# Tivo Transfer Speed Predition.



## qz3fwd (Jul 6, 2007)

With a faster CPU, what do folks predict will be the percent improvement in transfer times from tivo to PC?


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## Stormspace (Apr 13, 2004)

qz3fwd said:


> With a faster CPU, what do folks predict will be the percent improvement in transfer times from tivo to PC?


Transfer time is dependent on network speed more than anything else if you are using wired or the TiVo wireless adapter. An 802.11g adapter will give you about 25mbs per sec in an ideal environment, a wired connection 100mbs per sec all the time.


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## bkdtv (Jan 9, 2003)

Stormspace said:


> Transfer time is dependent on network speed more than anything else if you are using wired or the TiVo wireless adapter. An 802.11g adapter will give you about 25mbs per sec in an ideal environment, a wired connection 100mbs per sec all the time.


That's true with a computer, not the TiVo. Network throughput on all TiVos is limited by the CPU, not the network interface.

On the TiVoHD, MRV throughput maxxed out at 30Mbps with 16-24Mbps typical on a 100Mbps ethernet connection. Recorded file download (TivoToGo) throughput was 8-13Mbps.

The Premiere should be a good deal faster thanks to its superior CPU and memory subsystem, but users still shouldn't expect to see anywhere near the 85-88Mbps usable limit of 100Mbps ethernet.


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## druniverse (Mar 8, 2010)

Yeah, transferring from the Tivo to the Mac is insanely slow with the Series3 Tivo HD XL. Way slower than the bandwidth of the 100Mbit/s ethernet.

And why in the hell did Tivo decide to not put in 1Gbit/s ethernet into the Tivo?

I think my biggest disappointment with the Tivo Premiere is that Tivo went so anemic on all the hardware specs.


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## bkdtv (Jan 9, 2003)

druniverse said:


> And why in the hell did Tivo decide to not put in 1Gbit/s ethernet into the Tivo?


Because it wouldn't matter. Throughput is not limited by the interface, but by the CPU and memory subsystem.

A 1Gbps network interface would make *zero difference* in throughput.



druniverse said:


> I think my biggest disappointment with the Tivo Premiere is that Tivo went so anemic on all the hardware specs.


TiVo's specs include the fastest DVR SoC hardware available as of about six months ago. Newer, faster processors were just released in the past few months, but it will probably be awhile before we see those in any DVR.










_Disclaimer: All DVRs atop the list are based on dual-core or dual-threaded CPUs. To achieve maximum performance on those platforms, the DVR software must be written and optimized to take advantage of both processor cores. Such optimization is likely to be an ongoing process._


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## fyodor (Sep 19, 2006)

bkdtv said:


> The Premiere should be a good deal faster thanks to its superior CPU and memory subsystem, but users still shouldn't expect to see anywhere near the 85-88Mbps usable limit of 100Mbps ethernet.


If they can go a little bit faster than real time (20-25 megabits/s) it should open up a ton of new applications, such as the ability to play in realtime from the PC, and the ability to easily back up to and play from computer storage. You can do both of those things now, but in reality backing things up to your computer is very inconvenient if you can't play it back in real time.

F


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## gweempose (Mar 23, 2003)

Am I the only one that finds it shocking that the iPhone 3GS, a portable device that was released almost nine months ago, has a more powerful processor than a state-of-the-art set top box that hasn't even been released yet?


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

put my money on 20% faster


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

gweempose said:


> Am I the only one that finds it shocking that the iPhone 3GS, a portable device that was released almost nine months ago, has a more powerful processor than a state-of-the-art set top box that hasn't even been released yet?


Not really. Apples and Oranges.


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## T1V0 (Jun 14, 2006)

```
--- prodconf-Gen06.orig	2010-03-08 17:09:42.350150000 -0600
+++ prodconf-Gen06.new	2010-03-08 17:10:02.770550000 -0600
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@
 CONFIG_PACKET=y
 # CONFIG_PACKET_MMAP is not set
 # CONFIG_NETLINK_DEV is not set
-CONFIG_NETFILTER=y
+# CONFIG_NETFILTER=y
 # CONFIG_NETFILTER_DEBUG is not set
 CONFIG_FILTER=y
 CONFIG_UNIX=y
```


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

ZeoTiVo said:


> put my money on 20% faster


So what you figure a 1 hour HD show will take 30-40 minutes instead of 50-60 while also recording?


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

innocentfreak said:


> So what you figure a 1 hour HD show will take 30-40 minutes instead of 50-60 while also recording?


that would be my bet, yes.


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

fyodor said:


> If they can go a little bit faster than real time (20-25 megabits/s) it should open up a ton of new applications, such as the ability to play in realtime from the PC, and the ability to easily back up to and play from computer storage. You can do both of those things now, but in reality backing things up to your computer is very inconvenient if you can't play it back in real time.
> 
> F


I can rip a DVD as mpeg2 on my PC and use pyTio to play it back in real time on my TiVo HD or S2 DT boxes now. Wired network


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

innocentfreak said:


> So what you figure a 1 hour HD show will take 30-40 minutes instead of 50-60 while also recording?


It's already faster than that with the current S3 models. At least my HD transfers always are.


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## fyodor (Sep 19, 2006)

ZeoTiVo said:


> I can rip a DVD as mpeg2 on my PC and use pyTio to play it back in real time on my TiVo HD or S2 DT boxes now. Wired network


Sorry, I realize that my comment was kind of ambiguous. I was referring to using your computer to back up HD recordings and then play them back later from the Tivo, basically giving you unlimited storage. Right now, the PC-Tivo speeds, even with a wired network are too slow (8-12 megabits/s). So if you want to watch something stored on a computer you need to start it transferring long before you start watching.

Whereas if they could bump the speeds up to 20 megabits/s you could basically use a computer/NAS as regular storage and watch things whenever you want with an experience that is comparable to playing back videos stored on the tivo.

This also opens up the possibility of a soft client on the PC that can transfer and play HD recordings _from_ the tivo fast enough that they can be watched in real time.

The bitrates for SD DVDs are usually much lower so these can be played back in real time.


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## lafos (Nov 8, 2004)

With my S3 and WHS (Windows Home Server), I get 16.8 Mbps on mpeg2 transfers to the TiVo. That's running TiVo Desktop 2.8 on the server. After picking the show to transfer, I wait 30 seconds or so from the blue light on event, and can watch HD in without trouble as it transfers.

I hope ZeoTivo is right about the increase. I only get 13 Mbps downloading from the S3. Another 20&#37; or so would be great.


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

fyodor said:


> Right now, the PC-Tivo speeds, even with a wired network are too slow (8-12 megabits/s). So if you want to watch something stored on a computer you need to start it transferring long before you start watching.


Maybe, maybe not.

With my wired network, I can start a PC to Tivo transfer (HD programming), wait a minute to build the buffer (time it takes to whip up snacks), and watch. I've never caught up to the buffer. In fact, most of the time the transfer is finished 15 minutes before the recording ends.

If I have commercials to skip, that is a different story. In that case, I let the buffer build up to 20 minutes (for a 1 hour program).


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