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2 TiVo's - wired + wireless?!
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Posted by: cwoody222

I just found out my dad finally broke down and bought a second TiVo due to the new monthly pricing scheme. He's not interested in HMO but I'm trying to convince him to use show sharing since HMO is free now.

But, he currently uses dialup so getting him to switch to a network is a pain (he does already have broadband).

To keep things simple I'm thinking about keeping 1 wired and 1 wireless. The living room unit currently has a phone line that we can swap for Ethernet no problem.

The bedroom unit I'd like to do wirelessly.

I'm thinking about having him buy this combo package:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/A...2062486-5376034

Would that do everything I want all by itself? (except for the wired USB adapter for the wired one)

Linksys seems a bit more expensive (just a bit) but since TiVo recommends it, and I don't know much about wireless stuff (so I don't want to be troubleshooting) I think that's the way to go.

That router will do wired and wireless, right? The USB adapter comes with a small USB cable too, I hope.

Will he get OK speeds with the b network when sharing shows? Should I get g instead? (obviously it will be better but I mean is it work the extra cost or should I just go with this simple all-in-one, TiVo-approved system)

Posted by: ThreeSoFar

g don't work with current drivers on the TiVo, IIRC.

Wireless will suck for MRV or photos or music. Not real time, except at maybe Basic. There are threads with lots of detail and comparisons done on this.

Wireless is fine for guide data and remote scheduling.

Posted by: CrispyCritter

quote:
Originally posted by cwoody222
I'm thinking about having him buy this combo package:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/A...2062486-5376034

Would that do everything I want all by itself? (except for the wired USB adapter for the wired one)

...
That router will do wired and wireless, right? The USB adapter comes with a small USB cable too, I hope.

Will he get OK speeds with the b network when sharing shows? Should I get g instead? (obviously it will be better but I mean is it work the extra cost or should I just go with this simple all-in-one, TiVo-approved system)

Hardware looks good, price is reasonable. It has everything you need. USB adapters come with short cables.

I had two wireless and one wired TiVo for a while. There was definitely an ordering of

transfers between two wireless were slowest.
transfer between a wireless and a wired were noticeably faster (not quite real time on High quality)
transfer between two wired still faster (all 3 are wired now). Not quite real time on Best quality recordings.

I never had any problems with music or photos with any of the setups.

I wouldn't go the "g" route yet; it might be reasonable once TiVo officially supports it, but in the meantime you'll have to piece together a setup that may or may not have problems and may or may not have reasonably improved speed. Since it's for a non-expert, I'd stick with "b", unless you're over there every day in any case!

Posted by: cwoody222

How exactly does MRV work? Does it copy the show to the other unit? Or just stream it?

How long would my parents have to "wait" until they could start watching, say, an hour long show (recorded in Best or High) before being able to sit down to watch it uninterrupted?

What happens when the streaming show finishes? Does it go away or does it stay there waiting for them? (ie: could they queue up a show in the early evening and then watch it a few hours later in the bedroom?) What happens if the TiVo that's receiving the shows starts to do something else - like recording another show?

Posted by: ellinj

The show is actually copied from one tivo to another. When the transfer is done it exists on both tivos. Using High Quality and wireless at both ends it takes about an 1.25 hrs to transfer a .5hr program for me. If I plan to use MRV I try and plan ahead what I will need transferred. For instance If I know I want to watch something in bed on a particular night I will begin the transfer before I start dinner or even in the morning before I go to work. You can also queue up multiple programs to be transferred in succession. Sometime If I have a lot I want to transfer I'll just let it do 3-4 programs overnight.

Jeff

Posted by: CrispyCritter

quote:
Originally posted by cwoody222
How exactly does MRV work? Does it copy the show to the other unit? Or just stream it?

Just expanding on ellinj's post: everything is copied; the original remains on the original TiVo.

quote:
Originally posted by cwoody222
How long would my parents have to "wait" until they could start watching, say, an hour long show (recorded in Best or High) before being able to sit down to watch it uninterrupted?

on High, I generally waited 10 minutes before viewing when I had the wired/wireless combo. But it depends on the number of commercials you want to skip!

quote:
Originally posted by cwoody222
What happens when the streaming show finishes? Does it go away or does it stay there waiting for them? (ie: could they queue up a show in the early evening and then watch it a few hours later in the bedroom?) What happens if the TiVo that's receiving the shows starts to do something else - like recording another show?

The show stays. You can start watching a show in the living room; pause it and copy it to the bedroom (copying just from the paused point), get ready for bed and then watch the rest of the show in the bedroom.

The HMO transfer is independent of any recording. On one TiVo at one time I've had going: an HMO transmission to TiVo 2, an HMO reception from TiVo 2, a scheduled recording, while listening to Music via HMO! Impressive.

Posted by: cwoody222

Thanks for the info. Sounds like MRV will work OK with wired and wireless for my parents. They don't need real time. Queueing it up and then watching it in an hour or more would work just fine.

Thanks! :)

Posted by: Bigg

Isn't it easier just to record it on the right TiVo in the first place? MRV has a long way to go before it is usefull...

Posted by: CrispyCritter

quote:
Originally posted by Bigg
Isn't it easier just to record it on the right TiVo in the first place? MRV has a long way to go before it is usefull...

Not really. For instance, one of our TiVo's is down in the basement, used by my wife and I for watching TV while exercising, and by our son at almost any other hour of the day (or so it seems!). We get our choice of shows from our two TiVo's via MRV, without interfering with our son's recordings. TiVo with HMO is not only TV we want when we want it, but also where we want it. Free choice is nice!

Posted by: cwoody222

Mostly it will be used for my mom's soap opera. She watches it when she gets home from work but she's sent to the bedroom to watch it if my dad is watching something in the living room.

But sometime's he's not so she can watch it there.

This way they'll be able to record it wherever it's most likely to be watched... but still have the option to watch it elsewhere.

Posted by: Crrink

quote:
Originally posted by Bigg
Isn't it easier just to record it on the right TiVo in the first place? MRV has a long way to go before it is usefull...

I thought the same thing until I hardwired my TiVo's. This makes them almost as good as the true random access that the ReplayTV guy's have on their multiple units.
I really, really wish TiVo would get support for 802.11g rolled out quickly - I think that would improve customer satisfaction with MRV tremendously.....once they get over the need to buy a new adapter, that is.

Posted by: geoman47

quote:
Originally posted by CrispyCritter
The show stays. You can start watching a show in the living room; pause it and copy it to the bedroom (copying just from the paused point), get ready for bed and then watch the rest of the show in the bedroom.

Being relatively new to MRV (only using it for 2 weeks), how do you do this? I’ve copied shows from TiVo 1 to TiVo 2 before, but only by ‘browsing’ TiVo 1 from TiVo 2 and then saying ‘Watch on this TV (TiVo 2). What you are describing sounds like you can say send unwatched portion to TiVo 2 from TiVo 1.

Posted by: bedelman

When you pause a program on TiVo 1, you get an extra option when you go to transfer that same program from from TiVo 1 to TiVo 2 -- the option is to begin watching from the point at which the program was paused.

Posted by: Bigg

quote:
Originally posted by cwoody222
Mostly it will be used for my mom's soap opera. She watches it when she gets home from work but she's sent to the bedroom to watch it if my dad is watching something in the living room.

But sometime's he's not so she can watch it there.

This way they'll be able to record it wherever it's most likely to be watched... but still have the option to watch it elsewhere.

mirroring the season pass should be a lot easier.

Posted by: ufo4sale

quote:
Originally posted by Bigg
mirroring the season pass should be a lot easier.

No, Cooperative scheduling would be easier but it doesn't exists.

Posted by: geoman47

quote:
Originally posted by bedelman
When you pause a program on TiVo 1, you get an extra option when you go to transfer that same program from from TiVo 1 to TiVo 2 -- the option is to begin watching from the point at which the program was paused.

Thanks… I tried it out last night.

I guess I was hoping there was a ‘push’ (telling TiVo 1 to send the show to TiVo 2) feature that I didn’t know about rather than just a ‘pull’ (having TiVo 2 fetch a show from TiVo 1) feature. But pulling from the paused location is better than pulling the entire show if you want to watch it that night.

Funny thing about stuff like MRV is, once you get it, you’re always ready for the next enhancement. After just a few weeks using MRV, I’m starting to see a need for cooperative scheduling or being able to delete shows from any TiVo, etc.

Posted by: Bigg

quote:
Originally posted by ufo4sale
No, Cooperative scheduling would be easier but it doesn't exists.

RTVs and computer DVRs do this, and people who really need these features can switch over to those solutions. yes, MRV would be a really cool if streaming and cooperative scheduling were put into use. USB2 would be nice too, as then it could all happen @ 100mb/s.