# Adding a Mini to a Tivo Roamio Plus



## Mr.Broncosfan (Sep 1, 2008)

Sorry if this has been answered a hundred times. 

I have a Roamio Plus in the living room connected via wifi (no Moca). Can I add a mini in my bedroom and just use wifi instead of adding Moca to the Plus? Connection speed is very good on the Roamio so I'm assuming it will be fine with the mini. Also, does Tivo still offer lifetime on Mini for $150? I have lifetime on my Roamio if that matters.

Thanks in advance

ETA: Will I still need a TA for the mini?


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

Lifetime on the Mini is still $150. You don't need a separate tuning adapter for the Mini.

TiVo's official stance is that the Mini requires either a wired ethernet or MoCA connection. There have been some people who have reported they have managed to get the Mini to work with wireless or a powerline connection, so the answer is that wireless might work for you on the Mini if your wireless network is realely good, but there are no guarantees.


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## Mr.Broncosfan (Sep 1, 2008)

tarheelblue32 said:


> Lifetime on the Mini is still $150. You don't need a separate tuning adapter for the Mini.
> 
> TiVo's official stance is that the Mini requires either a wired ethernet or MoCA connection. There have been some people who have reported they have managed to get the Mini to work with wireless or a powerline connection, so the answer is that wireless might work for you on the Mini if your wireless network is realely good, but there are no guarantees.


Thanks for the info. I got the mini from Amazon for $79 and product lifetime for $150. However, after installing the mini, it seems it can only be done by Ethernet or MoCa. I called Tivo and they confirmed this and didn't know of a workaround.


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

Mr.Broncosfan said:


> Thanks for the info. I got the mini from Amazon for $79 and product lifetime for $150. However, after installing the mini, it seems it can only be done by Ethernet or MoCa. I called Tivo and they confirmed this and didn't know of a workaround.


Of course that is what a TiVo rep will tell you as that is their official position, but as I said above, other users have reported some success with using a wireless ethernet bridge or a powerline connection to connect the Mini. I definitely wouldn't recommend using anything other than wired ethernet or MoCA to connect the Mini unless you have no other choice, but if neither of those options are possible for you then there might be other options.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=512828

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=502211


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

Mr.Broncosfan said:


> Thanks for the info. I got the mini from Amazon for $79 and product lifetime for $150. However, after installing the mini, it seems it can only be done by Ethernet or MoCa. I called Tivo and they confirmed this and didn't know of a workaround.


Powerline, it'll cost you under $50 and the mini is fine on it, as far as the units are concerned it's ethernet.


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## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

Powerline is a crapshoot just like wireless, if you can't do something wired don't be surprised if there are times when your experience is not going to be great.


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

I think you can leave wireless turned on for your Roamio Plus and also enable its internal MoCA and then use it as a bridge to your Mini. i.e. The Pro would be using MoCA simply to bridge to the Mini, not for internet connection, and you don't need to buy any MoCA related equipment.
(Of course this assumes you have coax in the bedroom, but that's very likely to be the case).


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## Mr.Broncosfan (Sep 1, 2008)

Thansk for the suggestions. I just went ahead and ordered a MoCA adapter from Tivo.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Mr.Broncosfan said:


> Thansk for the suggestions. I just went ahead and ordered a MoCA adapter from Tivo.


So you don't have the option for MoCA with the Roamio Plus? As someone mentioned, if the wireless will Bridge to MoCA. You can use the built in MoCA of the Plus and Mini for a wired connection between the two devices. And then use the Plus wireless connection for internet access to both devices. There would be no need for another MoCA adapter if this setup works.

I've used Bridging between Ethernet and MoCA and also bridging between MoCA and Ethernet. And those situations both work. But I've never tried bridging Wireless to MoCA before since I don't use the wireless on my Roamio Pro. Only on my Roamio basic which doesn't have built in MoCA.


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

slowbiscuit said:


> *Powerline is a crapshoot just like wireless,* if you can't do something wired don't be surprised if there are times when your experience is not going to be great.


I just don't agree, even at its best wireless is nowhere near wired, and powerline is surprisingly solid and stable provided you have a basic level of proper wiring with grounding (i.e. anything within the past 40 years)


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

dianebrat said:


> I just don't agree, even at its best wireless is nowhere near wired, and powerline is surprisingly solid and stable provided you have a basic level of proper wiring with grounding (i.e. anything within the past 40 years)


WIth my Roamio Basic, at least before the last update, my speeds were identical. They both hit 93mbps. But since the update, all speeds from my TiVos, (ethernet, wireless, and MoCA) are lower than before. WHich only affects the transfer times. From a user perspective though, ie streaming, using apps etc, it is the same as before. And even now with the slower speeds, my experience streaming between TiVos, minis etc. is identical whether I use wireless, MoCA, or ethernet.

The reason I have never liked Powerline adapters is because you can't use a UPS with them. So if the power goes out, you will lose connectivity to devices using it. I had considered it for my GFs house, until I realized that her connections would go down. WIth it now over wireless, she doesn't lose any connectivity during a power outage since her TiVos, DSL modem, and wireless router are all connected to a UPS.


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## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

dianebrat said:


> I just don't agree, even at its best wireless is nowhere near wired, and powerline is surprisingly solid and stable provided you have a basic level of proper wiring with grounding (i.e. anything within the past 40 years)


Yeah I have a house with proper wiring and the brand new T-Link adapters I bought last year would work fine sometimes, sometimes not. You do know that there are areas of interference with powerline that you don't get with Ethernet or MoCA, right?

I ended up getting a cheap Verizon Actiontec router and configured it as a MoCA bridge for one of my boxes, 100% stable compared to powerline or wireless here.


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## Mr.Broncosfan (Sep 1, 2008)

I went ahead and bought a MoCA adapter from Tivo. Everything is running smoothly and couldn't be any easier to install. Thanks for the help.


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