DirecTiVo w/ no landline?

Sorry guys if this is in a FAQ somewhere, but I can't seem to find it.

I'm considering getting DirecTV w/ a DVR receiver as it seems to be an
excellent deal as compared to my local Cox service (which I have for high
speed internet, $39.99/mo, & *very* basic service, $11/mo). Cox wants
~$80/mo EXTRA to upgrade me to digital service w/ a DVR, which is robbery.

DirecTV w/ TiVo looks attractive, but I have no home landline. The reps are
saying that w/ the regular Directv receiver I would only lose the ability to
order Pay per view (which I can do without, and I believe I could order at
their website if I really wanted to), and accessibility to some regional
sports channels. But they say the landline is absolutely necessary for the
DirecTiVo box. So my questions a

- Does the DirecTiVo box really require a landline to receive it's
programming? Can't it get it from the satellite feed? I realize I might
need to connect it to a landline when I initially set it up, but I can do
that at my office if need be. I've received some information from people in
other forums that the landline is only necessary for pay per view now.

- If it does absolutely require a non-satellite connection to receive
programming, I assume the Monte hack would allow me to activate the USB
ports and redirect the calls to my broadband connection? How upset would
DirecTV be if I did this? I'm not stealing any programming or anything
illegal.

It kills me that the people most likely to adopt the newest technology like
DVR's and HD (and now HD DVR's!), are also the ones most likely to go cell
phone only, and thus get disqualified from using the service!

Randy S.

It kills me that the people most likely to adopt the newest technology
like
DVR's and HD (and now HD DVR's!), are also the ones most likely to go cell
phone only, and thus get disqualified from using the service!

Randy S.


I totally agree. I want to drop our land line but this is keeping me tied
to it for now. I hope that this changes soon. I would love to find out the
answer to this myself.

Alan in Boise

DirecTV w/ TiVo looks attractive, but I have no home landline.

Are you using cell phones or VOIP?

Has anyone yet tried using a Tivo (SA or DT) with a VOIP analog adapter?

It kills me that the people most likely to adopt the newest technology
like
DVR's and HD (and now HD DVR's!), are also the ones most likely to go cell
phone only, and thus get disqualified from using the service!

Well, it's not disqualified so much as not yet offering a work-around.

-Bill Kearney

At Sat, 06 Nov 2004 18:05:44 GMT, "Randy S." reached
down, grabbed what he thought was the keyboard and started stroking in
alt.video.ptv.tivo:


DirecTV w/ TiVo looks attractive, but I have no home landline. The reps
are saying that w/ the regular Directv receiver I would only lose the
ability to order Pay per view (which I can do without, and I believe I
could order at their website if I really wanted to), and accessibility
to some regional sports channels. But they say the landline is
absolutely necessary for the DirecTiVo box. So my questions a


The landline is not necessary at all ... I purchased a DirecTiVo a year ago
and moved the receiver it replaced to a location not accessible to a land
line. Meanwhile, the only connection to my DirecTiVo is within my VPN
using a USB-ethernet connector. There is a tbird received and it is the
only one connected to a land line.

I subscribe to NFL Sunday Ticket, which also had that "must be connected"
requirement, and I continue to get it on all three receivers.

Programming comes from the satellite, not the land line ... meanwhile, I
put a few hacks into my DirecTiVo to dial out through the VPN.


HTH


================================================== ===============
Bob Ashley - UNIX Geek - Centreville, VA
usenet (at) house (dash) bowlrz (dot) org


Are you auto-extracting e-mail addresses? Then and
should be of special interest.

FLAMES /dev/null
================================================== ===============

DirecTV w/ TiVo looks attractive, but I have no home landline. The reps
are saying that w/ the regular Directv receiver I would only lose the
ability to order Pay per view (which I can do without, and I believe I
could order at their website if I really wanted to), and accessibility
to some regional sports channels. But they say the landline is
absolutely necessary for the DirecTiVo box. So my questions a


The landline is not necessary at all ... I purchased a DirecTiVo a year
ago
and moved the receiver it replaced to a location not accessible to a land
line. Meanwhile, the only connection to my DirecTiVo is within my VPN
using a USB-ethernet connector. There is a tbird received and it is the
only one connected to a land line.

I subscribe to NFL Sunday Ticket, which also had that "must be connected"
requirement, and I continue to get it on all three receivers.

Programming comes from the satellite, not the land line ... meanwhile, I
put a few hacks into my DirecTiVo to dial out through the VPN.


HTH

Yeah, Bob, you are now the 2nd person to say that. Of course Directv flatly
refutes that and states that I can't even *order* the service unless I have
a landline. I completely believe you, however I'm a little too nervous to
order the service with no money-back guarantee option if it doesn't work for
me.

The hacks that you put in to dial out through the VPN, is that strictly for
ordering pay-per-view? If programming comes through the satellite, what
else do you need the internet connection for?

Thanks a lot!

Randy S.

I have Vonage VOIP service and a Series I TiVo, and I can tell you it
definitely does NOT work well with VOIP, at least not with the Cisco ATA
186. Vonage very courteously offered some suggestions which helped a bit,
but I was never able to reliably get it to work, which I why I went with an
Ethernet card from 9th Tee and bypassed the modem altogether. Now all my
updates are directly via IP over broadband.

At this time, the Ethernet hacks are only available for Series I TiVo
units (both SA and DirecTiVo).

*WARNING* Opening your TiVo unit will void its warranty, and if you are
not comfortable with board level electronics, you may not want to consider
this option. You risk winding up with a pile of junk where a TiVo used to
sit, and you could injure yourself. Those of us who can recite the
difference between ECL, CMOS, and TTL in our sleep and are more accustomed
to the smell of a soldering iron than a coffee pot have no worries on this
account.

Also, to answer the original poster's question, the DirecTiVo units get
their channel guides directly off satellite. My sister's DirecTiVo's modem
was fried by a lightning storm over a year ago, and the guide is working
fine. The TiVo Messages folder spits out a warning about making a daily
call every day, but the guide is updated.

"wkearney99" wrote in message
...
DirecTV w/ TiVo looks attractive, but I have no home landline.

Are you using cell phones or VOIP?

Has anyone yet tried using a Tivo (SA or DT) with a VOIP analog adapter?

It kills me that the people most likely to adopt the newest technology
like
DVR's and HD (and now HD DVR's!), are also the ones most likely to go
cell
phone only, and thus get disqualified from using the service!

Well, it's not disqualified so much as not yet offering a work-around.

-Bill Kearney

Well, for one thing, Pay Per View is managed over the modem link. Also,
the nag about making the daily call will pop up every day unless the call is
successful. Software updates may not be sent over satellite, but I don't
know for certain. There may be other features - like specific content -
which is delivered only over the daily call.

"Randy S." wrote in message
...
DirecTV w/ TiVo looks attractive, but I have no home landline. The
reps
are saying that w/ the regular Directv receiver I would only lose the
ability to order Pay per view (which I can do without, and I believe I
could order at their website if I really wanted to), and accessibility
to some regional sports channels. But they say the landline is
absolutely necessary for the DirecTiVo box. So my questions a


The landline is not necessary at all ... I purchased a DirecTiVo a year
ago
and moved the receiver it replaced to a location not accessible to a land
line. Meanwhile, the only connection to my DirecTiVo is within my VPN
using a USB-ethernet connector. There is a tbird received and it is the
only one connected to a land line.

I subscribe to NFL Sunday Ticket, which also had that "must be connected"
requirement, and I continue to get it on all three receivers.

Programming comes from the satellite, not the land line ... meanwhile, I
put a few hacks into my DirecTiVo to dial out through the VPN.


HTH

Yeah, Bob, you are now the 2nd person to say that. Of course Directv
flatly
refutes that and states that I can't even *order* the service unless I
have
a landline. I completely believe you, however I'm a little too nervous to
order the service with no money-back guarantee option if it doesn't work
for
me.

The hacks that you put in to dial out through the VPN, is that strictly
for
ordering pay-per-view? If programming comes through the satellite, what
else do you need the internet connection for?

Thanks a lot!

Randy S.

I have Vonage VOIP service and a Series I TiVo, and I can tell you it
definitely does NOT work well with VOIP, at least not with the Cisco ATA
186.

Very good info, thanks, at least I know not to try going that route!

At this time, the Ethernet hacks are only available for Series I TiVo
units (both SA and DirecTiVo).

I also was under a different impression here, but I must not have read
closely enough, so that's another stopper. Damn!

*WARNING* Opening your TiVo unit will void its warranty, and if you
are
not comfortable with board level electronics, you may not want to consider
this option. You risk winding up with a pile of junk where a TiVo used to
sit, and you could injure yourself. Those of us who can recite the
difference between ECL, CMOS, and TTL in our sleep and are more accustomed
to the smell of a soldering iron than a coffee pot have no worries on this
account.

Well, CMOS and TTL are burned into my synapses, but I must confess ECL is
not an everyday term for me. I don't have to solder much anymore, but I
*can* put a computer together with my eyes closed (albeit slowly w/ several
cut fingers! ;-).

Also, to answer the original poster's question, the DirecTiVo units
get
their channel guides directly off satellite. My sister's DirecTiVo's
modem
was fried by a lightning storm over a year ago, and the guide is working
fine. The TiVo Messages folder spits out a warning about making a daily
call every day, but the guide is updated.

Well, it definitely sounds like Directv's throwing some incorrect info
around. Thanks for the good Info.

Randy S.

"Randy S." wrote in message
...
I have Vonage VOIP service and a Series I TiVo, and I can tell you it
definitely does NOT work well with VOIP, at least not with the Cisco ATA
186.

Very good info, thanks, at least I know not to try going that route!

Your mileage may vary. I did get it to work for a while, but I wasn't
able to get it to work permanently. On the other hand, once I found out
about the TurboNet card, I didn't bother to try further.

At this time, the Ethernet hacks are only available for Series I TiVo
units (both SA and DirecTiVo).

I also was under a different impression here, but I must not have read
closely enough, so that's another stopper. Damn!

There are outboard USB to Ethernet kludges for Series II units, but no
native Ethernet solution. I was unaware any of the Series II units were USB
2.0 compatible, but I was just told the Series II units's limitation is in
software, which is supposed to be rectified. I also just found out there is
one unit (a Toshiba Media Server - not a regular TiVo) which currently
handles USB 2.0.

*WARNING* Opening your TiVo unit will void its warranty, and if you
are
not comfortable with board level electronics, you may not want to
consider
this option. You risk winding up with a pile of junk where a TiVo used
to
sit, and you could injure yourself. Those of us who can recite the
difference between ECL, CMOS, and TTL in our sleep and are more
accustomed
to the smell of a soldering iron than a coffee pot have no worries on
this
account.

Well, CMOS and TTL are burned into my synapses, but I must confess ECL is
not an everyday term for me. I don't have to solder much anymore, but I

Emitter Coupled Logic. Extremely fast and not quite as power hungry as
TTL.

*can* put a computer together with my eyes closed (albeit slowly w/
several
cut fingers! ;-).

You won't have a problem hacking the TiVo.

Also, to answer the original poster's question, the DirecTiVo units
get
their channel guides directly off satellite. My sister's DirecTiVo's
modem
was fried by a lightning storm over a year ago, and the guide is working
fine. The TiVo Messages folder spits out a warning about making a daily
call every day, but the guide is updated.

Well, it definitely sounds like Directv's throwing some incorrect info
around. Thanks for the good Info.

I'm shocked. cough

At Wed, 10 Nov 2004 02:44:15 GMT, "Randy S." reached
down, grabbed what he thought was the keyboard and started stroking in
alt.video.ptv.tivo:

The landline is not necessary at all ... I purchased a DirecTiVo a year
ago and moved the receiver it replaced to a location not accessible to a
land line. Meanwhile, the only connection to my DirecTiVo is within my
VPN using a USB-ethernet connector. There is a tbird received and it
is the only one connected to a land line.

I subscribe to NFL Sunday Ticket, which also had that "must be
connected" requirement, and I continue to get it on all three
receivers.

Programming comes from the satellite, not the land line ... meanwhile,
I put a few hacks into my DirecTiVo to dial out through the VPN.

Yeah, Bob, you are now the 2nd person to say that. Of course Directv
flatly refutes that and states that I can't even *order* the service
unless I have a landline. I completely believe you, however I'm a
little too nervous to order the service with no money-back guarantee
option if it doesn't work for me.

The hacks that you put in to dial out through the VPN, is that strictly
for ordering pay-per-view? If programming comes through the satellite,
what else do you need the internet connection for?


The hacks also include browser capability so I can do things like undelete
shows as well as delete those "Teleworld Paid Progamming" items before they
are ever recorded.

Actually, I have yet to order a PPV movie ... I'm using Sunday Ticket as my
measuring stick.


my 0.02


================================================== ===============
Bob Ashley - UNIX Geek - Centreville, VA
usenet (at) house (dash) bowlrz (dot) org


Are you auto-extracting e-mail addresses? Then and
should be of special interest.

FLAMES /dev/null
================================================== ===============