Can you make a home PC DVR with fiber optic LAN TV?

[HGC]

Next week I'm getting TV channels over fiber optic LAN cable from my awesome local ISP. Is there any way to input the channels into a PC with a tuner card, or some other way, as one would with cable TV?

My ISP doesn't mind me doing it, but they don't know how to make it work. They did verify that the basic channels are unscrambled as in cable TV, but it comes over CAT 5 cable and I haven't found a TV tuner card that accepts this.

Perhaps you can hook it up to a normal NIC and somehow make it work? I already have internet coming in over 1 NIC , though.

Another idea: an IR blaster that you can hook up to a PC to control the TV set top box? I know Tivo has this, can you do it for a home PC DVR?

Thanks for any tips!

 

[Andrew1990]

Well I know at my work, we make a adapter cables that can make the cat5 into another cable as I was thinking of doing something like this myself.

 

[SolMiester]

If it comes over cat5, wouldnt you only need the software to tune it, no hardware tuner card necessary?

 

[HGC]

I wondered about both those ideas, Andrew and Sol.

Fiber TV is coming in a couple of days. I'll experiment when I get time. If I learn anything, I'll post it here.

 

[ViRGE]

Are you sure the local ISP distributes the channels over Ethernet, rather than piping them out in to the coax system at the Optical Network Terminal? I'm not immediately familiar with any major fiber deployments using IPTV, which is why I ask.

 

[nanaki333]

Originally posted by: ViRGE
Are you sure the local ISP distributes the channels over Ethernet, rather than piping them out in to the coax system at the Optical Network Terminal? I'm not immediately familiar with any major fiber deployments using IPTV, which is why I ask.

yeah. i had verizon fios at my old place and the router had the coax ports for TV and cat5 ports for the internet. unless something has changed in the last 2 months with verizon.

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: nanaki333

Originally posted by: ViRGE
Are you sure the local ISP distributes the channels over Ethernet, rather than piping them out in to the coax system at the Optical Network Terminal? I'm not immediately familiar with any major fiber deployments using IPTV, which is why I ask.

yeah. i had verizon fios at my old place and the router had the coax ports for TV and cat5 ports for the internet. unless something has changed in the last 2 months with verizon.

Well he's not using Verizon (I almost made that mistake myself when first reading it) but my understanding is that just about everyone is using the Verizon model for FTTH. They could be doing IPTV though, ala AT&T U-verse, which is why I'm asking if he's sure.

 

[mpilchfamily]

With the fiberoptic cable you have to use a tuner box with your TV right. Well you'll have to get another one for your computer. You'll have the cable box connect to your PC threw a tuner card. Then all your chennel surfing will be done threw the cable box remote.

 

[HGC]

Thanks very much for your input, everyone.

My situation is odd and very fortunate. I live in rural Iowa, and my local ISP got a $9,000,000 government loan to hook up the heartland, so to speak. I now get 100 mbps internet, phone service, and all the cable tv channels for $125 a month over fiber optic cable.

It turns out that there are two LAN cables, one for internet and one for TV. The installer said I cannot put the cable right into a computer, as mpilchfamiy said, I must connect it to the set top box. The set top box has HDMI out, so I might be able to connect to a capture card in a computer that way and change channels on the set top box.

 

[ViRGE]

Why is it there's better internet access in the middle of rural Iowa than there is in the city for me?

 

[bloodnite]

Thanks very much for your input, everyone.

My situation is odd and very fortunate. I live in rural Iowa, and my local ISP got a $9,000,000 government loan to hook up the heartland, so to speak. I now get 100 mbps internet, phone service, and all the cable tv channels for $125 a month over fiber optic cable.

It turns out that there are two LAN cables, one for internet and one for TV. The installer said I cannot put the cable right into a computer, as mpilchfamiy said, I must connect it to the set top box. The set top box has HDMI out, so I might be able to connect to a capture card in a computer that way and change channels on the set top box.

I'm in the same position... I have an (fiber to the home) IPTV set top box... No coaxial cables in the house now... only rj45 jacks and rj45 cables. I tried doing using adapters from rj45 to BNC adapter, then BNC to coaxial adapter and my TV tuner wouldn't pick up any signal. I'm now stuck with using my TV tuner like a VCR (must change the set top box to whatever channel I want to record, it records whatever channel is on and doesn't automatically tune to the channel you set on your HTPC). It's very annoying given I upgraded my HTPC ~6 months ago. If anyone has suggestions on how to convert rj45 to coaxial to get a TV signal that would be awesome.

 

[llee]

wow, lol. at least our tax dollars are going to work

 

[bloodnite]

Let me rephrase... A local Telecommunications company has been expanding fiber to houses in the town I live in. This was not $ from the government.

 

[Phynaz]

The set top box has HDMI out, so I might be able to connect to a capture card in a computer that way and change channels on the set top box.

Most likely not. If the broadcaster sets the copyright flag, an HDMI capture device will refuse to record. At least with any commercial software.

 

[Phynaz]

wow, lol. at least our tax dollars are going to work

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Service_Fund

 

[bloodnite]

I have a Hauppauge 1600 tv tuner in my HTPC... Before switching to Fiber in our house we had Coaxial cables from the wall with Comcast.