Enable Ethernet port on Mini when using Moca

Yeah, that’d be nice, but it isn’t even officially supported for the MoCA-capable DVRs. And, sadly, TiVo saw fit to leave MoCA bridging out of the Mini VOX, and even snuffed all MoCA functionality for the BOLT OTA, reportedly to save just $5 per unit.

 

Back when I purchased a Roamio Basic and was shocked to see that it did not have composite ports but only a uni-port (I called up TiVo support and asked what the heck that was--the engineer I got mailed me a uni-cable), people here explained to me that it all adds up. But sad that something even more vital/expensive-to-replace gets eliminated for such (relatively small) savings.

 

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Be aware that with the 4 tuner Recast, you limited to watching on 2 devices at any time.

 

To be perfectly honest, I don't think either the Bolt or the Amazon Recast are worthwhile upgrades over a Roamio OTA.

Keeping the Roamio costs $0.

 

The Tivo loses when wanting to view on additional TVs. The TIVO requires a $180 hardware purchase per TV, which is only useful with Tivo. With the Recast you can use an Amazon Fire which you may already own, and can be used for lots more than just a Recast.

 

You can buy a Tivo mini for less then 100

 

I’m pretty sure a $180 Mini VOX can be used for a few other things beyond TiVo. And it might be considered fair to compare video quality and concurrent streams, then the user has complete info with which to make a decision that is right for them.

 

Without a Tivo box and a Tivo subscription it is is useless.
The Amazon Fire is still useful without a Recast anywhere around.

 

But that’s not really the starting point for the setup described in this thread, nor for the post to which I replied, which was scoped to additional TVs.

Yes, a Recast may be a better alternative for some, but its limitations should be noted, rather than highlighting just the ways in which it may be preferable. Not to mention that the advantage cited will be diminished if not lost when TiVo releases apps for the Roku, Fire TV and Apple TV. (Just better have more than a Roamio OTA, alone, at that point.)

 

Getting the Recast and fire TV for the first TV is expensive. The 4-tuner recast is $280 + $40 per TV for the 1080p Fire Sticks or $50 for the 4K Fire Sticks. A 1080p Mini is $130 on Weaknees and a 4k Mini Vox is $170 on Amazon. Assuming there isn't already a mini or two in the equation, it's not until you add a fourth TV that the Recast would be less expensive than adding minis to an already-paid for Roamio and then there's still the quality reduction & 2-stream limit on the Recast. Selling the Roamio to recoup some of the original cost changes the math a little, but it still wouldn't be a slam-dunk for me.

If you have to buy everything new, then it's a different story, but I certainly wouldn't want to replace a perfectly good Roamio with a Recast.