Roamio Remote Problems

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It's actually not keybounce. It's user frustration. I'll punch, say, the PgUp button several times when the remote decides to be in IR mode, and somewhere in the sequence it will switch to RF mode, and the keystrokes from me repeatedly punching the button are stored and show up, with the guide bouncing all over the place.

I wonder how many other users are in this same boat??

 

So far my remote usually will go for a week, or several, before needing a global reset. If it gets to be any more of a nuisance I presumably have the option of just going IR only since I have line-of-sight to the TiVo.

I have a Logitech Review and two Fire TV's that use RF remotes and none of them exhibit these kind of problems.

 

Don't know if this thread is still active, but I'll give it a shot.
My problem with the remote is this: I have the original Roamio remote - it flashes "red" on the top when I push a button, so I assume it's in the IR mode. New batteries. Some of the time it works fine; other times, I will have to push button several times to get a response. When it doesn't work, the red light appears on the remote itself, but it does not blink on the TiVO. Sometimes it will take 2 or 3 tries, sometimes it works right away. It's livable, but a PIA. Anyone with suggestions?

 

I continue to have problems with my Roamio remote as well, quite similar to yours. Strangely, my four Mini remotes seem to be able to stay in RF mode, but no matter what I do at the Roamio itself, it wants to use IR mode 90% of the time.

I have swapped in two different Mini remotes at the Roamio, doing a global reset and reprogramming, and the swapped in remote will actually work in (mostly) RF mode for a few days or weeks. But eventually, they all exhibit the same obnoxious behavior as the original Roamio's remote, working in IR mode 90% of the time. The remote moved from the Roamio to the Mini behaves properly and stays in RF mode. So logically, it's not likely the problem lies with the remotes, since they all stay in RF mode when talking to the Minis.

It's as if somehow the Roamio itself is telling the remote to revert to IR mode, which, while seemingly unlikely, is the only explanation I can come up with.

 

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My viewing space is small, about 160 sq ft. I use one basic Roamio very extensively. I block the front of the TiVo so that IR will not function. I find the remote dropping into IR mode without any pattern. I have one light in the room with two small (25w) LED bulbs. When the remote drops into IR mode I can, 100%, get it back by placing it where the light can not "see" it. I have turned off the light and never have a failure. This has been going on for a while. I'm going to buy a small incandescent light to see if the LED is really the problem. The room is on the second floor and full of equipment. There is a street light about 50 feet from my window, so it's never really dark. I don't live in a city. End of story for now.

 

The room where my Roamio lives is all incandescent. The rest of the house has been switched to LEDs mostly, but my wife wanted to keep incandescents in the living room because she likes the way they go warm and soft when dimmed. So I don't have an LED interference problem where the Roamio lives. It's just bizarre and really, really annoying.

I wonder if the newer RF/IR remotes suffer from the same problem.

 

Isn't the original Roamio remote RF-capable and if so, why don't you pair it with your Roamio?

https://support.tivo.com/articles/Features_Use/TiVo-Remotes-RF-Pairing-Instructions

Scott

 

I believe you've missed the point. For a lot of people, including me, the original Roamio RF/IR remote, when paired, refuses to stay in RF mode, and switches by itself to IR mode regularly, and by 'regularly', I mean like much of the time.

It is just the most annoying thing, since the remote is the interface between human and machine. TiVo has completely stonewalled the issue, pretty much refusing to acknowledge it even exists, and points people to the support page about resetting the remote to factory defaults and starting over with pairing and AV component codes.

I can't even begin to count the number of times I've done that - it's good for a week or two, then just starts reverting to IR mode regularly. Quite a few posts here from people suffering from the same problem. Strangely, it doesn't seem to happen with my four Minis, only the Roamio.

 

I can't help but wonder if it truly is intentional stonewalling, or, rather, is negligent customer tech. assistance (as, sadly, has been on the rise for too long a period).

 

I have experience with RF remotes with 3 different Fire TV models and their performance is much more robust.
I suspect it's a basic deficiency of design or hardware implementation and TiVo simply doesn't want to incur the cost of fixing it. Probably the problem is no more than a minor annoyance for most TiVo users. In my case I just learn the angles and locations to avoid in holding and aiming the remote.

 

The RF capabilities of the remote were a big touted feature when the Roamio came out. TiVo made a big deal out of being able to locate the device inside an equipment cabinet and having the remote work properly. It's unfortunate that for some people, that just became an irritant. I'm one of those, having bought my equipment cabinet and designed things around the Roamio not needing to see the remote directly. I eventually spent around $80 for an IR repeater setup to get around the problem when I shouldn't have had to do that.

What I find interesting is that many people don't have the problem with their Roamios, and I don't have the problem with my Minis. But every remote I've tried with the Roamio eventually has the problem - sometimes it takes a few weeks, but it always returns.

 

I've never had an RF issue, with standard Roamio and Bolt remotes, and Slide Pros. From some reports above, there may be a room lighting consideration? My rooms are relatively low light, with incandescent bulbs.

 

I've never had this problem, so am just throwing out a WAG, but maybe the Roamio thinks the battery level in the remote has dropped low enough that RF, which I assume is more power hungry than IR, shouldn't be used and so tells the remote to switch to IR. No idea why the Roamio would do this and not your Minis.

So a couple questions. Have you monitored the Battery % that the Roamio displays for the remote to see if it falls quicker than it should? Have you tried using a different brand of batteries? I know that sounds crazy, but I have some RF transmitters for my alarm system that will sometimes start to indicate low battery after about a week of replacing the batteries if I use Duracell alkaline batteries, but will work correctly consistently if I use Energizer alkaline batteries.

 

I didn't get that was the issue from hybucket's post which is why I replied.

We've had no problem here with the TiVo Slide Remote Pro and our Roamio Pro since October 2015 (remote was tossed in free with the longtime TiVo user special for the Roamio Pro).

Scott

 

While we are tossing out speculation, may I add mine? I am normally about 6 feet from my Roamio. Above the Roamio is a TV, below is my center channel speaker. I find that if I hold the remote at a higher level (from the floor) it will drop to IR mode frequently. To go back to RF, I just lower the remote to the same level as the Roamio and at the second keypress the LED turns amber. But here's the best part. If I walk into the next room, with a wall in between, I just need to point the remote at the general direction of the Roamio and RF works fine. It's as if the remote sends out a narrow beam and the closer I get the beam gets more narrow. I use the remote to power on/off the TV and control my AVR, located two feet higher than the Roamio without ever missing a button push. I have the front of my Roamio units blocked so IR never gets through. I have a similar problem on two other Roamio where I need to point the remote at the unit or they fail to work.

 

As is my TV room. Lighting (in the room itself, hallway, etc.) doesn't seem to be relevant. I watch movies in the daytime on weekends, no lights on at all within at least 50 feet of the Roamio or remote, and the problem is still there.

 

Good thought, but not the problem. I've tried the expensive higher voltage Lithium batteries (they read around 1.8 volts when fresh), rechargeable batteries (around 1.2-1.3 volts when fresh), and normal batteries (1.5 volts when fresh), and they all indicate 100% battery for a long time (a couple of months at least), and the remote still switches to IR most of the time.

As noted above, I've also tried swapping a couple of the Mini remotes into the Roamio space after a full reset and pairing, and after a week or so, they exhibit the same behavior, whereas the Roamio remote now controlling the Minis stays in RF mode.

It's quite maddening.

 

Keep in mind that when you use the remote to control the TV and AVR, it has to be by definition in IR mode to talk to those components no matter what the light on the remote says since they don't understand the RF signal at all. That is likely why they never miss a button push.

But that's an interesting thought. I'm going to try a few things today, starting with trying the remote from another room, and then playing with it for a while with all the other components in the cabinet turned off to see if any of those are interfering.

 

Good luck. I've tried removing power from virtually every device. All I can promise is that when I hit a button, see a red LED, I can lower the remote (or block the front with my hand), and rf comes back. I no longer worry about it.

 

I am currently a bit stunned and cautiously optimistic...

The remote has been working in full RF mode for several days now. At first I thought I had done nothing, but then I remembered that I had changed out three 30 year old Lutron Skylark dimmers in the room for wi-fi controlled TP-Link ones last Saturday. Since doing that, the remote has not dropped to IR mode once that I can tell. This is after more than three years of constant frustration with the Roamio/Remote setup.

As I said...cautiously optimistic.