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Does Terra download movies without Alto?

T

tnedator

Well-known member
I'm curious if I can take a new Terra server and move it to a different location (work -- higher speed and no bandwidth cap) to download my UV library. So, in that case, it wouldn't be on the same LAN as a Alto or Strato but would be on it's own.

Will I be activating the Terra against my Kscape account and then when I choose to download my entire library, will it do it wherever the Terra is hooked to the internet? Or, does it have to be in communication with my Alto on the same LAN to download my movies?

Ideally, I would like to stick the Terra server in my server room at work for a couple weeks and let it download my full UV library.
 
My gut is it won't work that way, especially if the Alto and/or Strato have built-in storage. You could always do it while you're on vacation, and set up all three pieces on the network at your office while you're out of town. I have a fast connection at home, but it's capped at 2TB/month, so I just had to budget my downloads when I first got my Alto installed, though I can still get many more loaded than I can watch in a month. Mine's an earlier 4TB unit, but it filled up surprisingly quickly, probably 30-40 movies per month.
 
In theory I don't have a cap with Suddenlink anymore, but don't know if they would nail me if I downloaded 12-15 TB in a month. They still have some fair use language that says they can cut you off if in their estimation you abuse the bandwidth.

Beyond that, I've moved to a new house and my 150 meg service bounces from 30-100, so my movie downloads are typically taking 1.5 to 2.5 hours, sometimes a little longer.

So, not awful, but not great, but a big thing is worrying about Suddenlink hammering me if I let it rip non stop for 4-6 weeks to sync up my full library. When I first got my Alto I moved it to my office server room for a week to download 90 movies.
 
Well, there's one way to find out!! I find in cases like this that it is better to ask forgiveness than permission, especially if the service is listed as "uncapped". If they mess with you, just call them and act indignant and innocent at the same time. :D
 
Terra will download content without having an Alto or Strato connected to it so what you want to do is definitely possible with the following caveats:

If you take the Terra to a different location and put it on the network, you *must* ensure that all of your Altos/Stratos that would normally be grouped with it are turned *off*. Otherwise, your system will become split (i.e. different devices that are part of the same system reporting in to the store from different subnets). When this happens, all downloads will be halted.

Don't use the browser interface to remove the Terra from the system prior to moving it to the office. Just turn off everything as is and move the Terra. If you "Remove from system", the Terra will be seen as a separate, unregistered system when you bring it online in your office and will not download anything.

Prior to making the move, you will want to ensure that *no* downloads are currently active -- especially if they happen to be downloading to the Alto -- because that download would halt when the Alto disappears and would block the rest of the downloads in the queue (unless you manually moved that download to the bottom of the queue).

Additonally, when you turn off your players and bring your Terra online in the new location, the store downloads page will report that some devices in your system are out of contact. It's a big, yellow banner across the top of the Downloads page. This is "OK" and downloads should still proceed to the Terra.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you need anything clarified.
 
J.Green said:
Terra will download content without having an Alto or Strato connected to it so what you want to do is definitely possible with the following caveats:

If you take the Terra to a different location and put it on the network, you *must* ensure that all of your Altos/Stratos that would normally be grouped with it are turned *off*. Otherwise, your system will become split (i.e. different devices that are part of the same system reporting in to the store from different subnets). When this happens, all downloads will be halted.

Don't use the browser interface to remove the Terra from the system prior to moving it to the office. Just turn off everything as is and move the Terra. If you "Remove from system", the Terra will be seen as a separate, unregistered system when you bring it online in your office and will not download anything.

Prior to making the move, you will want to ensure that *no* downloads are currently active -- especially if they happen to be downloading to the Alto -- because that download would halt when the Alto disappears and would block the rest of the downloads in the queue (unless you manually moved that download to the bottom of the queue).

Additonally, when you turn off your players and bring your Terra online in the new location, the store downloads page will report that some devices in your system are out of contact. It's a big, yellow banner across the top of the Downloads page. This is "OK" and downloads should still proceed to the Terra.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you need anything clarified.
Click to expand...

Hi John,

This is very helpful, thanks.

Let me ask a followup. Since I might have to have it at the office for a couple weeks to download everything, I would rather not have my Alto out of commission for that long. So, is it possible to disconnect the LAN cable from the Alto rather than powering it off? That way I could watch existing movies, even if I can't download new ones.

Assuming that is ok, If there is a new movie or movies I wanted to add to the Alto, would it then be possible to first disconnect the Terra from the work network, and then reconnect the Alto, download a movie or two, and disconnect Alto from home LAN and reconnect the Terra to work LAN to continue it's download?
 
tnedator said:
Let me ask a followup. Since I might have to have it at the office for a couple weeks to download everything, I would rather not have my Alto out of commission for that long. So, is it possible to disconnect the LAN cable from the Alto rather than powering it off? That way I could watch existing movies, even if I can't download new ones.
Click to expand...

Yes. That would work.

Assuming that is ok, If there is a new movie or movies I wanted to add to the Alto, would it then be possible to first disconnect the Terra from the work network, and then reconnect the Alto, download a movie or two, and disconnect Alto from home LAN and reconnect the Terra to work LAN to continue it's download?
Click to expand...

Yes again, as long as you adhere to the limitations listed in my first post.
 
J.Green said:
Yes. That would work.



Yes again, as long as you adhere to the limitations listed in my first post.
Click to expand...

John, thanks again. One last question.

I don't have it in hand first. Should I first bring it online on my home LAN first, then shut down the Alto and then bring Terra to work?

Or, can I disconnect the LAN from the Alto and take the Terra directly to work and not have to do any initial setup/link to the Alto on my home LAN? Not sure if they need to link/sync initially, or if I just need to go to my account on store.kaleidescape and put in the serial number to the Terra.
 
tnedator said:
I don't have it in hand first. Should I first bring it online on my home LAN first, then shut down the Alto and then bring Terra to work?

Or, can I disconnect the LAN from the Alto and take the Terra directly to work and not have to do any initial setup/link to the Alto on my home LAN? Not sure if they need to link/sync initially, or if I just need to go to my account on store.kaleidescape and put in the serial number to the Terra.
Click to expand...

You will definitely want to set up the Terra and group it with the Alto prior to taking it in to work and setting it up on a different network. If you just set it up at work, it will be seen as a second, separate system.

Of course, you could always activate the Terra as a separate system (at work), download all of the content you want it and then deactivate, bring it home and group it with your Alto.
 
J.Green said:
Otherwise, your system will become split (i.e. different devices that are part of the same system reporting in to the store from different subnets).
Click to expand...

Is it checking the subnets on the device (internal) or ISP (external) level? Not that they couldn't necessarily both match.
 
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