Linksys Media Centre Extender

robodonkey

Howdy folks,
I'm looking to get my new PC to act as a PVR and to get Audio/Video streaming to my HDTV and thought the Linksys DMA2200 would be a good fit. Are they any good? Will it even work in my plan below?

My best guess is:

Cable (out of wall) -> (in to Antenna for decoding) NTL (out by SCART) -> (in from SCART) Linksys (out by HDMI) -> (in from HDMI) TV

Does that sound plausible?

Connecting the Linksys to teh PC via network seems easy enough - it's the presenting of channels from the NTL digital via the Linksys that has me scratching my head.

Would it work that way or am I missing something obvious?

Thanks for any replies folks.

SouperComputer

Just to clarify, the TV signal will go to the PC. The PC will distribute it thru the home to the extenders via network., ideally wired.

In the case of NTL digital, you will use either the composite or Svideo outputs from the Box via SCART and input it into the PC.

Read the sticky for possible Svideo issues.

Also, keep in mind that the xbox360 works as an extender and has good HD support.

robodonkey

Thanks for that. Having spent the last 24 hours drawing this up in my head I've finally plumped for:

2nd STB, Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150, Vista(!) for DMA2200 support, Linksys DMA2200 as media center extender.

Then at least I can watch telly and if I really want to record, I can (using the Media Center tuner).

If I do use a 2nd STB - will the Hauppauge get me my 50 or so channels so they are all viewable on my TV via Vista? Or will it be just the analogue ones?
Posts seem to be inconclusive about this.....

Thanks again for the reply!

SouperComputer

You will be able to watch digital. Also, if you are going to have two NTL boxes, route em both into the HTPC, not the TV. The HTPC will manage and distribute them thru your home. With two boxes you can do this cool stuff with live TV.....


1) Record two shows at once (and watch either show on an extender or the HTPC while its being recorded)

2) Record one show, just watch another live without recording again accessible on any extender.

3) Watch two seperate live streams on two differnent nodes, IE T na G on the HTPC and Sky Sports or somthing on the extender.

While this is going on, anyone can watch one of the already recorded shows too on any client.

The TV card you need is a Hauppage PVR 500, it has two tuners which you will need as you will have two STB's. You will want the extra bracket that enables you to utilise a second Svideo/composite input,

You will need to purchase a MS MCE remote. This does two things.....

1) Controls the HTPC (of course)
2) Controls the NTL boxes by way of Infrared "Beads". These beads go on the front of the NTL boxes so that the computer can control them (remember that the extender pulls all the stuff from the HTPC).

So it works like this........

You hit the button on your MCE (Or Extender) remote to change the channel
HTPC gets the signal from your remote for the channel change
HTPC uses the "beads" to change the channel, just like an NTL remote on the NTL box.

Presto! Hope this all makes sense.

To recap, you need..........

Two NTL Set top Boxes
Two SCART to composite cables, SVdieo is better, but will need a 30-50 euro RGB to SVideo CONVERTER to work as the NTL boxes do not output Svideo VIA SCART. Again, check the "Grey video with NTL" sticky for more info.
One Hauppage PVR500 with the bracket for the 2nd input
One Microsoft remote
Beer (maybe)

robodonkey

Thanks for all your help SP.
I imagine a beer or 10 will be required along the way
I'll post up next week and let you know how I get on (and if the DMA2200 is any good!).

Thanks again!

robodonkey

Howdy folks, just thought I'd post up to say thanks for your help and also to let you know how the Linksys DMA 2200 is working out.

WiFi is just OK on the Linksys Media Center Extender when streaming video, but I have Cat 5 in the front room and that's ok. Everything else is great, music, video, tv and recording all working as expected. I had some fun getting the IR blaster to work (3 digit, no "ok" required, medium speed, placed directly onto NTL Pace box reciever did the trick in the end).

The Upscaling is great (to me - I'm no video expert) and it says it's 1080p (my TV does 1080p) soo that's another device now cleared from the living room. I managed to get shot of the stereo, iPod dock, DVD recorder/player!

We have 2 STB, one going straight to the TV and one hooked in via Hauppage pvr 150 to my PC with MCE running Vista (which I am surprisingly happy with once you find where they've hidden all the stuff from XP!).


Next stop is some decent Audio equipment - anyone seen the ZVOX 325 in action? I like the idea of wireless/virtual surround (not that big a room to fill tbh).

Any recommendations for cheap audio solutions - I'm all ears!

Tx again............