[kwlug-disc] Vmedia IPTV & MythTV

[B.S.]

>________________________________
> From: Colin Mackay <zixiekat at gmail.com>
>To: KWLUG discussion <kwlug-disc at kwlug.org> 
>Sent: Thursday, March 3, 2016 11:25 AM
>Subject: Re: [kwlug-disc] Vmedia IPTV & MythTV
> 
>
>
>So just an update...  After speaking with one of their technicians for a time, I decided not to go with Vmedia and continue to use OTA / Streaming (and the occasional torrent) for my TV.  The one factor that killed it for me:  You cannot share recorded TV between Vboxes and this is not a feature that is currently planned.  My family is used to hopping onto any TV/device and all content is available... and I do not want to change that.
>
>
>For now, my cord is still cut. :(
>
>
>One item that showed up in my searching was the HDHOMERUN DVR, which at first just sounded like their own DVR... but apparently this is able to record even the 'premium cable channels' and supports a plethora of viewing devices.  Right now it's an 'in development' Kickstarter.  I've inquired as to how this would work with Canadian cable carriers, as they do state US and Canada on their Kickstarter page.  I will report back when I know.
>
>
>I have serious doubts that this 'premium cable' claim will include Canadian companies.


Zazeen is the same - one box per set, and the boxes do not talk to each other.

Both Rogers' and Bell's do, IIUC, but you will need their boxes at each set.

For any, lose the (primary) box, lose the content. e.g. Have a STB go flaky, get it freely exchanged, the recorded content is still gone. Even if you were to keep, say, an external hard drive containing content, that content is encrypted with the key of the original box. Exchange the box, you lose the key, and ability to view the content.

You can expect that no Canadian provider will permit content to escape their boxes, they are contractually obligated to do so - if they are found in breech, they will lose their license to use the content at all. e.g. Zazeen has explicit policies that if someone is caught using a vpn to redirect content from their home box (to a cottage, for example), their account will be summarily cancelled, and the person blacklisted across all Canadian providers. (I expect they mean across Distribute/Acanac, Acanac/Zazeen's backbone / ip provider.) [e.g. proprietary box at cottage, vpn's to home, from which the STB appears to be coming, to the provider.]


- I don't believe slingbox is covered in that, but I haven't heard much about slingbox in some years.

This isn't the U.S., where competition and the regulatory environment is different. In particular, for this, no Canadian provider uses, for example, cable cards, which permits 3rd party boxes to be used to receive content. It is the proprietary (walled garden) box, or nothing. The only exception, interestingly, is that Shaw went with Tivo for their boxes - still non-cablecard, AFAIK. Content will still be stored encrypted. I don't know if kmttg works with encrypted content on a Tivo.

Some, such as Global, will let you watch their content over the web, if you are a subscriber to some service. Bell lets you do more than just global, I believe Rogers as well. Being the provider they manage the authorization on their own back end. With Global, you have to do so. 'course, even hooking up the set to the computer, Linux and flash / encryption are problematic.

When I checked, no non-proprietary box did more than 480i. The only reasonable way to get 720p+ content off a proprietary box is to capture the component + audio. There was a time where a DVI splitter automatically de-HDCP'ed the stream, but evidently that was fixed some years ago. YMMV. I haven't even seen much about decrypting DVI pass through boxes in some time.

I'll guess, for where you're trying to go, your most likely path to success will be via a MythTV or Kodi back end that uses VPN + Hulu or Plex, or something. Even then, U.S. providers have been blacklisting VPN ips. Or the Hola addon to firefox - where it proxies content via other add on users, whom also proxy via you. Even in any of these cases, actual capture of content, as opposed to 'live' viewing (streaming), isn't turnkey. Yet.