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2 humax T2's One in each country

I

Ian Gough

New Member
Hi there clever people.
I have a challenge that is making my head spin a bit as i know there are multiple solutions to my dilemma. None of which I know how to do exactly.
I am moving away from the uk s fantastic weather and going to live in Fuerteventura. I want to watch uk tv there.
So my idea is to have one humax t2 hdr in the uk and the other t2 in my new home in fuerteventra. I have custom fw on both. I do not know spanish so will probably find it hard to decipher a spanish adsl wireless router.
With my current setup on my LAN i use foxlink to seamlessly access either device.
Can i replicate this over the internet. ?

Or can i use rsync with a cron job to copy further than my LAN.

I do have a synology NAS box and router if that helps.

So I suppose i am asking what is the best option.

I.e. installing a vpn package on both humax's.

Will i get firewall issues?

Do i need to buy 2 adsl wireless routers that both do vpn setups.

Do i use the synology with a nfs or samba mount and then use synology's file drive sync software to then copy down to a pc in Fuerteventura and then have the Fuerteventra humax mount the pc drive ? (Not really preferred as too many points if potential failure)

I want a minimalist setup with a minimal amount of hardware and with as few steps as possible.
Also i will be using remotescheduler (rs) to login via browser to set the programs to record.

Anyone's wisdom here is much appreciated.
 
Thanks "Black Hole" and "prpr" for your answers

Bandwidth in UK is 30MB upload and 100mb download - so foxlink is a real posibility if i can just create a VPN between two routers ? ( I have a VPN between my computer and my Billion Router in the uk but not sure if i can do it from router to router.)
and a slingbox app does not exist on my smart tv (samsung) and i cant be arsed to cast it in any way as that's just hassle. I just want to sit down and watch telly like i do in the uk.
 
Ian Gough said:
Thanks "Black Hole" and "prpr" for your answers
I have a VPN between my computer and my Billion Router in the uk but not sure if i can do it from router to router.
Click to expand...
I'm sure you can. However I suspect you may find Slingbox less hassle than getting the two Humax box solution working. Nevertheless, I'd be very interested in hearing how you get on as one never knows when that sort of capability might come in handy.
Personally, if I were to attempt such a thing, I'd probably get the UK-based box to decrypt and then push the file either on to you NAS box or onto the cloud, then get the other box to either manually copy or rsync from that. That way the bandwidth doesn't matter.
Good luck.
 
If you can set up a secure means to link the home networks in the two locations so that they appear as one, then the units won’t know they are separated. You can’t use the HDR’s processing capability to implement the VPN (not enough resources). There are VPN boxes you just plug in.

The alternative (opening a connection through the router to the HDR for external access) is too prone to attack.

Copying whole recordings ahead of viewing is a better idea.

“Can’t be arsed” is not the right attitude - if you want to do this (ie break the licensing restrictions) you will need to work for it. Slingbox is designed for that and the easiest end-to-end solution.

Success in this area has been limited in the past. The Internet may have caught up in the mean time.

A lot of discussion here: https://hummy.tv/forum/threads/webif-can-it-be-accessed-from-the-wan.1092/
 
Ian Gough said:
Bandwidth in UK is 30MB upload and 100mb download
Click to expand...
OK, that's enough but what about download in Fuerteventura? And what will you get end-end I wonder?
if i can just create a VPN between two routers ? ( I have a VPN between my computer and my Billion Router in the uk but not sure if i can do it from router to router.)
Click to expand...
Of course you can, with the right routers (i.e. not the usual domestic junk). I have a router-router VPN link across the UK, and without any hassle once I got rid of the useless Netgears (well, relegated them to modems in bridge mode). These are only on ADSL, so slugged by uplink bandwidth (or rather the lack thereof) but I don't use it for video, and software IPSec in the routers is good enough. You might want hardware IPSec if you want decent speed.
 
Where is your nas located ?
Plex server on the nas in the UK with the T2 folders mapped out via cifs in the nas will give you access to recordings anywhere via the plex app
Operate the T2 remotely vis the RS service

Another possible idea is to connect to a UK based PC say via Remote desktop or vpn
View the media files on the T2 from the web browser and copy the url to VLC for playback

I have not tried either just my thoughts. I am due to spend 3 months in the states and was considering other options (than the one below)

The easiest that does work as said already is a slingbox. I have one connected to my Foxsat for exclusive use by my brother in the USA
 
There will also need to be somebody on hand to reboot the unit as and when required, or it will need to be on a timeswitch to interrupt power briefly, daily, at some convenient time. Do not expect you can leave it unattended for long periods and all will be well.
 
A simpler solution might be to have ssh running on an uncommon port on the UK Humax and then use scp or rsync over ssh to copy content to the remote box.
 
Even easier: subscribe to a VPN service able to give you a UK “personality”, and use the catch-up services.
 
MartinLiddle said:
A simpler solution might be to have ssh running on an uncommon port on the UK Humax and then use scp or rsync over ssh to copy content to the remote box.
Click to expand...

Yes, Thanks all for your comments.

Martin, I was off on this tangent last night and it looks appealing. I'm an old Unix tech that knows vi quite well, but unfortunately we had a substantial comms dept. that did everything comms related and therefore there is a big hole in my comms tech knowledge.

Ok,In response to above;

I'm hoping to run my NAS Box (Synology 1515+) in Fuerteventura (By Solar/Battery - But that's another story)

With regards to router - that's one of the things i am looking to invest in. I currently have a Billion router from 2009 that has VPN on there, plus a whole load of other goodies. However I also have a Synology 1900AC Router whereby you can install a product called vpn plus. I have not looked into this yet. BUT, I will soon. I will also log a support call with Synology. Like their products, they are excellent.

My preferred option is to make the humax's think they are on the same LAN. (And use foxlink if possible to view, but if not, I can create a folder called "From UK" and manually copy things. 30MB upstream (UK) and 7MB down (Fuerteventura) will be ok for most things.

Ideally though, I agree that I should watch all content once it resides on the Humax in Fuerteventura. Hence rsync or the Synology cloud sync/drive option (a bit like drop box but free with a 1TB file size limit.) You can rsync to the Synology too.

So I was thinking of something along the lines of Humax in the UK with ?port forwarding? via VPN (This is a standard virgin wireless internet router, so might have to put a Synology router in the UK as well as having one in Spain. Maybe creating a vpn using the two Synology Routers with ssh and rsync in the mix.


Another option could be;

I could get a cheap 2 Bay Synology in the UK and then just sync the two Synology's using some of their s/w. (Network mount and off you go !?!?)


Incidentally, The UK Humax will reside with my Nephew. I have thought of rebooting every 24hours, either through cron job or something like that. I dont really want to put it on a timer as I will corrupt the filesystem and dont fancy fsck'ing (chdsk) remotely to correct.

My aim tomorrow is to look at the Synology router vpn and try to un confuse myself with ssh certificates.......

Also - Stream (iPlayer through freeVPN or something similar) - The internet speed in not 100% consistent in Fuerteventura. My friend out there at the moment does not loose connection as such, its just that it goes down to less that 1MB/sec for short periods on time. You cant upgrade out there to get better contention rates unfortunately.

I am moving in at the end of the month and am fast running out of time with creating my own little test bed. We are temporarily moving to my Mums (TalkTalk) so will continue until I finally move to Fuerteventura. So IF i go quiet, please understand that its nothing to do with anyone else, just my time.

I really appreciate the response and I will be getting to the bottom of it, during packing a house up ready for a 6 week journey to the sun via container ship!!
 
Ian Gough said:
Martin, I was off on this tangent last night and it looks appealing. I'm an old Unix tech that knows vi quite well, but unfortunately we had a substantial comms dept. that did everything comms related and therefore there is a big hole in my comms tech knowledge.
Click to expand...
I am not sure what comms knowledge you would need. If it is a fixed IP at the UK end then I would have thought; setup port forwarding in the router, job done. If it isn't fixed IP then you need something to tell you the current IP address. I used to use DynDNS but that started to get expensive and I currently have a fixed IP so I am not currently using such a service. A possible list of candidates is https://alternativeto.net/software/no-ip/ but no experience with any of them. The advantage of a VPN is it would be more secure but I question whether the extra security is necessary for TV programs.
 
MartinLiddle said:
I used to use DynDNS but that started to get expensive and I currently have a fixed IP so I am not currently using such a service. A possible list of candidates is https://alternativeto.net/software/no-ip/ but no experience with any of them.
Click to expand...
Since I gave DynDNS the flick, or rather they gave me the flick by wanting to charge money, I've been using FreeDNS. It's had one problem since and I emailed the guy and he replied the same day (and it was fixed). Can't fault it really.
The nice thing is that I can script the IP update in the router, and it's independent of any client devices and completely automated. I like solutions like this. :doublethumbsup:
No idea about any of the others on that list.
 
Ian Gough - the problem with a daily scheduled reboot is that if the box has locked up you will probably need to interrupt the mains power to get it work properly again (I have occasionally been successful with a telnet reboot, but mostly the units just freeze). If you leave the box on 24/7 then, as you say, using a timer switch is not a good idea.
I look after a remote unit, but this goes in to standby when not in use and I have a timer switch interrupt the power for ten minutes at 6am (when the box is not being used). As long as there are no expired series links, when the power is restored the box boots up briefly but goes back into standby before the disk spins up.
 
Ian Gough said:
I dont really want to put it on a timer as I will corrupt the filesystem and dont fancy fsck'ing (chdsk) remotely to correct.
Click to expand...
No it won’t, and even if it does that’s the lesser of two evils. The unit will crash/hang at some point, particularly if there’s a lot of network activity (units not connected to a network seem to crash very rarely), and when it’s hung it can’t run any cron jobs. The nightly power interruptions force an unattended recovery from any such events, and to make them safe ensure they occur during a timer standby event.
 
erne said:
Plex server on the nas in the UK with the T2 folders mapped out via cifs in the nas will give you access to recordings anywhere via the plex app
Operate the T2 remotely vis the RS service
Click to expand...

Well I had a go at doing the above and it does work to a fashion
I have a 20mb upload on my service
I used a service with 1.5mb download speed to test playback via plex on my iPad
I was able to watch a tv show that was recorded in HD but with issues
The main issue was the server's ability to convert the HD to a stream playable on my iPad
It took about a minute or so to start playback and then paused approx every 3 mins then started playback again after about another minute or so
Server CPU usage @ 80% all the time. The upload speed was around 400 to 500 KB/s
On the T2 CPU and Temps remained the same - network traffic peaked at 5mb. Average about 3mb
So a faster server would probably do the job OK
But in principle it works for playback direct from the T2 via plex
So I guess any PC/Mac/Linux with Plex server could be a viable way of at least watching recorded TV from the T2 anywhere you have a internet link
 
MontysEvilTwin said:
Ian Gough - the problem with a daily scheduled reboot is that if the box has locked up you will probably need to interrupt the mains power to get it work properly again (I have occasionally been successful with a telnet reboot, but mostly the units just freeze). If you leave the box on 24/7 then, as you say, using a timer switch is not a good idea.
I look after a remote unit, but this goes in to standby when not in use and I have a timer switch interrupt the power for ten minutes at 6am (when the box is not being used). As long as there are no expired series links, when the power is restored the box boots up briefly but goes back into standby before the disk spins up.
Click to expand...

Thanks, That's the solution for the power bit
 
erne said:
So I guess any PC/Mac/Linux with Plex server could be a viable way of at least watching recorded TV from the T2 anywhere you have a internet link
Click to expand...

Just set up Plex on a i3-4130t cpu, SFF PC
Mapped the media folder on the T2 to Z:// in explorer
Told Plex to index the folder
Perfect quick playback - no buffering
Mostly indexed correctly (does not like folder with New at the beginning but I know there is a fix for that)
My download link 1.5mb
CPU usage on PC average 30%

I do not need to connect boxes together like the original poster wants
But for anyone who is away from home and wants to access recording from the T2 box and already has the hardware Plex is one way to do it (although Plex costs)
Off to look into how to do the same via Kodi which of course is free
 
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