Multiple HR34-700 in whole home

3456 Views 16 Replies 7 Participants Last post by Capt Don, Jun 24, 2012

Capt Don

Discussion Starter · May 26, 2012

I leased four HR34-700's with the intent of connecting them in a whole house configuration (not client/server). Expected benefits:
- four gig of storage, distributed
- ability to share play lists
- same look and feel for spouse
- plenty of simultaneous recording capability.

I also purchased a SWM32 with splitters, and cinema bridge to the Internet (I also have Internet jacks available at each viewing location as an alternate).

The configuration above is not working as expected/desired, as no playlists would share. Need help getting the play lists to share among all DVRs.

[Also have tried take the cinema bridge out and connecting each DVR onto the house Ethernet jacks. Result: able to get two DVRs to share play lists, but the other two DVRs don't even see the Internet... strange].

Help to get the original configuration working would be very welcome. If not, alternative set-ups, or even changing out DVRs to have four locations able to record multiple shows, and share playlists everywhere is highly desired.

Thanks,

Don

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RunnerFL

· #2 · May 26, 2012

Just remember a SWM32 is two "cloud" environments, aka 2 SWM16's. The 2 SWM16's don't see each other and are not bridged inside the SWM32. You need to connect them to each other. You also need to connect each SWM16 to the Internet for all 4 units to see the Internet. Since they are all HR34's all you need to do is hook one of the ones that doesn't see the Internet into your router and it will act as a CCK for that side of the SWM32.

And FYI, "Whole Home" is client/server.

Go Beavs

· #3 · May 26, 2012

I don't think any of the 4 outputs in the SWM32 are DECA bridged, are they? Wouldn't the OP be better off with two SWM16's?

RunnerFL

· #4 · May 26, 2012

Go Beavs said:
I don't think any of the 4 outputs in the SWM32 are DECA bridged, are they? Wouldn't the OP be better off with two SWM16's?

Now that you mention it I think you're right. I think the SWM32 is 4 SWM8's and not 2 SWM16's. If he has an HR34 on each SWM output, which he'd need to do, they wouldn't be bridged at all.

Yes, 2 SWM16's would be better, unless the OP wants to plug ethernet into each HR34, and then you'd have to bridge the 2 of those.

hdtvfan0001

· #5 · May 26, 2012

RunnerFL said:
Now that you mention it I think you're right. I think the SWM32 is 4 SWM8's and not 2 SWM16's. If he has an HR34 on each SWM output, which he'd need to do, they wouldn't be bridged at all.

That is correct.

Capt Don

Discussion Starter · #6 · May 26, 2012

Thanks to all above for the insight on how to get the four HR34-700's to see each other's playlists. I have the ability to connect each HR34 to the house Ethernet.

I am not familiar with what bridging means, and how that would actually be done given my equipment room with a SWM32.

Also, it looks like the cinema bridge to the DirecTV network is out of the equation in the proposed solution, right?

Don

RunnerFL

· #7 · May 26, 2012

Capt Don said:
Thanks to all above for the insight on how to get the four HR34-700's to see each other's playlists. I have the ability to connect each HR34 to the house Ethernet.

I am not familiar with what bridging means, and how that would actually be done given my equipment room with a SWM32.

Also, it looks like the cinema bridge to the DirecTV network is out of the equation in the proposed solution, right?

Don

The SWM32 is constructed of 4 SWM8 units. They do not see each other at all, aka not bridged. You need to connect each HR34 to your home network to get the 4 SWM8's to see each other.

Capt Don

Discussion Starter · #8 · May 26, 2012

Thanks for the clarification. When trying earlier to Ethernet connect the third and fourth HR34 the connection fails with error code 86-573. The house Ethernet jack is good since a laptop will connect immediately on the same jack/port.

[The first and second HR34's are seeing each other's playlists fine when connected to the house Ethernet.]

Don

RunnerFL

· #9 · May 26, 2012

Capt Don said:
Thanks for the clarification. When trying earlier to Ethernet connect the third and fourth HR34 the connection fails with error code 86-573. The house Ethernet jack is good since a laptop will connect immediately on the same jack/port.

[The first and second HR34's are seeing each other's playlists fine when connected to the house Ethernet.]

Don

Are you using DHCP or static IPs?

Have you tried a reboot of HR34's 3 and 4 after hooking up the Ethernet?

Capt Don

Discussion Starter · #10 · May 26, 2012

Thanks for the response. I'll need to consult with the A/V installer who was working this... it may be a few days before I have an answer on both parts.

Don

Stuart Sweet

· #11 · May 26, 2012

Right... the SWM-32 is not intended for whole-home environments, it's intended for apartment complexes and hotels. I'd recommend he take the SWiM-32 back and give you two SWiM-16s and two cinema connection kits. The cinema connection kits can be run to a common ethernet switch and this should give you some sharing functionality between all four. It's an unsupported configuration and you should know it may not work at all at some point. There is no supported configuration for 20 tuners and whole-home.

inkahauts

· #12 · May 28, 2012

I also have to wonder if the swim32 was a green label one?

I'd run 2 swim16s as well with two icks and be done with it. If that doesn't work, then I'd use the two ick next to each other to bridge the two sim16s only, and not connect to the main house internet and see if that worked. If it did, then I'd simply plug ONE hr34 into the internet (to connect the cloud to the internet) and be done.

RunnerFL

· #13 · May 28, 2012

inkahauts said:
I also have to wonder if the swim32 was a green label one?

They all are. The "green label" was established before the SWM32 was even introduced.

samrs

· #14 · May 28, 2012

Capt Don said:
Thanks for the clarification. When trying earlier to Ethernet connect the third and fourth HR34 the connection fails with error code 86-573. The house Ethernet jack is good since a laptop will connect immediately on the same jack/port.

[The first and second HR34's are seeing each other's playlists fine when connected to the house Ethernet.]

Don

Just because the laptop will connect doesn't mean the ethernet cables will work with your HR34. The HR34 requires "straight-through" wiring whereas the laptop will work with "crossover". Theres a thread around here somewhere.

Stuart Sweet

· #15 · May 28, 2012

Actually I'm told by a DIRECTV engineer who should know, that all DIRECTV DVRs are auto-sensing.

samrs

· #16 · May 28, 2012

Stuart Sweet said:
Actually I'm told by a DIRECTV engineer who should know, that all DIRECTV DVRs are auto-sensing.

It was something I read here a while back, I'm sure your engineer is a more credible source.

Capt Don

Discussion Starter · #17 · Jun 24, 2012

Update:

I was able to get hooked up with a very experienced DirecTV local installer (than I had previously). The inappropriate SWM32 was removed and replaced with two SWM16's that were in turn wired together. I am happy to report that I have all four HR34's now working excellently on the DirecTV coax network, and I am able to see all playlists among the four units in the house.

Problems solved! (Lessons Learned... make sure the installer really knows their stuff on the equipment they are installing before spending time and money).

1 - 17 of 17 Posts

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