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View Full Version : Speed of hard-wired non-Internet Connection?


JaneiR36
05-02-2008, 08:14 PM
So I thought I would try my hands on this TiVo Transfer thing (from TiVo to Computer). I don't know if things have changed since ISP's would supposedly downgrade your speed if you consume too much bandwidth, so I decided to connect an Ethernet cable directly from the computer to the Series 2 DT TiVo. Some issues I encountered:

o Took forever just to find the one post that said go to https://TiVo.IP.Address, username: tivo password: mak #!

o My Internet surfing gets disabled. How do I find out if my computer will allow an active connection through both the wired "ethernet" port and wireless? I even tried disabling the Firewall and still nothing. This is a new Dell Vostro (I think) that I bought on Black Friday of last year. Perhaps I am doing something wrong and haven't enabled it? There's the 1394 Network connection and the Local Network. Sharing the 1394 did nothing. Sharing the Local Network would allow me to type the IP addy and see into my TiVo, but would disable my web surfing abilities.

o And now for the title of the post (sorry so late). When I finally started downloading, I could only get speeds of 1.2 MB/s. Forgive me but my wireless is faster. How could this be? This was an old Ethernet cable that I've had since college so could this be the weak link? If I get a cable that supposedly supports speeds of up to 1 GB/s, will my computer or the TiVo be able to handle it? I read something like there is a conversion that must first happen before the file will be transferred, is this why the speed is a little slower than I expect?

o Geez, even I thought I was done. Okay, some of the files would show on the TiVo as 2.56 Gigs but only 350 Megs would download. It did the same thing on TiVo Desktop. It would say transfer complete and say the full length of the show 1 hr. But still looks like a partial download to me. A partial download replicated to the byte (same size) on both TiVo Desktop and the direct drive download. What gives?

o Finally, how do I watch the dang things? The files download in the .TiVo format and won't play on my Windows Media even though it lists .TiVo files as one of the ones it will play? I also entered my MAK in that little box that asks for it and yet I double-click on the file and see nothing. Again, what gives?

I hope you will believe I have read as much as I could on the subject, I'm just exhausted now. I was up till 5 AM this morning fiddling with it and only got this far!

Any help will be appreciated, thanks :)

Berone
05-02-2008, 09:01 PM
Up until 5 am working on this? You're my kind of crazy! There are others more expert than I that I'm sure will chime in, but I would not run from the tivo directly to the computer. Run it through your router - it won't have anything to do with the internet unless you elect to update through the internet instead of via phone. Try that configuration and see if any of your problems go away.

greg_burns
05-02-2008, 11:14 PM
o Finally, how do I watch the dang things? The files download in the .TiVo format and won't play on my Windows Media even though it lists .TiVo files as one of the ones it will play? I also entered my MAK in that little box that asks for it and yet I double-click on the file and see nothing. Again, what gives?

Most likely you need a MPEG-2 codec.

Try installing this one...
http://www.cole2k.net/?display=Codec-Pack-Standard

The Plus version of TivoDesktop unlocks a compatible codec.

Downloading shows from your Tivo on your local LAN will not consume any internet bandwith. No worries there.

The speed limiting factor is the muxing of audio and video that must happen when you download a .tivo file from your Tivo. That happens whether you use TivoDesktop or https:// method. Your Tivo's CPU is the bottleneck, generally not your network speed.

Your old ethernet cable (CAT 5 or CAT 5e) should be able to handle a gigabyte network with no problem.

Not sure why you transfers are crapping out before completing.

JaneiR36
05-05-2008, 12:27 AM
Hi! I initially asked about transferring because I was going away for the weekend and wanted to take some shows with me. Now I think I shall use my computer's hard drive to expand my TiVo's storage, as against physically installing a new hard drive. The Codec worked!

Does this mean that a wireless transfer using TiVo Desktop consumes no Internet bandwidth? I would prefer to use TiVo desktop as the interface is fairly friendly and I can schedule several transfers very quickly and walk away.

greg_burns
05-05-2008, 06:25 AM
Does this mean that a wireless transfer using TiVo Desktop consumes no Internet bandwidth?

Correct