# New Netgear router allows attached USB drive to expand TiVo storage



## drebbe (Apr 11, 2012)

http://www.netgear.com/home/products/wirelessrouters/high-performance/WNDR4300.aspx#one

Thought this might be of interest. Hadn't seen this offered in a router before, but I'm new to TiVo so I might be wrong.


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## lillevig (Dec 7, 2010)

I wonder if it is just a visible storage unit for TIvo recordings like it appears to be for other media stuff. In other words, maybe you can just use it to hold your Tivo "Videos" folder instead of having it stored on your PC. Unless it has SW built in (like Tivo Desktop) that somehow allows you to make back and forth transfers like you can with another Tivo or with your PC. I kind of doubt the latter.


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## poppagene (Dec 29, 2001)

Earlier thread:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=481538

This feature is also available on the WNDR3800


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## windracer (Jan 3, 2003)

Yeah, there's no way this can be used to expand your TiVo's available space for recordings (i.e., like the eSATA expanders do). The only thing I can see in the data sheet is the DLNA that might allow you to transfer recordings from the USB hard drive to your TiVo for playback.

This was in the press release, which doesn't help clarify it either:



> The router also offers expanded TiVo® Storage via a connected USB drive for saving your favorite programs and NETGEAR ReadyShare Printer for sharing USB printers on the network.


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## sbourgeo (Nov 10, 2000)

The Netgear router USB-attached drives are notoriously slow, so this would likely be more along the lines of storage for archiving or playing shows via DLNA like their ReadyNAS line.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

poppagene said:


> Earlier thread:
> 
> http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=481538
> 
> This feature is also available on the WNDR3800


And on the WNDR3700 also with the newest firmware, the TiVo logo is used in the USB drive setup, I turned it on once and the ready share showed up like other TiVos do in the now playing list. I never connected a drive to routers USB port so i never tested out how the system worked.


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## nrc (Nov 17, 1999)

This works the same as their TiVo sharing feature for their ReadyNAS units. You can transfer non-copy protected content to and from the shared drive just as you can with another TiVo. If it has the latest version of the feature it will automatically archive shows that are marked "Keep Until I Delete". It's a nice feature but it's of limited use for folks with copy protected channels.


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## magnus (Nov 12, 2004)

nrc said:


> This works the same as their TiVo sharing feature for their ReadyNAS units. You can transfer non-copy protected content to and from the shared drive just as you can with another TiVo. If it has the latest version of the feature it will automatically archive shows that are marked "Keep Until I Delete". It's a nice feature but it's of limited use for folks with copy protected channels.


It's a nice enough feature if you can't get to a show until after the season but still want to watch it. It would be nice to be able to set some sort of rule to tell it to auto download the episodes as they get on your TiVo in the first place.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

magnus said:


> It's a nice enough feature if you can't get to a show until after the season but still want to watch it. It would be nice to be able to set some sort of rule to tell it to auto download the episodes as they get on your TiVo in the first place.


TiVo Desktop has an "AutoTransfer this Series" button that should do what you're talking about.


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## CuriousMark (Jan 13, 2005)

magnus said:


> It's a nice enough feature if you can't get to a show until after the season but still want to watch it. It would be nice to be able to set some sort of rule to tell it to auto download the episodes as they get on your TiVo in the first place.


I may be wrong, but I think I read here at TCF that the readynas software can be set to transfer shows marked KUID. Then you can verify they were transferred and delete them manually from the TiVo. It sounds a bit kludgy, but should get the job done if you are willing do the housekeeping.


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## mwysocki (Nov 25, 2002)

I have this setup on my WNDR3700 and unless you put MPEG-2 or TIVO file on it the DVR will not see them.

It will allow you to off load some shows but to play them back you need to transfer them just as if it was the old days when you would have to transfer shows from one DVR to the other to watch them.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Interesting, but it seems like it would be easier to just add a DVR Expander to the TiVo itself.

Dan


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

Dan203 said:


> Interesting, but it seems like it would be easier to just add a DVR Expander to the TiVo itself.
> 
> Dan


Yeah, but this thing can crash without taking the shows on the TiVo itself with it.

The DVR expander was a great idea, right up to the point where they decided that shows had to scattered across both drives.


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## swerver (May 18, 2012)

Has anyone used one of these with pytivo or something like it? It would be nice to be able to add content in non-tivo supported formats (mkv) and still be able to use them on the tivo. I could do this now with a pc, I suppose, but it would be more elegant on a NAS, I think. Don't really wanna custom build a NAS or do WHS either.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

The NAS would need some serious hardware to do the transcoding pyTiVo does. I tried installing something similar to pyTiVo on a NAS years ago and it could only transcode SD Xvid files at about 2fps. Which meant that a 29.97fps 1 hour recording took about 15 hours to transfer. I'm sure NAS hardware has improved some since then but I doubt it's improved enough to do real time transcoding.

Dan


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

nrc said:


> This works the same as their TiVo sharing feature for their ReadyNAS units. You can transfer non-copy protected content to and from the shared drive just as you can with another TiVo. If it has the latest version of the feature it will automatically archive shows that are marked "Keep Until I Delete". It's a nice feature but it's of limited use for folks with copy protected channels.


So you mean with ANOTHER computer, right?

Personally, I'd like one of these that worked computer-less.. (or to be honest, was essentially a single-use computer that hopefully was turn-offable and/or VERY low power).

Yes, I like the idea off off-Tivo storage because I've had drives go bad (and heck, the drive AND the Tivo went bad in one case). Virtually all of my stuff is transferrable, so getting it onto ANOTHER drive would be great.. and in fact I do that manually with kmttg to an external drive, but having something that I could just add drives to that would just work would be great..

Those NASes are really expensive though.


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## swarto112 (Sep 10, 2012)

anyone used a vm to host a NAS? Ive got a server and have a couple win 7vms on it tht i use for laying around. after reading this string it opped in my head that a NAS maybe useful hosted off a vm.


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## P42 (Jan 7, 2003)

A Tivo is going to know that the "thing" at the other end of the IP session is a VM or a physical piece of hardware.


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