If DirecTV satellite dish signal had to be broken into several parts to cater to different tuners, it was necessary to use a hardware that can successfully perform such a split. This hardware is the DirecTV SWM. SWMs or Single-wire multi-switches are basically switching devices that can be used to control many DirecTV satellite tuner or receivers simultaneously. Certain switches can handle more than 100 satellite receivers.

Prior to the arrival of DirecTV SWM, lines had to be run to every single location. So a dedicated line had to be sent to power a home's tuner or receiver. With the use of DirecTV SWM, the extra bulk n dedicated lines could be eliminated because a single line could run into the hardware and can be split to as many new signals as required. This is one of the primary advantages that DirecTV SWM offers because otherwise users would have to make way in their homes for extra lines, which can get complicated if not managed properly. Another interesting feature that DirecTV SWM offers is that, it combines cable service and off-antenna service into the DirecTV signal. The benefit of this feature for the user is that they can quickly switch over between Cable Programming, DirecTV Satellite Signals and HD off-air.

Implementation of DirecTV SWM

In order for sound implementation of DirecTV SWM, what is required is a satellite dish that is compatible with SWM. Dishes that are compatible with SWM include 5LNB and 3LNB. It is also necessary to have a SWM compatible receiver and there are many receivers available that can be used with SWM such as HR20-100 through HR20-700, H22-100 through H22-700, 22-100 through R22-700 and much more. The number of routers that can be routed to a receiver depend on the SWM configuration. Usually SWM can receive up to four lines from the satellite dish. In a SWM-8 configuration, you can find six satellite configurations. This configuration also has flex ports that can be used with cable programming.

The distance between the SWM and the satellite dish can be for up to 40 feet. When receivers are connected to the SWM, the distance between the receivers should be 300 feet. If the number of receivers is four, the distance should be a maximum of 250 feet between receivers. So, what is to be noted here is that as the number of receivers enhance, the distance becomes shorter.

Read more details about DirecTV SWM and DirecTV.