Looking for Tivo Solution for second TV

1155 Views 8 Replies 8 Participants Last post by unitron, Feb 13, 2012

bobcatou

Discussion Starter · Feb 12, 2012

My mother is putting a TV in her bedroom and wishes to access her programs on her one and only Tivo in the living room. Is there an inexpensive way to do this without buying a second Tivo and having to pay the monthly charge again. I'm pretty tech-saavy but I don't follow Tivo Tech that much anymore.

All I can come up with is a Slingbox but not sure if that is the way to go.

If she bought a second $100 Tivo, would she be required to pay an additional membership? Granted she would have to get a wireless card again too.

Thanks
Bryan
http://www.bryancady.com

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classicsat

· #2 · Feb 12, 2012

You can run cables, or use a wireless A/V extenders (either composite or HDMI). Depending on what you do, you may need an remote extender as well.

I just use the RF out from my Series 2 to my other TVs, with a remote extender system I put together from the RF remote kit from a satellite TV system.

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lillevig

· #3 · Feb 12, 2012

bobcatou said:
My mother is putting a TV in her bedroom and wishes to access her programs on her one and only Tivo in the living room. Is there an inexpensive way to do this without buying a second Tivo and having to pay the monthly charge again. I'm pretty tech-saavy but I don't follow Tivo Tech that much anymore.

All I can come up with is a Slingbox but not sure if that is the way to go.

If she bought a second $100 Tivo, would she be required to pay an additional membership? Granted she would have to get a wireless card again too.

Thanks
Bryan
http://www.bryancady.com

Yes, one alternative would be to pick up a Series2 with lifetime. That would allow her to transfer SD programs that aren't copy protected. You would need another wireless adapter of some sort. I use old Linksys WRT54G routers that I've upgraded with DD-WRT firmware so that I can use them in bridge mode.

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tomhorsley

· #4 · Feb 12, 2012

There is also the slingbox, but it probably wouldn't be very cheap. You'd need something that could run a slingplayer on the 2nd TV (like a Windows computer).

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Francorosso

· #5 · Feb 12, 2012

Buy two BALUNS (either composite or HDMI, HDMI is cheaper), then run the A/V signal through Cat5 cable to the second TV. I've been doing this for years, works great with no issues. In another part of the house I also do what was suggested by another user and run the HDMI output to one tv and the composite to another tv. That works well too, except both tv's have to be one for it to work or you get an error message.
The biggest problem with these two setups is the stupid TiVo remote control, which doesn't have an RF option. I had DirecTV for years and they have a vastly superior DVR/remote. I switched but I wouldn't do it all over again.....

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flashesbuck

· #6 · Feb 12, 2012

Buy a used iPod touch cheap and leave it the other room... Run the remot app on it and pair it to the TiVo. Also android has an app so if you have an old phone, you can use that.

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taronga

· #7 · Feb 12, 2012

classicsat said:
I just use the RF out from my Series 2 to my other TVs, with a remote extender system I put together from the RF remote kit from a satellite TV system.

That's what I did. Coax + a splitter + $30 RF remote adapter, and now I can watch my S2 on any of the 3 TVs in my apartment.

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unitron

· #8 · Feb 13, 2012

Francorosso said:
...
The biggest problem with these two setups is the stupid TiVo remote control, which doesn't have an RF option...

They do, but it's an option which has to be purchased separately. You replace one of the batteries in the remote with a thing that's a combination rechargeable battery and RF transmitter, and there's a receiver/IR blaster that comes with it. It's on TiVo's website somewhere.

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unitron

· #9 · Feb 13, 2012

bobcatou said:
My mother is putting a TV in her bedroom and wishes to access her programs on her one and only Tivo in the living room. Is there an inexpensive way to do this without buying a second Tivo and having to pay the monthly charge again. I'm pretty tech-saavy but I don't follow Tivo Tech that much anymore.

All I can come up with is a Slingbox but not sure if that is the way to go.

If she bought a second $100 Tivo, would she be required to pay an additional membership? Granted she would have to get a wireless card again too.

Thanks
Bryan
http://www.bryancady.com

What's the model number of her TiVo?

What kind of inputs does the main TV have?

What kind of inputs does the bedroom TV have?

(your choices are RF input-that's the threaded thing, composite video and audio input-that's yellow video jack, white and red audio, S-Video input-a 4 pin jack similar to the P/S2 keyboard and mouse jacks, component video input-red,green, and blue jacks, or HDMI)

Are both TVs the same brand?

Is she a cable subscriber?

Is she using the TiVo for analog cable channels, digital cable channels, digital broadcast channels, in conjunction with a satellite receiver?

A second TiVo would require a second subscription.

How big a mess/hassle would running some sort of wire from the living room to the bedroom be?

Are there already boxes in the wall with those threaded things where you can hook up to cable TV?

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