1. TEST REPORT Wireless Smartcard
SmartWi II
A Clever
Solution
for PayTV
Reception
in Multiple
Rooms
• PayTV providers typically
give you only one SmartCard
per subscription yet in most
households this is simply not
enough. In addition to the
typical receiver in the living
room, these days you could
also find one in the bedroom,
the kid’s room and even in the
kitchen.
04-05/201
1
SmartWi II
Technically sophisticated solution
to providing multiple receivers
in your home with PayTV
TELE-satellite World www.TELE-satellite.com/...
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Available online starting from 1 April 2011
62 TELE-satellite — Global Digital TV Magazine — 04-05/201 — www.TELE-satellite.com
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2. 1
Before the appearance that would ultimately end
of HDTV, the signal from a up in the receivers. Hence
PayTV receiver could eas- the name SmartWi: which
ily be distributed through- stands for ‘SMART’ card and
out the house or apartment, ‘WIreless’.
either via coax cable from
the built-in modulator or, for The SmartWi system is set
example, via a transmitter up for a maximum of five re-
that can take an audio/video ception cards that are mated
signal and transmit it in very with the master station for
good quality with a range of security reasons. Therefore,
roughly 30-50 meters. But all a card that doesn’t belong to
2
of these solutions only work the system will not work with
with SDTV; with HDTV it’s a the system. Only those cards
different story. The problem that were physically linked
is that the high-resolution with the master station will
HDTV content can’t be car- be able to decode the sig-
ried by these kinds of analog nals. The entire transmission
transmission systems. process is encrypted.
If you want to watch HD- To decode a radio or TV
quality PayTV in your home channel, the receiver needs
on more than one TV, you a valid decryption key which
might have a big problem. can be found on the Smart-
A few PayTV providers allow Card that comes from the
for the addition of a second provider. This key is ac-
or even third subscription for cessed every ten seconds; if
an end-user but this option the key is valid, the channel
3
is not especially interest- is decrypted, if not, the TV
ing either because of some screen remains dark. The
technical limitations such as SmartWi system does noth-
connecting each receiver to ing more than take these key
a telephone line or because requests that appear every
the added costs would be too ten seconds at the SmartWi
high. cards inserted in the receiv-
ers and transmits them wire-
So, what’s the alternative? lessly to the master station.
The answer is a clever solu-
tion by the Danish company The master station then
SmartWi: the wireless card reads the correct key from
splitter. the original SmartCard and
sends the reply back to the
The idea behind a card reception cards so that the
4 splitter is actually quite receiver can continue to de-
simple: since most PayTV crypt the channel.
providers only supply their
customers with one card, The SmartWi system op-
this card would simply be in- erates in the 868 MHz band
serted in a card reader unit which is not as congested
(master station) the con- and interference-prone as
tents of which would then the 2.4 GHz range would be
be forwarded wirelessly to and is therefore more reli-
multiple reception cards able. The transmission range
1. The SmartWi box should be connected to the PC only after the
software installation
2. SmartWi toolbox for configuration and updating the master
station
3. Detailed information on the SmartCard in use
4. Transferring new software to the master station
64 TELE-satellite — Global Digital TV Magazine — 04-05/201 — www.TELE-satellite.com
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3. 5
in enclosed rooms is around (green, red, orange) on the
15 meters which should be front side as well as a micro
good enough for most homes USB port on the rear panel.
and larger apartments. Walls
should not hinder the signal The black finish on the box
at all unless they happen allows it to fit in nicely with
to be outside walls covered any TV setup. The original
in aluminum siding on the PayTV card from the provid-
exterior; that could lead to er disappears conveniently
problems. into a port on the underside
of the box. Although this
The SmartWi system won’t port is fitted with slots for
6 let you watch PayTV without two cards, only one of them
paying for it nor will it allow can be used; the other is in-
a large number of people to ternally blocked. Because of
access the PayTV content. this, the SmartWi card split-
All of this is guaranteed by ter can’t be used with two
the pairing of the reception different PayTV cards at the
cards with the master sta- same time. This feature will
tion as well as the limited become available in subse-
range of roughly 15 meters. quent versions.
Additionally, SmartWi strict-
ly adheres to the ISO 7816 The package includes two
standard that is associated reception cards (up to three
with the technology used. additional cards can be pur-
chased separately), a USB
According to the manu- cable for connection to a PC
facturer, the SmartWi sys- and a power supply.
7 tem supports the Seca Me-
diaguard 1&2, Viaccess 1, 2 Operating the SmartWi
&3, Cryptoworks, B-CAS as system is so simple that the
well as the Conax and Ird- user manual supplied by the
eto encryption systems. The manufacturer consists of
latter two encryption sys- just a single page; it includes
tems will only work as long all the necessary steps to
as the SmartCard and re- put the card splitter into op-
ceiver aren’t logically linked eration.
together through the serial
number. Also not supported Of course, the very first
is any encryption system in step would be to insert the
which a SmartCard is not original PayTV card into the
used, in other words, a sys- card reader slot. After just a
tem where the provider ac- few seconds, the orange LED
cesses the receiver directly. begins to blink signaling that
8 Nagravision and Videoguard the system is reading the
are also not compatible with card and setting itself up for
the SmartWi system. the proper encryption sys-
tem. The green LED shows
SmartWi has given its the current operational sta-
newest product an elegant tus while the red LED would
new look. At 90x56x23mm indicate a problem.
the master box is rather slim
and comes with three LEDs When the orange LED goes
5. The software update was successful
6. The Logger function provides valuable error information to
SmartWi support
7. A variety of test functions are also available to the support team
8. Communication status between the master station and the
reception cards
66 TELE-satellite — Global Digital TV Magazine — 04-05/201 — www.TELE-satellite.com
1

4. out, the original PayTV card and all of the channels that
from the provider can be we tested were promptly
removed after which the re- and correctly decrypted re-
ception cards can be inserted gardless if the channels were
one after the other into the SD or HD. And the type of
master station. The orange signal (DVB-S/2, DVB-T/2
LED will once again blink for or DVB-C) didn’t matter to
a few seconds while the re- the SmartWi system; it only
ception cards are linked with transmits the necessary
the master station and pre- key from the master station
pared for use with the pro- to the reception cards and
vider’s encryption system. leaves the DVB signal itself
undisturbed.
Once the reception cards
are set up, the original Pay- Since there were misun-
TV card is reinserted into derstandings in the past, we
the master station while the want to make it clear once
reception cards make their again: the SmartWi system
way to the receivers. Un- only transmits the necessary
fortunately, the reception keys for PayTV decryption to
cards, with their on-board the reception cards; it does
electronics, are larger than not provide each individual
1 normal cards and therefore receiver with the actual TV
will stick out from the CI signal (DVB-S/2, DVB-T/2 or
slot or card reader prevent- DVB-C). The signal itself still
ing in most cases the flap comes from an antenna or
on the receiver from being via coax cable and must be
2 closed. SmartWi is working separately routed to each in-
on smaller versions of the dividual receiver by the end
reception cards that would user.
then allow these flaps to be
closed. Each of the encryption
types supported by the
For our tests we used three SmartWi system are in prin-
receivers that we had lying cipal very similar but there
around. We inserted recep- are slight differences and
tion cards into the CI slots because of this it is neces-
or card reader slots of these sary for the master station
three receivers and began to know ahead of time what
surfing through the PayTV encryption system will be
channels. The first encryp- used and what information
tion system we tested was is available on the original
an ORF Cryptoworks card. PayTV card. Therefore, be-
After that came an SRG Vi- fore the reception cards are
access card followed by a programmed, the original
SECA card. PayTV card from the pro-
vider needs to first be in-
No matter how hard we serted in the transmitting
3 put each of the three cards station. Also note that if a
4
to the test, we could not dis- different encryption system
turb the SmartWi system comes into play or if a new
original PayTV card needs to
1. Front of the SmartWi II with
three control LEDs be used, the entire program-
2. SmartWi Client Cards ming process would have to
3. Smartcard slots on the base be repeated.
of the unit
5 4. USB power connection
5. The SmartWi gets its power In other words, it’s not
via USB, either connected to possible to first set up the
a PC or to the power supply,
which comes with the unit master station and the re-
68 TELE-satellite — Global Digital TV Magazine — 04-05/201 — www.TELE-satellite.com
1

5. More on This Manufacturer
Read TELE-satellite’s Company Report:
ception cards with a Crypto- also then be updated with SMARTWI
works PayTV card and then the newest software. Wireless Card Reader Producer, Denmark www.smartwi.net
swap the Cryptoworks card
in the master station with a The SmartWi Toolbox is
Viaccess card. In order for a free program that can be
this to work, the reception used for master station up-
cards would have to momen- dates; it takes care of all the
tarily be inserted into the necessary steps to get the
master station so that they job done. In order for the
can be reprogrammed to the PC to be able to recognize
Viaccess system. the SmartWi station, it is
first necessary to install the
In our tests we were able SmartWi toolbox software
to achieve a range of around before the SmartWi box is
17 meters in enclosed rooms connected via USB to the PC.
with the signal having to In this way the necessary
pass through several walls drivers are made available www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-1011/eng/smartwi.pdf
www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-0709/eng/smartwi.pdf
here in our test labs. Out in which Windows can then au-
the open its range is natu- tomatically activate.
rally better. If the master Expert Opinion
station is placed on the bal- After starting the soft- +
cony, the signals would have ware, you can not only up- With the SmartWi II system, the manufac-
no trouble reaching a receiv- date the master station with turer has provided a reliable and sophisticated
er in the backyard shed if it the latest software, but also card splitter solution that is compatible with a
were more than 17 meters handle several additional wide variety of encryption systems. We were
away. The SmartWi system settings as well. especially pleased with its ease of use and its
Thomas Haring
TELE-satellite
Test Center
also was not bothered by perfect, error-free operation. At no time during Austria
any other signal interfer- Up to five different trans-
our tests were we able to recognize any interfer-
ence. It didn’t matter if we mission channels are avail-
ence or blackouts in the picture; each of the receivers behaved
used a wireless headset, a able. If you happen to be us-
as if they were using the original PayTV card. Thanks to the
WLAN router or even a mi- ing more than one SmartWi
simple update process, the manufacturer can easily react to
crowave oven that happened system, you can select dif-
any encryption system changes by updating the software. The
to be right next to the mas- ferent transmission chan-
system uses less than one watt of power and even if used all
ter station; we simply could nels for each one. You can
not disrupt the SmartWi also view details of the day would have a negligible impact on your electric bill.
system. Communication be- original PayTV card as well
tween the SmartWi compo- as name the individual re- -
nents occurred at more than ception cards and also set Unfortunately, the reception cards are built in such a way
30 Kbytes/s so that there up special options to match that any CI slot or card reader flaps on the receiver in most
could be no interruption of the individual receivers. The cases cannot be closed. It is also not possible to use two differ-
the decryption process due Logger function can be used ent PayTV cards at the same time. SmartWi is working on both
to a slow signal transmission to display the communica- of these points and will eventually provide a solution.
rate. tion between the client cards
and the master station; this
Since SmartWi is con- would provide SmartWi sup- TECHNICAL
stantly working on improv- port with invaluable infor- DATA
Manufacturer SmartWi International A/S Aabenraavej 1,
ing and expanding their card mation should there be a
6340 Krusaa, Denmark
splitter systems, it pays to problem. You can also find
Phone +45 70260031
check their website www. out what special parameters
Fax +45 86406622
smartwi.net from time to can be set up for your recep-
Email www.smartwi.net/contact.html
time to see if there happens tion cards. A valuable source Model SmartWi II
to be new software available of tips and tricks for your Function Wireless SmartCard Reader
for the SmartWi II box. And SmartWi system can also be Supported CAS systems Irdeto, Seca Mediaguard 1&2, Viaccess 1&2&3,
thanks to the USB interface, found in the manufacturer’s Cryptoworks, Conax, B-CAS
any new software can easily discussion forums on its Max. receivers 5
be transferred to the Smart- website. Nearly every pos- Max. distance about 17m (indoor)
Wi box using a MS Windows sible problem has already Transmission band RF 868 MHz
PC. When reception cards been discussed and solved Transmitter power -10, -2, +6 & +10 dBm
are programmed, they would there. Power supply 5V DC
www.TELE-satellite.com — 04-05/201 —
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