Getting TIVO in Canada

I'm pretty much a "newbie", but I do know that you HAVE TO have a landline for the initial setup. Afterward, you can network your TIVO. If you do not network, you will need a landline to update your program info on a daily basis.

Additionally, software updates come either through your landline or your network. So, to answer your question, your TIVO would be inoperable with your stated current operating conditions.

 

You can use ANY Tivo SERIES 2 unit in Canada.

If you want to double check that your area in Canada will work for tivo you can visit www.zap2it.com if you can find your listings online, then so will tivo.

The only thing that doesnt fit into your criteria that might inconvienance you is that for the very first time you do need a phone line to set it up. you can take this to any of your friends or families house to do the initial setup from thier phone line.

Heres what you do after you have signed up for an account on www.tivo.com
1. Plug in any Series 2 Tivo unit into a phone line.
2. Peform guided setup
3. Use Zipcode 82327 (This is a zip code with the least amount of data, so it will be fastest for the intial setup
4. Once the zip code is entered, tell the unit to connect to TIVO to download the latest guide and software. (This is where it will upgrade your software to 7.2.x)
5. After this software has been upgraded, reset the unit.
6. Perform guided setup AGAIN. This time, it will allow you to enter a Canadian postal code
7. connect to download your guide data and your set to go. the whole process could take up to about 3hrs.

good luck with it, tivo will change your life

 

Actually,Antenna, Zip 00000, provider Tiny TiVo, has only two or three channels.

With luck, a wired network adapter and the ,#401 might work, as will serial PPP.

 

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The following process is not specific to canada and worked for me on a recently purchased 540:

1) Connected Netgear FA120 to USB port and connected to home network before powering on the Tivo.

2) Power on Tivo, follow guided setup use zipcode as above. At the point Tivo is about to dial out chose dialing options and set the dialing prefix to ,#401.

3) Tivo will "dial" over the internet and download the guide data.

4) Once the indexing has finished, force a service call. Tivo will download and install the 7.2 software.

5) restart and then rerun guided setup using correct data

The alternative is to wait till 7.2 Tivo boxes are available in the stores. 7.2 includes OOB support of USB network adapters and canadian guide data.

 

I used a Canadian credit card and a partial address, basically filling in the US form with as much Canadian info as possible and it worked fine.

I'm also on Shaw cable and even though not in Alberta, the TiVo does work well with Shaw. I don't use it with the cable box though.

 

Sorry, yes I get all the basic (analog) channels through the TiVo. I also have the Shaw DCT6208 digital cable box and I use that to record the digital channels and high-definition programs.

If you have a Shaw digital cable box you can hook that up to the TiVo as well but you'll need to use an IR Blaster to allow the TiVo to change the channel on your cable box at the appropriate time.

 

I actually just set up my TiVo this week in Calgary using a cable box through Shaw. I also didn't have a phoneline but the person I bought the TiVo from on eBay had already updated the machine to 7.2.x and so I didn't need a phoneline. I just plugged it into the internet and it did all it's setup using that connection. So if you can somehow get a unit with 7.2 already on it it'll make your setup a lot easier.

It's also really easy to sign up online for the service. Like omote said, you just need to enter partial Canadian information and there's instructions for what to fill in for the city and state. I think it's something like Leo, WI.

Anyway, good luck. It works really well here, you shouldn't have any problems.

 

Whoooeee! THAT is really smart!

On another thread I read that it is possible to do even the initial setup with a cell phone. I'm pretty much an end user, but it had something to do with a couple of adapters and a wireless network. To the best of my ability to remember, it was a fairly recent post. . . .

 

Just to follow up with this, how are Canadians buying a TiVo box? I would very much like to get the Humax DVD writer TiVo box, but TiVo is not shipping to Canada.

I've noticed that Weaknees is shipping modified Humax boxes to Canada. Has anyone tried this? Anything to report?

thanks....

 

Tigerdirect.ca has TiVos. Otherwise you have to purchase from a private or commercial vendor that will sell to Canada, or is already in Canada.

 

Is it me, or is TigerDirect.ca a lot more expensive than eCost.com? Different equipment maybe...

 

The Tiger-ca TiVos aren't the same as the ones advertised on tivo-com. I've never heard of a series 2 Toshiba RS-TX60, but it's got a larger HD than the Humax model. I'll try and search the forum to check....

(Excuse the re-format of web sites. I can't post those yet.)

 

I bought mine from eCost. I got the 140-hour Series2 unit for around $480 after currency conversion, taxes, and the Borderfree charges were added up. Unfortunately it looks like the rebate is only available to U.S. customers thought I need to contact TiVo and confirm that...

I'm getting Rogers Cable in Toronto and it works just fine. The biggest pain was the initial setup (which took about 5 hours or so) - downloading the initial schedule and then forcing the upgrade took quite a while over a phone line, even though I did the "fast" setup by selecting antenna and not downloading the entire full schedule the first time.

I'm working on a fairly detailed "how to setup TiVo in Canada" post for my site that should be up by the end of the weekend, time (and inclination) willing...

 

Neilio, when you call TiVo, you should ask if you can have the rebate mailed to a friend with a U.S. address (who can then send you the rebate).

There is an entire thread dedicated to the Toshiba model, but I haven't worked my way all through it, yet.

 

Can a Series 1 tivo be used in Canda?
Has anyone done this?
Can you pass on any tips etc?
Cheers

 

Yes, but not directly like an S2 with 7.2

You need to hack the TiVo a bit and install a proxy onto the TiVo itself, and I think have a network or serial PPP enabled DVR.