Limiting access to DVR

Each HD DVR in a Whole Home DVR system has a menu setting (menu -> .....setup -> system setup -> Whole Home -> share playlist)  If set to "no" it's playlist cannot be seen by either HD receivers or HD DVR's.  If set to "yes" all HD boxes can see it and you cannot pick and choose who sees it.

Then how did they pull it off originally?  Originally, only the basement receiver could see the basement DVR, and only the upstairs receiver could see the upstairs DVR.  There has to be a way around this, because until last night, it was working that way.  Does it have to do with them authorizing receivers for specific DVRs?

I assume you have the Whole Home DVR service or there wouldn't be any sharing between the receivers and DVR's. Think of the Whole Home system as a showroom window. Once you put the programming from a DVR in the window, it's there for all to see. Not sure what you might have had previously, but that's the way it works. Each box either shares or it doesn't, but there is no setting as to who will share what with who, it's all or none.

If you did not have Whole Home service installed by Directv but rather connected a single DVR to a single receiver via Ethernet cable and had a non supported service activated, then the share would be restricted to those two boxes.

In closing, I suppose it's possible that the system had never been configured properly so all of the connections were not all as they should be so a reset put everything in working order.

This sounds like it may be a job for DTV representatives or the installers.  I understand the ins and outs, but the installers were able to somehow get one receiver to only see one of the DVRs.  How this magic was accomplished is beyond me, and connection over LAN was not how it was done, I know that, and no hardware has been changed.  Think of this like a multi-home service.  The upstairs was on the same network as the downstairs, but yet they were some how segregated on the two floors.  This worked flawlessly until I had a rep monkey with my service over the phone last night.

My bet is that each receiver can be authorized by the home office for each DVR, but that the installer is more privy on how to do this than customer service is.

Myorpay

You can beleive what you what, but the other guys already explained to you how a properly WHDVR system works "out of the box".  Now if the previous installer somehow got you what you described, then he/she did a poor job of not installing a directv WHDVR to DirecTv standards.   Please keep us posted when the tech gets there and see if they can somehow divide the WHDVR.

The DTV rep spoke to me on the issue, and it is not a non-standard install (and it's never a poor install when the customer gets what they want :P).  The issue is only in the knowledge of the particular rep you speak with and the willingness to research it.  I can post the details after I get a chance to reconfigure once I get back to the location.

it can be done.  for example, say you have 2 hddvrs and 2 hd.  You have 1 hddvr and 1 hd upstairs, and 1 hddvr and 1 hd downstairs.  if you only want the upstairs ird to see each other and the downstairs to see each other, then what you have to do is take the coax coming from the swm Lnb and feed it into a 2-way splitter.  From each output on the 2 way you need to install a band stop filter.  From each band stop filter install another 2 way splitter.  Feed the 2 upstairs ird off 1 2 way and the downstairs off the other 2 way.

pls dont make it dificult to the customer he allready is in a big miss undertanding and if you let him mess up the install then who would get the call is us the CSR's and the customer would be affected too if the trobleshoot doesnt resolved and he would be charged with the tech fee (49.95 + tax) it's better if we research the appropiate resolution and help him the NON tech way.

user newernesto  is spot on.  is very bad practice to advise a customer to jury rig a direcTV system.  

Problem solved.  Ironically, the reason it was segregated had nothing to do with the installer, representative interaction, or cabling, but with my own setup options.  It's completely undocumented (and perhaps even unexpected?), but it all falls into your knowledge of networking (no LAN required, either).  If anyone ever actually needs this info, hit me up, because this ISpossible.

My receiver and DVR downstairs work COMPLETELY segregated from the receiver and DVR downstairs.

anybody with some minor knowledge in networking, could tell you that putting two receivers in one subnet, and another set in another subnet, will "segregate" the receivers.  but the point here is that by doing this you are jury rigging your receivers.  and the internet connection kit, if you have one, will ONLY work with one subnet.  is not a mystery, is not unexpected, is just how networking works!

usr peds48_installs > AMEN!!!

Then why would ANYONE tell EVERYONE that it isn't possible, when it is? I have seen time and time again in trying to research this people give the answer "YOU CAN'T" - It's a lie. You can. Whether jury rigging or not, it does exactly what the customer wants it to do, so why would this forum be hell bent on hiding the truth and costing people dozens of hours of work? It's plain stupid. It matters not the method. I, nor the rest of the people looking for the solution are looking for the "divinely inspired" way of doing things (or in this case, not doing things), we are looking for the answer that WORKS. A disclaimer could come with the solution that we can't use the additional internet bloat, but then you'd have to ask yourself, why would I care?

Not only that, if you knew about basic networking, you could create two networks on different subnets that had separate access to WAN. Whether this would work or not, the bottom line is that it works. And no, it isn't obvious, because those of us that didn't engineer this device do not know under what system SWiM operates. Saying that the LAN options affect SWiM when not connected to a network is NOT intuitive. In fact, it gives you an error when you set it up!

Lastly, you assume too much that your customer is an incompetent cretin. I happen to have been electronic technician in both the military and civilian sector, and am currently a senior software engineer.

Pompousness to hide the truth that there is a solution to the end customer? Why? Do you guys actually work for DirecTV??

we don't work for DirecTV.  but we would be doing a disservice to DirecTv, which host this forums, by telling customers to jury rig their system.  had you done a google search instead of coming to an official direcTv forums and ask how to jury rig my direcTV system, you would probably had found you answer.

a google search turn out his article.

http://www.wikihow.com/Set-up-a-Private-Network

What you are doing is not a solution. You've messed up your Whole Home system. Here are the features that will not work properly with your system. Cinemaplus (on demand), Directv2PC, Mediashare, iPad app, iPhone app, on line scheduling.

Whole Home is designed to be just that, not part home. I was aware of the band stop feature, it's used in apartments with shared dishes on a regular basis.  Whether you think it right or not, I never recommend jury rigged systems.  As an aside, I'd guess you have at least 3 splitters in your system and that's a viloation of installation guidelines as well.