Best USB dongle for DVB-C channels

General Discussion
1

Hi.
Currently, I have a CablestaCablestar 2 USB to view my DVB-C channels on Vero 4K with Tvheadend.
But I need a new one to watch DVB-C channels. Wich adapter do you recommend? The OSMC branded DVB-T2 works on DVB-C channels?
Thanks

2

Yes. I think @JimKnopf uses one on DVB-C.

3

Yes – the OSMC dongle supports DVB-C. We don’t advertise this feature because it is not commonly used as DVB-C is usually encrypted.

Sam

5

Thanks a lot @grahamh and @sam_nazarko for the quick reply.
Can I use two ou three dongles at the same time (on the same Vero 4K) to use multiple clients (i.e. Raspberry Pi with OSMC and TVHeadend PVR)?

1 Like
6

If you use more than one dongle, I recommend you use a powered USB hub. TVHeadend would run on the device with the dongles. All other client devices just need the TVHeadend (HTS) plug-in.

7

Thanks a lot. :slight_smile:

8

That is still be useful information to have displayed in the store, as not everyone needs encrypted channels. There are quite a few unencrypted channels in germany for example.

9

Same in Portugal, on NOS provider.

10

I’ve updated the store page to reflect that DVB-C is supported.
Thanks for your advice. I did not know that there were free to air DVB-C signals.

11

I’m having poor signal quality issues with this dongle.
When I use other USB Tuners (like Cablestar) I don’t have that issues, connected on the same cable.
Do you recommend use a powered USB HUB to give a boost on the dongle?

Thanks

12

Are you using DVB-T or DVB-C?
You should use a powered hub for best results; the dongle is power hungry.

13

Using DVB-C.
I’m going to buy a powered hub from your store to check if it resolves the issue.

Thanks

1 Like
14

Dear Sam,
As Rui Almeida Santos, I also live in Portugal - Lisboa - and am very interested in installing OSMC on my RPI 3 b+ and set up tvheadend to watch NOS tv channels (I have a cable subscription).
About a month ago I bought a Hauppauge dongle - WinTV dual hd - but did not manage to succeed in setting it up on libreelec.
Should I buy one OSMC dongle to receive DVB-C signals under my current subscription with NOS?
If so, would you provide detailed guidelines for its configuration?
Looking forward to hearing from you
Best regards
Carlos Mota

15

The OSMC dongle will work under OSMC – not sure about LibreELEC.
Have you used TVHeadend before?

Sam

16

Not sure but first thing you should check is whether there are free (not encrypted) TV channels from this Portuguese provider at all.

17

Dear Jim,
For about a month, I have Plex Live TV working on Nvidia Shield with Hauppauge WinTv dual HD. The tuner is connected to the coaxial cable that feeds more than 100 channels under the NOS dvb-c subscription.
I also have a rpi 3 b+ in another room with Libreelec. I went through several attempts to configure tvheadend with the hauppauge dongle on the rpi but didn´t manage to make it work.
After googling for a couple of hours, I found in this forum a solution under OSMC (see ruialmeidasantos posts on the topic “Best USB dongle for DVB-C channels”).
Therefore, my question is: Should I buy the OSMC dongle? If so, would you provide detailed instructions to configure tvheadend under osmc?
Looking forward to hearing from you
Regards
Carlos Mota

18

Hi, Carlos.
LibreElec, on a Pi3, won’t recognize the osmc dongle.
You have to install osmc on Pi3 to make it work.

19

Caro Rui,
Creio que posso escrever em portuguĂŞs.
Agradeço a sua informação e informo que passei ontem quase todo o dia de volta do OSMC e, com o sintonizador Hauppauge WinTv DualHD, consegui configurar o Tvheadend.
Sou um mero utilizador curioso destas coisas e como estou reformado, tenho tempo de sobra para ir tentando até chegar ao resultado pretendido.
Apenas uma curiosidade, como o tvheadend não apresenta o mux da NOS, consegui avançar usando o mux belga “Belgium: be-IN.DI-Integan” o que para mim, como leigo, é surpreendente.
Neste momento consigo ver 30 e poucos canais porque a qualidade do sinal que estou a usar Ă© mau. Ainda nĂŁo testei noutro ponto da casa onde tenho melhor sinal pelo cabo coaxial.
Caso tenha alguma dica que me possa ajudar a melhorar a configuração do OSMC, não hesite em enviar-me.
Um abraço
Carlos Mota

20

Dear JIm,
Just to let you know that I’ve managed to configure Tvheadend for dvb-c on the rpi3 with OSMC and Hauppauge WinTV dual hd. Since I’m not an IT person, I had to go through a trial and error approach which is always a time consuming approach.
One thing that I found surprising, was that I used the mux “Belgium: be-IN.DI-Integan” to scan the channels from NOS Portugal (not included in the predefined tvheadend muxes list).
Now, I have about 30 working channels from a total of 100. This might be caused by the signal quality I get via the coaxial cable available on the room where I’ve been testing this set up.
I would like to add a portable hard drive to the set up but have the following main doubts:

  • should it be plugged to a usb powered hub?
  • if so, the usb tuner might also be plugged to the powered hub?
    Looking forward to hearing from you
    Best regards
    Carlos Mota
21

Always good the use a powered USB hub instead of consuming power from the USB ports of a Pi or Vero.
I’ve a Pi 3B+ with the original Pi 3 power supply and a connected Platinum USB 2.0 pocket HDD … and even that simple 500 mA consumer isn’t that stable as I want it to be (doesn’t find the HDD while all reboots).
Sam has also an OSMC branded powered USB 3.0 hub in his store.