Getting an HTPC set up to replace Comcast boxes/DVR's

[Porschefan]

Hi all,

I thought about posting this in the "Beginners and Audiophytes" forum, but maybe it's better here since my questions are starting to narrow down some (since I started thinking about this).

Current setup is a modest home theater based around a couple of older Yamaha AVR (forget the exact models right now). Living room system has a Phillips 55" LCD (again a few years old), older Def Tech 5.1 speakers system: BP30's, CLR 3000 and BPVX's, and a cheap subwoofer of some sort. Bedroom system is similar, but TV is a 51" Samsung plasma (which I really like!), cheap Yamaha 5.1 Yamaha speakers (Craigslist find). Yamaha AVR. Both systems have BD players and Roku boxes attached.

We live in a neighborhood where our ONLY choice for broadband internet is via Comcast. No other providers service our particular neighborhood, and from what I can discern, they don't intend to. We're not out in the boonies--just in a newer neighborhood where Comcast "competitors" won't invest in equipment to deliver broadband.

So Comcast is our broadband provider and since broadband alone is just as expensive as broadband + basic cable ("bundling"), we have Comcast as our TV provider. We have more than basic cable, but don't have any premium channels--just one of their packages than includes extra sports channels. We also have two Comcast boxes/DVR's -- one for each system and a lot of our TV viewing is pre-recorded programs. I don't even watch live sports anymore because I like to skip the commercials.

To start, I'd like to build, or possibly buy, a system to replace the Comcast boxes and save $30/month. So far, what I've been able to figure out (internet research, some forum and friends advice) is that I want:

1. An HTPC running Windows Media Center. OS probably Windows 7 to avoid some complexities with 8.1 and media center.

2. Cable card tuners. At this point I'm pretty set on Silicon Dust HD Homerun Prime. And maybe one of their Homerun Plus OTA tuner boxes. I'd like to at least try OTA and see what I can get for "free" and possibly drop Comcast TV service, or cut it back. There's no real financial incentive to do so (see above), but I've heard that HD OTA signals actually provide a better picture than compressed cable.

3. I'm not particularly concerned or focused on the actual PC at this point--I figure that I can figure that out (with suggestions) as I get closer to implementing this. A question that I do have right now, concerns my wife's desire to try out playing games (WoW specifically) from the comfort of her easy chair in the living room and how much better a PC I should plan on to make this doable?

4. I really don't have many BD discs and not much of a need to stream music. I have a Logictech audio streamer hooked up to the main system, but rarely use it. So I don't really need a big storage capacity. Enough space to store TV shows that are recorded. A couple/few terabytes should be plenty.

At this point my main confusions are around how to get recorded material from the HTPC to the bedroom system. I'm planning on using WMC, since I don't think I'm up to the complexity of alternatives--but I admit I'm not sure about how XBMC, Plex and a bunch of other things I've heard about fit into all this.

My understanding is that using WMC, and extender is the best way to go, but the choices there are limited to an Xbox 360 or a Ceton Echo. There's a lot of controversy about the Echo--some like it a lot and some don't. The thing about using an Xbox that worries me is that it is OFFICIALLY and really an out-of-productiion model (??)-- or soon will be. I could look at another HTPC for the second system, but apparently the problem there is a lot cable stuff is encrypted so, at best I would have two separate DVR's (just like now) with separate recordings. The ideal would be to have all the recording centrally located and accessible via an extender.

Another confusion--I'm not sure how to physically get an HD Homerun Prime set up on the network? I may need to run some cables or maybe not. I currently have a powerline adapter in the living room setup--about 25 feet from the router. The bedroom system runs over wifi only. Currently there are no problems running simultaneous streams (Netflix, for example) over the system.

I'm kind of rambling now, so I'll just toss this out there and see what feedback I get. The discussion will get more focused as I move forward.

If you've read this far--thanks!

STP

 

[rojo]

Hey, I wonder whether your bedroom avr or television has the ability to stream video over the network from a DLNA / UPnP media server? If so, then the hard part might already be handled. I can poke around in the manuals and help you find out. What models are they?

Sent from my LG-VS980 using Tapatalk

 

[Porschefan]

Hi Rojo,

TV: Samsung PN51E440A2FXZA (whew...)
AVR: Yamaha HTR-6160

I don't think either has this capability--especially the Yamaha which is 5-6 years old at least.

Would a media receiver stream at 1080 p?

Thanks for your input!

STP

 

[jinjuku]

For the hardware AMD's new Kabini would work for WOW. It's an 'APU'. Advanced Processing Unit that is the CPU/GPU/North/South bridge all in one and very affordable. Prices range from $35-$60 for the APU and another ~$35 for the mainboard with HDMI.

They have an 8000 class Radeon ta' boot.

You can use a Win7 OS (MCE comes free with Win7, Win8 and it's $30). You can use Microsoft Media Extenders in the rest of the house.

 

[rojo]

Hmm. Samsung = "Manuals data unavailable". Convenient.

Your bedroom BD player or Roku might also offer a DLNA client. I'm not sure whether the Roku Media Player can be added to your Roku; but if it can, then you can use that to browse the media on your HTPC over the network. If nothing else, you can get a $35 Chromecast and install a UPnP / DLNA client from the Google Play Store.

Serving media from your HTPC is as easy as launching Windows Media Player, going to the Stream menu, and clicking "Automatically allow devices to play my media." Just make sure your HD Homerun captures location is added to Windows' "Videos" library.

 

[Porschefan]

Hmm. Samsung = "Manuals data unavailable". Convenient.

Pretty sure the Samsung doesn't have DNLA/streaming. It's a bare-bones TV--one of Samsung's lower-priced models. But I'm really happy with its picture quality.

Your bedroom BD player or Roku might also offer a DLNA client. I'm not sure whether the Roku Media Player can be added to your Roku; but if it can, then you can use that to browse the media on your HTPC over the network. If nothing else, you can get a $35 Chromecast and install a UPnP / DLNA client from the Google Play Store.

Serving media from your HTPC is as easy as launching Windows Media Player, going to the Stream menu, and clicking "Automatically allow devices to play my media." Just make sure your HD Homerun captures location is added to Windows' "Videos" library.

Would something like the Chromecast allow me to see what the WMC DVR has recorded and play it back? I thought that wasn't possible without a "genuine" WMC extender, i.e., and Xbox 360 or Ceton Echo--and those only with Windows 7 media center.

STP

 

[rojo]

Well, a UPnP media client, either on your Roku, a Chromecast, BD player, or wherever, will browse your media library over the network and play whatever you choose. I stream music from my htpc using my Marantz receiver to browse and trigger playback all the time. (It only supports audio though, but same general idea.) And my avr isn't genuine wmc anything.

I am thinking that the difference between a upnp or dlna client and a wmc extender is where metadata is read. A upnp media server will read and announce the metadata from the movie and sound files directly; whereas wmc announces recorded channel, schedule, and perhaps the name of the show and a synopsis from its program guide. I didn't think about this when I was suggesting a upnp solution, but your video capture card probably doesn't tag its captured movie files with all that info. So a wmc extender would certainly be more easily browsable. That's how I imagine it works anyway, but I could be mistaken.

In any case, the wmc extender will probably also stream live tv to the bedroom, whereas upnp will only stream completed recordings.

Sent from my LG-VS980 using Tapatalk

 

[blcskate]

Media Center can replace the need for XMBC installed. It can stream videos stored on your machine and it can play live TV. The setup is daunting and not perfect. I have several full dvd rips that I could play via media center and i was using it with my time warner cable.

The problems with WMC come up all over though. It requires a media center extender to play it from the host machine to another location. These are becoming hard to find outside of the 360. The cable provider support is spotty to non-existent now. I had about 30 channels that would not auto-locate as of 02/2013. The descriptions of the guide don't always match. Especially in sports when things change. It crashes more than a standard DVR resulting in missed recordings.

Sure there are some great pros as well, but for me the stability of WMC was what killed it.