STB Mode Key

[Seto]

I'm not sure about anyone else, but I find having to press the power button on the STB everytime I want to turn off the STB and keep my TV on a little annoying. I guess it differs for everyone, but I have multiple game consoles hooked to the same TV and I usually want the fastest internet connection when I game so I would want to turn off all my STBs for optimal speed.

This is a very small thing, but I think little things count. Does anyone feel the same way as I do?

[asirota]

I think turning off your STB actually just puts it to sleep. I am not sure if there is a way to turn it off other than unplugging it. I believe there is a way to decouple the power button so that you can separately turn each device on/off individually rather than together. So you will have to press each button and power for each to power them on/off. Is that what you want? If so, your remote control guide has instructions on doing this. Let me know if you need a link.

[jdh]

Yes, that just puts it to sleep, however as long as you're not recording anything it shouldn't consume any bandwidth, which I think is what the OP is trying to accomplish.

Switching to one of the recording or on-demand channels without playing anything back will also accomplish the same thing, so that might be a useful workaround. Basically, as long as there's no video playing (or being recorded) through the device, no bandwidth is being used.

Personally, I use a Harmony One, which uses the concept of "Activities." When I switch to another activity (ie, "Play a Game"), I just have it setup to power off everything that's no in use, including the BES STB.