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Help me build my cut cord system…

Posted on 12/18/15 at 12:09 pm
Posted by poochie
Houma, la
Member since Apr 2007
6288 posts
Posted on 12/18/15 at 12:09 pm
Current setup: TV1, has directv box, roku (wifi) and connected to TV2 via directv genie
TV2, has directv genie
TV3, has roku (hard wired)
TV4, future tv to be purchased when I cut the cord

I watch TWD and GoT, wife watches OTA programming (none of these are watched in real time), kids watch stuff on netflix, disney jr, and nick jr.

I also recently built a computer cabinet that I have a single coax and cat 6 ran to plus empty conduit for future runs). I have no hardware in this area other than a laptop.

What I want: I would like to have streaming function and OTA channels on all TVs and for TVs 1 & 2 to have OTA DVR capability (not necessarily linked but that would be preferable).

I know I’ll need a few more streaming boxes (roku/ fire, etc), an OTA antenna system, and some sort of OTA DVR system. Is there any way to run the OTA material to a main DVR in my computer cabinet then have the content streamed to each TV vai PLEX or something similar?
Posted by Ace Midnight
Between sanity and madness
Member since Dec 2006
89546 posts
Posted on 12/18/15 at 1:06 pm to
quote:

Is there any way to run the OTA material to a main DVR in my computer cabinet then have the content streamed to each TV vai PLEX or something similar?


Yeah - at this point, I would consider an HTPC to manage all that local content and DVR - you're already pretty far down the standardization path to ROKU/Plex for local media. Not sure if that plays nice with the DirectTV genie, though. I can't say I'm an expert on any of it, but I'm already a fan of the Roku/Plex combo and I've barely scratched the surface.
Posted by hogfly
Fayetteville, AR
Member since May 2014
4648 posts
Posted on 12/18/15 at 1:11 pm to
This might help some with your OTA DVR needs:
LINK /

Posted by Layabout
Baton Rouge
Member since Jul 2011
11082 posts
Posted on 12/18/15 at 6:04 pm to
If you want an out-of-the-box solution that's not expensive and is easy to operate and maintain, nothing beats the TiVo experience. I'm a veteran cord cutter who just dumped my Windows Media Center system in favor of the TiVo. Get one TiVo Bolt for your main TV. This contains the DVR and supports satellite TiVo Minis for the other three TVs. The Bolt is 4K Ultra HD ready.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the streaming services that I normally used (Amazon, Netflix, Vudu and Hulu) were already built into the TiVo. No need for an additional Roku box. The TiVos also have built-in Plex support so you have access to your own media.

Regarding the media collection, I've spent a lot of time digitizing my DVD collection and never did achieve satisfactory results with subtitles and closed captions. I'm now using Vudu in conjunction with UltraViolet to maintain my media. Vudu will add most DVDs to your Ultraviolet library for a conversion fee of $1 each and you never have to worry about them again.

BTW, the TiVo devices need to be wired with Cat6 but you mentioned you already had that in place. They also have a built-in MoCA adapter that will let you use existing cable TV coax if Cat6 is not available.

The price of the Bolt is $299 which includes a year of the program guide. The Minis are about $100 each with no recurring charges. All of the Minis have access to the DVR functions. The Bolt comes with four tuners built in, which is easily enough to support four TVs and DVR in normal use.

A word about the paid program guide. The price of that is $150 a year ($12.50 a month) after the first year. It's worth every penny. It is juat that much better than any other program guide I've used.

BTW, all of the TiVo boxes use an RF remote so there is no problem with concealing the equipment in a cabinet. The remote can also send IR codes to your TV and audio receiver.
This post was edited on 12/19/15 at 4:42 am
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