PROGDVB - how to share Sat Tv on multiple PCs

Hi here, this article is for people using a sat card (PCI or USB) to receive satellite FTA television on Windows XP (It might work for other Ms os). If you happen to have more than one pc in your house then you might have had a wish: share sat tv on all of them.

Well there is a free program on the internet that makes it fairly easy. The program name is PROGDVB and it is a satellite tv sintonizer, you can freely download it from here I'll guide you now to the configuration settings.

In the picture my nerdy setup running ProgDvb server and client: Athlon64 Desktop (under the desktop) with a Skystar2, a wireless connection (USR 54G USB Adapter) and a Samsun 20' wide screen - Dlink G604T Router/ADSL/AP (not shown) - Cheap PackardBell R0202 Notebook AMD Turion64 with integrated Ralink RT2500 Wireless.

Requirements:

• Two or more PC (notebooks, fixed, flying, whatever...).
• At least ONE Satellite Card amongst those supported by ProgDvb AVermedia M199 - Genialtech DVBS device - KWorld DVB - Pinnacle PCTV Sat - Skystar2 (My card) - TBS QBOX. Note that Skystar can be a USB box or PCI card, as long as the right drivers are installed.
• A Satellite Dish with or without DisEq for multiple satellite reception.
• One of these O/S: MS Windows 98(SE is better)-MS Windows 2000 with SP2 installed-MS Windows XP.
• Working network operating at minimum 10Mbps. Networks setups by the MS home network wizard are working under some conditions.

Step A - Network configuration

Your computers are supposely connected to the network somehow - Cable or Wireless. Now what we really need to do is to have them Assigned Fixed IPs. The IP is the addres of your PC in the internal home network. Please check your router configuration. Using a router any PC on the network can be the host for the SatCard.

Note: If you use Windows internet sharing then the addresses are assigned randomly to the host so the satellite card HAS to be installed on the sharing server. Its address will be 192.168.0.1

Step B - Installation on server

Write down the IP of the computer with the card and install ProgDvb on that one. Be sure to check the "Prog Media Server (home)" option on this installation. We call this computer the server.

After installation is complete start your network card in the devices list, configure it in the options, choose the satellite position according to your LNB configuration and run the channel scan. You should now have a working ProgDvb on the server (able to watch TV).

Now go to Settings - Module list menu item and select it. Tick the Prog Media Server (Home). Then choose its properties.

Select the following:

Protocol: Unicast
Tick Sendo current Video Channel in Mpeg2
Untick send transport stream (This can bring down a wireless!)
Tick Open/Close filter by client request (This helps a jerkiness free stream)
Tick Send Channels in mpeg2/mpa format

Then "apply" and "ok". You should be done on the server side. Now let's see the client(s)

Step C - Configure a Client

The client can be connected to the network according to your tastes. Cable is better sometimes but if for instance you want to enjoy satellite TV on the side of the pool via your notebook then wireless G is unbeatable (but check for a strong signal...)

Install ProgDvb on the client. Install the same version of ProgDvb as the one running on the server. No special option is needed at this point.

After installation is complete go to the device list and activate the "Prog Media Client - Change channels on server". You will need to input the IP address of the server in the configuration window. Configure as follows:

Protocol: Unicast
Server IP: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx [Put the IP of the server here]

Then click "apply" and "ok". From the Channel list select "Channel search" and "Prog Media Server: Change Channel on Server". If everithyng is ok you just received the list of channels from the server, and actually you should see the one running there on your client. Try changing the channel. If the config is ok then you should see the new channel on both the server and the client!

Additional: Firewall configuration

ProgDvb Server has to be allowed incoming connections. ProgDvb client has to be allowed outgoing connections. In case something is not going as well as expected check your firewalls.

TroubleShooting Problems

There is no actual useful guide here. It is a trial and error process even for me with some years experience in the digital A/V compartment. Some installations like to crash using DirectX others using the internal renderer. Generally speaking the included Elecard Demo is excellent, you can choose to use additional codecs from the Audio/Video section of the Video menù.

If you experience problems be sure to appoint them a correct cause:

• Stuttering and jerkiness is usual due to network congestion, try connecting by cable and see if it helps. Otherwise it can be possilble that processor power is not enough. For instance my P3 800Mhz is unable to stream correctly full resolution PAL tv channels 704*576
  
• Video freezing and black screens are usually due to codec configuration. Try Changing them.
  
• ProgDvd crashing is usually due to Video Renderer (DirectX - Internal - Vmr)
• A/V sync problems are due to past network delays. To solve them the best way is to restart ProgDvb, if they are consistent then might it might be the network - go for the cable.

That's most I can say for the moment, I hope it's enought for the casual reader. I'd like to point out that ProgDvb has also a WinLirc module and could be used to build a cheap mediaserver next to the tv. (Sometimes I use the Notebook to stream on my TV). Now I wish I could go to see Tv on my poolside but don't have one (yet) ;)