# Thinking of buying an airnet card to replace my cachecard?



## Tivo_noob (Jan 28, 2006)

I already have a cachecard fitted and have all the tivoweb and hacks installed. But i will be moving my router to another location soon so i won't be able to connect my cachecard via ethernet anymore. 

I was going to swap my cachecard with a friend who has the airnet and adapter so i can connect wirelessly. What would be the downside to this (if any) and how hard is it to get the airnet drivers onto the tivo, do i need to wipe off the cachecard drivers first or can i just leave them on and install the airnet drivers?

Thanks


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## PhilG (Jan 15, 2002)

I just use a wireless LAN adapter (Netgear WGE101) to wirelessly link Tivo to my wireless router (Netgear DG834G)

WGE101s occasionally pop up on eBay (they are discontinued by Netgear) - you might also want to see if your router manufacturer does something similar


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## Tivo_noob (Jan 28, 2006)

PhilG said:


> I just use a wireless LAN adapter (Netgear WGE101) to wirelessly link Tivo to my wireless router (Netgear DG834G)
> 
> WGE101s occasionally pop up on eBay (they are discontinued by Netgear) - you might also want to see if your router manufacturer does something similar


If i swap with my friend the adapter is included i just need to know about the drivers i need to install, plus can i set my daily call over network as with the cachecard?


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## mikerr (Jun 2, 2005)

The only real difference sis that unmentionables are slower, 
and your menus might be slower (if you were using ram on the cachecard).


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## blindlemon (May 12, 2002)

Yes, the daily call can still go via the network.

However, as mikerr says, network throughput will potentially be quite a bit slower with the airnet as the PCMCIA adapter is limited to 802.11b (11mbps) and, depending on the location of your router, you may not get such a strong connection as with an external bridge, as the Airnet card and adapter are located inside the TiVo case.

If you do go ahead, you can install the Airnet drivers 'over the wire' using the native upgrade method.


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## Tivo_noob (Jan 28, 2006)

mikerr said:


> The only real difference sis that unmentionables are slower,
> and your menus might be slower (if you were using ram on the cachecard).


I was using ram on the cachecard as it came with it when i bought the Tivo but considering the HD is only 120gb i don't think it'll matter too much ie the lowdown of the menus.


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## Tivo_noob (Jan 28, 2006)

blindlemon said:


> Yes, the daily call can still go via the network.
> 
> However, as mikerr says, network throughput will potentially be quite a bit slower with the airnet as the PCMCIA adapter is limited to 802.11b (11mbps) and, depending on the location of your router, you may not get such a strong connection as with an external bridge, as the Airnet card and adapter are located inside the TiVo case.
> 
> If you do go ahead, you can install the Airnet drivers 'over the wire' using the native upgrade method.


Cheers blindlemon :up:


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## terryeden (Nov 2, 2002)

Much cheaper and easier to buy a length of Cat5 and thread it under the carpet. Or, get a wireless access point.


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## Tivo_noob (Jan 28, 2006)

terryeden said:


> Much cheaper and easier to buy a length of Cat5 and thread it under the carpet. Or, get a wireless access point.


Going under the carpet is not an option as we have a wooden floor laid, what is a wireless access point?


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

Tivo_noob said:


> Going under the carpet is not an option as we have a wooden floor laid, what is a wireless access point?


A Wireless Access Point is a Wireless Bridge or a Wireless Print Server you can plug the ethernet lead from the Cachecard into and that then connects wirelessly with your ADSL modem router without any cables at 811g speeds.

The Airnet only supports basic WEP security and not WPA-TKIP security I believe and is only 811b and may potentially slow down your whole wireless network to only running at 811b speeds.

I'm sure a couple of the others here can point you to a suitable current model Wirelss Bridge or Print Server. Type Netgear WGPS606 in to ebay and you will see there are a couple of devices there that would be suitable. However often it helps to have a Wireless Bridge that is the same make as your ADSL modem router to avoid potential wireless incompatibility issues.


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

Type wireless bridge in to advanced search under the Tivo UK forum section and you will find a load of other discussion.

For instance this one:-

www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=317677&highlight=wireless+bridge


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## AMc (Mar 22, 2002)

I only have 150GB in my Tivo and I record everything at Best (mode 0) except suggestions (High) and I saw a noticable improvement in performance for Now Playing, reordering season passes etc. from having 512MB of RAM.
I would look at a wireless bridge or gaming adapter from the same manufacturer as your router - I think you'd regret swapping to an Airnet - plus you'd have to pull the Tivo apart and fiddle with the drives.


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## iankb (Oct 9, 2000)

Pete77 said:


> A Wireless Access Point is a Wireless Bridge or a Wireless Print Server ...


Sorry to be pedantic, but ... 

A Wireless Access Point is what is built into a Wireless Router, or operates as the wireless server on a wired network.

A Wireless Bridge (including the Netgear PrintServer) or Games Adaptor, can talk to an Access Point although, even if based upon an Access Point, is not an Access Point when operating in bridge-mode. In this case, the Bridge is just another client to the central and singular Access Point.


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## iankb (Oct 9, 2000)

blindlemon said:


> ... you may not get such a strong connection as with an external bridge, as the Airnet card and adapter are located inside the TiVo case.


Some Airnet-compatible NIC's have an external aerial, and I used one with reasonable success. Although my present cachecard and fast Homeplug combination is better, there isn't a great deal of difference, due to the relatively-low perfomance of any network connection with the TiVo.

The effect of an 802.11b connection on the rest of the wireless network is the biggest problem.


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## AMc (Mar 22, 2002)

Just out of curiosity - doe a Tivo with a static IP poll the network regularly or only when it makes the daily call/someone accesses Tivoweb etc?
A couple of minutes of slowdown a day would be tollerable, but dragging a 'fast' wireless network down to 'b' rates all the time would be a lot more irritating.


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## ColinYounger (Aug 9, 2006)

I don't know for certain, but a trace on my network for the last ten minutes showed no outgoing traffic from the TiVo. Can't tell if there was incoming to the TiVo though.


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## ColinYounger (Aug 9, 2006)

Sorry - again, why not get a game adapter that you can have a short length of cable out of the back of the TiVo to the game adapter (aka wireless bridge) and connect vis wireless? (as per post 8)

That's how quite a lot of us do it!


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## blindlemon (May 12, 2002)

Extra expense? 

The original suggestion was a swap, not a purchase. However, a wireless bridge is definitely the preferred method as you can upgrade it if/when you upgrade your router without touching the TiVo setup, and if you get one the same speed as your router then there will be no degradation of your network.


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## Tivo_noob (Jan 28, 2006)

Thanks for all the replies guys, looks like a wireless bridge is the best bet then, i'd better let my mate down gently as he had his heart set on the cachecard


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## kitschcamp (May 18, 2001)

I bet he did! 

If your budget would stretch to it, you could consider upgrading from a wireless bridge to a nice little device from Slimdevices...


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## benallenuk (Aug 1, 2005)

Dont swap the cachecard for the aironet, but use one of these instead:

http://www.solwise.co.uk/net-powerline-pl-14pe.htm

Its a Solwise PL-14PE 14Mbps HomePlug Adapter, which bascially converts any power socket into a network point enabling broadband internet sharing to any existing Cable/DSL router, extension of the DSL/Cable modem installation, On-line gaming, VoIP Calls, Audio/Video transmission across the network as well as Network camera connectivity. It uses your mains ring wiring to send data, injecting a signal at a higher frequency than the standard 50Hz. It doesnt create hum or disturbance on radio, tv etc.

The adapter is easy to install and use. It plugs straight into any existing electrical wall socket while having lower power consumption; it comes with 56 bit DES encryption ensuring that your network communications are free from eavesdroppers and hackers. The autoMDI/MDIX functionality of the device also simplifies and ensures a hassle free installation.

Check this page: http://www.solwise.co.uk/net-powerline.htm for throughput test results.

Cheers

Ben


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

benallenuk said:


> Dont swap the cachecard for the aironet, but use one of these instead:
> 
> http://www.solwise.co.uk/net-powerline-pl-14pe.htm


That's only for the 14Mbps version though, which is little better than 811G, the 85Mbps version costs £27.53 and is probably worth the extra money. However an 811G wireless bridge is probably cheaper again than two of these adapters and hiding an ethernet cable behind the sofa etc is much cheaper still.


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## iankb (Oct 9, 2000)

I use 85Mbps Homeplugs from Maplin. Although they give a much more reliable throughput, they aren't dramatically faster than a good 802.11b connection. And they don't operate at full speed if you pass them through any surge suppressors. I believe that some (older?) versions wouldn't work at all through surge suppressors. 

From my experience, I wouldn't recommend the slower 14Mbps versions. Both Homeplugs and Wi-Fi do not operate at anything like their equivalent wired-network speeds, because the error-correction protocols are in continual retry mode with anything but a perfect signal.


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