Connecting HDR-1800T to internet

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bathtub

New Member
With the removal of BBC3 from freeview, I'm looking at connecting my 1800-T to the internet (PVR connected to CRT TV by SCART).

Does it have to be by ethernet cable (difficult as PC upstairs and telly down) or will a dongle work?

If a dongle's required, will any old one do, or does it have to be the specific Humax one (http://tinyurl.com/zyatrj5 or http://tinyurl.com/hfyrpwo)?

My internet speed's 3-4Mbps. Is this fast enough, or should I forget the idea and buy a modern telly?
 
bathtub said:
With the removal of BBC3 from freeview, I'm looking at connecting my 1800-T to the internet (PVR connected to CRT TV by SCART).

Does it have to be by ethernet cable (difficult as PC upstairs and telly down) or will a dongle work?

If a dongle's required, will any old one do, or does it have to be the specific Humax one (http://tinyurl.com/zyatrj5 or http://tinyurl.com/hfyrpwo)?

My internet speed's 3-4Mbps. Is this fast enough, or should I forget the idea and buy a modern telly?
Click to expand...
Your internet speed is not the fastest but according to the BBC (see here), high quality iPlayer programmes stream at 2.8Mbps, with standard quality at 1.5Mbps, though they require a bit more bandwidth than that (the site does not specify what this means). I think you will be OK with at least standard quality, but without testing it is hard to be certain. If the HDR-1800T is like the HDR-FOX T2, it will save the download on a partition of the disk: in this case you can start it off, press pause then come back to it a bit later if you have internet speed problems (it will continue to download on pause).
If you bought a new 'smart' TV you would have a crisper picture and you will probably get other streaming services like ITV Hub, for example (brand and model dependent), in addition to iPlayer but they will still need to use the same internet connection.
You don't have to buy the Humax brand dongle, but you need to get one with a Railink RT3070 chipset: there are fewer of these around now. With the latest update on the unit, it will also support a second chipset (Ralink RT5572) which gives you more choices. A good dongle (RT3070) which works with Humax units is the Tenda W311U+ which you can still get from Amazon for £11.99 (see here). This has a high gain antenna and, in my experience, is more sensitive/ has a longer range than the Humax branded dongle (RT3070 version).
 
bathtub said:
My internet speed's 3-4Mbps. Is this fast enough, or should I forget the idea and buy a modern telly?
Click to expand...
If the speed isn't fast enough, a modern telly isn't going to help you get BBC THREE any more than using the iPlayer facility through the 1800T. 2.5Mbps is the practical minimum for iPlayer streaming.

bathtub said:
Does it have to be by ethernet cable (difficult as PC upstairs and telly down) or will a dongle work?

If a dongle's required, will any old one do, or does it have to be the specific Humax one (http://tinyurl.com/zyatrj5 or http://tinyurl.com/hfyrpwo)?
Click to expand...
Yes, WiFi will work, and no it doesn't have to be the Humax dongle. Be very careful which one you buy though, check that it has been reported to work with the 1800/2000T.
 
Sorry to leave this for a while, but got tied up with other matters (Austin 7 engine and decorating mainly).

I don't understand how a dongle on the PVR will communicate with my PC. I can see the PVR will be in contact my router via the dongle, but how will a TV program be transferred from my PC to the router? Will I need two dongles, one on my PC and one on my PVR?

MontysEvilTwin says "it will save the download on a partition of the disk". Would that be on the PVR or PC disk.

Is there some guide I should read to answer what are I suppose are basic questions?
 
Your P.C. must also be able to 'see' your router, either by a built-in WiFi 'dongle' in your P.C, or if not, via a USB Wi-Fi dongle connected to your P.C. or a 'Wired' LAN cable between your P.C and your router. If you can connect to the internet from your P.C. then this link is already in place

Monty is referring to a partition on the Humax not your P.C. disk
 
bathtub said:
I don't understand how a dongle on the PVR will communicate with my PC. I can see the PVR will be in contact my router via the dongle, but how will a TV program be transferred from my PC to the router? Will I need two dongles, one on my PC and one on my PVR?

MontysEvilTwin says "it will save the download on a partition of the disk". Would that be on the PVR or PC disk.
Click to expand...

We're not talking about your PC - that's an entirely separate subject. With a USB WiFi dongle fitted to the Humax (the right one, obviously), you configure it via the Humax menus to connect to your home network and then it can reach out to the Internet to enable the TV Portal button facilities - including BBC iPlayer.

When you play something from iPlayer, it buffers to the disk IN THE HUMAX, which makes iPlayer playback semi-immune to Internet bandwidth.
 
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MontysEvilTwin said:
You don't have to buy the Humax brand dongle, but you need to get one with a Railink RT3070 chipset: there are fewer of these around now. With the latest update on the unit, it will also support a second chipset (Ralink RT5572) which gives you more choices. A good dongle (RT3070) which works with Humax units is the Tenda W311U+ which you can still get from Amazon for £11.99 (see here). This has a high gain antenna and, in my experience, is more sensitive/ has a longer range than the Humax branded dongle (RT3070 version).
Click to expand...
Not just the latest software (1.01.16) supports the RT5572 but also the previous one which came out a year ago (1.01.13).

I'm not a great fan of the Tenda W311U+ due to mine initially working but then only working as if there was no antenna anymore. I've seen a few reports of others experiencing the same. When screwing on the antenna there is no stop mechanism and inside it is a simple solder to the board. I don't think I really put undue force screwing the antenna back on but it was enough for the solder to break away. It is probably OK if you are careful and once set-up don't touch it.

For the HDR-1800T/2000T I prefer a cheaper specific one costing from £7. It hasn't got quite teh range as the Tenda but it is a lot better than the original Humax, handles both 2.4 and 5GHz and the the LED on it is not over bright like some of the cheaper dongles.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/ESYNiC-300Mbps-Wireless-Dongle-Adapter/dp/B00RFLHF14
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dual-Band...less-Network-Card-LAN-Dongle-PC-/271928946887
Searching on ebay for RT5572 within descriptions results in a long list of different sellers of this wifi adapter , with about 10 suppliers in the UK for £7 to £10 and others from elsewhere from £6.54.
 
I agree that the Tenda dongle is a bit flimsy and does not have the build quality of the Edimax-7711UAN, for example, but the current version of the latter has a non-compatible chipset. Support for the RT5572 chipset gives you more options, as highlighted by Luke.
 
Tenda W311U+ just turned up and seems to be working straight out of the box. I can see lots of apps via the portal and have accessed a couple. Bonus is freeview channel 240 (motors TV) that had previously gone internet only. I now need to have a play to see how the record facility works.

Many thanks to everyone here who gave advice.
 
Buggrit! Motors TV has now abandoned freeview (and channel 240) altogether.

However, when I now try to use BBC teletext with the dongle in, I get some sort of BBC 'red button' facility that doesn't include the traffic facility. I can get the old teletext if I unplug the dongle, however it's convenient to leave it plugged in for the other (limited) services it provides.

I like to refer to the old BBC teletext before leaving home to check for traffic delays and that facility doesn't seem to be available with the dongle in. It's an inconvenience to unplug the dongle to get traffic information. Does anyone know a way to get the traffic information without unplugging the dongle? I'm a dinosaur and don't have a smart phone or satnav.
 
bathtub said:
However, when I now try to use BBC teletext with the dongle in, I get some sort of BBC 'red button' facility that doesn't include the traffic facility. I can get the old teletext if I unplug the dongle, however it's convenient to leave it plugged in for the other (limited) services it provides.

I like to refer to the old BBC teletext before leaving home to check for traffic delays and that facility doesn't seem to be available with the dongle in. It's an inconvenience to unplug the dongle to get traffic information. Does anyone know a way to get the traffic information without unplugging the dongle?
Click to expand...
When you next get the red button+ service let it load and then navigate to its setting options (via navigating to the More on the top right). You can switch it off from there.
Once you get the old one back, avoid selecting Red Button+ from the Home list.

Also have a look at a couple of news articles from last year that you may have missed concerning the text red button service that you prefer.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-34854966
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2015/bbc-savings
 
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