# I want to replace my Time Warner DVR



## jtaylor54 (Mar 7, 2014)

I want to replace my Time Warner DVR with something. I have a Silicon Dust HDHomeRun Prime (and Cable Card) and run a Windows Media Center HTPC. Watching shows and recording are fine (only on the PC) but the Time Warner Copy Protection flagging prevents me from doing some things. I can't even watch premium TV shows from an Xbox extender in another room it barfs about protected content (even though I am only watching on one display). It sucks.

Anyway I am looking at the Tivo Roamio as a more user (wife) friendly solution but an scared that the Time Warner flag everything mentality would cripple it. 

On the Roamio would I be able to watch, record and playback premium (non-local TW flagged) content?

Could I use a mini from another room as an extender and do the same?

Any Time Warner users out there with a workable solution?

JT


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## tatergator1 (Mar 27, 2008)

jtaylor54 said:


> On the Roamio would I be able to watch, record and playback premium (non-local TW flagged) content?


Yes. You can do all that to flagged, premium channel content on all TWC systems, AFAIK.



> Could I use a mini from another room as an extender and do the same?


Tivo offers Multi-Room Streaming (MRS) to allow you to view recorded content from a box in a different room, regardless of the Copy Protection flag. The streaming protocol was designed exactly for this purpose.

With a Roamio and Mini connected via Ethernet or MoCA, the Mini viewing experience is nearly identical to if the Roamio were in the same room. The only noticeable difference is that the screen might be blank for an extra second or two when accessing a recorded show from the Roamio. Once playback begins, playback/rewind/fast forward etc. is seamless.

If using the Mini to view Live TV, there is some extra lag between channel changes if you want to channel surf.


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

Yes, even with the flags TW sets you can record and stream all cable content within the home. You could not copy to a PC or stream outside of the home.


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## TIVO_GUY_HERE (Jul 10, 2000)

My time warner in Dallas Flags Showtime HD but not showtime2 HD so If I want to transfer I just record off sho2


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## jtaylor54 (Mar 7, 2014)

Thanks sounds like I should do it then as long as it will more than adequately replace what I have now.

Maybe when Comcast takes over TW the out of house streaming will work.

Will a single cable card support all 6 tuners?

JT


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## tatergator1 (Mar 27, 2008)

Yes, over the last few months, TWC has been upgrading CableCard and Tuning Adapter firmware in most regions to properly support 6-tuners.


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

I replaced my TWC DVR and 2 TWC cable boxes 3 months ago with a Roamio Plus and 2 Minis and could not be happier. TiVo equipment is far superior to the crappy junk I was renting from Time Warner and my cable bill is $45/month lower now. After paying for lifetime service on all 3 TiVos, I should break even in about 2 years and this makes me very happy as well. I'd much rather use my money to buy good equipment from TiVo than to rent crappy equipment from TWC . 

At first, I was having some issues with the tuning adapter failing to tune channels properly on the first try, but a TiVo software update and a Tuning Adapter firmware update have pretty much fixed that problem for me. But looking back, I was also experiencing tuning failures with TWC DVR/cable boxes periodically as well, I just didn't realize that's what they were at the time.


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## jtaylor54 (Mar 7, 2014)

Thanks for all the input. I already have a tuning adapter and cablecard on my HD Homerun Prime so I'm hoping I can just move that over and then use the Romio for streaming within the house like I did my Homerun Prime.

Forgive me if I haven't searched yet as I'm still researching but I'm hoping there is an Android app (is it out yet?) and a Windows app or browser app for streaming to PC's also.

Thanks
JT


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## jtaylor54 (Mar 7, 2014)

Correct me if I'm wrong but in doing some more research it seems that as a Time Warner customer:


Streaming out of Home will not work for any TW flagged channels (which is most)

Streaming in the home will only work to an iOS device, another Tivo box or a mini. I can say I will probably never have an iOS device because I have a great Android tablet and phone already and like them.

I'm also weighing the options of Roxio Pro and Mini and lifetime memberships @ $1200 vs. buying a couple of Premiere Series 4 or XL boxes with LT memberships on ebay for $350 each. I know I would then also have 2 cable cards and jacks on my bill.

With 2 Premieres I can share /access shows using:


Multi Room viewing which is copying the show from one to another to watch (does TW allow this).

Multi Room streaming seems to be a better option to allow me to start a video in one room and continue in another (like my whole house DVR's now). Do you need Tivo Stream adapters on both to do this?

What are the downsides of the cheaper 2 Premiere vs. single Roamio/mini solutions..

JT


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## CrispyCritter (Feb 28, 2001)

A couple of minor incorrect points:
1. Multi-room Viewing is not allowed by TW for most shows. But either the Premieres or the Minis can stream, so no real difference.
2. Android streaming is coming (within the house only for TW). My guess is it will only be to some Android devices, not all, so you may not want to count on it.

In decreasing order, why I prefer the Mini approach:
1. The Premieres are slow, and always have been. Once you're used to a Roamio/Mini speed, it's very hard to go back.
2. Cost, as well as no cablecard rental, no possibility of an additional outlet fee (the cable company has no knowledge you have a Mini), and lower lifetime service, the Mini is much simpler and probably costs me about $3/month less in electricity.
3. Future: whatever the future brings, it's going to require CPU power that the Premiere just doesn't have. Apps are already extremely slow on the Premieres; that's only going to get worse.


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## jtaylor54 (Mar 7, 2014)

Thanks..

I've heard maybe June for Android streaming. I have a Nexus 4 phone and a Sony Experia Z tablet which are both high end so I expect it will work with them.

To watch mobile TV (around the house) I use either TWC-TV or the HDHomerun View app now on Android. Frankly they both have severe limitations IMHO.

The TWC TV app does not let me access most of my premium channels and is pretty jerky. It was most apparent watching the Olympics where the bobsled jerked forward a few feet every frame update. But it at least IS watchable just can't deliver all the channels I PAY for.

The HDHomerun View android app is basically a beta at best at this point with virtually no guide and blocky/buffering/stuttering performance whether on SD/HD and 2.4 or 5ghz bands. This is supposed to be fixed with the new HD Homerun Plus however it only has 2 tuners and no Cablecard port... bah.

Right now if I want good wireless TV access to any of my channels within my house I use my laptop and Windows Media Center wifi access to the HD Homerun prime. But I can't use XBox as a WMC media extender because of the TWC flags.

It sucks that everything has limitations of one form or another. Nobody can seem to get it all together in one product apparently. 

JT


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

jtaylor54 said:


> It sucks that everything has limitations of one form or another. Nobody can seem to get it all together in one product apparently.


Blame Congress and the FCC for failing to properly regulate the telecommunications industry.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

jtaylor54 said:


> ..... But I can't use XBox as a WMC media extender because of the TWC flags....


 You certainly should be able to watch flagged content with an XBox360 as a Media Center Extender. If you can't then something isn't configured correctly.


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## Camaro45th (Mar 12, 2014)

Hey just thought I'd chime in. I just upgraded from a basic premier to a Roamio with a Mini. I can stream live TV to my iPad, and I can also watch recorded shows on my ios device. I'm going to test watching a recorded show in a little while in at my in-laws. It will NOT let you download recorded shows that are copy protected to your ios device, which sucks hard. I wish they wouldn't you do this, it's annoying how much the copy protection doesn't allow you to do certain things. I was on the local news and that was copy protected (nbc) so I couldn't transfer it either. It seems that I will probably never use the download feature bc TWC is over the top with the CP. The roamio is much faster just navigating around than the premier. And the Mini is great too. Just wish that on the mini, when you press the TiVo button, it would continue to show you the show in the upper right corner. And on the roamio, when you press Tivo, the video freezes for a second then comes back. I hoped that they would fix that, but I guess not. 


Oh and another issue I've noticed with both my old premier and the roamio that if your looking at the list of the shows you have recorded and you press the exit button, as if you wanted to go back to watching whatever you were watching, the exit button deletes the show without warning. They really should change that button to not do that anymore


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## tatergator1 (Mar 27, 2008)

Camaro45th said:


> Oh and another issue I've noticed with both my old premier and the roamio that if your looking at the list of the shows you have recorded and you press the exit button, as if you wanted to go back to watching whatever you were watching, the exit button deletes the show without warning. They really should change that button to not do that anymore


If by "exit button" you're referring to the "Clear" button, that is the intended behavior in your My Shows list. It helps rapidly delete recordings. You should be using the "zoom" button to go back to watching what's in the Preview Window.


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## Camaro45th (Mar 12, 2014)

tatergator1 said:


> If by "exit button" you're referring to the "Clear" button, that is the intended behavior in your My Shows list. It helps rapidly delete recordings. You should be using the "zoom" button to go back to watching what's in the Preview Window.


No I have a Logitech Harmony remote that has an exit button. If you looking at the guide, and hit Exit, it goes back to full screen. But if your looking at the recorded shows list and hit it, it deleted the show that is highlighted. The remote has a dedicated clear button as well but I don't use it.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

Camaro45th said:


> No I have a Logitech Harmony remote that has an exit button. If you looking at the guide, and hit Exit, it goes back to full screen. But if your looking at the recorded shows list and hit it, it deleted the show that is highlighted. The remote has a dedicated clear button as well but I don't use it.


The behavior you're describing is what happens when you use the Clear button on the bottom left of the TiVo remote.

It's supposed to work that way.

(fortunately you can go into the Recently Deleted folder near the bottom of the Now Playing list and restore shows accidentally deleted that way)

If you're in the Now Playing list, and want to return to live vewing, the Guide button on the TiVo remote will return you to it with the Guide overlaid on the screen. Hitting the guide button again will toggle the Guide display off.

With the TiVo remote you can also exit Now Playing directly to the live screen (without calling up the Guide) with the Live TV button.

If there's a button on your Harmony remote that switches the screen from the output of one of the tuners to the output of the other, then see if that button won't take you out of Now Playing straight to the live screen.


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## Camaro45th (Mar 12, 2014)

unitron said:


> The behavior you're describing is what happens when you use the Clear button on the bottom left of the TiVo remote.
> 
> It's supposed to work that way.
> 
> ...


I will have to look into it. I can change the function of the button on the harmony no problem, actually didn't think about doing it until your post. What is weird is that I have a clear button on the bottom left of the remote (I believe like the TiVo). However in order for me to use it I have to go into devices and then into PVR for it to work. I usually use the live tv button to switch tuners. Am I using the "wrong" button?


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