Windows Media Center PVR How To
So I decide to do some research and see why this is. Well, money plain and simple. The provider companies provide this equipment for a fee because they know they can get it. Most people just go with the flow and know this process as the price of doing business. Well I take it because your reading this that you are not an individual that likes to do this because you're looking for alternatives. Hence the reason the FCC made it mandatory for providers to allow third party intervention. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CableCARD for additional information.
I will now attempt to go into detail on how to set this up and provide links to areas of information throughout this how to that have already been established.
Required:
- CableCARD or MCard tuner from your provider. My provider was Verizon FIOS and I ordered the MCard from their website and waited the week for it to arrive at my house. You only need one per CableCARD device. Other cable companies also provide this MCard. Cox and Comcast.
- CableCARD tuner. I purchased a Ceton InfiniTV PCIe device for my computer through newegg.com for about $199 (they should be on sale now as the PCIe 6 device [$299] just came out). The PCIe 4 device was fine for me in recording 4 separate channels at one time. You can use the USB device as I tried but had issues and switched to the PCIe device.
- Personal Computer (PC) with the minimum requirements as stated by Ceton. I also added a 2TB hard drive for recording space.
- Windows 7 or 8 operating system (OS) with Media Center (MC). I purchased Win7 OS and upgraded to Win8 and got the free upgrade to MC before 30 Jan 2013 cut off. If you do not already have MC then purchase through Microsoft. Believe its still $60.
- HD TV service from your service provider.
- To provide service to other rooms throughout the house you will need a Windows Media Center Extender (WMCE). If you already have an XBOX360 you have a WMCE. If you need to purchase one Ceton makes one that is cheaper than buying a new XBOX360 called the Echo. You could also purchase used XBOX360's from GameStop, Newegg.com, etc. Think of this device as your new set-top box. You'll own it and wont pay rent on it.
- A router and this is were it gets iffy. The industry tots that a WiFi "N" router can handle media streaming. This might be the case in testing but in my experience hasn't panned out for me. I had to go to an all wired architecture. By all wired I also mean power line networks. I have my main 60" LCD LED mounted over my fireplace with no access to a hard wired CAT 5/6 cable. I do however have access to a home power plug. I plugged the network homeplug (network power line) into the power outlet and the other end of the power line adapter close to my router and finished network connectivity. I purchased the Belkin AV500 and it works great. They do have a new Powerline Gigabit HD version out now and for a little extra doe might be worth it. Refer to the owners manual for proper setup. Recommend not using surge / multi-plugs power strips as they do not work well with these devices. You'll know because the bandwidth speed is crap. Also ensure the two plugs you decide to connect are on the same circuit. Security reasons, I would recommend encryption because even the plugs on the outside of your house could be used to tap into the network. Everywhere else I ran hard line CAT 5/6 cable linking to other WMCE's.
- You might require a swtich if you run out of CAT5/6 plugs on your router from overcrowding. I went gigabit 10/100/1000. Not necessary as 10/100 switches will have more than plenty of bandwidth to stream. I wanted to ability to transfer file from one computer to another with greater speed is why I went gigabit.
Once you have the above items your ready to setup.
-Connect your Ceton InfiniTV Tuner to your computer. See the installation instructions.
-Install the CableCARD to the Ceton InfiniTV Tuner.
-Turn on your computer.
-Download the Ceton software. Downloading ensure you have the latest and greatest drivers and software.
-Ensure the device is working properly. Start the Ceton Diagnostics.
-The device should be recognized.
-Follow the detailed installation instructions to get the tuners up and running. This will require you to contact your service provider and advise them of your CableCARD serial number found under the diagnostics. You more than likely will not have green check marks if the CableCARD has not been activated. The service provider must send the correct signal to the CableCARD to ensure the encrypted signals are decrypted by the card. Do not hang up with your service provider until you see the green check marks. They will dynamically update so keep watching.
-The WMC should download the program guide and your ready to watch TV and record.
Ceton also has an Android app and iPhone app to control your WMC remotely also. Be advise that it wont let you watch the shows from that device only manage.
Now to extend your WMC to another device like an XBOX360 to Ceton Echo follow these instructions. The devices have to be connected to your network.
Now play with your new WMC PVR for a while to make sure things are working before returning your set-top boxes.
After becoming familiar with you WMC you might later get into converting your recorded show. Programs like MCE Buddy and MC-TV Converter automatically convert the proprietary WMC codec format to .avi or .mp4 and remove commercials.
Even further you could be interested in serving out your record TV to your mobile devices like phone or tablet. You would likely use Remote Potato to stream your converted TV without commercials to these devices from your WMC computer. The phone or tablet would used the Remote Media Center program to link to that server.
Happy Recording...
