UPDATED: Be careful when upgrading to a SWM-30 multiswitch

You know you want this SWM-30 multiswitch. Not only does it support up to 26 receivers or DVRs, it also gives you full support for 4K in the future. Yeah, the 4K LNB that connects to it isn’t available yet, but that’s temporary. You know it’s coming.

I recently became aware of a problem that can happen when upgrading. If you’re using the SWM-30 to replace the SWM-16, you need to be very careful when replacing the outputs. This is the output side of a SWM-16:

If you compare that to the image above, there’s a difference. On the SWM-30, the PWR port is the top one, while on the SWM-16, it’s the middle one. An earlier version of this article originally reported that if you connect the power inserter into the middle port of the SWM-30 you will fry the SWM-30. After testing and conferring with AT&T’s operations and engineering departments, I’ve confirmed that you should be able to connect the power line to any of the three ports. The original report was incorrect.

So, I owe an apology not only to you, my readers, but also to the folks at AT&T who put in a lot of time and effort in testing this multiswitch to make sure it’s safe to put power through any of the three ports. My previous report was based on user testing and I don’t know what happened to fry that person’s multiswitch but I don’t believe it will be a problem with any SWM-30 you receive.

However, you should still be careful when connecting the SWM-30 in an installation that previously housed a SWM-16, for two reasons. First of all, if you connect the old SWM1 line to the PWR line of the SWM-30 you won’t get any signal through that port. Secondly, you should be aware that there is no “crossover” circuit in the SWM30 so that receivers connected to SWM1 will not see receivers connected on SWM2, and vice-versa. You can connect up to 13 tuners on each leg (15 if only Genie equipment is present) so it should be fairly easy to plan which receivers will see which receivers.

About the Author

Stuart Sweet
Stuart Sweet is the editor-in-chief of The Solid Signal Blog and a "master plumber" at Signal Group, LLC. He is the author of over 10,000 articles and longform tutorials including many posted here. Reach him by clicking on "Contact the Editor" at the bottom of this page.