# How to connect Stream in my home?



## DPJohnson (Jan 12, 2011)

If this has already been covered, I'm sorry. My Premiere Elite and my PC router are in adjacent rooms. The Elite has a wireless adapter on it. If I get a Stream, will I have to get a l-o-n-g ethernet cord to replace the adapter on the back of the Elite and have it snake around the wall to the router in the other room? Or can I just connect the Stream to the router and depend on the adapter to make connections with the Stream when I want to watch something on my iPad when I'm away?


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

Stream just plus into an Ethernet port anywhere on your home network.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

The Stream and Elite need to be connected to one another via Ethernet, so if your Elite is using wifi then you'll need to put the Stream in the same room as the Elite. What you would do is buy a small Ethernet switch (<$10). Plug the Elite, Stream and wifi adapter into the switch. That will allow the Elite and Stream to communicate with eachother over Ethernet while still allowing them both to connect to the internet via wifi.


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## JBDragon (Jan 4, 2004)

DPJohnson said:


> If this has already been covered, I'm sorry. My Premiere Elite and my PC router are in adjacent rooms. The Elite has a wireless adapter on it. If I get a Stream, will I have to get a l-o-n-g ethernet cord to replace the adapter on the back of the Elite and have it snake around the wall to the router in the other room? Or can I just connect the Stream to the router and depend on the adapter to make connections with the Stream when I want to watch something on my iPad when I'm away?


My stream is located in my Closet right next to my 24 port Gigabit switch. Plugged into that in fact. My Wifi Router though is close by as all my Networking stuff is in my Closet. There is ZERO need to be anywhere near any other Tivo. As long as it's still on your Home Network, you're fine. Plug into any free Ethernet port. It's that simple.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

JBDragon said:


> My stream is located in my Closet right next to my 24 port Gigabit switch. Plugged into that in fact. My Wifi Router though is close by as all my Networking stuff is in my Closet. There is ZERO need to be anywhere near any other Tivo. As long as it's still on your Home Network, you're fine. Plug into any free Ethernet port. It's that simple.


Again, while the physical location doesn't matter, the path between the TiVo and the Stream and the Stream and WiFi router/AP needs to be wired. Basically the way it works is the TiVo sends a full resolution/bitrate version of the recording to the Stream, the Stream then recodes that to a lower resolution/bitrate suitable for mobile devices and sends that to your mobile device via WiFi. Trying to do all that via WiFi exclusively requires more sustained bandwidth then most WiFi networks can handle and you'll end up with a very frustrating experience of dropped connections and failed downloads.


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## PCurry57 (Feb 27, 2012)

I successfully streamed video ooh with one of my Premieres connected via a wireless bridge. I doesn't use the TiVo bridge though. I was using a DLink DAP-1522 which works on 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz band and had 4 gigabit ports. I can't speak to quality or functionality on 2.4Ghz. I've only tried it using 5Ghz.

Another alternative is get yourself a pair of MoCA adapter's


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## DPJohnson (Jan 12, 2011)

Dan203 said:


> The Stream and Elite need to be connected to one another via Ethernet, so if your Elite is using wifi then you'll need to put the Stream in the same room as the Elite. What you would do is buy a small Ethernet switch (<$10). Plug the Elite, Stream and wifi adapter into the switch. That will allow the Elite and Stream to communicate with eachother over Ethernet while still allowing them both to connect to the internet via wifi.


I hooked this up exactly as you said but now I get a message on my TV saying Tivo is not connected to the internet. The light on the Stream doesn't light up and I'm not sure if the ethernet switch I just bought is working either.


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## JBDragon (Jan 4, 2004)

DPJohnson said:


> I hooked this up exactly as you said but now I get a message on my TV saying Tivo is not connected to the internet. The light on the Stream doesn't light up and I'm not sure if the ethernet switch I just bought is working either.


The Stream needs to be connected to the same home Network. It does NOT need to be in the same room as any other TIVO device!!! In fact mine is located in my small closet in about the middle of my house. That's where all my Network hardware is at. my ASUS Wifi Router, my 24 Port Gigabit switch, my NAS, and other things including my TIVO Stream. The Tivo stream is plugged into my 24 port Switch which is plugged into my Router in effect giving my router more ports then the standard 4. My Tivo Roamio is located int he family room and my 2 Tivo Mini's are in Bedrooms. All connected to Ethernet.

You don't want to plug the Stream into the TIVO using Ethernet because that's not on the same Network as Wifi, I would assume now that the Tivo also thinks it's plugged into Ethernet and now not using Wifi. No you have no Internet connection.

Instead, Either Plug your TIVO into your Wired Network, or use Wifi, Wired is Better of course, and Plug the Stream directly into your Router, wherever that may be. They would still in effect be on the same Network. They would also both now have Internet Access!!! Which allows it to work both at home and on the Internet away from the house.


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## DPJohnson (Jan 12, 2011)

JBDragon said:


> The Stream needs to be connected to the same home Network. It does NOT need to be in the same room as any other TIVO device!!! In fact mine is located in my small closet in about the middle of my house. That's where all my Network hardware is at. my ASUS Wifi Router, my 24 Port Gigabit switch, my NAS, and other things including my TIVO Stream. The Tivo stream is plugged into my 24 port Switch which is plugged into my Router in effect giving my router more ports then the standard 4. My Tivo Roamio is located int he family room and my 2 Tivo Mini's are in Bedrooms. All connected to Ethernet.
> 
> You don't want to plug the Stream into the TIVO using Ethernet because that's not on the same Network as Wifi, I would assume now that the Tivo also thinks it's plugged into Ethernet and now not using Wifi. No you have no Internet connection.
> 
> Instead, Either Plug your TIVO into your Wired Network, or use Wifi, Wired is Better of course, and Plug the Stream directly into your Router, wherever that may be. They would still in effect be on the same Network. They would also both now have Internet Access!!! Which allows it to work both at home and on the Internet away from the house.


I found out the problem: I have a bad electrical outlet. I had the Stream and ethernet switch both plugged into it and they didn't work. Nothing does with that outlet. Now they both light up (plugged them into another outlet which I won't be able to for long with Christmas coming), but I still can't watch a streamed show on my Ipad. I tried streaming one show, but when I select shows on Ipad, on my Ipad, all I get is an ad for the TiVo Roamio or Stream. That show is only on Not Readily Available, and I can't find the folder that says Streamed Movies or whatever. Also on Ipad I got a message saying it didn't connect to the box (the Tivo). This is getting bad. I just don't understand a thing about all this and I paid a lot for the Stream.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

DPJohnson said:


> I hooked this up exactly as you said but now I get a message on my TV saying Tivo is not connected to the internet. The light on the Stream doesn't light up and I'm not sure if the ethernet switch I just bought is working either.


You can't plug it directly into the TiVo. They communicate via the network. I was teying to say that the connection between the TiVo and the Stream needs to be wired and not wireless. So think of the path the data needs to take to get from your TiVo to the Stream. That path needs to be wired. But both devices still need to be connected to the internet too.

Without knowing your level of knowledge when it comes to networking I'm not sure how else to explain it.


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## DPJohnson (Jan 12, 2011)

Now I have the stream connected to my router in the next room and the only thing connected to my Tivo is the wireless adapter. But my Ipad says that I need to fix my conection because my My Shows and Do Do List cannot be found because the Tivo does not appear to be connected to the internet. Let me say what I did originally: will I need a l-o-n-g ethernet cord to connect my Tivo to my router?


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## pfiagra (Oct 13, 2014)

DPJohnson said:


> will I need a l-o-n-g ethernet cord to connect my Tivo to my router?


Yes. Both the TiVo and the Stream must have wired connections (either Ethernet or MOCA) to your router.

https://www.tivo.com/quick-links/welcome-center-premiere/tivo-stream

(...and they also must both be on the same TiVo account)


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## JBDragon (Jan 4, 2004)

pfiagra said:


> Yes. Both the TiVo and the Stream must have wired connections (either Ethernet or MOCA) to your router.
> 
> https://www.tivo.com/quick-links/welcome-center-premiere/tivo-stream
> 
> (...and they also must both be on the same TiVo account)


That's interesting, but makes sense. Wifi just doesn't hand the bandwidth needed. So I guess the person will need to run a long Ethernet cable. There are a number of ways to HIDE the cable. From fishing under the carpet to hiding behind baseboards, etc. Depends if you rent or own also on what you can do. I don't know if maybe changing modem/router location closer to the TV and TIVO and so not needing a long run?


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

He could also use MoCa or powerline networking instead. MoCa is plenty fast enough and powerline is enough to support one, maybe two, streams over typical home wiring. (more if you're in a brand new house with pristine wiring)


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## Series3Sub (Mar 14, 2010)

He did not tell us anything about his domicile because he could run "ethernet" cable under the house or via attic (or even in wall _IF_ he uses cable rated for in wall and a proper conduit, and I would add a fire stop at the conduits). This presumes he owns the property and does not rent it.

If he can't run "ethernet" cable in his domicile, then MoCA seems the best option. How does the Mini functin using those powerline adapters on LAN networks. Either option does not require having to lay cables through the house and should give him good results, especially MoCA, which provides excellent results.


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

Series3Sub said:


> If he can't run "ethernet" cable in his domicile, then MoCA seems the best option. *How does the Mini functin using those powerline adapters on LAN networks.* Either option does not require having to lay cables through the house and should give him good results, especially MoCA, which provides excellent results.


As powerline cheerleader I'll tell you that it works fine, my whole 2nd floor of the house runs on 2 powerline adapters, one for the Mini and the other for a PC, my wiring is solid so that's not a factor. For folks with questionable wiring it's only $50 to test it out.


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## JBDragon (Jan 4, 2004)

Series3Sub said:


> He did not tell us anything about his domicile because he could run "ethernet" cable under the house or via attic (or even in wall _IF_ he uses cable rated for in wall and a proper conduit, and I would add a fire stop at the conduits). This presumes he owns the property and does not rent it.
> 
> If he can't run "ethernet" cable in his domicile, then MoCA seems the best option. How does the Mini functin using those powerline adapters on LAN networks. Either option does not require having to lay cables through the house and should give him good results, especially MoCA, which provides excellent results.


The power line solutions may work. You can try it and see if the results work out for you, but wired is always better if you can do it. I wired my house with cat6 as soon as I got it and it's worked out great and very reliable. When I got TiVo a few years later, it was a simple matter for me to just plug it into my network. It took a few days of effort on my part, but well worth it. I run cables under my house. Attic is a no go as its just to small. There's generally always a way to run cables. Ethernet is low power, so you don't have to go crazy with it. Even such things as running under a carpet, to behind a baseboard. If you don't own the place you live at, then your choices may be limited and power line or some other wireless solution may be your only choice. HD video does require a lot of bandwidth. You would be limited to one device at a time. Don't plan on wireless streaming to 2 or more TiVo mini's at once. You need wired for that.


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