TV Tuner, Low bit rate

[supernatural006]

Hello all. I appologize in advance if this has been posted before, I have checked and did not see anyone with this issue. Anyway, here is my issue:

I built an HTPC a couple of months ago. It was built for my wife, so that she could have a dvr (we get free cable in our appartment complex, but no dvr). I purchased 3 tuners, An Happauge (USB), Diamond HD750, and an AverMedia (USB). All of these work fine for about 2 week (the diamond, being the best so far) and then after that I get Low bit rate errors, and then the tuner dies. I am using Windows Media Center (Windows 7 professional). I also have my Coax cable in an UPS. Here is what I have tried so far (no in this order, mind you)


1. Replaced the motherboard
2. Replaced TV tuner cards
3. Reloaded drivers
4. Installed a fresh version of windos X2
5. installed a better Graphic card and CPU
6. Tried to install the "Hotfix" KB981130 (this update is not applicable on your computer)
7. Tested all cards, that died, on my other computers (I have 5 total) to ensure they were not working. This error was reproduced on the other computers, as well.

My question is: has anyone had issues with USB tunes like this? I am thinking about just getting a PCI tuner, as a backup. The new Diamond HD750 (which was RMA'd) is working fine now, but I just want to make sure this does not happen again, in a few weeks.

Lastly, here are my system specs:

Windows 7 Professional
Biostar A780L
Phenom II X3 740 Black Edition
2GB DDR2 Ram 800mhz
HIS Radeon 5670
BFG 500W power supply
Samsung Blue Blay Drive

Thanks in advance.

 

[soundguruman]

It could be a bad cable in your computer location. the cable should only come from one splitter on the side of your house. there should be a direct connection with nothing in between the splitter and the modem. A low signal level or poor quality signal will cause a low bit rate and the tuner will not function. clean all the cable connections with something like deoxit 100, spray a bit of this into your splitter too. or have the cable company check the data in that location, it could be that the signal is substandard. the cable company signal quality will affect your bitrate capability.

 

[supernatural006]

Best answer selected by supernatural006.

 

[supernatural006]

Thank you very much for your reply. I took your advice and went to the hardware store and bought some coax cable and plug it into an APC RS 1500. I also switched out the USB card with an Hauppauge WinTV HVR-1600. I have left the HTPC on for 3 days straight and have not had any issues. Before, if my wife left the htpc running for a day straight, she would see the "low bit rate error." Everything seems to be running fine now. I did "Shotgun" the problem, so I am not sure if the new card or the cables fixed the issue. I am sure that this did not come back for me. Thanks again for your time, and help!