Adapter Not Found Belkin F5D7050

[jtryan55]

Hello,

Has anyone had any success connecting their tivo to the Belkin F5D7050 wireless adapter? I can hook it up to my computer and it connects to my wireless network no problem. And the tivo website says the Belkin F5D6050 should work fine, but there is nothing about the 7050. I would think it would work, but I get an Adapter Not Found message, and the light on the wireless adapter which normally flashes green when it is hooked up to my computer does not light up at all.

Any ideas? Does this adapter just not work with my Tivo, or could the USB port on my Tivo not be activated or screwed up or something?

Thanks,
Justin

[stevel]

Why do you think it would work? The 7050 probably has a different chipset than the 6050 and this would require driver support from TiVo.

Unlike with a PC, where drivers can be installed from a CD, TiVos support only those adapter chipsets that they have driver support for. Adapter vendors can even change chipsets without changing the model number (see Linksys USB200M v2).

[jtryan55]

I just figured any newer models would be backwards compatible. And it's not like this adapter is brand new....I bought it over a year ago. Anyways, now i know differently.

[ObiWanJenkins]

I just figured any newer models would be backwards compatible. And it's not like this adapter is brand new....I bought it over a year ago. Anyways, now i know differently.

It should be backwards compatible. I have the exact same adapter, and I find it ridiculous that I have to spend more more on a new one to work with my Tivo. I find it funny that all the compatible adapters are more than the $30.00 I paid for this one.

[stevel]

See my reply above. New model adapters usually use new chipsets. TiVo does keep adding support for new adapters but can't get all of them.

[mick66]

It should be backwards compatible. I have the exact same adapter, and I find it ridiculous that I have to spend more more on a new one to work with my Tivo. I find it funny that all the compatible adapters are more than the $30.00 I paid for this one.

I tried a Belkin 7050 (but not on my Tivo). It was a piece of crap. It couldn't get a decent consistant signal from my router no matter how close it was. I thought it was just a bad one so I exchanged it. Same problems with the second one so I returned it and bought a nother brand. At $30 this adapter is way over priced.

[wburdine]

After doing a lot of information searches for the USB wireless network adapters that TiVo does support, I came to this sad conclusion: TiVo will never support the Belkin F5D7050 because they only support chipsets made by Atmel and Intersil Prism.

The Belkin F5D7050 chipsets are dependant on the version:
V1 - Broadcom Chipset
V2, V3 - Ralink RT2500 chipset
V4 - Zydas1211 chipset

Examples of the chipsets they do support are:

Linksys WUSB11 version 2.8 - Atmel AT76C505 chipset
Netgear MA101 version B - Atmel AT7650x series chipset. ...
Netgear MA111 - Intersil Prism 2 or Prism 3 chipset depending on the version
Belkin F5D6050 - Atmel AT76C503/505A chipset

Unfortunately, while we all love our TiVo, TiVo has never put their customer’s need for support high on their list of important things to keep in mind. I guess when you are a monopoly, you can get away with this type of practice.

[JacksTiVo]

After doing a lot of information searches for the USB wireless network adapters that TiVo does support, I came to this sad conclusion: TiVo will never support the Belkin F5D7050 because they only support chipsets made by Atmel and Intersil Prism.

The Belkin F5D7050 chipsets are dependant on the version:
V1 - Broadcom Chipset
V2, V3 - Ralink RT2500 chipset
V4 - Zydas1211 chipset

Examples of the chipsets they do support are:

Linksys WUSB11 version 2.8 - Atmel AT76C505 chipset
Netgear MA101 version B - Atmel AT7650x series chipset. ...
Netgear MA111 - Intersil Prism 2 or Prism 3 chipset depending on the version
Belkin F5D6050 - Atmel AT76C503/505A chipset

Unfortunately, while we all love our TiVo, TiVo has never put their customer’s need for support high on their list of important things to keep in mind. I guess when you are a monopoly, you can get away with this type of practice.
I suggest you may be a bit confused on what constitutes a monopoly.
TiVo is one of the few companies that provides continuous support to their subscribers. They provide telephone technical support and periodic software upgrades to their service both of which are included in the service fee. With so many different types of wireless adapters and versions being sold to consumers, they even took the step to manufacture their own "guaranteed to work on any TiVo" adapter. So you can buy one of the compatible adapters or TiVo's. With many choices of adapters, TiVo is not exercising monopolistic powers for this accessory.

In addition, TiVo DVR service is not a monopoly. Given that every major cable and satellite provider now offers DVR service at a cost less than TiVo's monthly service fees (and no equipment purchase requirement), how can you call TiVo a monopoly? Just yesterday I saw a statistic that indicated that 20% of the households in the US have a DVR. There is about 110 million or so households in the US which means there are about 22 million DVR's in use. TiVo has about 4.3 million or so subscribers. Thus TiVo has only about 20% of the market and that certainly does not qualify a company to be a monopoly.

Granted that TiVo does provide a unique service that is far superior to what other DVR providers can offer, but that is great product development, not a monopolistic attribute.

[mick66]

After doing a lot of information searches for the USB wireless network adapters that TiVo does support, I came to this sad conclusion: TiVo will never support the Belkin F5D7050 because they only support chipsets made by Atmel and Intersil Prism.



The chipset used by Belkin is irrelevant at this point. The reason Tivo will never support the Belkin F5D7050 is because they've completely stopped adding support for any adapters that they don't already support and have actually removed official support for non-Tivo adapters in the S3 and HD models.

[wburdine]

I guess I am giving TiVo more credit than they give themselves or that they deserve. I say TiVo is a Monopoly because none of the other DVR services come close to the capability of TiVo. I do indeed recognize the greatness of the TiVo service after having it since their debut in 1997. Frankly, I can’t imagine not having TiVo – regardless of any frustration they may cause me.

But regardless of their greatness, I have always found their customer service and commitment to their customer’s needs to be lacking. I guess it would be the people who have been with them from the beginning that would be the most distressed by them. You see, at the beginning, customers were offered lifetime service for $200 (I believe) and I took this option. Since they were a new company, this was a good way of gathering quick capital which they needed, as any new company needs.

For years, I could not get a new unit when my original unit broke because they would not allow you to transfer your service to a new unit.
The original units were known to have the cheapest hard drives (and loudest hard drive too that almost mandated you not have it in the bedroom) that died easily; as did mine. They also used EVERYTHING that was of the lowest price, thus low quality, in the beginning. After a few years of constant problems, they finally discovered that they had to use quality parts since this was indeed a 24/7/365 operating machine.

It has only been recently that they have sporadic offers to upgrade, but never to the newest units, and pay a fee of about $200 to keep your lifetime subscription. To avoid paying a monthly fee in the past, I had to send my unit off to basically have everything inside replaced but the part that has the unit’s ID number. Since this happened just 3 months after the warrantee was up, I was obviously turned off by TiVo’s ethics at that point.

I finally decided to take advantage of their upgrade to a Series II unit and be able to keep my lifetime subscription for $299. It is not difficult to figure out that the only reason they offered this “deal” is to get rid of their Series II units since they are basically old technology in today’s market. It would be nice to be able to get the latest technology AND keep my lifetime subscription, but they just don’t feel their original users should be able to keep their lifetime subscriptions UNLESS it is for some other reason to benefit them.

I know, they are a business and do deserve to make money. I also know all to well from formerly holding stock in TiVo, that they have been doing worse every quarter since their terrific performance during Christmas 1999 (after checking the closing stocks from yesterday, they are only $6.32, so I was very fortunate to sell at just under $40 shortly after that great season). With such a bad financial track record, it is surprising that they have not picked up on the fact that something is wrong. I personally feel it is their customer support and overpricing of their service.

[mick66]

Since this happened just 3 months after the warrantee was up
Out of warranty is out of warranty. One day or eight years, it's all the same - too late.

Why do so many people think that they are being treated poorly when they discover that they are not considered special and that the rules do in fact apply to them too?

[wburdine]

Out of warranty is out of warranty. One day or eight years, it's all the same - too late.

Why do so many people think that they are being treated poorly when they discover that they are not considered special and that the rules do in fact apply to them too?

If it was not a common problem, you would be right. When a significant number of their units break down within the first 18 months, and only half seem to catch the warrantee period, this IS being treated poorly!

I know that you Mick, and others, might think that I am exaggerating, but even their own founders have remarked on how bad their own hardware was in the beginning. In fact, Jim Barton, co-founder, has written about it in a brief history of the company and the technical problems they have faced over the years. As far as my complaints about TiVo go, he specifically addressed the known use of cheap hard drives and chips.

If you know you are putting out a bad product after it has been released, it is a =n ethical obligation to make good of nth problems. In this case, while they were not responsible for the hardware, they could have certainly made exceptions if you bought a new unit within a reasonable period of time from the purchase… especially when you have already paid the equivalent of 2 years of service and the system is dead in 15 months.

I stand by what I have said.

[mick66]

If it was not a common problem, you would be right. When a significant number of their units break down within the first 18 months, and only half seem to catch the warrantee period, this IS being treated poorly!

http://img224.imageshack.us/img224/9193/smallestviolinpo5.jpg

[wburdine]

Real mature there Mick.