TV, VoIP telephone device and dd-wrt or tomato routers
Posted: 10 Feb 2017, 21:30
Since a while I have been kind of frustrated to get high monthly bills for the internet, TV and telephone services all offered by my ISP. I found an interesting thread (in french) which proposed to cut the bill at least by two, if not by three:
http://jeff.ecchi.ca/blog/2014/06/22/se ... par-annee/
The procedure does not seem to be reserved for newbies, but is not reserved to the advanced technician. I am opening this thread to share my experience, but also to have your feedback. I suspect that some of you are already installed.
1.0 ATSC HDTV.
Instead of cable TV you go for ATSC HDTV which provides a better an even better signal as the cable TV is somewhat compressed you will need a compatible TV in additon to an antenna. With the modern flat TV you should have a
- Antennas. There are a lot of DIY antennas proposed on the net both for indoor and outdoor use. Most hobbyist say that the antenna on the market are not worth the price. I have tried the fractal antenna and bow tie antenna and considered the log periodic antenna. There is a site which is more technical which conclude after some testing that fractal antennas are not worth the additional work, even though NASA would be fond of it.
http://www.antenna-theory.com/antennas/main.php
Practical uhf/vhf antenna by Peter Swallow:
http://lipcsey.gportal.hu/portal/lipcse ... _02956.pdf
- baluns to regulate the antenna:
http://www.antennamagus.com/newsletter-2-1.php
.. DIY bowtie, log periodic antennas:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtKnpjWmj_8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcUSW2l6MSI
http://www.vk2zay.net/article/43
Finally, it seems that the simplest the better: I will go for a simple bowtie antenna has proposed in the following video.
Bowtie antenna with rods: building and efficient installation to get the best signal:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX_wBmLQv5k
Double helix antenna coupled with loop antenna: building and tuning:
http://w6nbc.com/articles/2011-06QST2mhelices.pdf
http://www.zoomworks.org/fpv/helical_an ... structions
2.0 VoIP telephone service
Instead of of the ISP telephone services you go for VoIP device and VoIP provider. So that your VoIP telephone devices produces hi quality sound signal tomato software compatible router seems to be a needed option.
- VoIP device.
I went with the Grandstream GS-HT701 as VoIP device as proposed in the first link. It is reported as cheap and reliable:
http://www.whichvoip.com/phone-adapter-comparison.htm
3.0 dd-wrt and-tomato routers or open source routers:
http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Supported_Devices
https://www.bestvpn.com/blog/17997/5-be ... s-for-vpn/
. definition of tomato software:
Tomato (firmware): cite note-18
- hardware
. Linksys N600 Dual Band Wireless Router (E2500-CA) is a cheap one in my country.
.. Quick installation guide:
https://adriel.co.nz/blog/2016/04/13/in ... -e2500-v3/
dd wrt and diy antenna:
http://www.skifactz.com/wifi/?p=107
How do you do with your TV services, are you on ATSC HDTV? Do you have other sources of TV material?
Do you use VoIP telephone service to cut your bill down? For a home installation, what would be the ideal tomato router?
http://jeff.ecchi.ca/blog/2014/06/22/se ... par-annee/
The procedure does not seem to be reserved for newbies, but is not reserved to the advanced technician. I am opening this thread to share my experience, but also to have your feedback. I suspect that some of you are already installed.
1.0 ATSC HDTV.
Instead of cable TV you go for ATSC HDTV which provides a better an even better signal as the cable TV is somewhat compressed you will need a compatible TV in additon to an antenna. With the modern flat TV you should have a
- Antennas. There are a lot of DIY antennas proposed on the net both for indoor and outdoor use. Most hobbyist say that the antenna on the market are not worth the price. I have tried the fractal antenna and bow tie antenna and considered the log periodic antenna. There is a site which is more technical which conclude after some testing that fractal antennas are not worth the additional work, even though NASA would be fond of it.
http://www.antenna-theory.com/antennas/main.php
Practical uhf/vhf antenna by Peter Swallow:
http://lipcsey.gportal.hu/portal/lipcse ... _02956.pdf
- baluns to regulate the antenna:
http://www.antennamagus.com/newsletter-2-1.php
.. DIY bowtie, log periodic antennas:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtKnpjWmj_8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcUSW2l6MSI
http://www.vk2zay.net/article/43
Finally, it seems that the simplest the better: I will go for a simple bowtie antenna has proposed in the following video.
Bowtie antenna with rods: building and efficient installation to get the best signal:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX_wBmLQv5k
Double helix antenna coupled with loop antenna: building and tuning:
http://w6nbc.com/articles/2011-06QST2mhelices.pdf
http://www.zoomworks.org/fpv/helical_an ... structions
2.0 VoIP telephone service
Instead of of the ISP telephone services you go for VoIP device and VoIP provider. So that your VoIP telephone devices produces hi quality sound signal tomato software compatible router seems to be a needed option.
- VoIP device.
I went with the Grandstream GS-HT701 as VoIP device as proposed in the first link. It is reported as cheap and reliable:
http://www.whichvoip.com/phone-adapter-comparison.htm
3.0 dd-wrt and-tomato routers or open source routers:
http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Supported_Devices
https://www.bestvpn.com/blog/17997/5-be ... s-for-vpn/
. definition of tomato software:
Tomato (firmware): cite note-18
- hardware
. Linksys N600 Dual Band Wireless Router (E2500-CA) is a cheap one in my country.
.. Quick installation guide:
https://adriel.co.nz/blog/2016/04/13/in ... -e2500-v3/
dd wrt and diy antenna:
http://www.skifactz.com/wifi/?p=107
How do you do with your TV services, are you on ATSC HDTV? Do you have other sources of TV material?
Do you use VoIP telephone service to cut your bill down? For a home installation, what would be the ideal tomato router?