A Networked Home

Network Switches

The standard wireless router comes with 4 wired ports on the back (plus the line-in).  For most people this is plenty.  But if you need more, or need more than one wired connection in a different part of the home, then you are a candidate for a Wired Network Switch.

This is a simple “dumb” box with multiple ethernet ports on the back.  Any, and all, of the ports can function as in or out.  You can run an ethernet cable out of your wireless router to the wired switch.  You can plug into any of the ports and all of the other ports will then become outs to wherever you need connectivity.

I recently installed one in my basement and ran a connection off of my wireless router  in the office down to it.  I then used the switch to run two new connections to my living room - one to a media center PC and one to the DirecTV DVR.

Personally, I used a D-Link DES-1105.  There was absolutely no setup of any kind needed.  I simply plugged in the ethernet cables and it all worked.  The best part was that it was $9.99 via TigerDirect!

DirecTV HD DVR HR20-100S - Part 4 - Video on Demand

Video-On-Demand

Yes, now DirecTV is entering the VOD fray. I don’t know if it’s available on the new non-HD boxes, but we have the option on the HD DVR HR20-100S.

It says it’s in Beta (what isn’t these days). But it looks fairly smooth and there’s a LOT of content available.

So, first you need an internet connection for your DirecTV box. As far as I know you have to use ethernet, but since there’s 2 USB ports it may be worth a try to insert a wireless adapter. Be warned that the manual says the USB is “for future use”, but it also says that about the 2 ethernet ports (why 2?).

I ran a Cat5 cable up through the floor to the box from a wired network switch mounted in the basement. You can probably also use ethernet over power line though.

The “VOD” shows up prominently in the main menu and you can sort programs in a variety of ways - categories such as Family and Children, Sports, Movies, etc are then broken down into smaller categories.

You simply click on a show and then choose Add To Queue. When the download is complete you can watch the program and then save or delete it. I downloaded a couple of short kids programs and it was fairly quick. There is also HD content which I suspect is not so quick!

DirecTV HD DVR HR20-100S - Part 3 - Big Problems!

Big Problems!

We are paying an additional $9.95 per month to receive HD broadcasts. I had assumed that would include things such as Discovery Channel HD Theater, but whenever I went to this (channel 76) it was blank. So, my wife called DirecTV and was told that this channel, along with 4 others, were part of a “special” HD package that would be an additional $4.95 per month! But, lucky us, there is a 3 month free trial so she agreed.

When I got home from work I tried accessing these channels. The info bar gave the channel name and the show currently on, bu the screen was blank. I tried several channels with the same result.

We called DirecTV. After walking through the basic tech-support (is it plugged in, etc.) they had us reset the unit. When that failed they had us reset the satellite (to a version that we don’t have!).

When the satellite reset failed it took out all of our channels! At that point they recommended a service call which would be $80.00 to fix the problem they had just created! Then they told us we could get the service call for $20.00 if we agreed to the service plan which will be an additional $5.95 per month!

I reset the satellite to the original configuration, and we now have our channels back, but now the additional HD channels we couldn’t see, but at least told us what they were and what was on, say “channel not available”!

The technician is coming the day after tomorrow, but I have no intention of paying for DirecTV’s incompetence!

I will keep you all updated!

UPDATE 2/29/08

After several lengthy phone calls to DirecTV they have decided that my satellite dish is not compatible with HD. So, they are sending out a rep tomorrow to install a new dish.

UPDATE 3/3/08

DirecTV came and installed the new dish and, voila, we have all of the HD! Now, I am not entirely letting them off of the hook here. After all, they knew what kind of dish we had when they let us order HD and they didn’t say a word!

For those about to take the plunge - YOU NEED THE 5 LNB DISH!

DirecTV HD DVR HR20-100S - Part 2 - Interface

Interface 

I have had a few days now using the DirecTV HD DVR HR20-100s. First, I have to point out, this is NOT TiVo. Why DirecTV is still not working with TiVo is a whole different story.

That said, I have to say I am getting used to the new interface. It is not as intuitive, but it is not difficult to learn and it’s fairly easy to use once you do get the hang of it. Here are some thoughts:

• “Season Pass” is available and fairly easy to set up.
• The “Play List” is straight-forward and is similar to the “Folder” set-up in TiVo.
• The Fast-Forward is not as smooth.
• Surprisingly, a 30-second-skip is available.
• You can search for shows via several different searches, such as Title, Keyword, Actor, Etc.

Next up, I will follow up on the interface and also begin looking at the available ports.

DirecTV HD DVR HR20-100S - Part 1 - Hardware

Hardware 

I received the DirecTV HD receiver and have had 24 hours to play around with it.

At this point I don’t, yet, want to cover the interface because it has not been enough time to really get into it. I will say that it’s no TiVo, but I think I can get used to it.

For now I will cover the hardware itself. The box is fairly small and very light. It, surprisingly, came with 1 SATA port, 2 USB ports (1 rear and 1 front) and 1 ethernet port. In the manual these were all listed as “For future use”, but the ethernet, at least, is already active. I looked at the Network setup on-screen, but had not yet tried to set it up. All ports included:

Off Air Cable (1)
Satellite Cable (2)
Phone (1)
Component (1)
Composite Video (2)
Composite Audio (2)
Digital Audio-optical (1)
S-Video (1)
HDMI (1)
USB (2)
Ethernet (2)
SATA (1)

It came with all of the cables necessary - HDMI, Component, Composite and S-Video.

The hook-up (I used HDMI) was simple and then a quick call to DirecTV to activate was also smooth.

I have begun setting up my old “Season Passes” and figuring out the basics of navigating the interface. That is where I will pick up next time.

DirecTV HD

I broke down earlier and ordered the DirecTV HD with DVR.  I can’t imagine life without TiVo interface, but I’ve had an HD TV, without HD, for a while now.

Don’t worry about the DirecTiVo Tips - I still have lots of content on that player that I’ll be working with to get off and save.  I am sure that will require several posts!

I will keep everyone posted.

Live and Learn with Zune Software

Background Information

For Christmas we got our kids (ages 8 and 11) each a Sandisk Sansa 1GB MP3 player.  So, first I’d like to give some impressions on this little player.

It’s very affordable, easy to use and set up and works great for someone not looking to put their whole library on it.  The instructions guide you to use “My Computer” to copy files to and from the player, but I soon learned that you can also use WMP 11, which I find much easier for these things.

The Problem

If you’ve used WMP you know that when you delete a file a dialogue box pops up and asks if you want to delete from the WMP library or from the whole PC.

Well, (1) I have a Zune, which runs on its own software.  (2) My kids subscribe to a podcast from which they are slowly building a library of shows.  (3) These podcasts are pulled over automatically into the Zune software and loaded onto my player.  (4) I don’t want these shows.  (5) I have gotten tired of deleting them from my Zune.  (6) The other day I decided to just delete the podcast from the Zune software.  (7) No box popped up asking if I wanted to delete them from the PC.  (8)  I obviously did NOT want them removed from the PC and didn’t know they would be.  (9) Today, “Dad where’s all of our shows?!”  (10) Here I sit re-downloading LOTS of episodes!  (11) Thanks Microsoft!

Yes, I know you can click show settings and choose to save them all and not Sync, but for some reason every once in a while it would sync them anyway..which is what lead to my deletion the other day.

Is it too much to ask for the same simple courtesy that WMP has given for years?!

Online Backup Services

We decided to take a look at some of the leading online backup services available. For those not familiar, online backup is a way of backing up your most important data to an off-site source via your internet connection. This is crucial because if there were a fire or any sort of natural disaster at your home then your data would be safe - all those precious, irreplaceable family photos would survive.

In most cases, you want to only back up the irreplaceable files because it will cost you for the space your backup files use. In other words, don’t back up things like programs (Office, Photoshop, etc.) because you can always re-install them from the CD or from a web site, or, at least, by repurchase. The key files would be your documents, photos, music and video - in other words, things that can’t be replaced with money.

The first thing you need to realize is that uploading all of these files is a large undertaking, so, a high speed connection (DSL, Cable, etc.) is almost required.

Another, and perhaps the biggest, consideration is the destination. In other words, “is this a reliable company who will still be around if my files get wiped out 5 or 10 years from now?”. That is the toughest question because it is really a guessing game. Obviously the clearest choice for this one would be Amazon with their S3 backup service.

Next you need to look at the cost for storage. Most charge by file size per month or annum. Here again we see Amazon coming out on top. They charge $0.15 per GB per month. So, if you store 50GB it would cost $7.50, whereas Box.net will charge $19.95 for 15GB. But, if you have a LOT to store then you may want consider Carbonite which charges $49.95 per year for unlimited storage. Going back to the Amazon 50GB example to compare to Carbonite, this would be $90 per year on Amazon. But, if you have very little to back up then Box.net offers 1GB per month for free and iDrive offers 2GB free.

So, calculate how much you want to backup (but remember not to skimp because if you lose it then it’s probably gone forever) and take a look at our chart below. Figure out what works best for you and don’t hesitate to make this well-spent purchase.

(click the chart to view all services)

3rd Party Cookies

We get a lot of questions about questionable tracking of web surfing by third parties such as DoubleClick and how to deal with this issue.

The main issue with such practices is that a cookie is loaded, without your knowledge, into your web browser and then it “phones home” to the originating site to report all of your online habits - sites visited, etc. This info is then used by the originator to serve up ads to you.

For the most this is fairly benign, but there are exceptions. An example of benign would be this: you visit a site which has partnered with with DoubleClick to host their ads. DoubleClick then loads a cookie into your browser which reports back to them a list of all of the web sites you visit. Slowly they build a profile of you. Lets say you visit several sites about bicycling. Then the next time you visit a site which has partnered with DoubleClick (and there are many) you may see ads for things such as Trek Bicycles (I don’t know if Trek is a partner - it’s only an example). I call this benign because, really, most of us would rather see ads for things we are interested in as opposed to things we have no interest in.

But, there is the whole privacy issue - most of us do not want to be tracked like it’s 1984!

So, here is a quick tutorial on how to stop this starting with Internet Explorer.

Open IE (this example uses IE 7, but you can do the same in IE 6) and choose the Tools menu and then Internet Options.

Now click on the Privacy Tab and then choose Advanced.

Now click the “Override automatic cookie handling” radio button and then, under Third-party Cookies choose Block then OK it and you are all done.

For Firefox, unfortunately, it’s not quite so easy. Here we go.

Open Firefox and choose Tools and then Options.

Then click on the Privact Tab and choose Exceptions.

Now comes the hard part. You will need to manually enter the addresses of the sites you want to block from loading third-party cookies. Firefox, unlike IE, has no blanket cover for this. We recommend starting with sites in the following screen shot, but there are many others you can safely block as well. Just enter the address as it appears below and then click Block. Good luck!

The Simple Y-Cable

Do you have a nice receiver in your home entertainment rack? Do you have a desktop PC with a lot of music stored on it? How about a wireless router and laptop? Or do you at least have an MP3 player? Well, if you would like to enjoy all of that music on your PC or MP3 player through that receiver in all of it’s surround sound glory then you can do it for $10 (or less)!

A quick trip to Radio Shack, Best Buy or any other place that sells a variety of audio cables is all you need to make. Just ask for a Y-Cable. They usually come is 3 or 6 foot models and run only a few dollars.

When you bring home your cable you will find a mini jack on one end that will plug into your headphone out port on either the laptop or MP3 player (or desktop PC if it happens to be close to the receiver). On the other end are 2 composite (or RCA) jacks (usually red and white) that can be plugged into a free Audio-In port on your receiver.

That’s it! Now either play your MP3 player through the home stereo or use the laptop to access the music on your PC via wireless file sharing and hit play!

NOTE: I have never used 802.11b, but, I assume, within reasonable range it would be fine for streaming audio. But, if possible, use 802.11g or 802.11n for best results.