I purchased the Hauppauge Broadway for my son for Christmas. We followed the installation guide exactly and got the box up and running on the home network via wi-fi; however, it would not work over the internet or iphone 3G. Calls and emails to Hauppauge's tech support were useless. After a lot of Google searching, I figured out the problem. Some ISPs (internet service providers), especially for residential customers, will block ports. In order for the Broadway to be fully functional requires that port 80 be forwarded to the local IP of the box. In my situation, I had to upgrade my monthly internet service plan and modem. I then had to log in to my internet account and reconfigure the setting to open port 80. I double checked my router to be sure that I had properly forwarded the port. I then used a free internet port checker to confirm that the port was open. Finally, the Broadway sent the live signal to my son's iphone via the 3G. This took several days to figure it all out. Overall, the product itself is great. My only worry is that my son will try to watch live tv while he is in class! One word of caution, be sure that your cell phone wireless account has an unlimited data plan. From what I have learned, streaming the live tv can eat up data like crazy.
On a fast Ethernet connection, it works really well, on wifi, only smaller resolutions look good, meaning wireless laptopfair, Android phone fantastic.
The instructions stink! I configure IT hardware for a living, It still took two hours of trial and error to get it working the way I wanted. If you just accept the defaults, you will not have this device performing to it's full potential.
This product is sold overseas by PCTV Systems, I do not know if Hauppauge has a interest in this company, or is just licensing this product from them, but they are a much better source of information. I additionally emailed Hauppauge support some technical questions and have not received a response yet, not even an automated "we REALLY care".
The overseas version lists two tuners, the Hauppauge US version only has one, and only one user can access the device at a time.
Is this better then the Sling Box, Avermedia's products or the Volkano blast, I do not know, but I have been very happy with Hauppauge in the past, time will tell if they continue to develop and support this product. As of right now, I am left wondering.I've been using the Broadway HD for three weeks as of Feb. 22 2013. Despite some negative reviews, I took a chance and ordered the unit, but took care in unpacking it it in case I needed to return it. I was pleased to find that the negativity was unfounded, but the buyer should be aware that the device serves a limited function, which it does well.
First: it is designed primarily to accept input from an antenna, although it does accept SD input from a cable box. It turns out that most cable boxes have only one HD output, which usually goes to the television or DVR, so I'm not sure if it would be fair to fault the unit for not having HD input. In my case, I send the antenna signal to a pre-amp, and then I use a splitter to send separate signals to the Broadway and the television.
Second: The unit serves only one user at a time, so it isn't going to provide multiple channels to several simultaneous users. The unit provides HD live tv to a computer, tablet, or smart phone.
Third: It connects to a computer or router through WI-FI, direct ethernet connection, or ethernet over power line adapter. I've tried the WIFI and power line methods, both of which give me a 15 mbps connection that delivers HD to my iPad.
I haven't tried connecting over the internet to watch my local channels from a remote location. I have no doubt that it would work, but I haven't felt the need for it yet. It has been winter while I've owned the unit, so I haven't used it outdoors yet, but I expect it to work there also.
The iPad app is a little quirky: I can only get it into fullscreen mode when I rotate the iPad to portrait mode, but I can then rotate back to landscape and watch in widescreen. Also, pinching in leaves fullscreen mode, but pinching out does not enter fullscreen mode. It took some experimenting to figure that out, and I was ready to return the unit if I couldn't solve those problems.
For me, the Broadway has provided mobile live HD tv, which is what I was looking for when I bought it, so I am happy with it.I bought this product in February. I read 'working Mom's review and made sure port 80 open. It is also important to have the model number of your cable/satellite box as you will need it during setup so correct drivers can be downloaded. You also need the correct cables, S-Video and audio as they are not included. I followed the instructions that came with the box. I did not care for the layout of the instructions but I found them clear. This is not a plug and play device, it takes time to setup but the box worked for me right away. **Note: on iPhone and iPad the privacy setting in Safari cannot be set or it will not work** Broadway can also be viewed on the computer. I also attached an antenna to watch local stations in case satellite goes down in bad weather. I have been able to watch TV anywhere I go and that includes across the country. If you have 3 or 4G you can watch TV without wireless connection. If you have a limited data plan this may not be advisable. I have recommended this product to others who also love it. We have different cable and satellite boxes and it works. The only thing I disliked was having to enter all the stations into the program--the local stations scan automatically.
Update -2013Our router and providers antennae were fighthing each other which kept knocking us offline. Providers made antennae primary which caused Broadway to stop working. I called Wireless provider and they could not fix problem. While technician here I called Hauppauge support and together they fixed the issue by changing port number in wireless providers system to 7799. We use Broadway all the time.First review I've ever written and boy was I excited to get this product. It has a fairly small form factor and I was hoping to finally find a solution other than using iRecord iRecord PRO Personal Media Recorder. Now don't get me wrong the iRecord is a great product and does a good job in capturing the signal from you digital cable box then recording it on a USB device. The problem is around scheduling the recording which takes more time than its worth. So I decided to try to find new products that would allow me to capture my cable's channel, record on a USB or SDHD card and take it when I hit the road.
So set up was relatively easy but the box didn't have either a composite or s-video cable, for the price this really should be included. So after finding a S-video cable and about 20 minutes later, viola, the iPad was getting a connection from my cable box through the wifi. I tried to record a program from my iPad, and the signal froze, the unit also locked up. The power button on the front wouldn't power the unit down so I unplugged the unit and waited. Since I work in technology I am use to buggy hardware and software, so I decided to give this little box another shot. After the 4th time I returned it back to Amazon and purchased a different unit from a different manufacturer.
To be fair to Hauppauge, I have other products that they sell and have been very happy with them. This one totally missed the mark, it is poorly designed, feels cheap in my hands, the cords that are included are cheap, the ir blaster in particular and the software doesn't work. Also the UI of the software is totally useless and poorly designed. I never contacted Hauppauge's technical support but after the really crappy performance right out of the box, I wouldn't recommend this product to anyone.
Hopefully the next rev of this product will be better and more reliable. I did find something that work and will be writing a review on this later.
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