Re: [PLUG] MythTV + HDHR3-CC + Comcast?

[Gary Duzan <gary@duzan.org>]

In Message <5064E929.9060409@jpsdomain.org>,
   JP Vossen <jp@jpsdomain.org>wrote:

=>> I have heard they work with FiOS, but haven't seen it myself.
=>
=>Likewise, any stories?  Based on all of the ONT/MOCA/ActionTec/Whatever 
=>stories, I plan to avoid this.  But...you never know...

   I used to work for Motorola in Horsham doing cable stuff, so I
know some about this. When it comes to the "downstream", that is,
things coming from the headend towards your home, the FiOS cable
plant is the same as any old traditional digital cable plant once
it hits the coax. Before that it just happens to be optically
encoded. The most basic FiOS set top boxes are simply low end cable
boxes (DCTs instead of QIPs.) This is good enough to decode encrypted
channels (properly authorized, of course; I worked in Access Control
:-), but won't get you guide information (on FiOS), VoD, pay-per-view,
etc. This is the level of service I would expect with a CableCard
(M-card) enabled device.

   The big difference hits when you start trying to talk "upstream"
toward the headend. For traditional digital cable, the return is
either RF (low bandwidth, over a dedicated frequency) or DOCSIS
(cable modem technology built into the set top box.) For FiOS the
return is straight IP, usually over MoCA, but it doesn't really
matter as long as it has a route out. FiOS also uses IP for guide
data and VoD as opposed to the more traditional digital cable
delivery methods (out-of-band trickling and VoD channels, respectively.)
You are unlikely to ever get these things any way other than a FiOS
cable box (or some other specialty tool.)

   Hope this helps.

					Gary Duzan


p.s. All this said, I've never set up HDHR myself, so I can't speak
     directly to the issue.
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