Pearl's Adventures in Home Networking and AV: Cutting the Cable Cord Part I: Getting the Hardware

Fed up with the ridiculous cost of Comcast TV, which I barely watch anyways, I have been researching the best method for cutting the cable for the past year. Finally I came up with a reasonably priced plan, and got set out running a few tests. The plan is to test PlayOn (which I will review in detail in another post), which takes video from the Internet, and pushes it out to any DLNA client. It requires a relatively fast processor to transcode the video before making it available to your client. I was already running a dedicated UTorrent server, so put the trial version of PlayOn onto that machine, but found the video too choppy. The processor was far too slow, but the system worked well enough that and I was able to determine that PlayOn would be an acceptable answer if I had enough processing power to run it. The interface seemed to work well, my set top boxes (WD Live HUB and Live Plus) were able to see the PlayOn server, and the video showed up on my TV. Okay, we have a plan. I determined to get myself an early birthday present, and buy a used computer with a fast enough processor, and make a dedicated PlayOn server. Worst case scenario was that I PlayOn would not meet my needs and I would end up with an extra computer. No real issue at all, I have a list of things in the planning stage that would require another computer, such as build a backup server, and a host of other ideas..

So I went out armed with a print out of PlayOn’s minimum hardware requirements to my local used computer stores. The first place I went to, RE-PC had nothing that would meet my needs. They had a bunch of older computers that might do for a file server, but nothing with any processing power. Store number two, InterConnection which I had never been to was a gold mine. In the front they only had a few PCs, some with more than enough power, for far more than I was willing to pay. I explained to the guy behind the front desk what I was trying to do, and he told me that would be no problem. He led me through a door behind the counter, and there it was, the Mecca of used computers. An entire warehouse of boxes wrapped in cellophane and palletized. I was actually pretty shocked at how much inventory they had. Apparently they get Microsoft’s outdated PCs (which means two years old), as well as lots of other sources and resell them for charity. If you are in the Seattle area and want a used PC of any level, this is the place you want to go.I gave the guy my hardware requirement list, he picked through a stack of boxes and handed me a Lenovo with an Intel Core2 Duo E6750 @ 2.66GHz , a CD/DVD burner and a 250GB drive for $199. The exact price I wanted to pay and more than enough processing power. PlayOn requires a pathmark CPU score of 500 and recommends at least a score of 1000. The new machine scores 1600 so should be good.

My next part of the mission was to by a KVM (keyboard, Video, Mouse) switch so I could use the same KVM for the new server and the UTorrent machine. This would allow me to have the two servers next to each other in a cabinet with one monitor mouse and keyboard on top. This was quickly accomplished by a run over to Best Buy and a purchase of an IOGEAR GCS22U 2-Port USB KVM Switch with Remote for around $25. Could have been bought cheaper online, but I didn’t want to wait to get the new box setup. Very convenient. One click of a button and you are now working on the other machine.

Now that I had the hardware, time to setup and test.

IOGEAR KVM Switch

Wire new PC with KVM switch and into network switch

Install Windows on the new PC

Go through all the windows updates

Download and install PlayOn trial version

Start up the PlayOn Server

Connect to the server with my WDHUB

The IOGEAR GCS22U 2-Port USB KVM Switch in action

And there we go. The new pushes hundreds of TV channels + multiple seasons of already broadcasted shows over DLNA that my WD Hubs in the living room and the Bedroom pickup as a media server. Pretty amazing. Found a bunch of 3rd party script to pull in European channels, HBO, Showtime etc, and now I am close to ready to cut the cord with my cable company.

I called Comcast to discuss my options (as I still want them as my Internet provider) and was able to upgrade my network speed to 20mbs (from 12) and get rid of all the TV bullshit, save over $1000 a year, and still end up with all the TV stations and shows you could possibly care about.

I will discuss PlayOn more in depth in a future article. There is a ton of upside, some downside and a bit of configuration to play with. That said, so far testing the demo version has worked great and once I finish trying out all the options I will purchase the full version.