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Possible to stream live TV from Roamio to TV via wifi?

5K views 13 replies 6 participants last post by  PaperQueen 
#1 ·
For clarification of the title:
Possible to stream live TV from Roamio to a TV that has no cable outlet?

Set up:
• Roamio Plus in living room, connecting via MoCA (i.e., cable outlet)
• Second TV in kitchen, where there's no cable or ethernet option
• Airport wifi throughout the house

Also own:
• Spare TiVo Premier box

Is it possible to connect the spare TiVo Premier to the kitchen TV, then stream live television from the Roamio? If not, is there another way to accomplish the same?

Due to the design and construction of my house, an over-the-air decoder gets almost no signal...installing a cable outlet (or MoCA, as a result) would be impossible without ripping into fragile wall tile, then tearing out part of another wall.

Would love a way to stream live TV to the countertop set in there. Any ideas...?

Thanks in advance!
 
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#2 ·
Sounds like a Tivo Mini and an ethernet bridge would be perfect for your situation.

Can use one of the tuners on the Roamio for live TV.
 
#3 ·
Sounds like a Tivo Mini and an ethernet bridge would be perfect for your situation.

Can use one of the tuners on the Roamio for live TV.
Okay...now I'm beginning to get excited. A couple of questions (newbie, though they may be):

1. Does that mean the older Premier (currently not used) won't work? Do I need to purchase another TiVo device?

2. How, exactly, would an ethernet bridge work in this scenario? My ethernet signal is coming through the cable lines (via MoCA boxes, at each outlet). Since there's no cable outlet in the kitchen, I'm unclear about how to "jump" the ethernet signal between the in-wall cable lines and an electrical socket.
 
#4 ·
Premiere should work fine. Though I just sold my premiere and got a mini instead. It's so much faster, though you do give up those tuners.

http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-PA4010KIT-Powerline-Adapter-Starter/dp/B00AWRUICG/

http://www.howstuffworks.com/power-network1.htm

Here's a review from a tivo user on amazon
"If you are looking for an ethernet cable jack yet are unable to find one these "powerline" adapters work relatively well. I've been using it for a week for a Tivo Mini and can say it has for the most part worked well. I've had the occasional lost signal, but rarely. Basically I am using this to stream HD video from my downstairs TiVo XL4 to a TiVo Mini located upstairs in the guest room. Works on live broadcast and stored content great. Its really plug and play, but don't expect 500Mbps probably on average you are looking 40-60Mbps with max of 80Mbps."
 
#5 ·
You cannot Stream LiveTV from a Roamio to a Premiere (you can Stream (MRS) recordings from the Roamio on the Premiere)

You would need a Mini and a Roamio (or 4 tuner Premiere) to Stream LiveTV to an additional TV.
 
#6 ·
Thank you, thank you for the pointers. If I have this right, looks like the steps would be as follows....

Storage room (network hub):
Time Capsule > ethernet cable > power line adapter box > electrical outlet

Kitchen:
Electrical outlet > power line adapter box > ethernet cable > TiVo Mini > HDMI cable > television

Since this takes streaming off wifi and into the electrical outlets, a new challenge exists....

Devices in both locations -- the kitchen and the network hub in the storage room -- are running off multi-outlet surge protectors. This is necessary since electrical outlets are scarce.

Will power adapters function properly when plugged into a surge protector power strip/block? If they need to be plugged directly into a wall outlet, I'm stuck in both rooms.
 
#7 ·
Devices in both locations -- the kitchen and the network hub in the storage room -- are running off multi-outlet surge protectors. This is necessary since electrical outlets are scarce.

Will power adapters function properly when plugged into a surge protector power strip/block? If they need to be plugged directly into a wall outlet, I'm stuck in both rooms.
Surge protection alone might not block the power line adapter signals, but the noise suppression often included in the same power strips will cause problems. You might be able to find a couple of cheap power strips that include no noise suppression (and probably no surge suppression either).
 
#8 ·
Surge protection alone might not block the power line adapter signals, but the noise suppression often included in the same power strips will cause problems. You might be able to find a couple of cheap power strips that include no noise suppression (and probably no surge suppression either).
When i said wireless bridge I meant something like this.

http://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Unive...id=1386642189&sr=1-3&keywords=Wireless+bridge

the mini thinks it is on ethernet when it is really wireless.

Not powerline.

This assumes you have wifi in your house and a good wireless wifi signal in the kitchen.

Generally for good performance you want powerling network adapters plugged straight into wall.
 
#9 ·
#10 ·
CoxInPHX, is this the set up you suggest in the kitchen?

Ethernet Bridge (picking up wifi signal over the air) > ethernet cable > TiVo Mini > HDMI cable > TV

My wifi is great--running off a series of Apple Airports to accommodate lots of interior brick, fireplaces, etc. The wifi signal coming off the nearest Airport would "hit" the bridge, then transmit to the TiVo Mini via the connecting ethernet cable...right?

Sorry to be so dense. No idea why I'm having such a hard time wrapping my head around this. :eek:
 
#11 ·
CoxInPHX, is this the set up you suggest in the kitchen?

Ethernet Bridge (picking up wifi signal over the air) > ethernet cable > TiVo Mini > HDMI cable > TV

My wifi is great--running off a series of Apple Airports to accommodate lots of interior brick, fireplaces, etc. The wifi signal coming off the nearest Airport would "hit" the bridge, then transmit to the TiVo Mini via the connecting ethernet cable...right?

Sorry to be so dense. No idea why I'm having such a hard time wrapping my head around this. :eek:
That is exactly what you want to do.
 
#13 ·
Will power adapters function properly when plugged into a surge protector power strip/block? If they need to be plugged directly into a wall outlet, I'm stuck in both rooms.
They make powerline adapters that have power pass through, so you can connect the adapter directly to the wall and then connect the strip to the pass through port on the adapter.

They look like this...


If you can't get wifi to work reliably enough then I would go with one of those.
 
#14 ·
I feel just this side of giddy.

For the first time in 17+ years, I not only have stable television access in my kitchen--I have full blown HD. Thanks to the wonderful guidance in this thread, my expectations have been met, then surpassed. Hooray!

(Of course, the process required repeated connections to the TiVo service on both the Mini and Roamio...going through guided set up on the Mini five times...power cycling both boxes several times...calling TiVo tech support twice....)

If there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's to guess at how long a box will take to set up, then multiply times four. Or five. Or six. :rolleyes:

Thanks everyone--you've saved the day!
 
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