Need help connecting tivo to internet through laptop in rv resort

incognito1949 · 04-25-2012, 01:33 PM

I need 'explicit' help connecting my tivo to the internet through my laptop at an RV resort. I know that tivo does not support this but one of their very knowledgeable techs told me how to do it in 09 and it worked perfectly.. I have not needed it since then and have forgotten how to do it. Can I please get some help setting this up now that I'm on the road again in my 5th wheel? I will be here for about a year so I'd like to have my tivo work otherwise I have to cancel my service.
Please bear in mind you are talking to a complete idiot when it comes to the jargon and I'm blond! So.. you have to tell me what to do using those criteria. I have enable ICS but I keep getting the NO2 error about a DHCP server could not be detected. I have both the ethernet crossover cable and the little wireless tivo adapter thingy as well My tivo is a series 2DT. I have tried to hook it up both ways but just keep getting that error message. I have not asked for the network password from the office because I'm sure they will tell me to jump in the lake so I need this laptop workaround to connect to the internet with my tivo to download my programming.
I have no idea what I'm doing wrong and I need all the help I can get. Sure wish I could reach the 'only' tivo techie who knew his stuff and had me up and running in under 5 minutes. He said he'd rather have me up and running unsupported than lose a customer.. Smart man! He went to another company just last year.. dang it.

Thanks for any help,
Incognito

CuriousMark · 04-26-2012, 09:58 AM

Give this a try. It looks pretty basic and hand-holdy. If you find it too complicated, post the part you don't understand here with your questions about it.

ICS is complicated and not really intended for use by non-experts, so it is not surprising that you are having difficulties with it.

incognito1949 · 04-26-2012, 01:55 PM

I'm on the site looking at the ics instructions and it mentions needing a computer running xp. My laptop has microsoft Signature and running windows 7. I don't see anything relating to it. I didn't want any of the excess programs that come preloaded on my laptop so am I missing things i will need? Since I'm using Windows 7, does that mean I can't do it? When I did this setup before with the tivo techie that helped me, I was on a different laptop running vista. It wasn't complicated at all and he had me up and running in just minutes and I didn't need anything but the ethernet crossover cable. I just wish I could remember what to do. (By the way, thank you for the note. )

CuriousMark · 04-26-2012, 03:00 PM

I don't know if your current version of windows has ICS installed or not. If not, you will need it. A quick google search of "windows 7 ics" yielded http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/w...8-e9f091711095 as the second ranked response. Clearly Windows 7 includes ICS and setting it up should be the same as for Windows Vista. I suggest trying it to see if it helps you find and enable ICS.

You do need ICS to make this work. So work on getting that going first, then manually configure it without using any wizards as suggested in the first article I linked above.

One question you might want to ask at the trailer park is whether they are able or willing to enable a device by MAC ID rather than using a web based log-in page. If so, give them the MAC ID of the TiVo (found on the phone and network screen) and skip all the ICS confusion. You might need a switch so your laptop and TiVo can connect simultaneously, or you can move the Ethernet cable back and forth between them if you are careful with it.

incognito1949 · 04-30-2012, 01:57 PM

Found a techie that lives here in the RV Resort.. (not a trailer park thank you. these rigs cost 300K and up) Anyway, he used to install cable for one of the well known cable companies and he came over and had my Tivo up and running in about 5 minutes. didn't have to buy anything, download anything.. nothing.. He just configured the isp's correctly, Had me hook up the ethernet crossover cable and reboot my laptop and said I'd be good to go and he was right! I only need to hook it up once every 2 weeks to download my programming. I'm just tickled pink..
Thanks for all your help too 'Curious Mark'.