

Has anyone been to the 2wire site and looked at the upcoming mediapoint and mediascout units that can use dishnetwork with 2 ota tuners and dual sat tuners? It says it can use IPTV as well with a joint venture with SBC. On paper the equipment delivers a lot but in actuality who knows. Supposed to appear soon i think.

Thanks Cheezehead

[Ron Barry]

There are a few people that have been looking at that unit. It definitely looks interesting. Since I am not a SBC/Dish describer it muddies the waters a bit. From what I had heard and read, I would not expect it to appear soon.

Got some nice features, but I think some might be reading more into the feature list than is actually there. Hard to say though until it is done and we hear more about it.

[DeCrapinator]

Has anyone been to the 2wire site and looked at the upcoming mediapoint and mediascout units that can use dishnetwork with 2 ota tuners and dual sat tuners? It says it can use IPTV as well with a joint venture with SBC. On paper the equipment delivers a lot but in actuality who knows. Supposed to appear soon i think.

Thanks Cheezehead

Just so I understand...these STB's would function in place of the standard Dish boxes?

[Ron Barry]

This box is suppose to be an HD DVR offering, however, from my understanding it will only be offered to SBC customers.

[garypen]

Just so I understand...these STB's would function in place of the standard Dish boxes?Yes...for SBC Dish/DSL customers.

[lazaruspup]

I've got money on the product never making it to market. With the pending restructuring of the SBC/DISH deal and fiber on it way(though its hung up in red tape right now), I don't see 2wire throwing this product out. If DISH were smart, they would negotiate to pick up the box and bundle DSL offerings for a mighty good package to compete with cable more closely.

[garypen]

If DISH were smart, they would negotiate to pick up the box and bundle DSL offerings for a mighty good package to compete with cable more closely.If I were tall and rich, I'd date supermodels. In both cases, there's a big IF at the beginning of the sentence.

[rocatman]

I've got money on the product never making it to market. With the pending restructuring of the SBC/DISH deal and fiber on it way(though its hung up in red tape right now), I don't see 2wire throwing this product out. If DISH were smart, they would negotiate to pick up the box and bundle DSL offerings for a mighty good package to compete with cable more closely.

If Dish were to do this, they should get an agreement with a company called Covad that owns the only nationwide DSL network. Hughes's Direcway just inked a deal with them to provide DSL to go along with their satellite broadband product.

[BuckeyeChris]

If Dish were to do this, they should get an agreement with a company called Covad that owns the only nationwide DSL network. Hughes's Direcway just inked a deal with them to provide DSL to go along with their satellite broadband product.

Covad selling DSL? Nationwide? How is that possible? Seriously, I thought Covad was a cable broadband company. They are not in my market, or if they are they aren't a serious player. So, I'm not that familiar with their product offerings/marketing.

For a company to own a nationwide DSL Network, wouldn't they have to gobble up the four Baby Bells, or LECs: SBC, Qwest, BellSouth, and Verizon, and then throw in the odd, rural and smaller LECs like Sprint, correct? Those are the companies that own that last mile and half of copper (and now fiber) from their central offices right up to the customers' premises. Or, is Covad reselling DSL in those disparate markets nationwide?

[kb7oeb]

I think Covad is a CLEC and probably the same as Earthlink DSL where it uses the telco for the last mile

[cheezehead]

Do you think that the mediaportal which has all the harddrives and tuners sends signals wirelessly to the mediapoints in the other rooms. The mediaportal specs states all the tuner while all the specs of the mediapoints dont state tuners. Surely that can't send HDTV wirelessly inside a house can they. They both boast wireless 811g receivers and what not and describe watching a show in one room, pausing that show, and finish watching in a different room. If thats true thats cool and it seems everyone can try it. I have no idea if thats what they mean but if it is wow.

[KKlare]

With the pending restructuring of the SBC/DISH deal and fiber on it(s) way...
If you think MPEG-4 will still be a while, then FTTP/FiOS will be a lot longer for most of us. Mountain Bell, er Qwest, refused to underground phone lines in the burned-and-rebuilt section of our town although all other utilities (most county-owned) were going there. Then again, our Comcast has yet to discover HD at all, some digital yes, so I guess I cannot leave Dish.
-Ken

[rocatman]

I think Covad is a CLEC and probably the same as Earthlink DSL where it uses the telco for the last mile

Actually Covad has an agreement with Earthlink to provide DSL capability in some areas. They are not a cable broadband company but do use the telcos for the last mile although they are testing WiFi in I believe San Francisco. They do own/operate a nationwide DSL network. They are also getting heavy into VOIP especially for small businesses where they offer a PBX type system combined with DSL for internet access.

[garypen]

If you think MPEG-4 will still be a while, then FTTP/FiOS will be a lot longer for most of us. Mountain Bell, er Qwest, refused to underground phone lines in the burned-and-rebuilt section of our town although all other utilities (most county-owned) were going there. Then again, our Comcast has yet to discover HD at all, some digital yes, so I guess I cannot leave Dish.
-KenThat's because you live in Los Alamos. Nothing technologically advanced ever happens there.

[BobaBird]

There may be a few things, but what doesn't blow up just sits gathering dust.

If DISH were smart, they would negotiate to pick up the box...Especially if that box is ready for release when it's released. I'm surprised they even allowed a partner to develop its own box. Dish has historically kept everything in-house. Even on the DISHPlayer project with WebTV/Microsoft E* reportedly wouldn't share all the code needed for M$ to make their side of that receiver integrate stably with the E* side.

[Maxfli500]

Several people I work with have seen the SBC / 2wire product demonstrated, and have described it as very cool. As I understand it SBC is spending $4B on what they call Project LightSpeed. They have a add on to their network boxes in the field which will (if your house is within 3000' of a fiber optic line) Drive a very high speed data line over that last 3000' of copper wire. I hear numbers like 25Mbps. So the 2Wire box has a DSL connection, Hard drive, 802.11G, OTA, Dish Network HD tuners and can do a lot of things. So I hear, 25 Megabit is fast enough to Video on demand (SBC has signed up to work with Microsoft on this IPTV part). They can upload a PPV movie direct to the hard drive via DSL ( takes a few minutes). The 2Wire box I guess can be exposed to the internet like its your personal Website host, you can attach to the unit from your home network via 802.11g, also acts as a music server via Optical of wireless connection. Supposed to start very limited the end of this year, but for the most part is still a ways out before its common. I live way out in the sticks, but i am still within 3000' of a fiber optic line. You would be suprised at just how extensive the fiber optic network is, and getting bigger. This may suprise us all.

[bhawley]

If I were tall and rich, I'd date supermodels. In both cases, there's a big IF at the beginning of the sentence.

Gary, which one did you miss out on? :)

[garypen]

Sad to say, both. At least I got lucky in the smart, handsome, and funny department.