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DTV offers 2 methods, internet or those "watch now" VOD programs they force download from the bird to your DVR.
DTV's VOD is a joke though, you cannot watch it in a few minutes, you have to wait for it to download. they limit the speed they send it, so a 2 hour HD movie could take 12-16 hours to download!
don't get me wrong, i use it occasionally. but it is not TRUE VOD.
best way to get on demand?
Cat-5 or Cat-6 cable from your DVR to your router, or to a switch box connected to your router. Cables are very cheap at monoprice. If you want wireless it gets more expensive and complicated.
it depends on a lot of things, and DTV is getting better lately. but a search of the forum here will back up what i said about it has almost ZERO to with your speed as DTV limits the bandwidth. no it won't work on dial up, but folks with 1 meg or 10 meg connections report about teh same DL speeds, depending on time of day. i can pull torrents faster than i can pull VOD from DTV.
i will say i have not pulled any 30-60 min shows, just full length movies. a SD movie takes about 2-4 hours at times, 5-6 at others. HD movies(1080i i ain't paying for a 1080p when i can get it free elsewhere) take at least 2x as long and sometimes 3x. i just queue them and watch them a day or two later, not a big deal to me. i just wanted to clarify that it is NOT TRUE VOD.
Are there any powerline adapters or wireless ethernet bridges that work with Windows 7 so I can hook-up my HDDVR? I have tried 1 of each but they apparently don't work in W7 yet.