Deca vs Ethernet

Thanks Draino. I didn't want to get optical on you. :lol:

 

:lol: Maybe when DTV comes out with the HR2400-5000 we will have a fiber interface!! !rolling

 

Except that your thinking about general purpose delivery of network services. Your missing the point that Trick Play functions need to interrupt the video .. The video is actually not the most important thing in that situatino so "real-time" is for Trick Play to win when it's needed.

Again .. missing the point. It's not a function of size. For General purpose Ethernet is better .. There is no doubt about that and the FACT that you seem to want to point to.

For MRV, DECA is better .. This is plain and simple. Sometimes, bigger is not better and the right tool for the MRV job is DECA.

I'm experienced in networking .. I've been doing it for over 20 years now in one form or another. You've gotta trust me on this one .. DECA is the better choice for MRV which is the whole point of DECA.

I would never suggest anyone use DECA for general purpose. @ $40/node (Solid Signal) and a limit of 16 nodes on a network, it's a very poor choice for general networking. However, it's the right choice for MRV networking.

 

I'll admit it too .. if we're talking general networking.

Not trying to defend DIRECTV here, but if I look at it from their perspective .. Why would I care whether or not you can play your Blu-Rays or not. In one sense, they are my competitor ...

Now, looking at it from a consumer perspective, the best solution is a separate Ethernet run to the Blu-Ray player from your router (or switch). however, as you've well discovered, you can force the BD player network onto the DECA cloud in situations that might require it. Is it a bad idea? Maybe, Maybe not. Depends on how much data it pulls. I don't have a BD player and don't really know why it needs to be connected to the network, so I don't know what kind of data flows to it.

DECA will provide the right solution for the bulk of DIRECTV's subscribers .. As always, there will be others that need to adjust or augment that solution.

 

My real world experience:

Although I was very skeptical about the performance benefits, the freebies to upgrade made it worth it to me. I had managed switches, a high end router and my house is completely wired for Ethernet. Although MRV worked great, DECA has exceeded my expectations. Trickplay is far superior with DECA. There is also the added benefit of having MRV off my network freeing it up for other things. I have no regrets, worth every penny.

 

Sneakernet....:lol: That's awesome!!!

 

I could not agree more. My "whole home solution" was CAT6e cable throughout my house, and into a managed 24 port switch. I was skeptical too, but now I know better.

For what we are talking about (DirecTV and MRV): DECA wins.

 

I guess I am officially a DECA fan boy [tm].

 

I have an Ethernet system and am quite satisfied with it. But I have no idea what a "managed switch" is. Could you explain what that is? In terms that I can understand?

Rich

 

Not sure why BluRay players are mentioned here unless I'm missing something. All I do once a week is hook up an Ethernet wire to mine and see if an update is available. What else can you do with them concerning Ethernet?

Rich

 

Some can get internet related content. Mine can do the equivalent of DirecTV's mediashare (stream photos and video from my networked computer). Mostly it makes it easier to update firmware.

 

Managed switches are used in a business network more than the home network, but it can be used in the home as well. The home router is a kind of managed switch since it lets you login to it and adjust settings for the hardware. The managed switch also lets an Administrator login and set special needs for a network environment. The managed switch is used to seup VLan, jumbo frames, and sometims to froce speed/duplex settings. It is also used for port sniffing and gather statistics.

EDIT
Here are a couple of screen shots of a menu driven managed switch.

 

Oh, I see what you mean. I use the Roku boxes. I tried one Sony BD player that had NetFlix streaming and all the other stuff that I never use and it wasn't nearly as easy to use as the Roku boxes are. And the 720p PQ seems to be a bit better than D*'s recorded 720p. Before everyone starts arguing about the last comment, I realize that was a subjective statement.

Looks like NetFlix is getting ready to let the user pick streaming content directly from the Roku box, bypassing the need for using a computer and 1080i streaming seems to be on the horizon. Nifty little boxes for only $79.

Rich

 

Rich, a managed switch means, among other things, that you can manually manage network traffic, including giving priority to one client over another. I don't see this being necessary in a home network environment, even with video being run from one DVR to another.

Right now my ethernet setup for MRV is working fine mainly because I am the only one in my household who uses it. If my list of users expands I could see switching over to DECA. It may be worth it just to get the SWM equipment for the low equipment and installation cost.

 

Thanx. Too complicated for me. My head's gonna blow up one of these days.

Rich

 

I don't see me learning how to use one. :lol:

I'm pretty much the only person who uses it too. My wife does use it occasionally and I don't see any difference when she's on.

Since I switched all my HRs to the 30 second skip, I've had no problems with trick-play. My house is already wired for all the HRs that I'll ever need, so I really don't have any use for SWiM that I know of. And the whole house is wired for Ethernet, so...

Rich

 

Roku is the neatest item in my whole system and getting better. I listen to Pandora a lot during the day as well. I have an SD TV in my room along with the HD set so I don't mind watching SD movies.

 

Maybe this tag is appropriate for the following :rant:

This statement isn't necessarily a fact as no one here designed the DECAs. The whole problem with anything concerning how DECAs function exactly can't be answered by anyone here - it's all supposition based on interpretations of the MoCA standards and casual experience. There are other possible valid explanations why a DECA set-up is or could seem faster or work better. No one here (that I know of anyway) has monitored the network traffic to see how a trick-play command is sent. The A/V data stream from the DVR isn't going to use enough bandwidth that a small command can't get through - especially since that would go from the receiving box to the originating DVR, while the A/V stream is going from the DVR to the receiving box. The whole trick play process would really depend on the DVR as it is providing the A/V stream and it would have to process the command and stream the data appropriately to obey and match said command. This would mean it's not network data prioritization, but command/processing prioritization and this is why firmware updates showed improvements during testing.

 

Agreed.

In the simplest terms of comparison:

SWiM/DECA is technology specifically designed to deliver DirecTV video/audio to an optimum level, especially for the Whole Home DVR service.

Gigabit Ethernet can also accommodate the delivery of the same content, but in some cases, may not be optimized to replicate the exact same performance.

They are very similar in terms of potential results, but since SWiM/DECA is specifically designed for this purpose - it's proprietary technology leverages every tool in the DirecTV firmware toolbox for the best results.