# Reasons to get a TiVo Stream?



## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

So, I'm trying to get my arms around reasons to get a Stream, for use with a Roamio Basic and OTA (as well as a Series 2, but I guess there's no compatibility there with the Stream). As best I can tell, benefits are:

-- to stream content between the Roamios (but they can do that without a Stream--does the Stream add speed or stability to that, or some other benefit?)

-- to stream content to a PC's browser via TiVo Online in a home, such as for use where one has a PC/tablet but not a TiVo and TV, like a kitchen, home office, bathroom, in the yard/patio

-- to stream non-copyright protected content to a PC browser via TiVo Online long-distance over the Internet, such as when travelling

-- to stream content to an iOS or Android device in one's home, or to transfer content to the device.

Are there any other benefits that I've missed? And can all this be done and work well over a home wireless network?

Also, a few questions as to use. Am I correct that if a Stream is connected to one TiVo in a home network, it will work for content on all the TiVos attached to the network even though a Stream is not connected directly to the other TiVos?

And I thought I read the advice that one take care if buying a used Stream, because the Stream has to be deactivated by the original owner before the buyer then can activate and use it--someone here recommended that one get the Stream's serial no. before purchase, to make sure with TiVo that the Stream had been deactivated (the concern, I guess, was Streams stolen from cable companies). Is that the case? (I was a bit confused by this, as the Stream doesn't have a subscription.)

Anything else I should be considering and looking out for? Thanks, in advance.


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## PCurry57 (Feb 27, 2012)

Your very first premise was totally wrong and baseless. The steam device has nothing to do with streaming between TiVo devices. No where in any TiVo promotional material is it alluded to that the Stream device it's needed to stream between Series 4, 5 or 6 devices. Your right it serves no function there.

The third premise is also wrong, you can't currently stream any content OOH via TiVo Online.

Your second and fourth premise are correct.

As to compatibility the TiVo Stream device will work with any stores 4 or 5 device on the network. As released the TiVo Bolt only works the baked in stream functionality worth is further limited to only two active streams as opposed to four for the Stream device. I either case only one OOH stream is supported.

If you have no need of streaming content to a pc on your home network, or to an Android/IOS device at home or away then you probably don't need a TiVo Stream. I like to watch the news while commuting myself.


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## pfiagra (Oct 13, 2014)

Streaming and downloading to iOS (and android?) devices out of home is also possible, but very iffy, especially for streaming and if you don't have a fast upload speed on your home network.


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

Thanks for the corrections and comments--was reading _many_ sources and not inconceivable that I mixed matters up in my mind (but I could have sworn that I read a product description or post noting streaming between TiVos via the Stream (which didn't make sense to me, as I somewhat noted) as well as accessing non-copyrighted material out-of-home through TiVo Online--my bad). Why I was posting here.

Follow-up question: has anyone had success using the Stream connected to one's router via a powerline adapter setup? Or is an Ethernet or MoCA connection the only way to go?


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## mdavej (Aug 13, 2015)

Mikeguy said:


> Follow-up question: has anyone had success using the Stream connected to one's router via a powerline adapter setup? Or is an Ethernet or MoCA connection the only way to go?


Stream doesn't need to be anywhere near your other Tivo devices. Set it right beside your router or switch and plug it in. Powerline may also work depending on your wiring, but adds more expense, complexity and reduces the Stream's already horrible reliability even more.


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

mdavej said:


> Stream doesn't need to be anywhere near your other Tivo devices. Set it right beside your router or switch and plug it in. Powerline may also work depending on your wiring, but adds more expense, complexity and reduces the Stream's already horrible reliability even more.


Thanks. Yep, I belatedly realized that the Stream is plugged into into the router (I think I had assumed into a TiVo itself, to create the "equivalent" of a Roamio Pro/Plus but with the Stream tech. on the outside of the box).

And so, if the Stream is plugged directly into the router via Ethernet cable, does it work well with networked TiVos operating over a wireless network? I assume (assuming that this even will work) that there is a transmission hit.


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

PCurry57 said:


> The third premise is also wrong, you can't currently stream any content OOH via TiVo Online.


The devil is in the details: I think that when I had read that the Stream could stream to iOS and Android devices out of the home, I mistakenly assumed that this would include streaming to a PC browser out of the home as well, with the issuance of TiVo Online. At the very least, perhaps this will come about, with TiVo mentioning here this past August that this feature was slated for beta-testing the following month.


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## mdavej (Aug 13, 2015)

Mikeguy said:


> And so, if the Stream is plugged directly into the router via Ethernet cable, does it work well with networked TiVos operating over a wireless network? I assume (assuming that this even will work) that there is a transmission hit.


Usually not. It barely works when Tivo is hardwired.


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

Thanks.

Well, that's a ringing endorsement, lol. Perhaps I need to rethink picking up a Stream on eBay . . . .


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## mdavej (Aug 13, 2015)

Adding ebay into the equation makes success even more unlikely. Back when I was on the hunt for a Stream on ebay, 3 of the 4 I bought turned out to be stolen cable company devices that Tivo would not activate. I was lucky to get refunds for all of those. The one that did work, I still have in service and occasionally use when travelling. But it usually requires several minutes of troubleshooting and setup every few sessions, and I rarely can watch a whole program all the way through without issues, especially when using it with the Amazon Fire TV app. For remote viewing, you'd be much better getting a Slingbox. It's not only far more reliable, but also much cheaper. I think I paid around $40 for my used 350. As a bonus, it actually works in a web browser in addition to phones, tablets and streaming boxes like Fire TV (there is a Roku app, but it's very clunky).


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

Thanks for the info. and advice. I'm not an iOS or Android guy and really don't have a need for streaming outside the house--had just been toying with the idea of the Stream, perhaps to stream shows onto a tablet in the kitchen or home office, or in the patio, where there's no TV.

From what you've said, the Stream kinda sounds like it can be a pain in the backside--I've seen other reports along those lines as well, but just didn't know if there's a prevalence there. If picking up an eBay Slingbox, any particular model to aim for, with the intended use of broadcasting to a web browser and wireless use? And anything--limitations or benefits--I especially should be aware of? Also, how does one attach a Slingbox--to a particular TiVo, and/or a router, or ? Needing wiring like the Stream, or will wireless do it?

Finally, what's the thing with the Stream and activating it? I was surprised that activation would be needed, as there's no subscription. And so, with a used Stream, the seller needs to deactivate the Stream as part of the sale and then, and only then, the buyer can re-activate it? (And so, a problem with Streams stolen such as from a cable company, as the prior owner hasn't deactivated it, and TiVo won't do so on its own?) Thanks, again--quite an education for my limited uses.


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## mdavej (Aug 13, 2015)

For streaming inside the home to a tablet, Stream should work ok. Streaming outside and to Fire TV is where I have most of my problems, hence why Slingbox worked a lot better for me. But for inside the home, Stream is much easier to use than Slingbox and is fairly reliable.

Sling's web app is ad supported, which you may consider a limitation. However, if you use this link, you can avoid all the ads: Slingbox Player
For HD, you'd need to attach Sling to a Mini via an optional component cable. If you connect to Roamio, you're limited to SD. Connect it to your network however you wish. Wireless would probably work fine, but Sling has no built-in wifi, so you'd have to buy an access point to connect to it. I use Moca and a ethernet switch since that's cheap and simple.

Who knows why Tivo requires activation/deactivation. But it works differently than other Tivo devices. The seller may need to deactivate (remove from account), but then you can activate it yourself online without contacting Tivo or having a support case number opened by the seller. With cable company Stream boxes, the end user has no way to activate/deactivate. So that won't ever work under any circumstances. My advice is to first confirm that the seller originally bought the Stream retail and get the TSN number from him. You can then call Tivo and confirm that the TSN is not assigned to some cable company. I didn't know to do this with my first unit. I asked the sellers of the second and third units if they bought them retail. Both lied. My 4th unit, I got the TSN and confirmed with Tivo that it was ok, and finally had something that worked. In my case, the Stream had never been activated before, so activation was easy.


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## PCurry57 (Feb 27, 2012)

Mikeguy said:


> Thanks. Yep, I belatedly realized that the Stream is plugged into into the router (I think I had assumed into a TiVo itself, to create the "equivalent" of a Roamio Pro/Plus but with the Stream tech. on the outside of the box).
> 
> And so, if the Stream is plugged directly into the router via Ethernet cable, does it work well with networked TiVos operating over a wireless network? I assume (assuming that this even will work) that there is a transmission hit.


Officially TiVo Stream doesn't work with wireless connected TiVo DVR's. My own personal experience though was good. It largely depends on your wireless network and the wireless bridge device you use. Using the TiVo wireless adapter external our built in I wouldn't hold my breath. I've very successfully used a DLink DAP-1522 in bridge mode on the 5Ghz band to stream DVR 2 DVR in an apartment that had block walls making pulling a wire impractical, this was my setup when I got my Stream device and it worked well. I also tried a WD Wireless AC Bridge, though the DLink is only a 300Mbps device it's more reliable than the WD AC device. Likely why WD abandoned it's routers and bridge devices.

After my last move I switched to moca for the internet connection in the living room, the occasional wireless hiccup maybe once a month now gone. Though I suspect wireless connection would have more difficulty today for the simple reason instead of being the only 5Ghz SSID there are half a dozen now. If you are the only 5Ghz band network it may work well, if not go moca.

Streaming OOH quality is dependent on your uplink bandwidth. After TWC/Charter rebranding to Spectrum there were some odd errors and outages with my 200/20 it seems to have stabilized now though (less reliable than it was under TWC).


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## TeamPace (Oct 23, 2013)

I've had a TiVo steam for at least a couple of years now that I use with my Roamio basic for OTA broadcasts only. I don't use it alot but it seems to work fairly well for streaming to IOS devices around the house and for TiVo online to computers in the home. We used to use it quite a bit to stream to iPads (in home) but now we have a total of 5 TV's connected to TiVo in the house so using the iPads isn't much needed. I had used the streaming to an Amazon fire stick in the house a few times and it seemed to work OK but it's a limited service compared to having a Mini. 

I only have 1Mb upload so out of home streaming is very poor for me, pretty much unusable. If you had a minimum of 3 to 5Mb reliable upload speeds (preferably more) you'd probably have better luck with OOH. I agree that OOH streaming to TiVo online would be a much desired feature. Hope they add that someday. By the way, all our TiVo devices are hardwired (ethernet) which I think you'd need for reliable service. My stream is located right by our router.


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## MacBrian (Feb 24, 2002)

I use my Stream almost nightly to view TV shows on my iPad while I'm on the treadmill working off a portion of the Christmas goodies that seem to find their way into my system. I really enjoy watching TiVo on the iPad -- I can just swipe across the screen to do the 30-sec jump forward to skip commercials -- that way I don't have to try and hit an on-screen button while I'm in motion! A left-swipe jumps backward as well. I wish other streaming systems would do the same!

OOH streaming works for me on my iPhone...but I've always had issues trying to download to my iPhone before I leave my home network. It takes way too long and fails way too often, but it does play back well if you get a successful transfer.

My experience is the stream can also be a little bit weak with reliability. Sometimes out of the blue it'll ask for re-authentication...and then sometimes it gets stubborn and I have to go back through the streaming setup steps to get it going again. It seems like MANY things TiVo, there is a reliance on contacting the TiVo Mothership. You've heard the adage: "If Mom ain't happy, ain't no one happy."? That happens with TiVo -- if their servers are grumpy or your connection to them is slow, you'll get odd behaviors and spinning circles on anything that has a TiVo logo on it.


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## Series3Sub (Mar 14, 2010)

In my experience the TiVo stream in great in my LAN, but I have tired of all the steps for being required to Sign In to watch my transferred shows when I do NOT have access to internet. I just use a Slingbox for OOH streaming. It is far more reliable.


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## PCurry57 (Feb 27, 2012)

mdavej said:


> Usually not. It barely works when Tivo is hardwired.


Works well for me, perhaps your uplink ISP performance isn't up to the deed.


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## mdavej (Aug 13, 2015)

PCurry57 said:


> Works well for me, perhaps your uplink ISP performance isn't up to the deed.


So you can playback, a 1 hr program without disconnects or interruptions, and the resolution is satisfactory on a large TV? I admit it looks passable on a phone, but terrible on a 40 inch TV typically found in the hotels I frequent.

True, my uplink speed is low (6Mbps). But this is sufficient for a 1080i picture from my slingbox which is smooth and uninterrupted. On the other hand, even in home streaming on a gigabit hard wired network, resolution is terrible on the Fire TV app from my stream, and disconnects are frequent. Nothing else on my LAN has any such connection issues. So stream is indeed vastly inferior to slingbox in terms of reliability and picture quality, even on a very fast connection.


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## PCurry57 (Feb 27, 2012)

mdavej said:


> So you can playback, a 1 hr program without disconnects or interruptions, and the resolution is satisfactory on a large TV? I admit it looks passable on a phone, but terrible on a 40 inch TV typically found in the hotels I frequent.
> 
> True, my uplink speed is low (6Mbps). But this is sufficient for a 1080i picture from my slingbox which is smooth and uninterrupted. On the other hand, even in home streaming on a gigabit hard wired network, resolution is terrible on the Fire TV app from my stream, and disconnects are frequent. Nothing else on my LAN has any such connection issues. So stream is indeed vastly inferior to slingbox in terms of reliability and picture quality, even on a very fast connection.


I've watched many hours while commuting, streamed movies while on Amtrak and Greyhound (on my mobile data plan not on their provided Wi-Fi).

Since it's not intended to stream to a TV OOH. I have no experience with Fire TV, though your also introducing another likely point of breakdown the Hotel/Motel network.


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## mdavej (Aug 13, 2015)

Sounds like the issue is actually the Tivo Fire TV app then. I have no problems on a phone either, even on terrible Hotel wifi.


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