[mythtv-users] FiOS and MythTV

[Fred Squires]

On Thu, May 22, 2008 at 10:50 AM, Jerry Rubinow <jerrymr at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Thu, May 22, 2008 at 9:31 AM, Eric Mesa <ericsbinaryworld at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>>
>> My brother's going to be moving into an apartment with FiOS and wanted my
>> advice as to how well mythtv would work in such a setup.  Can you just plug
>> it directly into the myth box?  Does it need to be connected to the STB and,
>> if so, does that mean to watch 1 channel while you record another, do you
>> need 2 STBs?
>
> It depends on what hardware your brother has.
>
> What you get straight off the coax from FIOS is analog signals for channels
> below 50 (*) and digital QAM equivalents for those.  As well, you get
> digital QAM for the HD network (OTA) shows.  All channels 50 and above
> (except for the noted HD ones) and non-network HD are encrypted and cannot
> be obtained from the raw coax.  You can use a splitter to use the coax as
> input to both an analog card PVR-500/150/etc and a QAM card.  No STB
> required.
>
> With a STB, you get access to 50 and above, but you are also tied to the
> STB's tuner, and you can't get any of the HD as HD (just the downscaled
> version, at least until support for the new Hauppauge card is supported).
>
> Also there is a firewire option if you have the HD STB, and it is similar to
> the straight coax.
>
> In my setup, I have several splitters, and the coax goes to a PVR-500, an
> avermedia QAM tuner, and the STB.  The s-video out of the STB also goes to
> the PVR-500.
>
> -Jerry
>
> * Verizon says it will stop providing all analog signals in the near future,
> and in some markets this may already have happened.

Interesting, a friend of mine, who has fios, claims that he gets all
of the digital stations unencrypted, except for the premium channels
(HBO, etc...) and the pay per view channels.  He tested it with an HD
Tivo before he got his cable card(s).

-- 
It was supposed to be so Easy.