TiVo Adapters Rock!

Stormspace · 01-02-2007, 08:18 AM

Sorry if this has been posted before, but I got a second TiVo wireless adapter for christmas and I must say I am very impressed. I'm getting transfer rates better than twice real time on BEST Quality shows! It's incredible. Seems like about every 20 seconds I get a minute transferred and this is with other transfers happening on the sending box. This is just incredible and the wife now wants to get another adapter for our third TiVo, in the meantime I'm switching them around when need a show faster.

ZeoTiVo · 01-02-2007, 08:29 AM

Yes the TiVo wireless adapter is just superb, I use two on my upstairs TiVo DVRs and get better than realtime transfers all the time from my 240 and SD H400.
Best idea TiVo had in regards to connectivity

MikeMar · 01-02-2007, 08:31 AM

yeah it is awesome, we have 2 as well, worth the money if you transfer a lot and at higher quality

TydalForce · 01-02-2007, 08:52 AM

more kudos to the TiVo Wireless Adapter
It's just a spiffy looking design, well built, solid

And yeah, fast!

ZeoTiVo · 01-02-2007, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TydalForce

more kudos to the TiVo Wireless Adapter
It's just a spiffy looking design, well built, solid

And yeah, fast!

NOTE: I have WPA turned on and that has been rock solid with the adapter and still just as fast as when I just used WEP

Stormspace · 01-02-2007, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZeoTiVo

NOTE: I have WPA turned on and that has been rock solid with the adapter and still just as fast as when I just used WEP

Personally I find wireless securty to be a little over hyped. True, having someone hop on your signal and suck your bandwidth is bad, as well as have someone download something using your IP, but minimal security is all you really need to thwart those users. WPA is just overkill. Having said that, if I lived in a cesspool of crime like New York I'd be singing a different tune, however for most residential users 64bit WEP is sufficient. Sometimes I think that people overestimate the value of thier network and data and pile on security because it's available, not because they need it.

It is good to know that WPA doesn't impact performance. I know that in most cases wireless security only makes the original connection slow, but once it's established performace returns to normal.

CharlesH · 01-02-2007, 12:42 PM

The deal with the TiVo wireless adapter is that a lot of the processing involved with WPA and other parts of the 802.11g protocol that is normally done on the host is done by the adapter, so the CPU in the TiVo is not bogged down by it.

etz · 01-02-2007, 02:42 PM

when you guys speak of speedy transfer times, do you mean sending programs to your PC via the TiVo Desktop program, or from TiVo box to TiVo box for multi-room viewing? Does it make a difference?

I just purchased a TiVo brand wireless adapter and find that my TiVo Desktop transfers are at best a bit more than realtime (say 70 minutes for an hour of medium quality) but usually closer to to double time (meaning 2 hours for an hour of programming). I'm not terribly impressed with that.

Any tips to speed this up?

TydalForce · 01-02-2007, 02:45 PM

the TiVo branded wireless adapter should improve network speeds for *any* communication, compared to other-brand adapters. This includes multi-room viewing as well as TiVo Desktop / TiVo To Go

What model TiVo do you have? What kind of network? 802.11b? g? n? other?
How's your computer connected to the network?

The network speed itself, speed of your computer, etc. can greatly influence your transfer speeds

Einselen · 01-02-2007, 03:10 PM

MRV transfers will always be signicantly faster then TTG transfers. When the Tivos transfer shows between each other they do not need to be encoded, when it is transfered to a computer it does need to be encoded, which will then slow down the transfer times.

Stormspace · 01-02-2007, 04:31 PM

My experience is that the TiVo adapter only functions well if both devices on the transmit/receive are using one. Transfer times otherwise are the same old slow crawl.

mrjam2jab · 01-02-2007, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stormspace

My experience is that the TiVo adapter only functions well if both devices on the transmit/receive are using one. Transfer times otherwise are the same old slow crawl.

Yep...cuz Tivo adapter can only go as fast as the slower adapter....

Cheapest i've seen them so far is $50 at Radio Shack...and Amazon (free shipping)..ive been bidding on ebay...but trying not to go over $45 inc shipping....aint got one yet...

Test · 01-02-2007, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stormspace

My experience is that the TiVo adapter only functions well if both devices on the transmit/receive are using one. Transfer times otherwise are the same old slow crawl.

Agreed, EXCEPT when I transfer from my s2DT (non-tivo adapter) to the s2 with the tivo adapter...seems like anything I transfer from the DT is faster so I didn't bother putting a tivo adapter on it.

rainwater · 01-02-2007, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stormspace

My experience is that the TiVo adapter only functions well if both devices on the transmit/receive are using one. Transfer times otherwise are the same old slow crawl.

I have 2 S2 DTs I transfer back and forth with. One is wired and the other uses the TiVo adapter. The speeds are slightly faster than when I put them both on the TiVo adapter.

Einselen · 01-02-2007, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrjam2jab

Yep...cuz Tivo adapter can only go as fast as the slower adapter....

Cheapest i've seen them so far is $50 at Radio Shack...and Amazon (free shipping)..ive been bidding on ebay...but trying not to go over $45 inc shipping....aint got one yet...

Amazon has had them from time to time for $45 so keep checking as they may go back to the price.

restart88 · 01-03-2007, 12:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Einselen

MRV transfers will always be signicantly faster then TTG transfers. When the Tivos transfer shows between each other they do not need to be encoded, when it is transfered to a computer it does need to be encoded, which will then slow down the transfer times.

I've not timed it but my S2DT seems to be able to record from the PC practically in real time via a Linksys 200, which of course is wired. The 540 using the Tivo wireless does pretty good but I'd have to give it some lead time.

But Tivo to Tivo seemed to me to be the slowest way. However to be fair I'd been having some network connectivity issues (hopefully resolved now) and I've not done a lot of Tivo to Tivo transfers yet since I just got the DT unit.

I find it all a mixed bag though. It's great to be able to store movies on a PC hard drive and the wireless adaptor is critical to that end. I'm seriously thinking of putting all my recordings on a seperate drive with a USB enclosure. I actually own DVD copies of my favorite movies when available but it's just the shear ease of pulling them up from a menu rather than fooling around with loading DVDs & CDs. OTOH I find a noticable difference in PQ between the 540 & S2DT, with the 540 being better, even though the DT does seem to run smoother.

I forgot to add that some folks say some other wireless adaptors seem to have a heat issue but I've had no such problem with the Tivo adaptor. Also, I'm glad they finally made the software WEP capable because that works best with my wireless devices, "overkill" or not.

quarkman97 · 01-03-2007, 12:42 AM

Yeah, I bought a couple of these through the Rewards program since my points were about to expire. Going to put them up on ebay unless someone wants them. PM me.