# Port Forwarding Nightmare!



## Chawni (Jul 7, 2015)

I have my Tivo Roamio OTA connected thru "wired" ethernet. It will NOT connect with the "tivo service" which means I cant connect to the mini.
The message is telling me "Make sure your firewall is not set to block UDP ports 
37 or 123 or TCP ports 37,80,443,5005,5222,5223,7287"
I dont have my firewall blocking anything. I called Tivo customer service and was told I need to set up port forwarding on my router. WHAT???? I have all kinds of devices running in my house including a VPN phone and NONE of them has ever required that I set up port forwarding in my router. Does anyone know how to do this? I attempted to do this with my ATT ADSL Netgear router and I kept getting error messages as in Im not doing it right. My router is Netgear B90-755025-15.
Does anyone have any advice?


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

I assume your TiVo reported back that those ports tested OK?


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

That's not true. Those ports only need to be available inside your network so the TiVo and Mini can find one another. As long as you don't use an internal firewall, or have a router or access point that blocks those ports or fails to forward UDP, then you should be fine.

What exactly is the issue you're getting? Will the Mini not complete setup because it can't call in? Or are you unable to link it to the TiVo? If it's the later does it see the TiVo and just have the red circle slash? Or does it not find the TiVo at all? Is the Mini also connected to Ethernet?


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## Chawni (Jul 7, 2015)

My Roamio says "Service not found" The mini says "DVR not found"


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## Chawni (Jul 7, 2015)

Joe:
Internet connection working correctly
TCP port test succeeded
DNS port test succeeded


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Well you need to get the TiVo working before the Mini will ever work, so focus on that.

First off check the Network settings on the Roamio and make sure it's got a real IP address and not an auto assigned one. If it doesn't then you need to check the network cable and make sure it's plugged into the router (or a switch connected to the router) and verify that DHCP is enabled. (or assign your TiVo a static IP in the proper range) Also check the lights on the Ethernet port on the back of the TiVo and ensure both light up. (the yellow one should blink a bit) If not then either the connection is bad or the port is dead. You'll need to move the TiVo to a known good location to know which. If you plug it into a known working port and the lights don't work then the port is dead.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Perhaps two problems? I just turned off my modem. Mini can show recordings in Roamio's My Shows (minus the thumb nail picture), and show Live TV. The network View TCP port test details failed. C133 error also on the Mini after checking the network. Plugged modem back in. Error gone but had to force a connect to get the C133 to go away.

Agreed, fix the Roamio first.


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## NorthAlabama (Apr 19, 2012)

has the tivo been activated? (i know, you called customer service, but still...)


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Chawni said:


> Joe:
> Internet connection working correctly
> TCP port test succeeded
> DNS port test succeeded


Follow Dan's suggestions. Curious: do apps like Pandora or Amazon also fail?


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Chawni said:


> Joe:
> Internet connection working correctly
> TCP port test succeeded
> DNS port test succeeded


Snuck that in while I was typing. If you know the internet connection is good then either your router or ISP is blocking the connection to the TiVo servers or the TiVo servers are down. According to the status page the TiVo servers are working...

http://status.tivo.com/

so it could either be a bad DNS record somewhere or your connection to the TiVo servers are actively being blocked.


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## Chawni (Jul 7, 2015)

Dan203 said:


> Well you need to get the TiVo working before the Mini will ever work, so focus on that.
> 
> First off check the Network settings on the Roamio and make sure it's got a real IP address and not an auto assigned one. If it doesn't then you need to check the network cable and make sure it's plugged into the router (or a switch connected to the router) and verify that DHCP is enabled. (or assign your TiVo a static IP in the proper range) Also check the lights on the Ethernet port on the back of the TiVo and ensure both light up. (the yellow one should blink a bit) If not then either the connection is bad or the port is dead. You'll need to move the TiVo to a known good location to know which. If you plug it into a known working port and the lights don't work then the port is dead.


According to the network connection details, the IP addy is 192.168.1.135
The lights are flashing on all ports.


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## Chawni (Jul 7, 2015)

Dan203 said:


> Snuck that in while I was typing. If you know the internet connection is good then either your router or ISP is blocking the connection to the TiVo servers or the TiVo servers are down. According to the status page the TiVo servers are working...
> 
> http://status.tivo.com/
> 
> so it could either be a bad DNS record somewhere or your connection to the TiVo servers are actively being blocked.


This is very strange. I have NEVER had anything device in my house blocked by my router. I even went into my router and unchecked everything they had blocked (good or bad) and it made no difference.


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## Chawni (Jul 7, 2015)

NorthAlabama said:


> has the tivo been activated? (i know, you called customer service, but still...)


Yes, both devices are activated.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Just to be sure it's not the router assign your TiVo to the DMZ. That will unblock everything to the TiVo. 

If that doesn't work then it's likely your ISP or the DNS causing the issue. Maybe try using the Google DNS instead and see if that works.


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## Chawni (Jul 7, 2015)

Well its a miracle! All of a sudden it connected and then the mini connected and all is right with the world. I called customer service for a second time and even the tech support guy said that sometimes the devices are a little "glitchy" when first set up. It actually resolved while I was on the phone with him when I tried to connected one last time. Well anyway, I don't know how it happened but "case closed"! Thanks for the replies from everyone!


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Cosmic rays.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Chawni said:


> Well its a miracle! All of a sudden it connected and then the mini connected and all is right with the world. I called customer service for a second time and even the tech support guy said that sometimes the devices are a little "glitchy" when first set up. It actually resolved while I was on the phone with him when I tried to connected one last time. Well anyway, I don't know how it happened but "case closed"! Thanks for the replies from everyone!


Usually people have trouble getting the Mini to connect to the TiVo due to their special encryption key pairing system. Your issue was unique.


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## NorthAlabama (Apr 19, 2012)

great! :up:


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