HR44/500 S/w 797 Kills local network.

[MikeRuth]

Hey folks, want to begin by letting you know I'm an independent PC tech, make my living at it for the last 20 years. But I am in no way a satellite guy
so I'm here to ask about a problem one of my clients is having. I was called instead of DTV because when he turns on his DVR he loses internet. I'll do my best to give you as much info as possible.



The internet and local network is setup in this manner.
A time Warner cable modem, connects to a Linksys router. Pretty basic setup and provides the wireless in that area as well. This is a large home, so to get internet in the other end of the house and where the HR44 is located I have used a powerline Ethernet kit(P/L). Now at the entertainment center the P/L box provides really good internet speed. I get results in the 18Mbs range. it has four ports. One port feeds the HR44 and another feeds a second router which is used to provide wireless in that part of the home. FYI, the routers WAN side is DHCP and picks up and IP off the first router, then the wireless is set on a completely different IP scheme. This is only for the tablets and laptops in the home. Works great and that's the current configuration. So keep in mind the HR44 gets it's feed from the first router direct off the P/L kit.

OK so this setup has been working great for over a year now but recently DTV comes out and replaces the Main DVR, if they changed anything else I don't know about it. I don't know what was in there to begin with but now there is a HR44/500. They also went through all of the wiring out from there and the home owner tells me they pulled 30 yards of cable out from years gone by.

Ok so here is a couple things I don't get, on the previous DVR it was connected to the P/L kit via cat5 and like I said all worked. When I came in today the cat5 was not attached to the back of the HR44 and yet the owner said everything worked OK. Only problem was when ever he turned the HR44 on the wireless went down! In the morning after the HR44 had been off while they slept the wireless was back up.
OK so I figure maybe the DTV tech connected the HR44 via wireless, but even if it was then I would expect the HR44 to not work once the wireless went down!

Ok so I tried another scenario today, I replaced the router to make sure it wasn't faulty. Same thing, internet via wireless is AOK until the HR44 is turned on.

Ok so next I thought let me connect the HR44 to the router instead of the P/L port. wireless is working fine, tablets and laptop working, turn on HR44 and Bamm Internet is out.

I just don't get what is causing this problem and I hope someone here has seen a similar situation.

Thanks, Mike R

 

[raoul5788]

to Satelliteguys Mike!

I'm far from knowledgeable on wireless networks, but the x factor seems to be the new HR44. I'm guessing it's the problem. Your customer may have to have a tech visit from Directv.

 

[Broe67]

Sounds to me that their network needs to be looked at as the fault, not the DTV equipment. Usually if wireless goes down in that type of setup, the router being used as an access point, or second router downstream, can be the culpret, or bad wiring, same goes for the power line equipment.

I would pull that second router out of the loop, pull the power line units, check all wiring. Go one step at a time, to find and rule out the defective network equipment, then place the blame on the DirecTV equipment firsthand.

 

[MikeRuth]

broe67, appreciate the comment and diagnosis steps, I concur yet that's going to be a costly form of diagnosis, and a fair amount of time replacing equipment.

I do have an idea though and that will eliminate the down stream P/L box and router. That's why I carry a couple of 100' Cat 5 cables. gets messy but it works.

Due to the holidays this project has been put on the back burner for a bit, but I will update it as soon as I have any worthy information.

Mike R