tivo wifi connection

[srsenate]

please help cannot get my tivo to talk to my
wifi home network.
the network connection setup screen indicates that
it has found my network SSID and sig strengh is excellent 98 percent
but when i set the TCP/IP config for automatic it cannot locate
my DHCP on the network.
I get "Failed unknown error Message"
The Mac address of the Belkin AP is shown on screen

Using Tivo series2 sw ver 4.0.1b
wifi AP belkin f5d6050
wifi toshiba router attached to cable modem
router acts as DHCP client
ip address dynamically assign

[bedelman]

To clarify -- the Belkin is not an access point, it is a wireless USB adapter. Your Toshiba router is a wireless router, right?

Do you have any security enabled on your wireless router? Things like WPA, WEP, or an Access List.

WPA isn't supported. If you're using WEP, you'll need to use the "hexadecimal key" for the password instead of the human-readable pass phrase. If you have any entries in the Access List in the wireless router, you will need to add the MAC address of the Belkin adapter to the list.

Note if the Access List in the router is empty, that's OK. It just means that you don't have an Access List in effect.

[srsenate]

Bob

yes you are right Belkin is a wireless adapter. Wep is enabled on my router
and tivo accepted the wep key it just cannot seem to find the router(gateway) and DHCP client. What is the DHCP client id?
Why does the wep need to be in hex?
thank u for your help

[bedelman]

WEP needs to be in hex because your adapter and your wireless router are from different manufacturers and different algorithms are used to generate the encryption key (which is the hex value).

Go into the wireless router configuration and see what is the hex key equivalent for your current pass phrase. Then use that hex key in the TiVo's configuration.

In most cases the DHCP client ID isn't needed although it can be used to "label" a machine if you ever look at the attached device table in the router.

[srsenate]

Bob
Thank u very much for your help and guidance. Once i changed the WEP Key to a hex value every thing fell into place,including the Tivo publisher
server on my pc.
once again thank you.
srsenate

:)

[Ian]

Bedelman... just bought a router and wireless adapter and was about to rip out my hair until I found your post about entering the WEP key as Hex.

THANKS!

-Ian

[Wildcat_1]

I'm having this issue too but this did not resolve mine. My wusb11 when plugged into a PC picks up wireless networks a plenty but in the TIVO it cannot lcoate my WLAN even when it is broadcasting SSID .any help wouldb e appreciated

[windracer]

What version of the WUSB11 are you using? I don't think all of them are supported. I'm using the WUSB11 v2.6 on my 60hr unit without any problem. Is the TiVo getting an IP when the adapter is plugged in?

[MikeyB]

I'm having this issue too but this did not resolve mine. My wusb11 when plugged into a PC picks up wireless networks a plenty but in the TIVO it cannot lcoate my WLAN even when it is broadcasting SSID .any help wouldb e appreciated

Does your TiVo show the adpater's MAC address? This indicates whether or not the TiVo recognizes the network adapter at all.

[Wildcat_1]

Absolutely it recognises the MAC but when I try and manually enter TCP/IP it tells me that (on occasion) network adapter is not present check cables.

Either way the wireless will not pick up my SSID even when broadcast or any other wireless networks in my area. If however I place the WUSB11 which is version 2.6 on my PC all works great

[windracer]

Have you tried it on both USB ports? Maybe there's a problem with one of them.

I've also read reports of the TiVo dropping the wireless connection a lot with 7.1. There are other threads on this, but usually re-plugging the adapter solves the issue. Sounds like you're not even getting that far.

[Wildcat_1]

AN UPDATE

Okay all I am still notable to see any WLAN but id extensive testing an wanted to post so not only those who are trying to help but those in future that may see this issue have this documented.

FIRSTLY THE SETUP
SMC Wireless Router - Barricade G 2804WBR
Samsung 120HR (originally) DTIVO Modded with 4.01 SWare
Linksys WUSB11 Wireless B USB Network Adapter V2.6 (confirmed)

INITIAL TESTING

1) Okay I first had a newer WUSB11 V2.8 which I plugged in and sure enough was not recognized so I then went on the hunt and found a V2.6 which as soon as I plugged it in I got the message that it had found an Ethernet adapter. With this info in hand I plugged away setting up the WLAN on the TIVO which at the time was completely closed with WEP 128 and no broadcast SSID (BSSID) on chan 8. The TIVO responded with cannot locate this network. Also worth pointing out MAC filtering was enabled at this time but I had already added the MAC address. Wireless signal read none.


2) With the above in mind and the fact that I am using a Linksys and an SMC I decided to change my WEP key to 64 HEX and rename my SSID to something simpler (no special characters) and try again, this still did not work. Wireless signal read none

3) After this I disabled all firewall settings on the router, removed WEP security and enabled BSSID and still it could not locate the network and the wireless signal read NONE.

4) I decided to try again the same as step 3 but this time physically carted my TIVO upstairs and sat the WUSB11 on top of the router (was thinking about drawing an arrow on paper to show the data flow to the adapter  ) but still absolutely nothing.

5) I now wanted make sure the adapter was not faulty so I removed it from the TIVO and plugged it into one of my laptops and boom straight away not only did it pick up my WLAN but 4 others (as expected) in my neighborhood.

So what did this initial testing prove, well in summary it proved the adapter works and seemingly has no interoperability issues with an SMC router running or not running WEP. This also proved that BSSID was in fact enabled as the adapter could see it. It also proved that there was no other issues router side that were blocking the TIVO from successfully connecting.

After completing the initial testing and spending days scouring the web for insights I also tried changing channels to non overlapping ones like 6, 11 etc but still nothing and that is when I had a little bit of a brain wave. I thought maybe if this USB adapter was dumb and held its settings in VRAM that I could plug it into the PC and configure it that way first then transport it back. Sure enough if you use WLAN monitor to setup your default profile it writes that info back to the adapter and saves it (confirmed through advance networking setup/configure adapter). So, in the end I now had a complete config on the adapter that worked flawlessly when plugged into the laptop. I plugged this into the TIVO and…………… NOTHING, same problem.

That is where I am right now. Two things I noticed on the site survey completed by WLAN monitor though was that when WEP is configured on the router and even in the Linksys profile the WLAN monitor shows WEP as disabled on the router and indicates the BSSID as the WLAN mac address of the router instead of by ASCII name.

So, I don’t know if this will help but at least it is documented for everyone. I am picking up a WRT54G tomorrow to test with to ensure once and for all that there are no hidden flags or interoperability issues between different manufacturers. Maybe the TIVO is that dumb it cannot be flexible in any way to the change in possible WEP configurations from device to device (even though it is a standard).

Oh well, hopefully we will get there because being an IT Infrastructure Manager by trade this thing is really bugging the crap out of me

WC

[windracer]

You mention above you have a DTivo. I'm not the expert here, but it was my understanding that the USB ports on the DirecTiVos didn't work, or were not meant for networking. Maybe a DTiVo person can chime in here.

[joeaksa]

Need to hop on this thread. I have a Series 2 Tivo unit with a Netgear approved WiFi adapter. I get around 80% signal on the unit and most of the time it shows connected.

Tried to connect to the internet to download new content and it gives me a "no connection, your server cannot connect to the DHCP server" error message. Called Tivo and they say its all in my Netgear WiFi hub. The hub works fine with my laptop and other devices but not with the Tivo unit.

They say to open ports TCP 2190, VDP 2190, TCP 8080 to 8089 and to turn my firewall off. Aint going to open this to the whole world, so the firewall stays.

Does anyone have any ideas on this? No one I have been in contact with knows how to open these ports, its not in the setup from Netgear (WGR614) and am out of ideas.

TIA,

Joe A

[windracer]

I have the same router (Netgear WGR614v3) and did not have to open any ports to allow my TiVos to phone home to the mothership.

Can you ping your DVR from your PC, confirming it's actually on your wireless LAN?

[joeaksa]

Thanks much for the reply. When I look at the "attached devices" on the Netgear wifi hub, its not there. When I look at the tivo unit, its getting a good 80% signal and assigned a IP address.

Not sure how to "ping" but did find a "Respond to ping on internet port" box on the WAN settings on the hub. Can you pls tell me how to do this? Am pretty good with building computers but not so much on networking and things like this.

Thanks,

Joe

[windracer]

Thanks much for the reply. When I look at the "attached devices" on the Netgear wifi hub, its not there. When I look at the tivo unit, its getting a good 80% signal and assigned a IP address.

Not sure how to "ping" but did find a "Respond to ping on internet port" box on the WAN settings on the hub. Can you pls tell me how to do this? Am pretty good with building computers but not so much on networking and things like this.

What's the TiVo's IP address? It doesn't start with a 169. does it? If so, that means the DVR couldn't find a DHCP server (your router) on the network so just picked a private address ... so it's not really on the network at all.

To ping your DVR, go to a DOS prompt in Windows (Start -> Run -> type 'cmd' and press OK) and then use the ping command:

ping xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

Where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is the IP of your TiVo. If you get "request timed out" it means your PC can't see the TiVo.

Are you using MAC filtering or anything like that on your router? If so, you need to add the MAC address of your Netgear adapter to the router so it knows it's a permitted device.

How about WEP? If you're using encryption, did you enter the right network password when you went through the network setup on your TiVo?

There's a lot of little things here to check, I know ... also, this might help:

http://customersupport.tivo.com/knowbase/root/public/tv2066.htm?

[joeaksa]

Thanks for the info, ran out of time to troubleshoot. Am heading out on the road early Friday until Sunday, and will work on it when I return.

Appreciate the help... Will get this figured out eventually!

Joe A

[windracer]

I'll be here when you get back. :)

[classicsat]

You mention above you have a DTivo. I'm not the expert here, but it was my understanding that the USB ports on the DirecTiVos didn't work, or were not meant for networking. Maybe a DTiVo person can chime in here.

They aren't, and getting them to work is not what the help forum is for.
This Help forum is for more or less stock TiVos.

[gmb1]

All -

I'm having problems with MAC filtering on my wireless network. I have a TiVo series 2 connected by 802.11b and it has worked fine for months. I've activated MAC filtering on my router (and even cloned the MAC address for the TiVo that showed up in the access log). With MAC filtering on, the TiVo screen displays (none) for signal strength. I've triple checked the MAC address on the TiVo and the wireless adapter. When I disable MAC filtering, the TiVo recovers the connection. With MAC filtering, it immediately drops it, even after restart. My laptop connects perfectly when MAC is turned on. Any ideas? Thanks!

[windracer]

Are you sure you've correctly entered the MAC address of each TiVo adapter into your router? When you check your router's "connected devices" screen after enabling MAC filtering, do the TiVos appear as permitted devices?

[joeaksa]

What's the TiVo's IP address? It doesn't start with a 169. does it? If so, that means the DVR couldn't find a DHCP server (your router) on the network so just picked a private address ... so it's not really on the network at all.

To ping your DVR, go to a DOS prompt in Windows (Start -> Run -> type 'cmd' and press OK) and then use the ping command:

ping xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

Where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is the IP of your TiVo. If you get "request timed out" it means your PC can't see the TiVo.

Are you using MAC filtering or anything like that on your router? If so, you need to add the MAC address of your Netgear adapter to the router so it knows it's a permitted device.

How about WEP? If you're using encryption, did you enter the right network password when you went through the network setup on your TiVo?

There's a lot of little things here to check, I know ... also, this might help: ( had to remove the link you gave me as my post was restricted.

Windracer,

Back at home now and trying to get the Tivo on the network.

You were correct, the IP on the Tivo is 169.254.113.38

MAC is the same number on the wireless adapter, so that’s good.

Its showing that its seeing the “JoeA” network and that’s my wireless adapter hooked up to the network and internet. The signal is 80-86%, which is good.

Went to the TCPIP page

It’s using “auto find an IP”
DHCP client is showing “JoeA”

Then went to the Network settings.

Went through the settings and its set for “connect to a closed network” and then showing connected to “joea” …

I am using WEP 128 encription and the correct encryption key is entered. When I do a test it gives me the error message of: “failed. No dhcp server”

I tried pinging the Tivo unit using the IP address above and it keeps timing out.

Also, under the Tivo server properties in the Tivo desktop program its showing under the config tab a network identification of my computer name, and says that “this address is used by Tivo DVR’s to access my computer” and showing 192.168.0.2 (nvidia nforce mcp networking controller driver) if that means anything. I tried pinging this and it worked, giving 4 replies with 0% loss. Assume that this is the Netgear switch?

Appreciate any help on this as the signal is good at the Tivo but for some reason I cannot see the Tivo unit on the network.

Thanks,

JoeA

[windracer]

Ok, as you've seen, the DVR has a 169 address, which means it's set to use DHCP, but can't find a DHCP server on the network, so it chose that 169.xxx.xxx.xxx as a default. Since the rest of your network is on 192.168.0.x, it won't be able to see the rest of the network (including TiVo Desktop on your PC) and they won't be able to see it (that's why you can't ping it from your PC).

192.168.0.2 is the IP of your PC, not the switch. If you've got a Netgear switch, most likely its default address is 192.168.0.1 (try pinging that).

It sounds like either your Netgear router is not set up to hand out DHCP address, or MAC filtering is set up and the MAC of your TiVo's network adapter is not in the authorized list.

Go into the web based setup for your router (try pointing your browser to 192.168.0.1). If prompted to login, check your documentation for the default login (usually Netgear is 'admin' and 'password'). Now, I have a Netgear router, so I'm using the screens/wording for my WGR614v3, yours may be different.

Go to the LAN IP Setup screen on the left-hand side. Make sure "Use router as DHCP server" is on.

Go to the Wireless Settings screen on the left-hand side. Click the "Setup Access List" button. If "Turn Access Control on" is checked, you're using MAC filtering. Make sure the MAC of the adapter connected to the TiVo is listed. If it's not, add it.

Hope this helps.

[joeaksa]

Thanks much. Tried pinging the 192.168. address and it came back fine.

A bit familiar (not that I understand it but know where it is) with the web based Netgear setup. The "use router as a DHCP server" was already checked and its using 192.168.0.2 starting and ending at 192.168.0.51.

Went to the wireless settings and found two devices there. One is my laptop using the wireless and also found the MAC address for the Tivo unit. Added both
to the list and hit apply. The laptop works fine using WiFi and these settings.

Went down to the "Attached devices" and did not find the Tivo, but the laptop is there. I have manually put the IP 192.168.0.25 in the Tivo and when it tests the address shows that its good but when I do a connection test no luck, still showing no server found.

Trying the Netgear under attached devices its still not shown there. Went down to the LAN IP page and added the Tivo address under Address Reservation but it did not help.

Really appreciate the help, feel that we are close but one or two settings. Am really lucky to find someone who knows networking and the Netgear system!

Thanks,

Joe

[joeaksa]

Anyone have any other ideas on how to get my system talking with each other?

TIA,

Joe

[windracer]

Sorry, forgot about this thread and must have missed your last update to it.

What kind of wireless adapter are you attaching to your DVR? Is it on the supported list?

[dgt2n]

I don't mean to butt into this thread, but my issues seem to be very similar. I have a Netgear wireless router next to my DVR, which is connected via ethernet cable. My PC has a wireless card that connects to the router. With Tivo Desktop, my DVR does not show up, nor does my PC show up on the DVR.

This is where I get confused. When I enter the TIVO's ipaddy in the address bar and enter the User/PW, my Tivo appears along with my saved programs, so both devices can obviously access each other. Which settings do I need to change to make it work with Tivo Desktop, and also to bring up Music/Photos on the DVR?

TIA.

[windracer]

Are you running any sort of firewall software on your PC? A firewall could be blocking the traffic between your PC and DVR (although it wouldn't touch your browser traffic, which is why you can connect through the https interface).

Try temporarily disabling any firewalls (Norton, ZoneAlarm, Sygate, etc.) and see if TiVo Desktop works then. If it does, you just need to configure your firewall to allow TiVo Desktop traffic through.

[dgt2n]

Are you running any sort of firewall software on your PC? A firewall could be blocking the traffic between your PC and DVR (although it wouldn't touch your browser traffic, which is why you can connect through the htp interface).

Try temporarily disabling any firewalls (Norton, ZoneAlarm, Sygate, etc.) and see if TiVo Desktop works then. If it does, you just need to configure your firewall to allow TiVo Desktop traffic through.

I do have McAfee Personal Firewall, but I have tried allowing access to all TIVO related programs with no luck. I also tried disabling MPW completely. Could it be a router or XP firewall problem? I'll work on it more when I get home....I'm just happy to have factored out network problems (I hope).

[joeaksa]

Sorry, forgot about this thread and must have missed your last update to it.

What kind of wireless adapter are you attaching to your DVR? Is it on the supported list?
Not a problem but you are too young to use senility like I do when I forget ! :)

I bought a wireless adapter that was on the list, and as well bought a Netgear unit so that there could not be any "compatability" issues with my Netgear WiFi router. Its a WG111RV and has the correct serial number that TIVO recommends.

Thanks,

Joe

[windracer]

I do have McAfee Personal Firewall, but I have tried allowing access to all TIVO related programs with no luck. I also tried disabling MPW completely. Could it be a router or XP firewall problem? I'll work on it more when I get home....I'm just happy to have factored out network problems (I hope).
In TiVoDesktop, go to the Server menu, TiVo Server properties, then the Access Control tab. Is your DVR listed here?

[windracer]

I bought a wireless adapter that was on the list, and as well bought a Netgear unit so that there could not be any "compatability" issues with my Netgear WiFi router. Its a WG111RV and has the correct serial number that TIVO recommends.
I'm running out of ideas here. What model Series 2 do you have? Is it one of the DVD units? Are you sure you have v7.1 of the software? Because that particular adapter is listed as only working with 7.1 and higher.

[dgt2n]

Stupid stupid stupid. My problem was that I also have an Apple Airport connected to my router to play my Music library through my receiver, and my computer was connected to the network through this, and not directly through the router. When I switched to the router, I had no problems.

I guess I just can't play music through my receiver and download shows at the same time...

[R. Berardi]

Don't know if this will help with your audio:

http://www.rogueamoeba.com/airfoil/

[dgt2n]

that looks sweet - now i just need a mac...

[R. Berardi]

You said Apple Airport, so I just assumed.

Note to self, never ass u me.

[joeaksa]

I'm running out of ideas here. What model Series 2 do you have? Is it one of the DVD units? Are you sure you have v7.1 of the software? Because that particular adapter is listed as only working with 7.1 and higher.
Yep, upgraded to the 7.1 version of the software before I started messing with it. Have a Tivo 40 hour unit without DVD. Forget the model number but its not an offshoot version.

I am out of ideas as well. One thing is that I used to be able to "see" the Tivo unit in the "attached devices" section of the router setup page. Now that I have reserved an address for it under the LAN tcp/ip setup page it no longer shows in the "attached devices" but does show a 80% signal on the Tivo box itself.

Joe

[windracer]

If the DVR is not showing up under "connected devices" on the router, there is definitely some sort of problem. Looking back through your posts, it looks like the TiVo has never appeared there.

So, what we've checked so far:

- DHCP on the router is enabled, with a pool of IPs from .1 - .51
- MAC filtering is enabled and the MAC of the WG111 has been authorized on the router
- 128-bit WEP is in use and you've entered the proper key on the DVR

I'm guessing the IP of the TiVo is still showing up as 169.xxx.xxx.xxx, right?

Are there any other wireless networks in your area that might be causing interference? I'm really reaching here ...

[joeaksa]

Wind,

Well, there is a God. Has to be... :)

I called a good friend who is a network and computer guru and he stopped by today. This kept him busy for over an hour and we never figured out what the problem was, but the good news is that its WORKING NOW!

We finally went back down to the Tivo unit and set the TCP/IP to auto find a IP address then entered the WEP code again and after cycling the WiFi adapter on the Tivo it started communicating with the hub. Have transferred several programs already and while its not real fast, might as well let it do its work at night while we are sleeping.

You are correct that the Tivo never showed up at the hub as connected until after doing these last changes. The WiFi portion was working as I used several different laptops around the house with the hub, so that was not the issue.

Believe that the issue was that the IP address was not meshing (we used number 10) and when set to auto it picked number 5 but anything between 2 and 51 should have worked. Cycling the WEP key may have done something but it was typed in correctly by three people several times so that was not the only issue.

Anyway, thanks for the help and glad to know about this forum! Hope I can help someone out in the future. Really appreciate your help!

JoeA

[windracer]

Anyway, thanks for the help and glad to know about this forum! Hope I can help someone out in the future. Really appreciate your help!
While the forum is very helpful, it's never a substitution for good, on-site tech support! :D

Glad you got it working. Welcome to the TiVolution.

[coletown]

You mentioned: In most cases the DHCP client ID isn't needed although it can be used to "label" a machine if you ever look at the attached device table in the router.

Somehow I inadvertently changed the "label"/DHCP client ID for one of my TiVos from it's Tivo Service Number (TSN) to the name of my network SSID. :eek: But I'd prefer my router log to show the TSN, as is the case for my other TiVos on network :rolleyes: . How can I change the "label"/DHCP client ID back to the TSN. I may even consider renaming all TiVo IDs to something more useable, like "Tivo Basement", "Tivo Kitchen", "Tivo [xxx]". Thanks for any feedback.

[windracer]

If you go through the network setup screens again, there should be an option to change the DHCP Client ID. Leaving it blank should default it back to the TSN of the box.

[coletown]

Nope, can't find such option on software version 7.2.1. Network Settings only allows me to re-establish IP through a) DHCP client server, b) manual IP or c) auto-assign (peer-to-peer). After that, it recognizes network and provides no other option menus. I've tried all three paths with no luck. I've also removed network adapter and restarted in hopes to reset Client ID/"name". I also removed wired USB adapter and replaced with wireless USB adapter, setup network SSID and password; still no ID/name change. Switched back to wired USB adapter and restarted. Still, name won't reset to deafult TSN. Any ideas or better detail would be much appreciated. Thanks.

[johnk]

Here's an option I thought people should know about...I used to have alot of problems with my wireless connection, during the daily call, music or photo streaming, transfers between shows. I used the Linksys WUSB11 usb wireless adapters which are one of the most common ones for Tivo.

I permanently fixed the problems by getting USB ethernet adapters for my 2 Tivos and a wireless ethernet bridge. They plug in to the bridge through ethernet so there will never be any adapter compatibility issues or wireless configurations for them. The ethernet bridge is the only component that must be configured for wireless, and this allows 802.11g speed between the Tivos and my PC or Internet. And, by having both Tivos plugged into the bridge through Ethernet, they can transfer shows between them at Ethernet speeds. The bridge has 5 ethernet ports so you can have multiple Tivos plugged in (as long as you have your Tivos in the same area).

Netgear FA-120 USB Ethernet Adapters
Linksys WET54GS5 Wireless Ethernet Bridge, 802.11g w/5 ethernet ports

[windracer]

Nope, can't find such option on software version 7.2.1.
Hmmm ... you're right. According to this page (http://customersupport.tivo.com/knowbase/root/public/tv2014.htm?) the DHCP client ID existing in 7.1, but not 7.2. I wonder why they removed that? I never noticed since I don't use DHCP client IDs.

So anyway, I'm not sure how you would change it back. I'm sure a Clear & Delete Everything would do it, but that's a little extreme. :)

[youpeace]

Hi, I am trying to connect my TiVo using my wireless g to the free local wi-fi in the area. I can do this using my laptop but haven't been able to get it to work on my TiVo. Does anyone know what might be going wrong? When I let the DVR assign itself an IP address it says "service not found" at the "connecting" stage. When I try to get an IP from address automatically from a DHCP server, I don't enter a DHCP client ID, and I get a message saying "The TiVo service is not answering (N13)". Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks