SiliconDust HDRACK 8US - TECH3-8US-2X4, 8 Digital Enterprise Broadcasting Tuner box

Pros: I didn't have any problems managing this box from a different subnet after setting a static IP. The picture quality is good and the box has been running for 3 weeks with no resets.

Cons: The one problem I see is with no encoding the stream can peak at around 25mbs playing sports on ESPN or similar. I should have known this but didn't cross my mind. That is way too much bandwidth to multicast 15 or 20 channels on our network so I will be looking for another solution.

Pros: Accepts a static IP address, which is questionably a pro due to subnet restrictions (see cons). Exact same core functionality and command syntax as consumer units.

Cons: One of the biggest flaws in this product is the fact their technical support is terrible. Response times are very slow and often unprofessional. Be prepared to argue for hours with their support in order to have a bug acknowledged, but don't expect a fix for it.

The other massive failure is the management software. The software to manage tech device still requires you to be on the exact same subnet in order to discover the devices to be managed, despite the fact you assign static IP addresses to the four tuners. You'll also have to reduce your display resolution in order to see the entire interface, as many of the management interface buttons do not render at all on the page unless your Windows font size is set to "small" system wide.

To add salt to the wound, the management software crashes quite often and discards your changes unless you "save" them every few minutes. Some configuration is stored locally on the desktop PC that has the managment software.

Other Thoughts: Upon opening the unit up, you'll find four individual dual tuner consumer units mounted on a metal board with a single power supply. Each unit is managed individually with their own IP address and requires four network cables.

The management software crashes a lot and many functions still require you to use the command line configuration. So, you're basically paying a thousand dollar premium for a rack mounted box. Don't expect the LEDs on the plastic front of your shiny new box to tell you anything either, as they don't even render any visualization worth noting.

I wouldn't recommend this "enterprise" product to anyone.