TiVo & Wireless Adapters

I would think wireless is MORE reliable. With wireless, the Tivo can "dial-in" at any time without you knowing about it, and you don't have to worry about breaking into the call to make your own phone call. Plus using wireless gives you the FULL functionality that Tivo provides, like the new Ticocast as well as online scheduling.

And you can play your mp3 music files on the Tivo, as well as access online radio stations, podcasting, weather, traffic, etc.

 

Not to mention TivoToGo.

Your best bet is to buy the Tivo Wireless G Adapter. Its made by Tivo and is designed to work perfectly with their software.

You can buy it from Tivo.com, Amazon, or brick-and-mortar stores like CompUSA.

 

If you go wireless, there is no doubt in my mind that you want to buy the branded TiVo wireless adapter. It has additional firmware to help offload some processing from the TiVo units themselves, and have been noted to provide much better performance than the other supported wireless usb adapters found on the market. It's also expected (or already is) to support WPA/WPA2 security too through the TiVos....but I bet you'll pay for some performance with it on...need to read in this forum for evidence....

That said, wireless is not exactly bullet proof. I had to reboot my wireless router numerous times (used 3 different linksys routers over time), and finally decided that wireless is great for anything mobile, i.e., laptop or pda...but for a fixed device, do everything you can to get a "wired" connection to them.

I used wireless for 3 years with my TiVos, and was always frustrated with the overall speed of multi-room transfers, tivo2go transfers, etc. I've used standard wireless g, and then g-turbo, and then SDX200/400 models from Linksys.

In the end, I bought the new Netgear Powerline HD adapters (they use "HD" because they support bandwidth speeds to support HD traffic on the network). They use the homewiring in a house to send ethernet signals through...and this stuff has really improved with the latest generation of powerline products. They're not cheap, but they are absolutely rock-solid, and the bandwidth performance is superb. Since I have two TiVos, and I had to buy 3 of the adapters (one at the router, and one for each TiVo). For my S2 SA Single tuner box, I had used a usb/ethernet adapter, and the S2 DT has an ethernet connector built-in.

I bought one of the kits (with two boxes) and then one additional unit.

http://www.netgear.com/Products/PowerlineNetworking/PowerlineEthernetAdapters/HDX101.aspx

http://www.netgear.com/Products/PowerlineNetworking/PowerlineEthernetAdapters/HDXB101.aspx

It's important that you don't buy one of the slightly older 85Mbps or slower models from Netgear or anyone else, they're off the old spec. Netgear's units on based on the new powerline standard, and they work very fast. While they're spec'd at 190+ Mbps, I can get a real-life 35-40Mbps through them in my house(testing them with a laptop), which is more than enough for the S2/S3 attained transfer speeds.

While running CAT5e or 6 would have been cheaper, I have a older house and running cable is an absolute pain. The investment cost me over $270 (about $80 each at the time), but it's so been worth it. Once I had them setup, I have not once had to reset them or do anything. They simply work. Once someone uses wireless start to transfering shows, and other things, ask them them how often they need to reboot their router....

Additionally, security. To get the best performance out of wireless, WEP needs to be used, but due to the amount of traffic that TiVo's sends/receives guess how fast someone can sniff out your wep security? If you live in a rural area, no problem. But if you live in a city with close lots or nearby apartment buildings, the the risk rises that people will want to utilize your bandwidth....So, you'll need WPA/WPA2, but there is a price to be paid there in network performance too.

I've read that Panasonic has some great units too, but they're built on a slight different consumer electronic's powerline standard, but I've read they work just as solidly as the Netgears, and could possibly be a little easier to setup overall. I chose netgear's boxes since networking is Netgear's core compentency.

That said, I don't think you could go wrong with either the new Netgear or Panasonic powerline boxes.

 

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We have 3 tivo's. 2 have the tivo g wireless adapter and one is hardwired into the wireless g router.

we HAD 1 tivo g wireless adapter and a linksys b one.

once we upgraded to the g, the wireless to wireless connection FLYS! Did a 30 min basic recording transfer is like 3 min.

Go w/ the tivo g wireless adapters!

 

I decided to run a 50' CAT5 from my router to my TiVO in the bedroom (about 30' down the hall). However, reading all this lately about the TiVo G adapter, I may just be looking into one. I simply cannot have a 50' cable running down my hallway forever. Not to mention that if you are getting those kinds of speeds (3 minutes to transfer a 30min show) Well, thats almost equivalent to my wired.

 

it flys. it was on a basic recording, but i record most stuff on high (not best) and get faster than real time, so it's great

 

Ill be the voice of reason and say I LIKE WIRED - wireless is great and some people have amazing success just as others do not. Wired is pretty much hey it works and I don't have a headache after setting it up.

 

+ 1 on the TiVo wireless G adapter. I haev a TiVo and a PC in the play room. The PC on wireless just does not work right Web pages time out constantly.

The TiVo DVR can transfer shows to/from or do TTG with no problem and I get a 60 minute show at medium quality in anbout 10 or 15 minutes.

 

I will also +1 this just to be confusing
The reason I went to wireless is I had trouble during thunderstorm season with network cards and routers getting flaky from some jolts. I would prefer wired but upstairs had some glitch that attracted the electricity in the air.

and my house is a classic 50/50 crapshoot - the TiVo wireless adapters are doing great - the PC is not. I am now thinking about those powerline adpters d-anders posted about for the PC.

 

Thanks for the info on the HD Netgear. I have the older units and they are slow. Guess I will have to Ebay the older Netgears and buy the HDs.

I am looking to upgrade my router.
Not sure if you stayed with Linksys Routers or went to Netgear? If Netgear, what model are you using?

I think you are using the SDX200/400, if so how do you like it?

Thanks

John

 

I have 3 Tivos and added a 4th. Two of the Tivos were wired into my old Linksys router in the living room and another in the family room was networked using wireless B. The transfer times using wireless B were very slow. I looked into Powerline, but the guy at Best Buy told me that the age of my house (26 years) may be a problem as the wiring standards back then aren't the same as now. So I paid a guy $147 to go under my house and string CAT5 cable between the living room and the family room. I put a switch in the family room and connected my Tivo and family room computer to it, and plugged the other end of the cable into the router in the living room. The 4th Tivo went into my daughter's room. I bought the wireless G adapter from Tivo for my daughter's room, swapped out my Linksys wireless B router for a wireless G, and am happy to report that all transfers go much faster now.

 

The performance of the Powerline adaptors is dependent upon your wiring. I have a 2600 sf house built in 2003 and my pair of new Netgears barely work. I'm getting around 20mps so it isn't any faster than wireless. If they work, great, but buy someplace where they will be easy to return. My guess is it is something to do with the AFCI breakers which are code in my area. If your house is a bit older or it's not part of the code in your area, maybe they work better. Or maybe it's something else entirely. Netgear doesn't have a clue about wiring if you call them other than to say to call an electrician (99.99% of which won't have a clue about it either).

I've got two of the Tivo adaptors and they have been pretty solid. I'd like to get a faster connection for Tivo2Go but it looks like I'll have to do it the old-fashioned way using a wired network.

 

If you are going to go wireless without a bridge, then the TiVo wireless g adapter is what you want.

 

I tried all sorts of wireless adapters before the Tivo Wireless G.

Unless all you want to do is get guide data, I'd never use a wireless adapter other then the Tivo one. Plus it looks really cool ...

 

I just bought the Tivo Wireless G USB adapter for use with my Toshiba RS-TX60 DMS (Tivo Series 2). I have a partly wired (RJ45, not USB) and partly wireless setup at home. The wireless adapter connected to my all Linksys network using a WAP54G Access Point (with WEP and MAC Address restriction) wired to a EZXS55W 5-port switch, wired to a BEFSR11 cable router used as a gateway (with DHCP) to my cable modem. No problem configuring the Tivo adapter to the network.

My problem seems to be with intermittant connection, even when I have put every piece of equipment on the same floor of the house and in the same room, with the Wireless Signal strength at 100% for over 3 hours running. When I try to do a Service Connect, I get through a very long Preparing phase, then a slightly faster Connecting phase. About 2 minutes into the Getting info phase, I get a "Connection Interrupted" error message and I can't figure out why. Running the Testing Connection process using my network always succeeds. But I can't download information from the service using my wireless setup.

Also, the transfer speed from the DVR to my laptop through the Tivo Desktop utility is abysmally slow to me. Yes, I'm transferring a one hour show at High Quality, but it takes anywhere from 2 to 3 hours to transfer! 30 minute kids shows at High Quality also take over an hour.
Questions:
1. What is causing the failed service connection when I have 100% signal strength in the network?
2. Should I not record anything I may want to transfer at High Quality?? Or is there an issue with the DVR, the Adapter, the Linksys equipment or something else?
3. Should I forget the wireless, get a USB wired network set up dedicated to just the DVR?? which seems a lot of expense to be able to watch Lost on my laptop occasionally.

Thanks
Kevin