Like my colleague Cisco, I've had a little misfortune lately that required a bunch of bedrest. While nursing a sprained ankle, I got to catch up on a bunch of programs I've recorded on my TiVo.
I recently moved, and while we love the new house, I had a problem with my first-gen TiVo: the phone wall jack was nowhere near the TV. In my old apartment, it was simple: I just ran a phone cord around the room along the floor, and into the TiVo for its weekly updates. I tacked the cord to the wall, so it wasn't stepped on or run over with the vaccuum cleaner. In the new house, there are two walk-in closet doors and the bathroom door between the TV and the wall phone jack. And since my wife has decorated our bedroom in a minimalist style, I couldn't run an "ugly" 80 foot cord along the wall and over the door thresholds. I've managed by pulling out a spooled phone cord once a week to do the update manually.
About a month ago, I was rooting around in our test equipment vault, and I found the HWN AirWay 516 starter kit, with a cordless "DataJack". The system's cordless phone worked as advertised, but when I hooked the DataJack up to my TiVo, it wouldn't call out. It recognized the dial tone, dialed out, but couldn't connect. So I had a $700 cordless phone on my hands. The AirWay made its way back to the vault the next day.
Enter the DUALjack (or Du@ljack). Luckily, a week before my mishap, I connected a DUALjack wireless phone extender to my TiVo. On the DUALjack, there's a dual mode switch for connecting a modem/fax/DVR or connecting an analog phone. I selected the modem/fax/DVR setting and plugged it in. It worked, lickety-split and my TiVo happily auto-updated itself, so I could catch up on Mythbusters, Good Eats, and the other shows I've recorded.
The DUALjack works on the 2.4GHz frequencies, which are also used by 802.11 b/g, but I didn't have any trouble using my home's Wi-Fi network while my TiVo was phoning home base.
The DUALjack goes for about $90, which may seem a bit steep, but it is cheaper and more convenient than installing a new hardwired phone jack in the room.
Stumble
Digg
del.icio.us
Slashdot
October 5, 2006 6:53 PM
I used something similar about 5 years ago with a Philips S1. It might have been an RCA and/or something i picked up at Radio Shack. ~$60 I think. If you have a network connection anywhere near your TiVo (or have an extra wireless bridge laying around), you could do a little hacking and add a network card: http://www.9thtee.com/turbonet.htm Though with Series2 TiVo hardware as cheap as zero dollars, you should probably just upgrade and get a wireless USB adapter. There's plenty of advertising TiVo, Inc wants to serve you that your S1 isn't capable of receiving. ;)
October 5, 2006 10:18 PM
Yeah, I've thought about installing a Turbonet, since I did the two drive upgrade years ago on my S1. It'd have to be to a wireless bridge though, I haven't run ethernet through the house (yet). About the only thing that's stopping me from going S2 is the lifetime service on the S1 that paid for itself back in 2002-2003. Oh, and the saved programming on it that dates back to 2001. Going to S3 sounds good, especially with the "VIP transfer", but I just don't have an extra $1k to spare these days. :( Looking at my Cablevision bill this month, I may just return their SA8300HD and keep my TiVo and go FIOS/FIOSTV. I was just informed it's available in my area. But that's a post for another time.