help! wireless adapter not reading

[merggy]

The other day I was transferring a show to the other tivo and watching it as it transferred. Then all of the sudden it stopped working. I went upstairs and the tivo was now calling that adapter by the wrong name, so I changed the settings back to the original name. Now both adapters are not reading each other. I have restarted both tivo's, I have unplugged both tivo's and restarted them, I have unplugged the adapter and restarted tivo and plugged it back in. Right now both tivo's are still not recognizing each other and both are reading at 74% (good) but if you move the adapter it should change either increase or decrease, both are not doing that. It is like they are stuck at 74%. What do I do, have these adapters gone bad, is that even possible?

[windracer]

What version of the TiVo software do you have? Which adapters are you using? Are the boxes able to make the daily call over the network?

Moving the adapters around is not necessarily going to change the signal strength significantly.

[merggy]

I have two series 2 tivos, I bought the adapters from tivo, I belive they are 802. I am not connected to the computer, just yet. Both tivos are able to make their calls and update, both are reading that the adapters are connected, both state they are at 74%. Before if I moved an adapter it would change and increase to the 90's or decrease. Now it seems they are both stuck, that 74 doesnt change.

[windracer]

Ok, so you've got the TiVo G adapters. I was just saying that you're not always going to see a signal strength change just by moving the adapters around.

If you check the System Information screen, is the TiVoToGo line listed as "a,a,a"? Can you ping both TiVos from your PC? Are you using DHCP or static addresses?

[merggy]

I am going to sound really stupid and I apologize. I do not have the tivo's connected to the computer. And I am not sure what those addresses are. I am really not very technical, I know how to hook everything up, but some things are beyond my realm of knowledge, but if you direct me where to look, I can do that.

[windracer]

On the Network Information screen on each TiVo, where you see the signal strength, an IP address should be listed.

On your PC (assuming Windows), go to Start -> Run, and type in 'cmd' and click OK. In the black DOS command-prompt box that appears, type 'ping xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx' where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is the IP address of the TiVo.

You should see something like this:

C:\>ping 10.32.33.77

Pinging 10.32.33.77 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 10.32.33.77: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 10.32.33.77: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 10.32.33.77: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128

Ping statistics for 10.32.33.77:
Packets: Sent = 3, Received = 3, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms
If you see "request timed out" over and over, that means your PC cannot see the TiVo on the network.

[merggy]

Well I know this will sound like a stupid question, but can my computer pick up something from tivo without being connected to it? I am at work right now, but I do recall there was an Ip address listed for both tivo's.

[windracer]

Your computer is on the same wireless network as your TiVos, right? Maybe you need to describe your network setup a little more.

[merggy]

The computer is not hooked up to the tivo in any way. The computer is hooked up to dsl by a phone line. The wireless adapters are only for transfering shows from one tivo to the other one, they have nothing to do with the computer.

[windracer]

Ah, so it's just a peer-to-peer wireless network between the two TiVos, no router? So you still use a phone line to make the daily call?

Ok, well, then you're right, you can't ping your TiVos from the PC.

So, we'll need to check those IP addresses on the TiVos. They should be something like 169.xxx.xxx.xxx. The first three numbers need to be exactly the same. Only the fourth number should be different.

Maybe you should run through the network setup again on each box, making sure to pick the peer-to-peer options.

[windracer]

If you need help on the peer-to-peer stuff, check out this thread (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=321631) I just found ... someone is doing a setup similar to yours.

[merggy]

Thanks for all your help, the one thing I didnt change was the channel number they refered to in the manual. I forgot about that, I will try that next. I did spend 50 minutes with the tivo teck people last night, and after going over everything again, they think my adapters are shot. So if changing the channel doesnt do anything, I am off to best buy to get another set of adapters to try. If that doesnt work they think it could be a problem with my tivo's, I find this hard to believe, how can two tivos, bought at different times, have the same problem at the exact same time. I get more help from you wonderful people in the tivo community than from the tivo company itself. By monday I should have an answer as to what the problem is. Will let you know.