# Bolt RF Remote Intermittent IR Mode?



## V7Goose (May 28, 2005)

I have only had my Bolt for a couple of months. Seems to be working OK, but I find one strange and somewhat irritating behavior with the RF remote: fairly frequent regression to IR for about 30 seconds.

With the RF remote, you can tell if it is sending signals in RF or IF mode by the color of the LED flash on the tip of the remote: Yellow = normal RF, Red = old IR.

I have my Bolt located in a room with no other TiVos, and the remote is properly paired to it in RF mode. There is a large sculpture on the coffee table between me and the Bolt that blocks a normal IR remote unless you lift it up a foot or so. The RF remote usually works just fine, but every day or two when I am moving though the menus, the Bolt just stops responding for a few button pushes, and if I look at the remote while this happens, I can see the light is flashing RED (meaning it is sending an IR signal, not the normal RF). Generally it goes back to RF mode within 20-30 seconds. If it wasn't for that sculpture blocking the IR signal, I probably never would have noticed this issue, since I normally am not looking at the remote while I use it. If I raise the remote for a clear line-of-sight while it is flashing red, the Bolt responds to the IR signal fine, but that is not the issue. I think it should STAY in RF mode all the time.

The RF remote normally has a very strong signal and long range - I can go into a totally different room and push the remote and the RF signal still triggers the Bolt just fine, so it is not an issue of low batteries or being on the fringe of the RF range from my normal seat. WHY is the Bolt Remote dropping down to IR so frequently? Anybody else notice this, or should I be suspecting a problem with the remote?


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

V7Goose said:


> I have only had my Bolt for a couple of months. Seems to be working OK, but I find one strange and somewhat irritating behavior with the RF remote: fairly frequent regression to IR for about 30 seconds.
> 
> With the RF remote, you can tell if it is sending signals in RF or IF mode by the color of the LED flash on the tip of the remote: Yellow = normal RF, Red = old IR.
> 
> ...


Here's my observation. This is my second Roamio remote in RF mode doing exactly the same thing: dropping into IR mode. I can not use IR since the front of my basic Roamio has a block of wood in front of it.

Here's what I think is the problem, which you should be able to cause by bringing up the guide and hitting down until the mode changes. I feel it's interference and if the remote fails on RF it drops to IR for a short period of time. I can get back to RF in 1 second by lowering the remote below my leg. Basically it's where I can use it but where I can't hold it. What does this block? My computer. It's wireless and has a wireless mouse. If I reduce the remote's "view", it will always return to RF on the second key press. There is no maybe either. I have removed power from my computer and the problem stops. The Roamio and computer are about seven feet from each other and my viewing position. It's a small space and a 40" TV. I have a lot of electronics, all wireless, in a small space. Battery level is easy to check on the System Information display. Mine is always 100%.

It sucks, but I have bigger problems.


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## V7Goose (May 28, 2005)

Good to know it is not just my remote (I guess). It would be better if the TiVo remote worked properly.

My system is in a large open room with NO other RF equipment other than our cell phones which connect to the LAN. I do have two wireless computers, but they are in another room at least 30 feet away. Even if I shut down the computers, the house is always going to have 3 active wireless access points. I'll have to play around and see if I can duplicate the problem on demand for testing as you have.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

V7Goose said:


> Good to know it is not just my remote (I guess). It would be better if the TiVo remote worked properly.
> 
> My system is in a large open room with NO other RF equipment other than our cell phones which connect to the LAN. I do have two wireless computers, but they are in another room at least 30 feet away. Even if I shut down the computers, the house is always going to have 3 active wireless access points. I'll have to play around and see if I can duplicate the problem on demand for testing as you have.


Next time it happens just put your hand in front of the remote and repeat the keypress twice. It should work on the second try. You don't have to wait 30 seconds, but I have done that also. Now it's automatic. Remote is usually resting on my leg. I just move it down to allow my leg to block the computer and get on with my life. It could be my TV since it's using WiFi. Even my Roamio uses a wireless bridge. Like I said, I've given up looking for a better fix.

I would tape over the front, but I also control the TV and AVR. They need IR.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

V7Goose said:


> My system is in a large open room with NO other RF equipment other than our cell phones which connect to the LAN.


Is the connected TV using Wi-Fi? Also, how close is the BOLT to the HDTV? I've found similar RF connectivity issues when I've located a TiVo Mini too close to our HDTV, and the symptoms may relate to the TV electronics, not just whether the TV is using Wi-Fi.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

V7Goose said:


> Good to know it is not just my remote (I guess). It would be better if the TiVo remote worked properly.
> 
> My system is in a large open room with NO other RF equipment other than our cell phones which connect to the LAN. I do have two wireless computers, but they are in another room at least 30 feet away. Even if I shut down the computers, the house is always going to have 3 active wireless access points. I'll have to play around and see if I can duplicate the problem on demand for testing as you have.


I have five APs(three on 2.4Ghz and five on 5Ghz) plus dozens of WiFi devices. And use five of the TiVo RF remotes. Yet I don't run into interference with the TiVo remotes. They stay in RF mode unless I get over 20 or 25 feet away from the TiVos.

Do the people with interference have any devices that use WiFi Direct remotes? maybe those are causing issues? I remember my ROku used to cause issues with it's WiFi direct remote. So I always forced the remote to a vacant 5Ghz channel to avoid interference with anything. And I always avoided using any 2.4Ghz channel with WiFi Direct remotes.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

aaronwt said:


> I have five APs(three on 2.4Ghz and five on 5Ghz) plus dozens of WiFi devices. And use five of the TiVo RF remotes. Yet I don't run into interference with the TiVo remotes. They stay in RF mode unless I get over 20 or 25 feet away from the TiVos.
> 
> Do the people with interference have any devices that use WiFi Direct remotes? maybe those are causing issues? I remember my ROku used to cause issues with it's WiFi direct remote. So I always forced the remote to a vacant 5Ghz channel to avoid interference with anything. And I always avoided using 2.4Ghz with WiFi Direct.


My Roku 3 is next to my Roamio. I'll gladly change it's channel if you can give me a clue where to look. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I assume you are not talking about the regular router 5GHz channels.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

JoeKustra said:


> My Roku 3 is next to my Roamio. I'll gladly change it's channel if you can give me a clue where to look. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I assume you are not talking about the regular router 5GHz channels.


Yes it uses the same channels. If the Roku is using WiFi, then the WiFi Direct remote is using the same channel. To force it to a specific channel you need to connect the Roku over WiFi, to an SSID with a specific channel. Then you switch the Roku to the wired connection. And it will continue using that wireless channel for the WiFi Direct remote.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

aaronwt said:


> Yes it uses the same channels. If the Roku is using WiFi, then the WiFi Direct remote is using the same channel. To force it to a specific channel you need to connect the Roku over WiFi, to an SSID with a specific channel. Then you switch the Roku to the wired connection. And it will continue using that wireless channel for the WiFi Direct remote.


Thanks. I have a spare port on a media bridge that I can use. But what about the remote? I thought it also used WiFi. I've done some reading.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

JoeKustra said:


> Thanks. I have a spare port on a media bridge that I can use. But what about the remote? I thought it also used WiFi. I've done some reading.


 YEs the remote uses WiFi Direct. You have to force it to use a specific WiFi channel by the method I wrote.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Thanks. I will take advantage of a cold, rainy, windy Saturday to reconfigure my WiFi. My router, a Netgear R8000, is tri-band and will let me use a different SSID for the two 5GHz bands. I'll have to reprogram everything, but that's what a rainy day is good for.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Update. No effect on dropping to IR mode when removing battery from Roku 3 remote and removing power from Roku. I guess it's the computer or mouse. TV has WiFi Direct disabled.

On the other hand, I did get to do some network cleanup. Having a different SSID for each channel helps a lot. The Netgear R8000 is a really nice router. They just released the R9000, but nothing about it gets me excited.


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