EXCLUSIVE: AT&T HomeZone First Look

**Endorphin** · 06-11-2006 06:13 PM

Scott, do you anticipate that it will be free with an AT&T contract, or are you being sarcastic?

I have a 622 and SBC Yahoo in Houston, and obviously I'd want to get my hands on this box...

**GaryPen** · 06-11-2006 06:55 PM

Actually, the beaking news that the HomeZone product was finally going to be released was by me, back in May.

(http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=66651 (HomeZone - About F-ing Time!)) But, it's good to see all those pictures Scott. Great work. I have some questions, though:

-Why are there two rf antenna/cable inputs?
-What are the rainbow buttons on the front panel and the remote used for? (I just noticed the color key at the bottom of the on-screen minues. I see that their functions change with each screen.)
-Can the remotes be used as universal remotes? (I don't see any "device" buttons.)
-Will the remote use standard E* protocols to make it simple to add the HomeZone to my existing universal remotes? Or, will it have some new proprietary protocol that no remote manufacturer uses?

I'm not sure why so many members here are so confused about this. Here are the main points that some folks are having trouble wrapping their heads around:

1. It is marketed by ATT for it's subscribers who have both ATT DSL and ATT/Dish .
- It is not marketed, sold, or leased by Dish directly.
- It is not available in non-ATT markets. (I suppose it's possible for other Dish-partnered broadband providers to offer it in the future.)
- If you are an ATT DSL customer, but have Dish directly from Dish, you may have to cancel and wait ATT's six month haitus period to enroll as a new ATT/Dish customer. (That is just speculation, based on their current guidelines.)

2. It was designed and manufactured by 2Wire of San Jose for ATT (formerly SBC)
- It was not designed or manufactured by Dish. (Although, I'm sure 2Wire needed to license some proprietary Dish technology to receive Dish programming.)
- Not being designed or manufactured by Dish is by far the best feature of this device.

3. It uses Dish Network for satellite SD and HDTV programming; DSL for VOD, Guide, Email, Messenger, Web Surfing etc; an off-air antenna for OTA NTSC and ATSC reception; and your home network to stream media files to/from any other media device on your home nettwork. (This may mean a "slingbox" type of capability in the future that will enable you to watch programming from your HomeZone on a remote PC.)

4. It is a standalone unit. It does not require the use of an existing Dish receiver.
- Actually, if you have an existing Dish receiver as a Dish Network customer, you most likely aren't eligible for this service anyway. (See #1 above.)
- It does require two feeds from Dish LNB's; an ATT DSL connection; and, optionally, an OTA antenna. (There are actually two OTA inputs, which makes no sense to me.)

**slacker9876** · 06-11-2006 06:55 PM

Thanks for the info Scott. I guess I'll just have to remain a "moved" loyalist for the time being since there is so much change. Hell D* & E* could be bankrupt in years for all I know. No point in investing in a contract that I don't have or in programming that is just not there. VOom soured me on that ... but at least they were full bandwidth!

**kevink** · 06-11-2006 08:04 PM

Since I'm considering upgrading sometime this year, hopefully this works out.

I definately wouldn't upgrade to the existing 942 that ATT currently offers for MPEG2 and $300 with mpeg4 coming.

**waltinvt** · 06-12-2006 08:37 AM

Thanks for the info Gary.

**Purogamer** · 06-12-2006 08:42 AM

Gotta love that AT&T DSL too...I recently "Upgraded" from the normal to the 2nd speed (fastest isn't available) and for 3 bucks more per month, i'm downloading 4kbps faster than before...whoosh!!!

Upload is 100kbps faster just to rub it in...fuckers...

**Scott Greczkowski** · 06-12-2006 08:47 AM

Originally Posted by slacker9876

VOom soured me on that ... but at least they were full bandwidth!

Actually the VOOM Channels were not even in Full Resolution on VOOM when VOOM was still a satellite company.

**Scott Greczkowski** · 06-12-2006 08:51 AM

-Why are there two rf antenna/cable inputs?

So unlike the 622 you can watch OTA on TV2 and in addition can record two OTA channels at once.

-Can the remotes be used as universal remotes? (I don't see any "device" buttons.)

From what I have seen it only controls the revceiver and your TV. They are actually coming out with a different remote which removes the keyboard and will be much smaller.

-Will the remote use standard E* protocols to make it simple to add the HomeZone to my existing universal remotes?

As far as the Satellite controls go yes, not sure on the features such as the keyboard.

**Smith, P.** · 06-12-2006 11:06 AM

Scott, those two OTA inputs ( not two OTA tuners !) will help only in one case - if you must use two directional antennas; for all other configs one OTA connector will be enough - internally you can connect one coax to many tuners - no problem, just in design make sure you'll match impedance of antenna/cable.

You missed my question about internal HomePlug feature in ViP622.
Looks like it for DishComm. Right ?

**ChetK** · 06-12-2006 11:13 AM

Originally Posted by Scott Greczkowski

It has the Dish Logo on it because its a Dish Network receiver.

Translation: "This receiver will not be very buggy at first, but when E* installs new updates, it will be the buggiest thing ever."

Seriously though: If the external hard drive of the 622 will store shows and allow me to move them to other DVRs on my account, will the stored shows transfer to the HomeZone box?

Also, if the HomeZone box has 2 OTA tuners, how many sat tuners does it have? If it also has 2 sat tuners, can it record 4 HD streams and allow you to watch a recorded HD stream all at the same time?