Michael McCabe
asked on
Converting TV to Network (Muli-User) Web front.
I work with a small school district and our local cable is supplied for classroom use. I'm currently re-distributing the digital cable through a small desktop using a WinTV-HVR-2255 and also the web front WinTV.
It's working great. Users/Teachers can connect via their classroom computer and can even select their own channel through the WinTV webpage.
The issue is the small desktop is constantly being overrun with requests from the classrooms and cannot support the demand. Without adding multiple desktops with cards...
Is there some professional appliance that would give the same experience? Something that can handle up to 50 classrooms connecting at once and continue to stream?
It's working great. Users/Teachers can connect via their classroom computer and can even select their own channel through the WinTV webpage.
The issue is the small desktop is constantly being overrun with requests from the classrooms and cannot support the demand. Without adding multiple desktops with cards...
Is there some professional appliance that would give the same experience? Something that can handle up to 50 classrooms connecting at once and continue to stream?
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Tvheadend should work directly with your Huappauge card. I don't use hauppauge myself anymore but the old analog hauppage cards I used to use worked without problems out-of-the-box within Linux. I now have a PC to which I have attached a technisat cablestar combo HD CI receiver (it is a USB device), and an internal PCI DVB-C tuner (at the moment I don't know the manufacturer/model) and both work fine under TVHeadend.
ASKER
Can you suggest a common "stable" build to start with? Which flavor of Linux would you say is more compatible out of the box? Looks like Ubuntu has more headaches than other...
I'm using MakuluLinux LinDoz and TVHeadend 4..1-xxxx. There should be a new version of MakuluLinux LinDoz out soon.
ASKER
Ok, I think I'll get my feet wet with this guide. Seems like a pretty simple walk-through.
http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=270385
http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=270385
ASKER
I've been researching more and more and I think I have the gist of the install.
The Linux setup with Kodi and tvheadend does seem to be a solid route. Now that I'm comfortable with the centralized server setup, what remote client would you suggest for locations like an office TV?
Say administration would like to have a typical remote control for the office TV? Not a smartTV, it would be through the use of some client.
Is this where a Roku type of hardware would come in? Would the device access to all the channels on the Kodi/tvheadend system via ip?
Is it just another stick/box with Kodi pointed at the central system somehow?
The Linux setup with Kodi and tvheadend does seem to be a solid route. Now that I'm comfortable with the centralized server setup, what remote client would you suggest for locations like an office TV?
Say administration would like to have a typical remote control for the office TV? Not a smartTV, it would be through the use of some client.
Is this where a Roku type of hardware would come in? Would the device access to all the channels on the Kodi/tvheadend system via ip?
Is it just another stick/box with Kodi pointed at the central system somehow?
ASKER
Thank you for your assistance and direction on the project. I'll close this now as TVFrontEnd is the answer, just takes a bit to get the connections just right.
If anyone seeing this is looking for a purchasable consumable product. The Silicon Dust hdHomeRun solutions may be something to look into. https://www.silicondust.com/
Thanks again for the help.
If anyone seeing this is looking for a purchasable consumable product. The Silicon Dust hdHomeRun solutions may be something to look into. https://www.silicondust.com/
Thanks again for the help.
ASKER
I'm really a novice on all of this but I'm all for tinkering and trying https://tvheadend.org/
The project looks like it will need to grow outside of my current desktop that has the hauppage card. I have a (HP c3000) enclosure and a couple servers available to dedicate some horsepower to the project but I'm stuck on how to access the cable company's co-axle feed. I can't seem to find a card that would work as the hauppage does.
Do I need to keep the desktop/hauppage inline to accept the feed and convert it to IP? or is there another piece of hardware which the servers could access the digital feed?
Previously I've attempted to access the input from a separate box using VLC to convert it to a stream, but then I lost access of the multiple channels that the end users want.