Remote Tivo viewing

[flyguy42]

I have a problem of sorts. I am trying to come up with a solution, Where programs can be recording in Location A, then transfered via the internet to Location B and viewed. The people at location B, would need to be able to schedule the programs at Location A. Also, the transfer of the television programs would need to be more or less automated. Can something like this be rigged up with Tivo2go? Or are there any other solutions out there? I am aware of Slingbox and the like... but am looking to preserve the video and audio quality. Basicly, what I am attempting to accomplish is to allow someone who is out of country to watch local programming in the states.

[jlac839]

When you say, "I am aware of slingbox and the like..." have you looked at streambox (www.streambox.com) which purports to maintain video and audio quality over IP even in realtime. I have not used it myself but it might be worth investigating further. There may be other IP solutions available too. I expect all of them will be expensive.

If streambox and the like are too expensive and the quality of slingbox, hava, and the software solution Orb (www.orb.com) is not sufficient then you may have to consider a hybrid solution. For example, you could open your TiVo to the outside world and allow location B to download the actual program to a local PC and either watch it on the PC or use a TV card to watch it on a TV. This would preserve the video and audio quality because they'd be watching exactly what the TiVo recorded instead of streaming a reduced quality version as the slingbox etc. do. Note however that transfers would be slow unless you have really high speed upstream and location B has high speed downstream and that you may be in violation of your TiVo service agreement if you do this because you are only permitted to transfer programs "within your household". For scheduling you could allow location B to access the TiVo scheduling function at www.tivo.com to schedule programs or install Orb on a local PC (i.e. on the same LAN as the TiVo) and allow scheduling via its web interface.

Have a hunt round Dave Zatz' site (www.zatznotfunny.com) for more ideas.

[jlh41]

How would you "open your TiVo to the outside world and allow location B to download the actual program to a local PC" ??

[greg_burns]

How would you "open your TiVo to the outside world and allow location B to download the actual program to a local PC" ??

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=311451

That thread goes into what is involved with fwd'ing ports, etc. It is painfully slow. You would still need a Slingbox to control the Tivo I would imagine, since all you can do remotely is schedule new programming.