Fastest way to transfer shows between Tivo boxes

Advertisements

if they are S2DT or later

 

What you said was that it shouldn't be done at all.

If someone wants to transfer some recordings and speed up the process there's no reason not to make a direct connection.

 

No, I said "You shouldn't do it", the you in this case referring to the OP. And I still say that. I didn't say or imply that there was any risk of damage, nor that it should never be done. It would just be stupid, unless you were doing it as a one time thing in order to transfer a bunch of stuff from one TiVo to another or you have no network, neither of which applies here,.

Nonsense. If you connect both of them to the network via a wired connection, you will have just as fast a P2P connection w/o losing network connectivity. This is not a one time transfer of a bunch of shows, he wants to speed up transfers in general.

 

Why lie? it's right there for everyone to see and I quoted you saying it, twice.

Not all advice and information in these discussions on internet forums is specific to the person who initially asked. Other interested people also read and learn from the advice and information given.

In my experience, a direct connection results in transfer rates that are almost 20% faster.

ETA
that should say "rates that can be almost 20% faster."

 

Advertisements

A proper connection though a good switch with a non-blocking switch matrix will not produce transfers any slower than a direct connection.

 

It makes sense that a USB Ethernet to Ethernet connection would work (although I still do not read that in the post), but this surprises me.

I am by far a CE expert so I assume you are correct but it goes against anything I have ever done. Maybe I will give it a try later on.

Good info - guess I need to do a little reading.

 

I have nothing to add other than, for some reason, this sentence made me LOL.

 

Theoretically, sure, but this is the real world where conditions are not perfect. If everything worked like that you wouldn't see any variation in transfer rates, but if you look at your transfer history on a Premiere after each of your transfers, you'll see a lot of variation in the transfer rates.

 

???
If you can connect two tivos directlly w/o a crossover cable as long as one of them has an ethernet port, then the other one wouldn't have to have an ethernet port, which leaves it with having an adapter. What else do you think you'd connect the other end of the cable to?

 

I am just not sure you and I are talking about the same thing - and if we are I am not following you.

My origional assumption was that both devices had Ethernet ports - say Premier to Premier. Taking a normal patch cable and connecting the two together - I said the connection would fail as it does with computers.

Irhorer indicated that this is no longer true with Auto-MDIX switching for CE devices and assuming he is correct... I am wrong.

You are throwing in a USB Ethernet connection into the mix... Does that make a difference? Well, with the Auto-MDIX switching the conversation is mute as far as I am concerned.

 

The USB Ethernet adapter does not Auto-MDIX, thus if one were to have TWO S2's both with USB-Ethenet adapters a normal cable would not work, they won't do Auto-MDIX, ONE has to be an on-board ethernet, I know I understand why that clarification was made in the statement and it makes sense to me.

 

As long as one connection can auto negotiate the pair configuration, no crossover cable is needed. That has always been the case with networking devices.

EDIT: I just connected two Premieres with a straight through Ethernet cable. They both see each other and I'm able to transfer shows between them. The one caveat was that I needed to put them both in SD menu mode. With the HD menus it comes up that there is no internet connection and if I tried to access the other Premiere(which was still listed in the My Shows List but grayed out with an exclamation point beside it)) it would come up with a screen saying to test the internet connection and that without the internet connection some features can't be used.

But when I switched both to the SD menus, the other box came right up with a list of shows and I was able to initiate a transfer

 

I've been saying that as long as one of them has an ethernet port, if you have two Premieres, at least one of the tivos has an ethernet port, correct. In this case they both do, but only one device requires it. The "magic" doesn't need to happen at both ends of the cable, just one.

I just don't get why that's so difficult.

and the word is moot and I don't think it means what you think it does.

 

Transfer speeds are also the same which was expected. I got an 85Mb/s transfer rate for the show I just transferred. Which is inline with the normal 80Mb/s to 90Mb/s Premiere transfer rates over a network.
If I had tuned the boxes to vacant channels it would have been faster, but that of course is the same when connected to a network as well.

 

I suspect I know what the word moot means and I am not sure why you feel the need to be so antagonistic. Maybe that is just your nature - hang out on the internet and prove how big and powerful you are.

I have explained my thoughts. Connecting two devices needs a crossover cable - if this new technology auto-MDIX exists that no longer requires a crossover cable then I am wrong.

Your throwing a USB ethernet connector and what not into the conversation brings very little value. And I would recommend considering your thoughts a little more clearly so you can be understood. I still do not understand your point.

Premier to Premier and other modern CE devices no longer need a crossover cable - done.

Do you have a point that is actually relevant to the conversation now that that has been conceeded? What is it that you are trying to prove?

 

At what point did I lie? He shouldn't connect them directly together. Oh, I see. I didn't emphasize the "You" in my original post, but did in my defensive post. And that constitutes a lie. Interesting characterization. I doubt anyone with two brain cells to rub together agrees with you.

Then why are you getting into a pissing contest with everyone else in this thread? If the idea is to provide useful information, then what exactly does attacking anyone who disagrees with you accomplish? I will also say that nobody in the OP's or a similar situation should connect them directly together.

Really? You tested multiple identical files under otherwise identical conditions and kept accurate data?. And the improvement was enough to justify having to change the connections, reboot both TiVos (ideally, you should power both of them off before changing anything), and reverse it once the transfer was complete? Somehow I doubt it.

My THD and Premiere are connected through 2 stand alone, cheap (<$10ea) switches and the router. I see transfer rates of HD content way faster than real time, while they are both also recording on both tuners. How fast does it need to be?

 

My test already proved speeds are the same, which is expected. I normally go through multiple gigabit switches switches(I use at least a dozen with my home network, with a couple of TiVos each going through three of them, which would make data going through six switches if I transferred between both of those boxes) and the speeds are the same as connecting two Premieres directly with one Ethernet cable. This should be no surprise to anyone dealing with networking equipment. If the equipment is working properly the speeds should be the same.
Besides it would be impossible to get a 20% increase in speed from a 100BT connection when you are already getting up to 90Mb/s speeds.

But in my test it also showed that connecting the two Premieres together with an straight through twisted pair cable also worked. So if for some reason one needed to, they could do it.