Does the new THR22 require Internet connection?

You need some kind of connectivity. If you have wireless, then you will need a wireless bridge.

 

Yes, guide data comes from the satellite. You can get the DirecTV Cinema Connection Kit to connect to wireless.

 

The guide data is sent from satellite.

You don't absolutely have to have a data connection but it is needed for swivel search and, of course, DirecTV on Demand.

By "wireless" do you mean that all you have is celular, or do you have WiFi in your house. If you mean that you have WiFi, you can do what stevel said above.

 

The short answer is "no."

W/o an Internet connection, your unit will get Guide data and updates via satellite. You just won't be able to use Swivel Search or receive any video-on-demand content.

Bob

 

Is there a good MoCA primer floating around? I just have a regular cable modem and wireless router - what hardware to you need to hook up the receiver with MoCA? Is there some new thing you plug in to the Ethernet connection on the back of your router and then connect your coax to that and then to the receiver?

 

That's because of the syntax of your original question. It's really two questions. The answer to the first one is no - you do not need to connect the receiver to the Internet. The answer to the second one is yes - all of the TiVo (guide) data comes via the satellite connection.

 

Just seconding that. I had my unit going for a week or two with no phone line and no Internet connection, and everything worked fine -- guide data, DVR Scheduler recordings, etc. The only functionality I was missing out on was Swivel Search (which I don't really use) and On Demand.

Then I hooked it up to the Internet and gained those two features. It wasn't hard. I plugged the Ethernet cord from the unit into an ancient AirPort Express, and that's connecting to my AirPort WiFi network just fine. I'm actually kind of amazed that the on demand works and can download HD content fast, given the fact that the Airport Express is old and my Internet is only plain DSL.

So the original poster might not have to worry that connecting the unit to his network would be unduly burdensome to the network. The DirecTiVo only seems to access the Internet in a few isolated instances: once a day for a minute or two when downloading the mysterious "DVR Service Data," or if the user asks it to download an On Demand program or uses Swivel Search. At all other times, the unit doesn't seem to use the Internet connection.

 

Does anybody know why it has two Ethernet connections? Kind of seems like overkill.

 

In this revision of the hardware, there is an internal two-port Ethernet switch, so you could feed a second device from the second port. Very useful in some installations. I think DirecTV did away with that in later models.

 

... and it's not recommended to use the DVR's internal ethernet switch. It can affect network/internet access and hang things. Stick with just using the top ethernet port and get a real network switch if you need more ports for other devices.

 

I never had an issue using the internal switch.

 

I've seen a few reports where folks have had issues. I suppose it depends on what's connected to the second ethernet port. At any rate, DirecTV's "official" guidance is to avoid using it. Your mileage may vary.