Time Warner Cable is now offering Whole House DVR -- previously available only with the high-end SignatureHome bundle -- for East Coast customers as a standalone service starting at $19.99 per month.
The multiroom DVR feature lets customers record a program on a primary receiver and then play it back on non-DVR set-tops; TWC charges fees for each additional box. Each DVR receiver can record two shows simultaneously and store up to 75 hours of high-definition programming.
With the service expansion TWC has caught up to competitors including DirecTV, Verizon's FiOS TV and AT&T U-verse TV, which each offer whole-home DVR.
Time Warner Cable's Whole House DVR uses one of three primary HD receivers -- Cisco Explorer 8642HDC, Motorola DCX3400M or the Samsung SMT-H3272 -- and provides playback to their non-DVR set-top counterparts (Cisco Explorer 4642HDC, Motorola DCX3200M and Samsung SMT-H3262).
The boxes use the Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) home networking spec to provide the multiroom DVR features. According to Time Warner Cable, customers are able to connect up to 16 Whole House DVR devices on one network.
Currently Whole House DVR is available to Time Warner Cable customers in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York -- including New York City -- North Carolina and South Carolina.
"Whole House DVR offers our customers flexibility, convenience and enhanced accessibility to recorded programming throughout their homes," Mike Munley, president of residential services for Time Warner Cable's East Region, said in a statement.
Initially, TWC offered multiroom DVR exclusively as part of the SignatureHome service, introduced in December. Priced at about $200 per month, the package includes digital video service, two DVRs, 50-Mbps broadband and unlimited phone service among other features.
Time Warner Cable's East Region services 5.9 million residential and business customers in nine states: Alabama, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
