Hey all; New UVerse subscriber here, and am loving it so far -- both the service AND these message boards. 
Been doing a lot of reading, and have answered a LOT of questions for myself, but I still have a question that I'm unable to find the answer to.
I've read here that the Ethernet Port on the back of the STB can actually be used as an extended ethernet jack, and that's fantastic. My STB/DVR, which is downstairs, is currently connected to my RG (which is upstairs) via RG6. I also have (downstairs) a PS3, a WII, and a Media Center PC, all previously connected wirelessly to my old DSL/Linksys configuration. It worked ok, but would occassionally drop out.. So I'd LIKE to be able to plug in the Linksys to the DVR/STB, put it in "Dumb Router/Gateway" mode (so it's simply a "hub" at that point, not a router), and connect all 3 devices (PS3, Wii, Media Center) to it so that they'll pull IPs directly from the RG.
Will this work? Or do you think the demands of the connection(s) would overwhelm the capability of RG6? (I'm not too worried about the PS3 or the Wii, but the Media Center could use a lot of bandwidth while streaming or copying files from the server (also upstairs, hardwired into the RG)).
If worse comes to worse, I can probably hire someone to run a CAT5 or CAT6 ethernet cable through the attic and down a wall, length of the run would be around 75 feet (well under the limits for ethernet), but that would be a last resort since I'd most likely have to hire someone to do it. (a single story is no problem, but I've never run a cable down 20 feet of wall in a 2-story... ) The other option of course is just to leave the 3 running WiFi.
At any rate, would love to hear from someone who may have done it -- I'm probably going to test it out this weekend regardless though.
Thanks for any input, and I'm going back to read more threads! 
callmeox wrote:Clean RG6 with HPNA is rated at 125 megabits/sec and the ethernet on the back of the RG is only 100 megabits/sec, so I don't think that you will have an issue hanging what is in effect a switch off of the back of the STB.
Ah, thanks for that tidbit, callmeox. I wasn't sure what the bandwidth capabilities are of RG6, so that makes perfect sense. I know that Ethernet "can" carry up to 1Gbps, but if the ports on the RG are limited to 100Mb then you're right, I should be perfectly fine with a hub hanging off the rear of the DVR -- can't wait to try it this weekend.
Thanks for the assist!
The thing to also consider with HPNA is that it is probably a shared medium (nobody has confirmed, though it almost has to be) and doesn't have the benefit of switched Ethernet. Each device on the HPNA network fights for slices of that 125Mb/s, whereas with switched Ethernet, each switchport has 100Mb/s of dedicated throughput just for it.
As others have said, it doesn't hurt to try it out
Koolkid1935 wrote:The thing to also consider with HPNA is that it is probably a shared medium (nobody has confirmed, though it almost has to be) and doesn't have the benefit of switched Ethernet. Each device on the HPNA network fights for slices of that 125Mb/s, whereas with switched Ethernet, each switchport has 100Mb/s of dedicated throughput just for it.
As others have said, it doesn't hurt to try it out
Good point.. With multiple STBs and a DVR all connected via Coax, they would all HAVE to share the same bandwidth (reminds me of the old 10base2 thin Ethernet networks 
)
If that does wind up being a problem though, I can easily hook up my other 2 STBs via Ethernet, since both of those STBs are upstairs. It's only the DVR downstairs that I'd have a problem running ethernet to.
Now I'm really looking forward to trying this, may wind up having to try it tonight instead of this weekend. If I do I'll post later this evening with my results.
Really appreciate the assistance, everyone.
callmeox wrote:I understand the switchted/shared point, but I don't think that it should matter if there are 4 tv's viewing different programs at 4 different points of the HPNA network or one DVR pulling in 4 streams on HPNA, the bandwidth use would be the same on the wire.
I don't think you will have any issues.
Depends on how the RG handles the load I suppose, and that's probably only something that a designer of the RG could answer. In theory, if it operates as a true SWITCH, then shunting off 2 of the STBs onto their own seperate Ethernet should reduce the amount of traffic on the RG6, since "All" IP traffic in transit to "STB #1" (for example) would be via Ethernet, and not hit the Coax at all.
On the other hand, the RG may have a specific threshold for traffic as well, especially considering the fact that it's the RG that does the handling of 2HD/4SD streams, and not one particular STB/DVR.. So if the Coax is faster than the maximum throughput of the RG then it probably wouldn't matter if all STBs were on the Coax or not.
LOL.. I think my techie side is starting to overanalyze the situation and the best way to find out what I need to know is just to TEST it (which I can't do until I get home... 7 hours from now. *Doh!!*)
Shouldn't take too long.. I'll throw a hub on it tonight, plug in the Wii, PS3 and Media Center, and start copying 100GB or so while trying to record 4 streams to the DVR.. and see what explodes.
Ok! I can confirm that this does, indeed, work.
I couldn't figure out how to configure my WRT54G (with DD-WRT Firmware) to turn it into a dumb "Hub" (Guess DD-WRT isn't really designed for that ), so I broke out my old Linksys BEFSR41 which I remembered has a specific option to turn it from a router into a hub.
After connecting the BEFSR41 to the Media Center and configuring it into "Hub Mode", I was able to connect it to the rear of the DVR via Port #4 and then plugged the PS3 and the Media Center into Ports #1 & #2. I couldn't connect the Wii, since it doesn't have an Ethernet connection on it by default (it's an addon. *DOH*).. But the PS3 and the Media Center worked juuuuuuuuust fine.
I could connect and stream from the server upstairs to the media center, as well as to the PS3 from that same server via WMP11 over the hardwired connection. VERY nice.
I ran a speedtest (via speedtest.net and AT&T's Online Speedtest) and received the max Internet Throughput that I do from the main server upstairs (Download = 9.532 Mbps & Upload = 1.482 Mbps).
Copying files, however, appeared to be slower than it should have been when connected via Ethernet; I copied a 1.5GB file from the server upstairs to the Media Center, and it took just over 4 minutes. I'll have to do some more testing with that with my laptop, timing the copy from both the connection downstairs and then timing it while being directly connected to the RG. Will probably do that one tomorrow. Current speed is MORE than fast enough to stream directly from the upstairs server though, so I'm not TOO worried about that.
Overall I'm extremely happy and look forward to playing with the system this coming weekend.
