I'm thinking of getting the HDHomerun Prime as a replacement for my Comcast cable box and then have it streamed to my TV through Live Channels on my Nexus Player.
The Prime looks like the only one that supports cablecard, but doesn't list HD as a feature. What resolution does it actually stream at? If anyone has done this setup before, is it worth doing?
I'm a little different but I use an HDHomeRun EXTEND to broadcast my OTA HD channels throughout the house without having to amplify my signal and split it between all the jacks.
That being said it works great, I like the fact that my smart tv's can pick up the DLNA boadcast from the HDHR and play it (with some problems I've noticed) without having to have anything else attached. I have an Nvidia Shield TV, first gen FireTV box and a chromecast and multiple tablets that access it and for the most part it works great. Also the Live Channels app is awesome!
We have two Nexus Players and an HDHomeRun Prime. Live TV works great using Live Channels (both SD and HD channels), however the HDHomeRun View app doesn't work so well over wireless with HD channels. Live Channels is a much nicer app, so nbd. You will need the View app installed in order to use Live Channels.
So that gets us live TV. For recordings, my current set up is a bit on the complicated side. I still use my HTPC (that used to be connected to my TV) with Windows Media Center. I'm running that PC headless now, so I use Ceton's My Media Center app to schedule and manage the recordings. Once a TV show is done recording, it gets picked up by MCE Buddy (monitors my recordings directory) which converts it to H.264 and deletes the source recording. Then, I have a simple PowerShell script that moves the encoded file over to the TV directory on my NAS which is monitored by Plex. So, after about an hour after a show has finished recording, it's being hosted on my Plex server.
This set up is far too complicated, so I backed HDHomeRun's DVR project . Once I can manage my recording schedule from more than just Windows (e.g., Android), I'll probably make the cut over.
One last tidbit of info, if you're still considering moving forward, the NP can't decode premium channels like HBO, at least not on Comcast. The only non-cable box solution I've found that works for Channels like HBO is Windows Media Center--and even then I can't do anything with the recordings except watch them in WMC.
Edit: fixed the link.
I didn't see anyone mention encrypted channels.
If Comcast encrypts any channels the live channels app won't be able to view those channels, you'll have to use the View app.
Also, you can't watch any premium channels through cablecard, like HBO and showtime. Tho you can get the HBO go app and you can cast showtime anytime.
/u/l3rian has used it. You may be interested in reading his review of them on Android TV: http://androidtv.news/2015/12/the-hdhomerun-reviews/
I currently use Rapsbery Pi2's with my HDHomerun Prime. Why? Well they have a hardware MPEG2 decoder, which is needed as my cable company still uses MPEG2 for 720p/1080i channels.
Having bought two Nexus Players on the cheap (Xmas gifts), I decided to see how well it would handle the high MPEG2 bit-rates and it did a pretty good job. Still using Kodi to view live channels, I dont use the default View App because it makes channel surfing a pain in the ass (makes me wish my remote control had a 10 key on it).
The only annoyance is that the remote has no volume control, so I end up having to use the surround sound remote control to adjust the volume and thats the only reason why I have that remote lying around.
I use the HDHomerun Prime + Nexus Player. It works great through the live channels app and Kodi. The nice thing about Kodi is that it has the ability to adjust the audio timing relative to the video. I find that on a few channels, the audio arrives ~100ms before the video and needs a slight delay.
It's also worth mentioning that if you have an always-on computer, setting it up as a server to run NextPVR or some other PVR software is great. You can schedule recordings, use MCEBuddy to automatically convert them to mp4 and strip out commercials, and then use Plex Media Server to distribute them to basically any client inside or outside of your network.
I have a Prime, a Shield TV, a Nexus Player and two Windows 10 PCs. It works great. Do you need DVR support though? SiliconDust is working on a DVR but they are still in Beta with it and it will support Android when its all said and done. If not then all you need to do is follow the instructions to set up the prime, and then install the HDHomerun View app from the play store. You will want to be on a Wireless AC network on the Nexus player or Ethernet if you get a USB OTG Ethernet adapter. Anything less than AC is unreliable for HD MPEG2 video which is what the HD channels are streaming in. It streams at whatever resolution is coming from the source. Some shows are 1080i while others are 720p. I do not recall if any channels stream in 1080p though.
is it worth doing?
If you want DVR then keep in mind DVR solution is incomplete and costs extra $30 a year for guide data but will be worth it when they finish the SW. If you do not need DVR it is worth it now.
I'm using a HDHomeRun CONNECT with my Nexus Player. Works just fine for live off air. Still waiting for a good DVR solution, so still have a Windows Media Center for that.
I have been using a HD HomeRun connect (OTA channels) with my NP. The live channels app works pretty good with it. I did purchase the DVR option with the HD HomeRun, but it is still a very early alpha stage product. In the mean time, I built a mythtv/mythweb setup, and am quite happy with the results. I can schedule recordings with my phone/tablet via mythweb, and then view them on the NP with either KODI or the Mythtv Android TV app.
I have an HDHomeRun Prime, a Shield, and a Nexus Player. My Shield works much better and is more stable with Live Channels than the Nexus Player. The setup is definitely worth it. You will get whatever resolution those channels are broadcast in, so yes you can get 1080p.
I use the HD HomeRun Prime with the Nexus Player and in conjuction with Next PVR for recording etc. Works great in Live Channels OR within KODI. in FULL HD. I have no issue with my channels, but I don't have HBO or any of the movie channels. Also, every cable company and market is going to have a bit of a different set up with how they protect their content, so you should check locally if possible.
They need to fire whoever does the marketing material for the HDHomeRun; all their devices can stream in HD.
The confusion comes from a quote on the box for the EXTEND, a two tuner over the air with hardware compression -- it converts the video from MPEG2 to H264 to help stream over low bandwidth wifi links (think mobile devices).