[TiVoBill]

We would like to announce that the compatible adapters page at www.tivo.com/adapters/ has been updated to include two 802.11g wireless network adapters. Support for these adapters is included in the 7.1x software release. If your Series2 box has not received software version 7.1 yet, you can request the download at www.tivo.com/priority/. Requests are normally processed within 3 business days (often sooner).

If you do not already have a wireless adapter, the two 802.11g adapters that we are recommending are:

- D-Link DWL-G120 version B2
- Netgear WG111

These adapters can be purchased at many local or online retailers. The DWL-G120 is also available at the TiVo Store.

Important Notes

- These new adapters work only with newer Series2 boxes that TiVo service numbers that start with 230, 240, 264, 540, 590.

- The speed of these adapters is comparable with the 802.11b adapters on our list, so we do not recommend changing from an 802.11b adapter to an 802.11g adapter at this time. We added support for these 802.11g adapters because they are more widely available that then 802.11b adapters on our list. Also, the 7.1 software will recognize additional 802.11g adapters not listed above, but we do not recommend using those adapters at this time since they have not been tested and may not perform as well as the ones that we recommend in daily connections and/or network transfers.

- 802.11g adapters should be used only if you have a home network with a router. They will not work for a "Peer to Peer" connection between two TiVo boxes or a TiVo box and a PC. You will have to stick with 802.11b adapters if you want to do that.

 

[TiVoBill]

So does this mean that USB 2.0 has not been enabled? Why is it that a Linksys USB200M will perform so well on USB 1.1, but a G adapter won't speed things up just enough to allow near-realtime transfers? All I'm looking for is the speed I used to get when I was able to have a wired network. My new setup requires 1 Tivo to be wireless. I know I could do the wireless bridge thing but that is kinda pricey.

USB 2.0 is enabled in 7.1 for the platforms that support it (all Series2 boxes except for the ones that have service numbers starting with "1"). There are other hardware issues on the box that limit transfer speeds over a wireless connection, so we do not expect the 802.11g adapters to be considerably faster than the 802.11b ones at this time. Many customers have reported much faster speeds using USB 2.0 wired adapters however or wired-to-wireless bridges as you mentioned.

 

[TiVoBill]

Does support extend to WPA encryption?

No changes have been made to the wireless networking screens in 7.1. WEP encryption is still the only supported encryption method at this time.

 

[TiVoBill]

Any chance the LinkSys WUSB11 v 4.0 will ever be supported? I bought it without understanding that TiVo was telling me to use a non-current version of the adapter. I was able to find a v. 2.8 on eBay, and I'm wondering if I should just sell the 4.0 or hang onto it until TiVo supports it?

My understanding is that the Linksys WUSB11 4.0 uses a chipset that we do not have support for (there are likely no Linux drivers for it). We do have releases a few times a year to support additional adapters, but it is unlikely that we will be adding support for that particular adapter.

 

[TiVoBill]

Any idea when (or if) WPA will be supported?

I am not aware of any plans to add support for WPA encryption at this time.

 

[TiVoBill]

I thought that USB1.1 was 12Mbs (and this rate was achieved in practice), and 802.11b was 11Mbs (but the effective rate was more like 5-6Mbs), so 11g would effectively double the throughput to 12Mbs. I got the D-link adapter, and it seems to be somewhat faster than the WUSB11 (MRV slightly faster than real time at HIGH quality), but not the doubling that people who use the bridge approach get. It was kind of disconcerting when plugging in the D-Link and the TiVo spontaneously reboots! Or when it went from "Almost there" back to the initial boot screen once. The D-link driver seems to do evil things to the Linux system when installing itself.

Your performance may vary, but our tests did not find significant difference in the transfer speeds achieved with 802.11b and 802.11g adapters in the current software release. Some customers have reported slightly increased Multi-Room Viewing transfer performance. The reboot is actually a known issue. It happens if you remove an adapter and plug a new one in too quickly. We suggest waiting 30 seconds after unplugging an adapter before plugging in the new one.

 

[TiVoBill]

Just wondering if this lack of speed increase is considered a "bug" which is being worked on for a future update, or is the 11g support solely to address the decreasing availability of the "old" 11b adapters. Unlike the Tivo2Go transfer rate problem, the MRV wired vs. wireless transfer rate issue seems to be in the network code somewhere (drivers and such).

We are exploring ways of improving 802.11g transfer performance in the future.

 

[TiVoBill]

Sorry to ask again, but it was never addressed.

Will 802.11g adapters not work at all with the 140xxxxx Series 2 machines, or are they merely officially unsupported?

I'm double-checking, but I'm pretty sure they won't work at all. None of the recent adapters that have been added over the last year are compatible with Series2 Rev1 (the ones that start with '1") due to some hardware differences on that box. I will let you know what I find out.

 

[TiVoBill]

well, the DWL-G120 that I have will not work for me. I have powered off the unit, unpluged the wireless adapter currently attached, waited 30 seconds, plugged in the DWL-G120, waited a few more seconds, plugged the power back in.

I never get any lights on the DWL-G120 even though I can plug it into any of the other PCs in my house and the lights come on immediately. So, I am not sure exactly if there is a certain version of the DWL-G120 that is support but the one I have isn't working.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Andy

Can you check for me what software version you have on your TiVo (on the System Info screen)? If it is 7.1x, please send me a PM with your TiVo Service Number and whether it says "B1" or "B2" on the bottom of the adapter so that and I can follow up with you?

 

[TiVoBill]

Would this apply to the DirecTivo's?

DIRECTV DVRs with TiVo do not support networking at this time.

 

[TiVoBill]

Yeah, I've got the exact same situation with my DWL-G120. Has anybody actually succeeded with one yet?

I've been using a DWL-G120 on one of my boxes for awhile. Is the one that you have a "B1" or "B2" version? What symtoms are you seeeing?

 

[TiVoBill]

Anybody happen to have to have the DLink DWL-G120 "B2" adapter working (or not)? Our understanding is that the chipsets are different in the B1 and B2 versions of the adapter and so far all the issues reported seem to be with the "B1" version of the adapter.

We are working to clarify the issue. Also, for those of you who have either the "B1" or B2" versions, is the version noted on the packaging itself?

 

[TiVoBill]

Based on some reports that we have received, we have decided to recommend only the "B2" version of the D-Link DWL-G120 wireless adapter at this time. We are in the process of updating our adapters list to indicate that. We are sorry for any inconvenience we might have caused by not making that distinction earlier.

 

[TiVoBill]

So, does the Netgear WG111 version 2 work? I'm coming to the conclusion that no adapter I buy will ever work, and no adapter I can find for actual sale will be the correct version that actually does work.

If you're looking at a Netgear WG111 box, is it actually labeled "version 2" somewhere? I'm sure to the point of metaphysical certainty that if it isn't, whatever I buy will be version 1 or version 3 or version Pi, none of which work with TiVo....

My understanding is that the version number is labeled on the box. During the beta, we tested the WG111 version 2 and DWL-G120 version B2 most extensively, which is why we have decided to only recommend those two adapters at this time. Again, sorry for the inconvenience.

 

[TiVoBill]

Is the D-Link DWL-G120 version B1 supported? I bought this adapter last weekend before the compatable adapters page was updated to indicate hardware version. I haven't installed it yet, so I don't know first hand. Just deciding if I should return it.

Some forum users reported problems with that adapter (slowness in interface, rebooting), so we we updated the compatible adapter list. A coupe of other people have said it worked for them, but not sure I would chance it.

 

[TiVoBill]

I was wondering if anybody had any luck using a peer-to-peer connection with the Netgear WG111 adapter.

I have two series2 units (both have service numbers that start with 240 and have software version 7.1a). I have been using two Linksys WUSB11 adapters with peer-to-peer for months. The new adapters are version 2 but will not connect with each other. When I create the network on DVR 1 I can see it in the list of available networks on DVR 2 but it won't show in now playing once the setup is complete. I don't think the new adapters are broken since I can connect to a neighbor’s unsecured network and browse the web.

Peer to Peer connections are not supported in the 802.11g drivers that we are currently using. Sorry for not mentioning that earlier. I will update the main post.

 

[TiVoBill]

Sheez. After seeing all the fun you folks have been having with different versions of these 802.11g adapters, I foolishly thought that I could avoid some of that pain by buying an adapter from the TiVo store directly. What a dope I am. Today, my express shipped D-Link DWL-G120 "B1" adapter arrived, even though TiVo says to only use the "B2". Guess they're trying to unload all this incompatible stock, and I fell for it. Now I have to call the TiVo Store and arrange to ship it back, and I STILL won't have the right adapter. Off to BestBuy. Leave me a couple, will ya?

Greg

Sorry for the inconvenience. We didn't discover the incompatibility until this week (the adapters went on sale on the TiVo Store last Thursday). When we discovered the issue, we pulled them off the TiVo Store right away. Over the next day or so, you should receive an e-mail indicating that we will be refunding the entire cost of the adapter you purchased from the TiVo Store (including tax and shipping).

 

[TiVoBill]

How do I know what version I have of this adapter. B1 B2 etc??

Thanks, Fred

It's printed on the bottom of the adapter, and in most cases on the box.

 

[TiVoBill]

Are there any plans in the future for peer-to-peer support?

My understanding is that the Linux drivers we are using for 802.11g do not support peer-to-peer connections. I havn't heard of any plans to add that support in the future, but it's always possible.

 

[TiVoBill]

Why is it that it seems like only Tivo has problems with this version or that version of an adapter? Seems a little ridiculous to me that everyone has to comb through piles of adapters to find a particular version of the same adapter. I have mixed and matched more network pieces in my life than I can remember and it only seems to be tivo that cares. If the adapter will work on a pc or xbox or anything else why won't it work on the friggin Tivo?

The reason it just "works" on a Windows PC is that you get a CD with the drivers -- we don't have the luxury of being able to load drivers from a CD and must add additional drivers through software updates (which we do on a regular basis).
Linux (the operating system that the TiVo software runs on top of) has limited support of wireless network drivers. This is mainly due to that fact that many adapter companies have not released Linux drivers for their products due to lack of demand. As new adapter chipsets are created and new adapter versions are related, we try to add them as possible but it takes awhile.