I've been searching over the last week trying to find the answers I need to get my parents' TIVO up and running. Today, I will be driving 6 hours round trip to see if I can get a wireless network up and running so that they can download the program guide info. They activated their service with a lifetime agreement 25 days ago, so this is the last chance to get this working before they have can cancel their subscription if a solution is not found.
A little about their system... They have a series 2 Tivo with the model tcd540080. Their home has VOiP through a local cable company called Millineum (it is hooked up so all phone outlets that were already in the house prior to VOiP are live); tv programming is also through this company, though they do not have digital cable, just basic. Broadband is of the cable variety, also through Millineum. The computer they own is relatively old (runs on OS ME, not XP) and is located about 50 yards away from the room with the tivo (3 walls separate the computer f/ the tivo). On initial setup, we hooked up the tivo to the neighbors phone to get the latest software update (it is running 7.2.1 now). I worked great for a couple days, but it's program guide is now empty so it won't let it record off of the guide.
Although I know quite a bit about consumer electronics, my knowledge about computer networks is zilch. I think I need to get a network adaptor that is on the Tivo site. This adaptor, I think, requires me to buy a ethernet cable? Is a network adaptor a wireless router? Also, is it hard to install these things to my parents' computer or is it pretty much plug-and-play? and what about getting the other device that hooks up to the Tivo that gets the info from the LAN... is that the network adaptor? if yes, does this require me to get a specific wireless router? Do i need to buy a special cable to hook it up to the Tivo? And then what about security in creating this network; is one firewall program more appropriate/practical/effective than others?
I know all this has probably been covered elsewhere on this site, but I really have been trying to research this over the last week. I've been to the tivo site, the microsoft site, the linksys site, and a few others that have been a bit helpful but not enough to give the confidence I need to want to risk a 6 hour drive to find out i don't know what I'm doing. So I do apologize for "wasting" your time for redundant requests, but I just want to be sure I can do this right.
BTW - I have a dvr by dish network and this is what gave my parents the idea that they wanted a dvr also. their cable company does not offer one, and they have a bundled package for phone, broadband, and cable so they could not go to satelite. So i got them the tivo for x-mas and got them the lifetime membership. I talked to the Tivo customer service people and the rep told me that once we got 7.2.1 we could plug into VOiP to download the guide info. So much for that....
The rep even said that he recommended unhooking the tivo every week to take to the neighbor's house to update the guide info!! What a crock!!! So I'm coming to the conclusion that the tivo customer service reps don't really know what they are doing....
A little about their system... They have a series 2 Tivo with the model tcd540080. Their home has VOiP through a local cable company called Millineum (it is hooked up so all phone outlets that were already in the house prior to VOiP are live); tv programming is also through this company, though they do not have digital cable, just basic. Broadband is of the cable variety, also through Millineum. The computer they own is relatively old (runs on OS ME, not XP) and is located about 50 yards away from the room with the tivo (3 walls separate the computer f/ the tivo). On initial setup, we hooked up the tivo to the neighbors phone to get the latest software update (it is running 7.2.1 now). I worked great for a couple days, but it's program guide is now empty so it won't let it record off of the guide.
Although I know quite a bit about consumer electronics, my knowledge about computer networks is zilch. I think I need to get a network adaptor that is on the Tivo site. This adaptor, I think, requires me to buy a ethernet cable? Is a network adaptor a wireless router? Also, is it hard to install these things to my parents' computer or is it pretty much plug-and-play? and what about getting the other device that hooks up to the Tivo that gets the info from the LAN... is that the network adaptor? if yes, does this require me to get a specific wireless router? Do i need to buy a special cable to hook it up to the Tivo? And then what about security in creating this network; is one firewall program more appropriate/practical/effective than others?
I know all this has probably been covered elsewhere on this site, but I really have been trying to research this over the last week. I've been to the tivo site, the microsoft site, the linksys site, and a few others that have been a bit helpful but not enough to give the confidence I need to want to risk a 6 hour drive to find out i don't know what I'm doing. So I do apologize for "wasting" your time for redundant requests, but I just want to be sure I can do this right.
BTW - I have a dvr by dish network and this is what gave my parents the idea that they wanted a dvr also. their cable company does not offer one, and they have a bundled package for phone, broadband, and cable so they could not go to satelite. So i got them the tivo for x-mas and got them the lifetime membership. I talked to the Tivo customer service people and the rep told me that once we got 7.2.1 we could plug into VOiP to download the guide info. So much for that....