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  • #1

    Wired vs. wireless

    (TiVo model 649080) There seem to be essentially 3 ways to connect to a broadband network: wired connection to the ethernet port, 802.11b adapter through USB, or 802.11g adapter through USB (I'm excluding wired-to-USB since there's an ethernet port right on the TiVo).

    Looking at TiVo's page, there are a few .11g adapters that are approved, though only their own supports anything strong than WEP encryption.
    The question is, is there any benefit to the higher speed of wired over wireless? If I decide to go wireless and avoid punching another hole in the wall (coax already has one), will I see any real benefit of 11g over 11b? A wireless adapter isn't all that expensive, but paying for wireless when I can punch a (free) hole is a consideration.

    I only have one TiVo in the house (have a SA HD box from the cable company in the other room). The TiVo (bedroom) is against a wall that backs onto the office where the router is. So I can connect by wired (drill hole in wall).

    Thanks!
    =aw
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  • #2
    The other option, that you have missed, is powerline adapters, see:

    Ethernet through power lines for TiVo

    Direct hard-wire is fastest. The powerlines are second, and a TiVo G wireless adapter is third. I would strongly recommend AGAINST any wireless adapter other than the TiVo-branded adapter. The TiVo adapter is faster and much more reliably compatible.

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    • #3
      Thanks for the advice, I did forget the powerline option. What I'm wondering is whether the extra speed of wired will be of benefit (when we were in FL with this unit, I found even dial-up wasn't really all that bad since it was in the background). With only one TiVo in the house, I'm not going to transfer between units, and the one time I tried converting to my PC, it took 26min of continuous grinding away to convert a 30min show, so I'm not likely to do that often. When it's just computers (nothing to do with TiVo), there are times when wired's faster speed is significant, e.g. pushing massive files to the networked printer, but for day-to-day use, the wireless adapter isn't the bottleneck. I'm wondering if the same is true here, where even .11b (though I take your point about the TiVo .11g adapter) would be fast enough for downloading updates and keep the phone line free.

      Wired is cheaper, wireless less intrusive in our case. I don't mind spending the money on a TiVo adapter (thanks for the advice on that) but again if the GF is happy drilling a hole in the wall, who am I to argue?

      =aw

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      • #4
        If all you are doing is connecting to get guide data, then it doesn't matter. However, once you are online, you can get all sorts of content from the Internet, and that's when you might be happier with a faster connection.

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        • #5
          Thanks Jeff, that's a good point. Most of the online stuff seems to be unavailable in Canada (not surprised) though instead of disabling the menus and messages, they just don't do anything.

          I should update my profile.

          I thought that moving stuff around the LAN would make a difference, though unless it's in real time even transferring shows between TiVos (which I can't do now but might some day) is probably fast enough with wireless.


          =aw

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