TIVO via 800 Calling Card Success
 

TIVO via 800 Calling Card Success from Toshiba with Basic TIVO
After moving to an area without local tivo access and lacking instate
long distance service, I finally solved the setup and program update
problem.

This works if you have NO Long Distance provider specified and it
works for me with a Sam's AT&T prepaid calling card. It also almost
requires the use of a programmable phone with two memories, one for
the AT&T access number and the other for the card number.

Set the detect dial tone option off
Set phone presence detection off
Enter Setup and proceed to the offering of program guide access
numbers
Choose the best long distance number.
Pick up your programmable phone and listen as it dials out. The idea
is to dial your 800 number and card number and end up with a you can
dial now just before the unit dials. This may take a couple of passes
to get the hang of it. On AT&Ts service you can hit the # key to get
some options offered to avoid timing out. Once you get it right, the
operation proceeds just like a local call. On my Comcast cable without
digital it takes about 10 minutes to download.

You can go about 12 days on TIVO Basic service before it starts
affecting the program guide, other than late changes like football
games.
Since you have no long distance service the TIVO gets a busy signal
when it tries to dial out and you then do a connect now update when
you want to before retiring.

In article ,
says...
TIVO via 800 Calling Card Success from Toshiba with Basic TIVO
After moving to an area without local tivo access and lacking instate
long distance service, I finally solved the setup and program update
problem.

This works if you have NO Long Distance provider specified and it
works for me with a Sam's AT&T prepaid calling card. It also almost

I'm a bit confused as to why you need to do all that. First of all if
you have Comcast cable broadband why not just connect Tivo that way?
Anyway, why the telephone thing instead of just putting your "800
#,pin#,," or something like that in Tivo's "dial prefix" field? Or
doesn't the Toshiba model have that?
--
Jud
Dallas TX USA

Jud Hardcastle wrote:
In article ,
says...
TIVO via 800 Calling Card Success from Toshiba with Basic TIVO
After moving to an area without local tivo access and lacking instate
long distance service, I finally solved the setup and program update
problem.

This works if you have NO Long Distance provider specified and it
works for me with a Sam's AT&T prepaid calling card. It also almost

I'm a bit confused as to why you need to do all that. First of all if
you have Comcast cable broadband why not just connect Tivo that way?
Anyway, why the telephone thing instead of just putting your "800
#,pin#,," or something like that in Tivo's "dial prefix" field? Or
doesn't the Toshiba model have that?

Because some of us still own the first model Tivo ever produced...the
14-hour one, which isn't easily networked. By "isn't easily networked", I
mean that some of us don't care to buy additional hardware and crack open
the case on a box that functions perfectly fine over the phone line. Why so
many people are so desperate to use a broadband connection to download
program data that takes less than ten minutes a day on a phone line is
beyond me.

Anyway, I keep my original upgraded Tivo around as a backup to my HR10-250,
which also dials up just fine on my fax line.

--
tooloud
Remove nothing to reply...

"tooloud" wrote in message
...
Jud Hardcastle wrote:
In article ,
says...
TIVO via 800 Calling Card Success from Toshiba with Basic TIVO
After moving to an area without local tivo access and lacking instate
long distance service, I finally solved the setup and program update
problem.

This works if you have NO Long Distance provider specified and it
works for me with a Sam's AT&T prepaid calling card. It also almost

I'm a bit confused as to why you need to do all that. First of all if
you have Comcast cable broadband why not just connect Tivo that way?
Anyway, why the telephone thing instead of just putting your "800
#,pin#,," or something like that in Tivo's "dial prefix" field? Or
doesn't the Toshiba model have that?

Because some of us still own the first model Tivo ever produced...the
14-hour one, which isn't easily networked. By "isn't easily networked", I
mean that some of us don't care to buy additional hardware and crack open
the case on a box that functions perfectly fine over the phone line. Why
so many people are so desperate to use a broadband connection to download
program data that takes less than ten minutes a day on a phone line is
beyond me.

Anyway, I keep my original upgraded Tivo around as a backup to my
HR10-250, which also dials up just fine on my fax line.

Well, in the case of the OP, he doesn't have a Series1. No Series1 machine
were made with TiVo Basic, so it must be a Series2. A $15 USB adapter seems
like a lot less trouble than what he's going through as described.

Because some of us still own the first model Tivo ever produced...the
14-hour one, which isn't easily networked. By "isn't easily networked", I

It's no more difficult than any TiVo. It's easier in some respects than
the newest ones.

mean that some of us don't care to buy additional hardware and crack open
the case on a box that functions perfectly fine over the phone line. Why
so

"Perfectly fine" is definitely a subjective and specific assessment.
With my SBC phone lines, 2/3 or more of the attempts failed. With teenages
around the house, many more failed. What's more, only the phone update
worked at all. Telnet, FTP, tyServer, and TiVoWeb all require networking.

many people are so desperate to use a broadband connection to download
program data that takes less than ten minutes a day on a phone line is
beyond me.

If it were just that, I would not have, but it isn't. The Network
based tools are extremely important to me, and in any case, once I switched
my phone server to Vonage, the TiVo daily call would not work at all. I had
to switch toa networked solution whetehr I really wanted to or not (I did).
Saving over $250 a year at a one time cost of $69 while getting greatly
enhanced features on both my phone and my TiVo was well worth it.

"Jud Hardcastle" wrote in
message bal.net...
In article ,
says...
TIVO via 800 Calling Card Success from Toshiba with Basic TIVO
After moving to an area without local tivo access and lacking instate
long distance service, I finally solved the setup and program update
problem.

This works if you have NO Long Distance provider specified and it
works for me with a Sam's AT&T prepaid calling card. It also almost


I'm a bit confused as to why you need to do all that. First of all if
you have Comcast cable broadband why not just connect Tivo that way?

He has comcast providing his cabletv. He didn't say that he had a broadband
internet connection. Some of us would rather tolerate the slowness of dial
up access for $15/month than pay three times that much or more to comcast.

Anyway, why the telephone thing instead of just putting your "800
#,pin#,," or something like that in Tivo's "dial prefix" field? Or
doesn't the Toshiba model have that?
--
Jud
Dallas TX USA

can you even put that many digits into the dial prefix?

"tooloud" wrote in message
...

Why so many people are so desperate to use a broadband connection to
download program data that takes less than ten minutes a day on a phone
line is beyond me.


Actually it's about a two minute phone call that occurs mostly in the wee
hours of the night.

why are they so desperate? Keep in mind that you are asking this in a forum
for an electronic/computer like gizmo. It's going to be mostly tech-heads
that reside in and get heard in such a forum. So the popular opinion on any
subject is going to be heavily skewed toward the tech-head view.

The vast majority of Tivo users have never even heard of alt.video.ptv.tivo
and see little or no reason to ever visit tivo.com and they also find
recording things at basic quality to be perfectly acceptable on their
non-upgraded Tivos. They have no vanity to publicly display regarding their
Tivo or how they use it.

Damn, now that's some flamin' hoops to jump through.


"Don Mooty" wrote in message
...
TIVO via 800 Calling Card Success from Toshiba with Basic TIVO
After moving to an area without local tivo access and lacking instate
long distance service, I finally solved the setup and program update
problem.

This works if you have NO Long Distance provider specified and it
works for me with a Sam's AT&T prepaid calling card. It also almost
requires the use of a programmable phone with two memories, one for
the AT&T access number and the other for the card number.

Set the detect dial tone option off
Set phone presence detection off
Enter Setup and proceed to the offering of program guide access
numbers
Choose the best long distance number.
Pick up your programmable phone and listen as it dials out. The idea
is to dial your 800 number and card number and end up with a you can
dial now just before the unit dials. This may take a couple of passes
to get the hang of it. On AT&Ts service you can hit the # key to get
some options offered to avoid timing out. Once you get it right, the
operation proceeds just like a local call. On my Comcast cable without
digital it takes about 10 minutes to download.

Leslie A Rhorer wrote:
Because some of us still own the first model Tivo ever produced...the
14-hour one, which isn't easily networked. By "isn't easily
networked", I

It's no more difficult than any TiVo. It's easier in some
respects than the newest ones.

It is? You're telling me that I can network my Series 1 Tivo as easily as a
Series 2 with a USB port on the back?

mean that some of us don't care to buy additional hardware and crack
open the case on a box that functions perfectly fine over the phone
line. Why so

"Perfectly fine" is definitely a subjective and specific
assessment. With my SBC phone lines, 2/3 or more of the attempts
failed. With teenages around the house, many more failed. What's
more, only the phone update worked at all. Telnet, FTP, tyServer,
and TiVoWeb all require networking.

While "perfectly fine" may be subjective, I'd be interested to hear how many
"normal" users, i.e. "users that don't regularly consult a newsgroup",
actually receive their program info via any means other than the built-in
modem. I'll bet it's pretty small.

many people are so desperate to use a broadband connection to
download program data that takes less than ten minutes a day on a
phone line is beyond me.

If it were just that, I would not have, but it isn't. The Network
based tools are extremely important to me, and in any case, once I
switched my phone server to Vonage, the TiVo daily call would not
work at all. I had to switch toa networked solution whetehr I really
wanted to or not (I did). Saving over $250 a year at a one time cost of
$69 while getting greatly enhanced features on both my phone and
my TiVo was well worth it.

I've read that Vonage doesn't necessarily cause the problems it's accused
of.

--
tooloud
Remove nothing to reply...

Kenny wrote:
"tooloud" wrote in message
...

Why so many people are so desperate to use a broadband connection to
download program data that takes less than ten minutes a day on a
phone line is beyond me.


Actually it's about a two minute phone call that occurs mostly in the
wee hours of the night.

why are they so desperate? Keep in mind that you are asking this in
a forum for an electronic/computer like gizmo. It's going to be
mostly tech-heads that reside in and get heard in such a forum. So
the popular opinion on any subject is going to be heavily skewed
toward the tech-head view.
The vast majority of Tivo users have never even heard of
alt.video.ptv.tivo and see little or no reason to ever visit tivo.com
and they also find recording things at basic quality to be perfectly
acceptable on their non-upgraded Tivos. They have no vanity to
publicly display regarding their Tivo or how they use it.

I agree 100%. Personally, the "network it" argument always seems like the
answer to a question that 98% of owners have never even asked.

--
tooloud
Remove nothing to reply...

Greetings,

"Kenny" wrote in message
...

"tooloud" wrote in message
...

Why so many people are so desperate to use a broadband connection to
download program data that takes less than ten minutes a day on a phone
line is beyond me.


It would be interesting to get some statistics from Tivo corporate on this.

I wonder how many people have the Home Media option which requires
some sort of network to read music and pictures from a PC.

I wonder how many people use Home Media to view recorded programs
on another Tivo.

I wonder how many people use the Internet to schedule programs on their
Tivo's.

I think the answers to these questions might explain why so many Tivo
users are anxious to have a network connection.

Larry Hazel

"Homer L. Hazel" wrote in message
news:[email protected]
Greetings,

"Kenny" wrote in message
...

"tooloud" wrote in message
...

Why so many people are so desperate to use a broadband connection to
download program data that takes less than ten minutes a day on a phone
line is beyond me.


It would be interesting to get some statistics from Tivo corporate on
this.

I wonder how many people have the Home Media option which requires
some sort of network to read music and pictures from a PC.

I wonder how many people use Home Media to view recorded programs
on another Tivo.

I wonder how many people use the Internet to schedule programs on their
Tivo's.

I think the answers to these questions might explain why so many Tivo
users are anxious to have a network connection.

Larry Hazel




I don't see how the answer to the question "how many?" would even be related
to much less the reason for for the question "why?" And I don't believe
that there really are a whole lot of people anxious to get their Tivos
connected to a network. Of the Tivo owners I know, not one of them has
networked their Tivo and not one of them has any plans too do so. People
buy these "toys" because the Jones' have one, they plug them in and very
quickly forget anything that they briefly skimmed over in the manual, so
they are generally clueless as to using it to it's fullest potential. They
learn how to record stuff by trial and error and that's good enough for
them.

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Hash: SHA1

In article ,
tooloud wrote:
Leslie A Rhorer wrote:
Because some of us still own the first model Tivo ever produced...the
14-hour one, which isn't easily networked. By "isn't easily
networked", I

It's no more difficult than any TiVo. It's easier in some
respects than the newest ones.

It is? You're telling me that I can network my Series 1 Tivo as easily as a
Series 2 with a USB port on the back?

1) Purchase a TurboNet card.
2) Unplug and open your TiVo.
3) Attach the TurboNet to the edge connector at the front of the TiVo's
motherboard (it only fits one way, so you can't screw it up).
4) Feed a network cable through a convenient hole in the back of the case to
the RJ-45 connector on the TurboNet.
5) Close your TiVo.
6) Reboot and set your dialing prefix to (IIRC) ,#401 (or whatever it is).

There are maybe a couple more steps involved than for a USB dongle, but it's
nothing that a TiVo user of average intelligence can't figure out. If all
you want it to do is grab schedule info over your broadband connection, you
don't need to add any software to your TiVo.

_/_
/ v \ Scott Alfter (remove the obvious to send mail)
(IIGS( http://alfter.us/ Top-posting!
\_^_/ rm -rf /bin/laden What's the most annoying thing on Usenet?

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"tooloud" wrote in message
...
Leslie A Rhorer wrote:
Because some of us still own the first model Tivo ever produced...the
14-hour one, which isn't easily networked. By "isn't easily
networked", I

It's no more difficult than any TiVo. It's easier in some
respects than the newest ones.

It is? You're telling me that I can network my Series 1 Tivo as easily as
a Series 2 with a USB port on the back?

Yes. The Series 2 requires a USB to Ethernet bridge, which has problems
and pitfals of its own, and it is only USB 1.0 at ths time. The Series I
has the code for the Ethernet solution built in to the software. If you
consider opening and closing the unit to be "difficult", then fitting the
Series I with a network solution might be argued to be the more difficult
task. Otherwise, it is the simpler task, since all one must needs do is
install the TurboNet card, versus tryiung to get a networked USB connection
to work. From there on it is identical.


mean that some of us don't care to buy additional hardware and crack
open the case on a box that functions perfectly fine over the phone
line. Why so

"Perfectly fine" is definitely a subjective and specific
assessment. With my SBC phone lines, 2/3 or more of the attempts
failed. With teenages around the house, many more failed. What's
more, only the phone update worked at all. Telnet, FTP, tyServer,
and TiVoWeb all require networking.

While "perfectly fine" may be subjective, I'd be interested to hear how
many "normal" users, i.e. "users that don't regularly consult a
newsgroup",

I don't regularly consult a newsgroup. I don't even regularly read a
news group.

actually receive their program info via any means other than the built-in
modem. I'll bet it's pretty small.

You bet wrong. I don't know what fraction of users have DirecTiVo, but
I know it is not "pretty small". All DirecTiVo users get their program info
off satellite. For the rest, visiting a news group is irrelevant. I'm sure
9th Tee can tell you how many Ethernet cards they have sold, but the
percentage of Series I users who have or don't have Ethernet cards is also
largely irrelevant. The question was, "Why would any one want to go to the
trouble to network their TiVo?", although that's not the way the OP
originally phrased it. I answered the question.

many people are so desperate to use a broadband connection to
download program data that takes less than ten minutes a day on a
phone line is beyond me.

If it were just that, I would not have, but it isn't. The Network
based tools are extremely important to me, and in any case, once I
switched my phone server to Vonage, the TiVo daily call would not
work at all. I had to switch toa networked solution whetehr I really
wanted to or not (I did). Saving over $250 a year at a one time cost of
$69 while getting greatly enhanced features on both my phone and
my TiVo was well worth it.

I've read that Vonage doesn't necessarily cause the problems it's accused
of.

'Not according to Vonage. They specifically stated the TiVo would not
work with their service at the time I ordered it. Their tech support was
very helpful in trying to get it working, with the caveat it might never
work. With their help, I got it working somewhat for a short period of
time, but then it quit altogether. I spoke with them again, and they made
additional suggestions, but one of those suggestions - with the clear
warning it would void my warranty - was to get the TurboNet card. That's
right. I learned of the TurboNet card from Vonage Tech support. They were
the ones who suggested it. The warranty was irrelevant, because my warranty
had long expired. Of course, this was over ayear ago, and Vonage is no
longer using the Cisco ATA 186, so my information may well be out of date.

More to your point, however, is the fact the internal modem worked with
my Bell service as long as it was not wet outside or one of my teenagers
didn't interrupt the call, and it did not work with Vonage. I kept the Bell
line until I had both TiVo and my home alarm system working, and then
dropped the SBC service. I know the rain problem had nothing to do with
TiVo, because the reception was so bad when it was wet outside I often could
not even use the phone to get a regular phone call, and ordinary modem, fax,
and house alarm service were also impacted.

"Kenny" wrote in message
...

"tooloud" wrote in message
...

Why so many people are so desperate to use a broadband connection to
download program data that takes less than ten minutes a day on a phone
line is beyond me.


Actually it's about a two minute phone call that occurs mostly in the wee
hours of the night.

Which is when the teenagers do most of their talking, and when the wet
line problem was often worst. This is not really the point, however. The
point is, the daily call is the least important reason to network one's
TiVo. There are a number of important featires made available by networking
one's TiVo. Once networked, sending the daily call via broadband is
trivial, so there is no point in not doing it. The disadvantage of the
dialup may be slight, but why live with a even a small disadvantage and
inconvenience when it's totally unnecessary?


why are they so desperate?

I don't know that anyone is desperate. The networked TiVo offers a
great many more advantages than one which is not networked, and networking
them is easy.

Keep in mind that you are asking this in a forum for an
electronic/computer like gizmo. It's going to be mostly tech-heads that
reside in and get heard in such a forum. So the popular opinion on any
subject is going to be heavily skewed toward the tech-head view.

Which makes your question even less valid. People in this forum are the
sort who are more likely to take advantage of the broad range of features
offered by networking, whihc is why many of them want to network their TiVo.

The vast majority of Tivo users have never even heard of
alt.video.ptv.tivo

So what? Neither had I a week ago when I decided to peek in on a TiVo
newsgroup to see what the latest tech blurb was. It doesn't matte if the
number of people who want to network their TiVo is 1 or 1,000,000. It's
their right to do so for whatever reasons they want.

and see little or no reason to ever visit tivo.com and they also find
recording things at basic quality to be perfectly acceptable on their

Again, so what? No one is forcing anyone to network their TiVo or
suggesting anyone ever should be so forced. You act as if it is a personal
affront to you that anyone would wish to take more than average advantage of
the advanced technical features of a personal device, and blithely ignore
the existence of those features when you are told what they are, then
criticize those who do wish to avail themselves of such features. What's
your problem?

non-upgraded Tivos. They have no vanity to publicly display regarding
their Tivo or how they use it.

I rest my case.

why are they so desperate? Keep in mind that you are asking this in
a forum for an electronic/computer like gizmo. It's going to be
mostly tech-heads that reside in and get heard in such a forum. So
the popular opinion on any subject is going to be heavily skewed
toward the tech-head view.
The vast majority of Tivo users have never even heard of
alt.video.ptv.tivo and see little or no reason to ever visit tivo.com
and they also find recording things at basic quality to be perfectly
acceptable on their non-upgraded Tivos. They have no vanity to
publicly display regarding their Tivo or how they use it.

I agree 100%. Personally, the "network it" argument always seems like the
answer to a question that 98% of owners have never even asked.

That's precisely what most non-TiVo users say about TiVo.

My question is, why are you two so bent out of shape by those of us who
consider the networking features to be important? I use telnet and ftp
fairly regularly, and I use TiVoWeb and tyStudio almost constantly. Because
of its features and support, I am thinking about switching to TyShow.
Exactly what about my desire and that of those like me to make use of these
tools is bothering you?

I don't see how the answer to the question "how many?" would even be
related to much less the reason for for the question "why?" And I don't
believe

*YOU* are the one who made the following statement:

Why so many people are so desperate to use a broadband connection to
download program data that takes less than ten minutes a day on a phone
line is beyond me.

If you don't see it as related, why did you bring it up?

that there really are a whole lot of people anxious to get their Tivos
connected to a network. Of the Tivo owners I know, not one of them has

If you don't belive there are a lot of people wanting to do it, why did
you say there are so many who are desperate to do so?

networked their Tivo and not one of them has any plans too do so. People

You just said the question of "how many?" is not related to the question
"why?", yet once again you bring it up. Let me get this straight. You are
angry becasue so many people want to do it and it is invalid for them to
want to do it because no one wants to do it? If no one wants to do it, then
what's your question?

buy these "toys" because the Jones' have one, they plug them in and very
quickly forget anything that they briefly skimmed over in the manual, so
they are generally clueless as to using it to it's fullest potential.
They learn how to record stuff by trial and error and that's good enough
for them.

That's fine for them. Many people never even bothered to set the time
on their VCRs. If others of us wish to make the fullest use of our
belongings, it's not up to you to criticise that desire. Do you really
belive becasue many people are like that, we all have to be?

The question of, "why?", we have already answered. The question of
"How many" can be abswered by contacting TiVo and asking how many HMO
options have been sold and contacting 9th Tee and asking how many of the
various incarnations of Ethernet card have been sold, and add the two
together. I'm not going to do it, becaue I don't care. My reasons for
networking my TiVo are valid no matter how many or how few other people have
done it.

Oh, and just for the record, how many TiVo owners do you know, and how
many are even aware their TiVos can be networked, and how many are aware of
the features of TiVoWeb, tyStudio / TyShow, ftp, telnet, and HMO?

connected to a network. Of the Tivo owners I know, not one of them has
networked their Tivo and not one of them has any plans too do so. People

Scott Alfter wrote:
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In article ,
tooloud wrote:
Leslie A Rhorer wrote:
Because some of us still own the first model Tivo ever
produced...the 14-hour one, which isn't easily networked. By
"isn't easily
networked", I

It's no more difficult than any TiVo. It's easier in some
respects than the newest ones.

It is? You're telling me that I can network my Series 1 Tivo as
easily as a Series 2 with a USB port on the back?

1) Purchase a TurboNet card.
2) Unplug and open your TiVo.
3) Attach the TurboNet to the edge connector at the front of the
TiVo's motherboard (it only fits one way, so you can't screw it up).
4) Feed a network cable through a convenient hole in the back of the
case to the RJ-45 connector on the TurboNet.
5) Close your TiVo.
6) Reboot and set your dialing prefix to (IIRC) ,#401 (or whatever it
is).

That's no more difficult than any Tivo?

Personally, including ordering the card, that sounds like a big enough pain
in the ass that I never bothered, even when my modem fried. I dug up a 28.8
external modem from work and had it working the same day this "hack" was
discovered, which was also conveniently the day before I ran out of program
info.

And I didn't even have to remember where I left that Torx screwdriver I
purchased two years ago simply for the purpose of opening my Tivo.

snip

--
tooloud
Remove nothing to reply...

Leslie A Rhorer wrote:
"tooloud" wrote in message
...
Leslie A Rhorer wrote:
Because some of us still own the first model Tivo ever
produced...the 14-hour one, which isn't easily networked. By
"isn't easily networked", I

It's no more difficult than any TiVo. It's easier in some
respects than the newest ones.

It is? You're telling me that I can network my Series 1 Tivo as
easily as a Series 2 with a USB port on the back?

Yes. The Series 2 requires a USB to Ethernet bridge, which has
problems and pitfals of its own, and it is only USB 1.0 at ths time.

Does the speed really matter a whole lot in this case?

The Series I has the code for the Ethernet solution built in to the
software. If you consider opening and closing the unit to be
"difficult", then fitting the Series I with a network solution might
be argued to be the more difficult task.

Honestly? Yes, I do consider opening and closing the unit to be difficult.
Keep in mind that the unit has to be removed from its rack and a card only
available on the web needs to be purchased and installed. It would be a bona
fide PITA for an awful lot of people.

Otherwise, it is the
simpler task, since all one must needs do is install the TurboNet
card, versus tryiung to get a networked USB connection to work. From
there on it is identical.

mean that some of us don't care to buy additional hardware and
crack open the case on a box that functions perfectly fine over
the phone line. Why so

"Perfectly fine" is definitely a subjective and specific
assessment. With my SBC phone lines, 2/3 or more of the attempts
failed. With teenages around the house, many more failed. What's
more, only the phone update worked at all. Telnet, FTP, tyServer,
and TiVoWeb all require networking.

While "perfectly fine" may be subjective, I'd be interested to hear
how many "normal" users, i.e. "users that don't regularly consult a
newsgroup",

I don't regularly consult a newsgroup. I don't even regularly
read a news group.

actually receive their program info via any means other than the
built-in modem. I'll bet it's pretty small.

You bet wrong. I don't know what fraction of users have
DirecTiVo, but I know it is not "pretty small".

Eh, correct on a technicality. Let me rephrase: what fraction of users have
installed a method of communicating directly with Tivo or DirecTV via a
means other than the built-in modem?

snip

--
tooloud
Remove nothing to reply...

Leslie A Rhorer wrote:

snip

My question is, why are you two so bent out of shape by those of
us who consider the networking features to be important? I use
telnet and ftp fairly regularly, and I use TiVoWeb and tyStudio
almost constantly. Because of its features and support, I am
thinking about switching to TyShow. Exactly what about my desire and
that of those like me to make use of these tools is bothering you?

It has nothing to do with your desires and everything to do with someone
telling the OP, a guy with an interesting method of dial-up, that he's
essentially wasting his time and that it's easier to network it.

Read the original post; it's about someone figuring out a new dial-up method
and the thread immediately turned into an ad for networking the Tivo,
something most users have not done.

It would be more accurate for me to ask you guys why you're so insistent
that networking a Tivo is the best way to do things; that's simply what I've
been doing.

--
tooloud
Remove nothing to reply...

Leslie A Rhorer wrote:
I don't see how the answer to the question "how many?" would even be
related to much less the reason for for the question "why?" And I
don't believe

*YOU* are the one who made the following statement:

No, Kenny *didn't* make the following statement. If you'd quote properly,
you'd be able to see that.

Why so many people are so desperate to use a broadband connection
to download program data that takes less than ten minutes a day
on a phone line is beyond me.

snip

--
tooloud
Remove nothing to reply...

Kenny wrote:

snip

I don't see how the answer to the question "how many?" would even be
related to much less the reason for for the question "why?" And I
don't believe that there really are a whole lot of people anxious to
get their Tivos connected to a network. Of the Tivo owners I know,
not one of them has networked their Tivo and not one of them has any
plans too do so. People buy these "toys" because the Jones' have
one, they plug them in and very quickly forget anything that they
briefly skimmed over in the manual, so they are generally clueless as
to using it to it's fullest potential. They learn how to record
stuff by trial and error and that's good enough for them.

Exactly my sentiments, which is exactly why a user posting a method of
connecting via modem and 800 number doesn't deserve to be overrun by people
simply telling him to network the machine.

Most people don't want to network the machine.

--
tooloud
Remove nothing to reply...

"tooloud" wrote in message
...

actually receive their program info via any means other than the
built-in modem. I'll bet it's pretty small.

You bet wrong. I don't know what fraction of users have
DirecTiVo, but I know it is not "pretty small".

Eh, correct on a technicality. Let me rephrase: what fraction of users
have installed a method of communicating directly with Tivo or DirecTV via
a means other than the built-in modem?

I'd ask it this way - What fraction of users have installed a method of
communicating directly with Tivo or DirecTV via a means other than the
out-of-the-box built-in factory enabled method of comminicating?

"Leslie A Rhorer" wrote in message
...
I don't see how the answer to the question "how many?" would even be
related to much less the reason for for the question "why?" And I don't
believe

*YOU* are the one who made the following statement:

Why so many people are so desperate to use a broadband connection to
download program data that takes less than ten minutes a day on a
phone line is beyond me.

If you don't see it as related, why did you bring it up?

I did NOT say that. Too Loud said that.




that there really are a whole lot of people anxious to get their Tivos
connected to a network. Of the Tivo owners I know, not one of them has

If you don't belive there are a lot of people wanting to do it, why did
you say there are so many who are desperate to do so?


Why did so many people vote for Nader?
A raw number can be a lot but still be a low number when put into a the
proper context. If even 5 new people should up in this group every couple
of days looking to network their Tivos that would be percieved as a lot by
anyone. But when you look at the number of actual Tivo owners vs. the new
'want to network' people it the percieved greatness of the number is greatly
diminished.



networked their Tivo and not one of them has any plans too do so. People

You just said the question of "how many?" is not related to the
question "why?", yet once again you bring it up. Let me get this
straight. You are angry becasue

I'm not angry about anything Tivo related.

so many people want to do it and it is invalid for them to want to do it
because no one wants to do it? If no one wants to do it, then what's your
question?


The fact that I do not see any greatness in networking Tivos and don't
personally know anyone who does want to do it is a whole lot different than
that nonsense that you just pulled out of your ass.


buy these "toys" because the Jones' have one, they plug them in and very
quickly forget anything that they briefly skimmed over in the manual, so
they are generally clueless as to using it to it's fullest potential.
They learn how to record stuff by trial and error and that's good enough
for them.

That's fine for them. Many people never even bothered to set the time
on their VCRs. If others of us wish to make the fullest use of our
belongings, it's not up to you to criticise that desire. Do you really
belive becasue many people are like that, we all have to be?


Do you enjoy reaching up your ass to get this information?

How is my opinion on believing that most people are rather apathetic
regarding their Tivo a criticism of anyone who wants to use there Tivo to
it's fullest? And just why do you believe that because I think that most
people are a certain way that I must think that everyone should be the same?




My reasons for networking my TiVo are valid no matter how many or how few
other people have done it.

BFD

"Leslie A Rhorer" wrote in message
...

Oh, and just for the record, how many TiVo owners do you know, and how
many are even aware their TiVos can be networked, and how many are aware
of the features of TiVoWeb, tyStudio / TyShow, ftp, telnet, and HMO?


Everyone I know that has a Tivo is aware of the networking option because I
have talked about it with them. Some knew about it before i brought it up
and some didn't. Had I not talked to them about it, I wouldn't be able to
say that they have no plans to network. I doubt any of them know anything
about TiVoWeb, tyStudio / TyShow, ftp, telnet and some are aware of the
Home Media Feature. They may give you an orgasm, but most people don't give
a rats ass because their Tivos do what they need them to do.

The actual number of people I know with Tivo is statistically useless and
only has limited diversity. I was merely stating my personal experience
with other Tivo owners.

"Leslie A Rhorer" wrote in message
...

"Kenny" wrote in message
...

"tooloud" wrote in message
...

Why so many people are so desperate to use a broadband connection to
download program data that takes less than ten minutes a day on a phone
line is beyond me.


Actually it's about a two minute phone call that occurs mostly in the wee
hours of the night.

Which is when the teenagers do most of their talking, and when the wet
line problem was often worst. This is not really the point, however. The
point is, the daily call is the least important reason to network one's
TiVo. There are a number of important featires made available by
networking one's TiVo. Once networked, sending the daily call via
broadband is trivial, so there is no point in not doing it. The
disadvantage of the dialup may be slight, but why live with a even a small
disadvantage and inconvenience when it's totally unnecessary?

I have never been disadvantaged or inconvenienced by my Tivo's phone calls.
Not having features that i don't want or need is not a disadvantage.




why are they so desperate?

I don't know that anyone is desperate. The networked TiVo offers a
great many more advantages than one which is not networked, and networking
them is easy.

Keep in mind that you are asking this in a forum for an
electronic/computer like gizmo. It's going to be mostly tech-heads that
reside in and get heard in such a forum. So the popular opinion on any
subject is going to be heavily skewed toward the tech-head view.

Which makes your question even less valid.




People in this forum are the
sort who are more likely to take advantage of the broad range of features
offered by networking, whihc is why many of them want to network their
TiVo.

The vast majority of Tivo users have never even heard of
alt.video.ptv.tivo

So what? Neither had I a week ago when I decided to peek in on a TiVo
newsgroup to see what the latest tech blurb was. It doesn't matte if the
number of people who want to network their TiVo is 1 or 1,000,000. It's
their right to do so for whatever reasons they want.

You say that as if I've been saying that networking is the devil's work and
should never be attempted.




and see little or no reason to ever visit tivo.com and they also find
recording things at basic quality to be perfectly acceptable on their

Again, so what? No one is forcing anyone to network their TiVo or
suggesting anyone ever should be so forced. You act as if it is a
personal affront to you that anyone would wish to take more than average
advantage of the advanced technical features of a personal device, and
blithely ignore the existence of those features when you are told what
they are, then criticize those who do wish to avail themselves of such
features. What's your problem?

YOU are the one taking everthing personally. I give my opinion and you've
been pretty much twisting into things it's not.
My only real point was that while most of you tech-minded people think that
you are only doing what everyone else is doing, you're wrong becuase
relatively few people are doing it.



non-upgraded Tivos. They have no vanity to publicly display regarding
their Tivo or how they use it.

I rest my case.

What case?

Why are you so offended by the fact that most people are not interested in
networking their Tivo?