# Is my pretty new Roamio defective?



## abbydancer (Jun 16, 2002)

Hello.

So, my new Roamio pro arrived early this afternoon. I was able to hook it up to my tv, moved the cable from the HD to the Roamio, and did guided setup. It started a software update, so I went out for an hour or so to run an errand. It seemed to be done when I got back, but no channels, including broadcast. 

So I installed the cable card that I got from Comcast earlier in the week, and dutifully called comcast to pair it. The agent was very helpful and told me she was sending a signal. She also told me it would take about 30 minutes. When I left it was at "Please wait ... Acquiring Channel Information" Loading showed 50%

I had plans for the evening, so left both the TIVO and the TV on and went out. I came back about 4 hours later, and it was at the same point. Comcast of course is now closed.

For grins, I looked at the my shows and noticed it can see my other two Tivo's. So, I decided to start transferring shows (although it has since occurred to me that since I have enough inputs on the tv to just add the Roamio I might as well watch from the old tivos, and just move all the recordings to the new one). About 15-30 minutes in, I get error 133 but the message says temporary. Googling around, I see that sometimes a reboot fixes. I reboot.

It's still acquiring channels. The downloading continued, but about 15-20 later, another 133. Rebooted again, and it seemed to finish transferring 3 shows, but the last fail was a 30 minute one.

Does this sound like a problem with the Roamio? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!


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## abbydancer (Jun 16, 2002)

Update - cable card is now good but

It's had the C133 error for a couple of hours now. Tivo Chat told me to reboot the router and the tivo. I'm not convinced that that's the underlying problem.

I'm about to try it, but any advice?

Thank you


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## StevesWeb (Dec 26, 2008)

From the information given you may have this issue:

IMPORTANT: This error often appears if you have WiFi enabled at the same time you have an Ethernet cable connected to your DVR. Only one active network connection type is supported. To use your wired Ethernet connection, disable the wireless connection. To use the wireless connection, disconnect the Ethernet cable from the DVR.

I see no reason to reboot your router.


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## BigJimOutlaw (Mar 21, 2004)

Doesn't hurt to reboot. You never know.

But I was about to post something similar to the above post. How is your Roamio connected, wireless or wired? Did you select wireless but still have the ethernet connected, or vise versa? Did you try switching between them at all during setup?


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## abbydancer (Jun 16, 2002)

Hi,

Wireless only. And I've never put an ethernet cable in.

And after my husband reset the router the problem is back. Both of my other tivos are connecting properly.


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## StevesWeb (Dec 26, 2008)

Most likely you are not getting a reliable wireless connection, this may be the most common problem with TiVo installs. If it is possible to use Ethernet instead of WiFi it is very likely to fix this.


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## TScottTX (Feb 29, 2004)

I had the exact problem yesterday but with TWC. Turned out I had a M-Card with a serial number prefix of NG (single stream) and needed to have a M-Card with serial number prefix of MA (multi stream). Exchanged the card and enjoyed my new Roamio lastnight!


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## abbydancer (Jun 16, 2002)

It seemed to be fine for a long while. I just tried to upload a show from Tivo Desktop and the connection crapped out again. I wonder if that's consistant. If so, that's a problem.

Rebooting brought it back.

Given where the TIVO is in the house, I'm not sure wired is a option.


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## StevesWeb (Dec 26, 2008)

Under the best conditions WiFi can still be problematic because it is subject to radio interference and RF signals attenuate according to the inverse square law.

If you run Ethernet it will fix this, if you don't it won't. Powerline adapters might be a viable solution although they too are subject to reliability issues.


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## lgnad (Feb 14, 2013)

Or you could use Moca of course...


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## abbydancer (Jun 16, 2002)

Well, I called Tivo support. The guy told me that C133 is something they are looking at. I pointed out that didn't help me, and it makes the box somewhat useless. He went away for a while and said that before they can do a replacement, we should try wired. I said I didn't know if that was possible, but since it's sold with wireless, wireless should work.

Back and forth with them insisting I have to try wired. I got my husband on the line to point out that everything else worked on the network. 

Eventually I got to a supervisor. While waiting for him, I found an old ethernet cable that I used to use for downloads on my laptops. We located both ends, and I set the Roamio up to use that.

The supervisor was very nice and gave me some stats on our tivos and teir network strengths. He also asked me about Moca:

Him: Do you know what Moca is?
Me: I assume it's not a coffee drink, so no.

Anyway, he is sending us the adapter and and a filter so we can use that. I wasn't sure I completely understood what he said, so he talked to my husband the network server engineer. We think we might be able to make it work, although the router and the cable are nowhere near each other so we may have to move or resplit the cable.

In the meantime I was able to transfer a show without the network crapping out, so I'm hoping the wire solved it.

Thanks for all the advice, and the link so I could disable the wireless. I really appreciate it.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

What kind of signal strength did you have on wireless? And were you using wireless N either 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz? Or were you using wireless G? Wireless G is too slow. And a low signal strength with wireless N will cause issues with speed too.


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## abbydancer (Jun 16, 2002)

I think it was around 60-70 "good". I was using the wireless built in to the Roamio.

So far, as wired, it hasn't dropped. But I can see my desktop but when I try to access the Now Playing list, it says not available. The desktop app can see it's now playing list, and the Series 3 can see it's now playing.

Odd.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

My wireless on my Roamio Basic is between 90% and 100% and is rock solid. 60% to 70% is certainly not ideal.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

I was doing homework on the Roamio recently and saw a recommendation to do the initial setup wired and then switch to wireless afterwards. Don't know where I saw it, though.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

Why don't you just have Abby Lee go scream at it to make it work harder, like she does to her child dancers? 


(Sorry couldn't resist, given her screen name here)


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## StevesWeb (Dec 26, 2008)

murgatroyd said:


> I was doing homework on the Roamio recently and saw a recommendation to do the initial setup wired and then switch to wireless afterwards. Don't know where I saw it, though.


IMHO that's bad advice.

There is no advantage to using wireless over Ethernet if the Ethernet option is available. Ethernet cables are essentially immune to interference or unexplained intermittent problems.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

StevesWeb said:


> IMHO that's bad advice.
> 
> There is no advantage to using wireless over Ethernet if the Ethernet option is available. Ethernet cables are essentially immune to interference or unexplained intermittent problems.


I think what they're advising is to temporarily place the mini near the router or a switch and use a wired connection, then once it's all set that way, move it to your final destination where there may not be a wired option and switch to wireless.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

murgatroyd said:


> I was doing homework on the Roamio recently and saw a recommendation to do the initial setup wired and then switch to wireless afterwards. Don't know where I saw it, though.





StevesWeb said:


> IMHO that's bad advice.
> 
> There is no advantage to using wireless over Ethernet if the Ethernet option is available. Ethernet cables are essentially immune to interference or unexplained intermittent problems.





HarperVision said:


> I think what they're advising is to temporarily place the mini near the router or a switch and use a wired connection, then once it's all set that way, move it to your final destination where there may not be a wired option and switch to wireless.


On further reflection, I think what I saw was a page about setting up the TiVoHD. If my memory is correct (dubious) it might have been necessary to download the initial software upgrades over a wired connection first before the wireless option on the TiVoHD could be turned on. I'm not sure, however, because my TiVoHD is on a wired connection and I've never used it with wireless.

Sorry for the confusion.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

StevesWeb said:


> IMHO that's bad advice.
> 
> There is no advantage to using wireless over Ethernet if the Ethernet option is available. Ethernet cables are essentially immune to interference or unexplained intermittent problems.


It works just fine setting up over wireless. You just need to make sure you have an excellent signal to avoid issues. I specifically have several APs in my condo so all my wireless devices get excellent signal strength. And so I don't have any congestion issues or interference issues.


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## abbydancer (Jun 16, 2002)

So far, the wired connection is working.

I do have a question about switching to Moca. Support is sending me an adapter and a POE filter. I started reading the Roamio user guide, and it implies that the Roamio Pro can be the Moca device.

So do I need the adapter? If not, do I also need the ethernet cable? I don't want to use Moca for anything but the Roamio.

I hope this question makes sense, but I still don't really understand it yet.


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## javabird (Oct 13, 2006)

abbydancer said:


> So far, the wired connection is working.
> 
> I do have a question about switching to Moca. Support is sending me an adapter and a POE filter. I started reading the Roamio user guide, and it implies that the Roamio Pro can be the Moca device.
> 
> ...


Maybe I'm mistaken, but I thought the Moca adapter was already built into the Roamio Pro. Also, I searched online for "what's in the box" and can't seem to find out if a Poe filter is included or not. Maybe someone who already has a Pro can shed light on this?


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## moonscape (Jul 3, 2004)

aaronwt said:


> What kind of signal strength did you have on wireless? And were you using wireless N either 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz? Or were you using wireless G? Wireless G is too slow. And a low signal strength with wireless N will cause issues with speed too.


I have Wireless G and a Roamio arriving the end of this week. No problems with my network but can I assume then it's not adequate for Roamio?

Yikes. I want to record Olympics, so if I will need another router I'd like to get one from Amazon now. Any recommendations for a router-clueless person? If not for the Roamio I wouldn't get another one because my Wireless G Netgear keeps plugging along fine ...


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

javabird said:


> Maybe I'm mistaken, but I thought the Moca adapter was already built into the Roamio Pro. Also, I searched online for "what's in the box" and can't seem to find out if a Poe filter is included or not. Maybe someone who already has a Pro can shed light on this?


Yes, the moca capability is built into both the plus and the pro models. They can be used as moca bridges to your Ethernet network and for connecting to minis via moca. There is no poe moca filter included with either model.


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## worachj (Oct 14, 2006)

moonscape said:


> I have Wireless G and a Roamio arriving the end of this week. No problems with my network but can I assume then it's not adequate for Roamio?
> 
> Yikes. I want to record Olympics, so if I will need another router I'd like to get one from Amazon now. Any recommendations for a router-clueless person? If not for the Roamio I wouldn't get another one because my Wireless G Netgear keeps plugging along fine ...


Wireless G is fine for connecting to the internet to get program guild data and software updates from TiVo. It will/may give you problems if you want to stream video to another TiVo device or from Netflix.

You should be fine, but if possible connect your Roamio to your router using an Ethernet cable.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

moonscape said:


> I have Wireless G and a Roamio arriving the end of this week. No problems with my network but can I assume then it's not adequate for Roamio?
> 
> Yikes. I want to record Olympics, so if I will need another router I'd like to get one from Amazon now. Any recommendations for a router-clueless person? If not for the Roamio I wouldn't get another one because my Wireless G Netgear keeps plugging along fine ...


I run wireless N. My Roamio BAsic uses 5Ghz N at home(2.4Ghz N at my GFs house). It runs just as reliably as the wired 100BT connection. I still get up to 95Mb/s transfer rates and rock solid streaming to Minis. My signal strength though is excellent. Usually around 100% but no lower than 90%.

I have had excellent results with an Asus RT-N56U router. But it is a little old now. There are certainly other options available now. But I also use another RT-N56U router in AP mode. And I use custom firmware with them from Padavan.


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