[mythtv-users] Ceton vs multirec questions

[Gary Buhrmaster]

On Wed, Jul 28, 2021 at 6:58 PM <f-myth-users at media.mit.edu> wrote:

> The issue with a network-connected tuner is that it's sensitive to network
> congestion.

On a properly manageable switch one can
support changing the priority queue of packets
(i.e. QoS) from the ceton to essentially
eliminate the issue on the network side.  One
may also need to adjust network buffers on the
host.

In any case, as I recall, the MythTV support
for a ceton uses RTSP over TCP, which at least
has "some" possibility of retry (the native HDHR
support uses UDP).

btw, while I do not recall the ceton tuner
stating that it does so, the HDHR tuner which
uses UDP (it may also use TCP when using
the more modern tuning methods) does tag
it's traffic with a DSCP flag (cs5?) that at
least some more recent commodity switches
may prioritize without any extra setup (cs5
is typically used for broadcast video, and
would be placed in the priority queue on
those switches that support it).

> You should be able to find 6ETH's on eBay; they seem to pop up regularly.

Be aware that if your MSO uses Tuning Adapters,
the ceton cable that supports them is not a cable
that is usually easy to find (I think it was a mini-A
(host) to full-size B USB cable), so if you use a
TA, make sure you get that cable included.

And, of course, there are the known thermal
(they got hot, and then fail in interesting ways,
which may mean an additional fan), and
firmware issues (for some MSOs you need to
use the latest beta firmware in order to tune
all your subscribed channels, and the beta
firmware has known memory leaks requiring
a reboot at some random interval), so, as
always, caveat emptor.