By now, if you’re a DIRECTV fan, you’ve heard the term “SWM.” Most people pronounce it “swim” and have since its release in 2009. It’s a technology that DIRECTV uses to allow for one wire to carry all DIRECTV information. This makes installations a lot easier. But the last couple of years you might have also heard the term “DSWM” pronounced “d-swim.” Is this the same thing as “DIRECTV SWM?” Well yes and no, and in order to understand the difference, you have to get some backstory.
Disclaimer: DIRECTV’s SWM technology is so proprietary that there isn’t a lot of good information on how it actually works. I got a lot of this from my training as a D2 certified technician, but there could still be errors based on the way the information was presented.
Unlike satellite TV in other parts of the world, DIRECTV uses three different satellite locations to carry all of its channels. This is simply because DIRECTV has local channels for so many different cities that it wouldn’t be possible to carry all of them within the bandwidth you get with one location. Before 2010, this created a lot of problem with people who wanted to have more than one satellite receiver (which is pretty much everyone.) In addition to a multiswitch, which intelligently routes signal from the three satellite locations where it needs to go, you need to run a cable from every receiver all the way back to a central point. Not only that you need once cable for every tuner. So, if you have a DVR that records two things, you need two wires. That’s a lot of copper and a lot of expense.
When there weren’t as many satellites, DIRECTV used a technology called “stacking” which put all the signals on one wire by just shifting the frequencies of them. DISH still uses this tech because they have two different satellite fleets and it still works. But with three different satellite locations, you can’t use stackers because if you did you would need really expensive cable.
So, instead of mindlessly stacking signals, SWM technology communicates with the receivers and figures out exactly which channels you want to watch. It then puts only those signals on a wire, stacking them up in a much narrower frequency range that works with regular RG6 cable.
The original design for SWM technology used analog processing to stack the signals. The signals themselves were still digital but the framework around them was all analog. This created room for 9 channels in the frequency range they used. 8 of them were for TV while the 9th is for network data that’s invisible to the user. This limited the number of tuners on one wire to, well, 8. And that wasn’t enough for a lot of people. They came up with a special multiswitch that would put out two different sets of 8 but that still wasn’t enough. DIRECTV’s engineers had to completely rethink the way SWM technology worked.
DIRECTV’s engineering team replaced the entire analog framework of SWM with a digital one. This allowed them to decrease the space between channels and fit more in the same space. With digital SWM technology (that’s right the D stands for digital) you can fit 22 channels in the same space which was used for 9 channels previously.
DIRECTV’s digital SWM-enabled Reverse Band 3 LNB will support 21 tuners, that’s true. But, in practice, we say it only supports 13. Why? Because satellite hardware made before 2013 (and this includes all H24 and H25 receivers and the HR24 DVR) simply can’t deal with that many tuners in a SWM system. Those older receivers can’t be upgraded to take advantage of more than 13 available channels on a SWM. You can only access the higher channels with newer hardware like the Genie 2 or H26K commercial receiver.
On the other hand, the external SWM-30 multiswitch uses digital SWM technology but only supports two banks of 15 tuners for a total of 30. (If you have older tech, it only supports two banks of 13 tuners for the same reason the LNB only supports 13.) This has to do with a limitation of the networking system used by DIRECTV. DIRECTV receivers, except the H26K, all use the same coax cable for networking that they use for satellite signal. That coax networking scheme has a limitation of 15 receivers, so that’s what the multiswitch was designed around.
DIRECTV could absolutely engineer new devices to take advantage of the full 22-tuner capability of digital SWM. But it’s not likely you’ll see that happen since the current tech is serving people’s needs nicely.
When you’re ready for a DIRECTV upgrade, the experts at Solid Signal are here to help! Shop the great selection of genuine DIRECTV parts, or for the best customer service, call us at 888-233-7563 during East Coast business hours. We’re here for you! If it’s after hours, fill out the form below. We’ll get back to you quickly!
The post What’s the difference between a DIRECTV SWM and a DSWM? appeared first on The Solid Signal Blog.
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Disclaimer: DIRECTV’s SWM technology is so proprietary that there isn’t a lot of good information on how it actually works. I got a lot of this from my training as a D2 certified technician, but there could still be errors based on the way the information was presented.
What SWM technology is
Unlike satellite TV in other parts of the world, DIRECTV uses three different satellite locations to carry all of its channels. This is simply because DIRECTV has local channels for so many different cities that it wouldn’t be possible to carry all of them within the bandwidth you get with one location. Before 2010, this created a lot of problem with people who wanted to have more than one satellite receiver (which is pretty much everyone.) In addition to a multiswitch, which intelligently routes signal from the three satellite locations where it needs to go, you need to run a cable from every receiver all the way back to a central point. Not only that you need once cable for every tuner. So, if you have a DVR that records two things, you need two wires. That’s a lot of copper and a lot of expense.
When there weren’t as many satellites, DIRECTV used a technology called “stacking” which put all the signals on one wire by just shifting the frequencies of them. DISH still uses this tech because they have two different satellite fleets and it still works. But with three different satellite locations, you can’t use stackers because if you did you would need really expensive cable.
So, instead of mindlessly stacking signals, SWM technology communicates with the receivers and figures out exactly which channels you want to watch. It then puts only those signals on a wire, stacking them up in a much narrower frequency range that works with regular RG6 cable.
Now here’s where the D comes in
The original design for SWM technology used analog processing to stack the signals. The signals themselves were still digital but the framework around them was all analog. This created room for 9 channels in the frequency range they used. 8 of them were for TV while the 9th is for network data that’s invisible to the user. This limited the number of tuners on one wire to, well, 8. And that wasn’t enough for a lot of people. They came up with a special multiswitch that would put out two different sets of 8 but that still wasn’t enough. DIRECTV’s engineers had to completely rethink the way SWM technology worked.
DIRECTV’s engineering team replaced the entire analog framework of SWM with a digital one. This allowed them to decrease the space between channels and fit more in the same space. With digital SWM technology (that’s right the D stands for digital) you can fit 22 channels in the same space which was used for 9 channels previously.
But, they kind of overshot
DIRECTV’s digital SWM-enabled Reverse Band 3 LNB will support 21 tuners, that’s true. But, in practice, we say it only supports 13. Why? Because satellite hardware made before 2013 (and this includes all H24 and H25 receivers and the HR24 DVR) simply can’t deal with that many tuners in a SWM system. Those older receivers can’t be upgraded to take advantage of more than 13 available channels on a SWM. You can only access the higher channels with newer hardware like the Genie 2 or H26K commercial receiver.
On the other hand, the external SWM-30 multiswitch uses digital SWM technology but only supports two banks of 15 tuners for a total of 30. (If you have older tech, it only supports two banks of 13 tuners for the same reason the LNB only supports 13.) This has to do with a limitation of the networking system used by DIRECTV. DIRECTV receivers, except the H26K, all use the same coax cable for networking that they use for satellite signal. That coax networking scheme has a limitation of 15 receivers, so that’s what the multiswitch was designed around.
DIRECTV could absolutely engineer new devices to take advantage of the full 22-tuner capability of digital SWM. But it’s not likely you’ll see that happen since the current tech is serving people’s needs nicely.
Want to know more? Want to upgrade your DIRECTV system?
When you’re ready for a DIRECTV upgrade, the experts at Solid Signal are here to help! Shop the great selection of genuine DIRECTV parts, or for the best customer service, call us at 888-233-7563 during East Coast business hours. We’re here for you! If it’s after hours, fill out the form below. We’ll get back to you quickly!
The post What’s the difference between a DIRECTV SWM and a DSWM? appeared first on The Solid Signal Blog.
Continue reading...
