Stupid Question

Dmontgummy said:

OK...I can't believe I am actually asking for help with this!!
I have Verizon Fios and had to get a new router because the wireless was not working. I came to my TiVo to input the new password etc., but I cannot figure out where to do it!!
I went to...TiVo Central---Settings and Message----Settings----Network & Phone---Change Network Settings.

It is at this point (IP address) that I am lost! I am not sure if I choose "Get automatically from a DHCP server (typical)" or "Let me specify a static IP address" or "Let the DVR assign itself an IP address". I have actually tried all 3 with no luck. But really, I feel like I am missing a step. Don't I have to choose the network and put in the WEP key first???

I am sure I am missing something easy, but I just can't figure it out! Thanks in advance!

Click to expand...

Give it a static IP address. One thing fewer to go wrong.

For example, the router connected to my cable modem has its IP address set to 192.168.1.1 and it's set to only do DHCP from 192.168.1.251 to 254

If I wind up with more than 4 things in the house that need to connect wirelessly I can lower the bottom of the range to 250 or 249 or however low I need.

TiVos in the house I start at 192.168.1.201 and go up.

(I feel pretty sure I'm not going to have more than 10 at the time, 20 tops)

Your router may default to some other address, like 192.168.2.1, in which case everything on the network needs an address starting with 192.168.2

You can try changing which channel the router does wireless over. Might make it easier for the TiVo to find it.

If you have a new router maybe your network is no longer named what it was with the old one.

After you put the static IP numbers into the TiVo it'll ask for what else it needs in the order it needs it.

Dmontgummy said:

OK...me again. I just tried the Guided Setup and am now stuck there! I am not able to get past the same screen as before. If I assign an IP address...how do I know the subnet mask, gateway address and DNS address?? I tried using the numbers I found using the IP config. But I keep getting the message Router not found. There is a problem with the router on your home network. It is a new router from Verizon Fios (wireless stopped working on the old one). I was able to connect my laptop without a problem. Anyway, now I can't watch TV because it is stuck on Guided Setup!

Thanks for any ane all help!!

Click to expand...

Read all of this before trying any of it. I should edit what follows to put stuff in better order, but let's just try to solve your problem.

You don't need to go all the way through Guided Setup to do what you want, you can just go to the settings menu and select phone and network and go from there.

Or at least you could if you weren't stuck in Guided Setup.

Do you know the IP address of your new router? Did you get an owner's or user's manual for it?

You should be able to enter the IP address of the router in the address bar of your browser and access a built-in web page that lets you see things about how the router is set up and even change some of them.

You'll need the manual (or maybe Google it with the router's model number) to get the default admin name and password to be allowed access to that page probably. You might need to go that route to get the default IP address of the router as well.

If, for example, the router's address is 192.168.1.1, make the TiVo's static IP 192.168.1.201, make the subnet mask 255.255.255.0, and the gateway address and DNS address the same as the router, 192.168.1.1

If your router has a different IP address it should still end in .1 and it's "kingdom" is abc.def.ghi.0 to abc.def.ghi.255, where a-i are various numerals from the set 0-9, except that leading zeros don't appear. (Technically 192.168.1.1 is really 192.168.001.001)

Out of those 256 addresses in the right-hand-most trio, it (the router) gets to assign 1 through 254

0 is reserved to refer to that entire network, and 255 is the address to simultaneously send something to the entire network at once, so neither of those can be assigned to individual devices.

It (the router) should assign abc.def.ghi.1 to itself

Whatever that address is, you should also use it for the gateway and DNS addresses

The subnet mask remains 255.255.255.0 regardless

Once you get an IP assigned to the TiVo, try pinging that address with your laptop. Start, run, "ping 192.168.1.201"

If you've given the TiVo a different IP address, adjust accordingly.

If you get a response, your wireless adapter is working. If you don't, that doesn't necessarily mean anything at this point.

Wouldn't be a bad idea to give your laptop a static IP address as well, say 192.168.1.101, to make sure it and the TiVo aren't fighting for the same piece of electromagnetic real estate.

Once you get all this sorted out you can go back and make the laptop DHCP again if you need to use it on other networks elsewhere.

While you're in the router's browser setup pages, make sure you know the name of the network, the encryption scheme, the channel the wireless uses, and the password.

I'm wondering if it's possible that your TiVo's wireless adapter co-incidentally developed a problem during the router replacement period. Very unlikely, but not absolutely impossible.

Try unplugging the adapter from the USB port on the back of the TiVo and doing setup with a phone line. That'll get you out of GS.

Then you can go back into the settings menu and try the adapter in both USB slots, and see if it lights up, and stuff like that.

Thank you to everyone who tried to help!! I now know that next time I will not do guided setup so that I won't lose access to TV for almost a whole day!

Here are my results...I was following all the steps that each person posted and still received the message that the router was not found. I finally gave in and contacted TiVo. I used their Chat support since the phone had "long wait times". The guy decided that I needed to hook my adapter up to my computer and set it up that way. That was the end of the chat and I went to do that. I let it "setup" for almost an hour (I took a break and ate dinner assuming it was going to work!) and the status light never went solid. I then tried a different computer in case I needed the one hooked directly to the router. Same problem occured (but I didn't wait as long). I reluctantly contacted TiVo chat again. This guy decided that I needed to reset my adapter. While I knew how to do that, I decided to play "dumb" because I wanted to see if it was working before the chat was disconnected. I had to wait "in line" to chat that time and I didn't want to do it again! But sure enough that time I got a completely different setup screen on the computer. The setup really did only take a couple minutes. I then allowed the chat to end. I hooked it back up to my TiVo and it seems to be working. It is still on the "getting program info" of the Guided Setup. But it is 61% done with the loading info. So hopefully this is the end of my problems! Although, tonight I just realized there is another TiVo downstairs on the TV that is rarely used! But it is an old Series 2 DT, so I am sure it will be a lot easier than the Premier! Honestly, if I didn't already love TiVo, I think I would have thrown the whole thing out after all this drama. They need to find a way to make it simpler on the Premier to change networks.

Thank you again for everyone's help! This is the best message board I have ever used! It is my first stop when I have a problem or question. I never think of the actual TiVo support until later! And this is the first time that I have ever had to use them for tech support...and I have owned TiVo's since Series 1! You guys are the best!