SiliconDust HDHomeRun Prime (3 Tuners)

This device is wonderful but you should pay extreme attention to the installation and activation process to avoid any frustrations. I will share to you the lessons I learned along the way getting this device to work the way I expected it to be. To start with, here are some key information from my setup: Tuner: SiliconDust HDHomeRun PRIME (HDHR3-CC) Provider: Time Warner Cable (TWC) Area/Region: TWC Gardena - Southbay (California) Where I intended to watch shows: a. Computer - through Windows Media Center b. TV - through Play Station 3 DLNA capability Before attempting to start with your installation, please make sure you have the following: 1. CableCard - you can get this from a TWC center. Just tell them you want a CableCard. 2. Tuning Adapter - By default TWC will NOT provide you with this one UNLESS you insist that you want to. To save you the time and trouble of going back to TWC, please make sure you get this Tuning Adapter at the same time you get your CableCard. The adapter I got from TWC is: Cisco STA 1520. This adapter is bulky and bigger than my HDHomeRun unit. 3. Coaxial Cables and USB Cable - By default TWC will NOT provide you with these cables UNLESS you insist once again that you really need them badly. You need 2 Coaxial Cables and 1 USB cable. If you need longer cables, please request for them from TWC. By default they give you 6ft Coaxial Cables... but they have 12ft Cables should you insist. 4. SiliconDust HDHomeRun PRIME (HDHR3-CC) Tuner - of course you should have this. Now that you have everything you need, let's go to the physical installation. 1. Unpack everything. 2. On a piece of paper, take note of the serial number at the sticker at the CableCard. Also, at the bottom surface of your Tuning Adapter, take note of the serial number. You "may" need both of these information later. 3. Locate the main Coaxial Cable from the TWC cable setup. Usually this is located close to the Cable Modem. The Cable Modem has a Coaxial Cable connected at it. Follow this connection until you see a Splitter where another similar cable is connected. The other end of this other cable is usually connected to the Cable Set Top Box or DVR Recorder where your TV is connected. This is the Coaxial Cable connection that we need. 4. Unplug the Coaxial Cable described above from the Splitter and replace with the Coaxial Cable you got from TWC. Plug the other end of the Coaxial Cable to the "CABLE IN" of the Tuning Adapter. 5. Plug the other Coaxial Cable you got from TWC to the "CABLE OUT" of the Tuning Adapter. Plug the other end of this Coaxial Cable to the connector at the back of your HDHomeRun PRIME Tuner. 6. Plug the USB Cable you got from TWC to the USB connector of the Tuning Adapter. Plug the other end of the USB Cable to the USB connector at the back of your HDHomeRun PRIME Tuner. 7. Insert the CableCard on the slot at the back of your HDHomeRun PRIME Tuner. NOTE: Push the CableCard all the way and make sure you here a "snapping" sound. You need a slight force for the insertion process. AGAIN make sure you check that it's properly inserted as this is most likely going to become your first issue (This happened to me LOL). 8. Connect the power adapter to the Tuning Adapter. You should see a yellow-green LED or light. If not, press the POWER button in front of the Tuning Adapter. Wait for the light to become steady (always ON and not blinking) before doing the next step. 9. Connect the power adapter to the HDHomeRun PRIME Tuner. You should see lights or LED's. I assume you have completed the above physical installation so let's go to the software installation. 11. Insert the CD that came with your HDHomeRun PRIME Tuner. The CD should autorun after insertion and will bring out the installation window. 12. The window will prompt you to check the internet for the latest revision of the installer. Just follow the instructions and you should be downloading the latest installer shortly. 13. Run the recently downloaded installer and follow the installation instructions. 14. While the installer is running, open your browser and go to this link: [...] 15. On that link, locate the "Software Installation" section, then let's start with the detailed setup for HDHomeRun. Let's take a short pause. I am just going to remind you that the steps detailed on the link from [...], though correct, are insufficient in some ways. So I will refine those steps: 16. Open HDHomeRun Setup. 17. On the Location tab, set the Country and Zip/Postal Code 18. On the Applications tab, set the Main Application to Windows Media Center 19. On the Tuners tab, set the Signal Source to CableCARD for each of your HDHomeRun PRIME tuners. 20. DO NOT follow the "Scan" procedure explained on the link. You will just waste 30-45min of your time waiting for the scan process to complete only to find out that the result of the scan is completely useless since you have not activated your CableCard yet. BUT if you have started scanning already because you didn't read this part... just go ahead and CANCEL or simply wait for it to finish. We're almost there. But this is where the real challenge begins. I will list the steps mentioned on the link I provided above from [...] but I will add some notes whenever necessary. 21. On the Tuners tab in HDHomeRun Setup, click on one of the Tuner IDs to access your HDHomeRun PRIME’s webpage. This can also be done by clicking the link on the Device tab in HDHomeRun Config GUI, or by directly navigating to the IP address of your HDHomeRun. 22. Click on CableCARD Menu. In the CableCARD Status section, you will see the current status of the CableCARD in your HDHomeRun PRIME. Verify that Card Authentication and Card OOB Lock show success. If Card OOB Lock does not show success, this suggests that your HDHomeRun PRIME does not have a good cable connection. Verify that the TV cable is securely connected to the RF in port on your HDHomeRun PRIME and to the wall outlet or splitter. NOTE: If you failed to properly insert the CableCard on STEP #6, you would find the problem through the "Card OOB Lock" status. Again let's take another short pause. On the next step you are about to CALL TWC for assistance in activating your CableCard. Activating the CableCard is straightforward, but what follows next is where most headaches occur... especially if you are unlucky enough to interface with a dumb call representative from TWC. 23. Call TWC (or your cable provider) using the PH# you see from the above step. You may also call other TWC customer support or technical assistance number you see on their webpage. You can simply request to have your call connected to the CableCard activation department. 24. Follow the prompts on their phone until you here something like "We have sent an activation signal to your blah blah blah"... or if you had talked to a representative, he should now say that he has activated your CableCard. 25. Hang up your phone. For TWC, dial this direct line to their CableCard department or specialist: 866 532-2598. Or, you may dial the same number you used on Step #24 but find a way to talk to an operator or representative. Tell that representative to connect you to a CableCard specialist. If you talk to an ordinary technical support representative, he won't be able to help you. He will give you headaches. 26. Tell the CableCard specialist that you need to PAIR your equipment or tuner so that you can watch copyright-protected channels. He would start asking questions. Tell him clearly the following information: a. That the equipment you are trying to pair is a SiliconDust HDHomeRun PRIME (HDHR3-CC) Tuner. b. That you are going to view the TV shows on your computer using Windows Media Center. The shows you are going to view are not only regular-broadcast channels but also premium channels like HBO, TWC Sportsnet, NickJr, or ETC. 27. This guy you are talking to SHOULD provide you with instructions and SHOULD ask you to obtain the HOST ID information. If this guy starts asking you if you connected the cables right or if he starts asking non-sense... please hang up and try calling the number again until you are able to find a representative that seems to know what he's doing. The number I provided above is the direct line to the department that specializes on CableCard and such related issues. Only Steps ##25 to #27 are not clearly explained on the instructions from [...]. It was briefly mentioned that you need to "pair" your CableCard to get copy-protected contents but the "pairing" process is NOT the same as the "activation" process for the CableCard. After completing the instructions from the specialist on Step #27, you will feel the satisfaction that you can already view the copyrighted contents since one of his instruction will provide a confirmation that copyright authorization is successful. 28. The remaining thing left for you to do is to SCAN the channels. Remember on Step #20 where I asked you not to scan? Now is the right time to perform this scan. If the window from Step #20 is already closed, you may access the above procedure by going to the installation folder at the Start Menu of your computer. Look for HDHomeRun and click the HDHomeRun Setup icon. WARNING: The "scan" process will take a very long time. Cheers! You are now good to go! Wait... do you want to configure your PS3 to view the TV shows? These are the simple steps: 1. Go to Settings -> Network Settings. Set "Media Server Connection" to ENABLED. 2. Go to Settings -> System Settings. Enable DTCP-IP. If you don't see the "Enable DTCP-IP" option, skip to Step #3. 3. Go to Video. You should see: HDHomeRun DLNA Tuner. Select this. 4. Navigate through the Channels. Copyright-protected channels should show [drm] after the channel name. Example: 182 TNICK [drm]. Click on any channel that has [drm]. When you click this, PS3 should prompt you that you need to enable DTCP-IP. Now go back to Step #2. The "Enable DTCP-IP" option should now magically appear (where it was previously missing). 5. If you do not see any channel that shows [drm] or anything that distinguishes a copyright-protected channel from regular ones, then it simply means you messed up the "scanning" process on Step #28. a. All you have to do is reboot the tuning adapter and the HDHomeRun Tuner. Follow sequence on Step #8 through #9. b. Run Step #28 to repeat the "scanning" procedure. c. Reboot your PS3. Repeat PS3 Steps #2 to #4.