# TiVo Mini & Stream with Airport Express



## DennySF415 (Oct 21, 2014)

Hello all you smart tech folk. I just rid of my crappy DSL connection with ATT and got a new connection with Monkeybrains which is mega faster. Previously I was hooked up with a DSL modem in the bedroom but it was always too slow to stream the tv shows to watch in bed on my TiVo Mini! I also have Tivo Stream as well.

So my new internet connection is in the living room, and I am now hooked up with Airport Express. Everything is working great and much faster! I am super happy. But I have a problem now! Reading below on the site:

"TiVo Mini, the host DVR, and all other DVRs you want to use with TiVo Mini must connect to the home router using a high-bandwidth Ethernet or MoCA connection. For ease of setup and maintenance, TiVo recommends that you use the same type of connection across all devices on your network.

IMPORTANT: TiVo Mini does not support wireless connections and cannot interact with DVRs in your home that are on a wireless connection."

How am I supposed to make this work now with the Tivo Mini and Stream in my bedroom?? I am totally confused. Do I have to move them both to my living room? Will I still have access to my TiVo shows in the bedroom? I was thinking this was going to let me finally have the freedom to watch tv in my room but I dont know how to do this!

I am so frustrated. Haven't been able to use the TiVo Mini or Stream since I got it last December for Christmas 

Incredibly frustrated. There must be a work around???

Is it possible to hook up the TiVo Mini and Tivo Stream to the living room to work in my bedroom? I am not very tech savy and all of this is very confusing to me!

I hope I did not spend all this money and a lifetime of TiVo memberships to not be able to use these products.

Will Airport Express work with my devices??

I need a solution fast before I lose my mind...

Appreciate anyone's help!!

Denny


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

Airport express is weak in that if you are hardwired to a modem you can only go wireless for your devices. So, either to try out a wireless bridge on the mini (look it up), or go with a router with ethernet ports, or go with moca. No matter what, you need to get something to go along with that express.

Tivo's website has some great illustrations, check that out. 

I prefer hardwired (e.g. a new modem), but if you have a cable port near where you want to put your mini, that is a great option as well.


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## DennySF415 (Oct 21, 2014)

Thanks for your reply. Would an Airport Extreme work? That has several ethernet ports. 

I also need to know if the Mini and Stream would plug into the living room. 

The buildings in San Francisco are OLD and the rooms are not well wired except for DSL. 

Your advice and support is appreciated!

Denny


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

MoCa is simply another way to connect instead of running ethernet cables along side the coax, the data is using the same coax as the cable TV. You just need a MoCa adapter at the router. Its built-in on the Mini and Roamio Plus/pro.

If you move the mini to the same room as the Tivo, what's the point?


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## DennySF415 (Oct 21, 2014)

If you can believe it my room is not cable tv ready. There is no coaxial cable in the room. Hard to believe this building was built in the 70's and no one had it hard-wired for cable! Crazy. That's why I bought the Mini.


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## Marty1781 (Jan 2, 2004)

DennySF415 said:


> If you can believe it my room is not cable tv ready. There is no coaxial cable in the room. Hard to believe this building was built in the 70's and no one had it hard-wired for cable! Crazy. That's why I bought the Mini.


You will need a router such as the Airport Extreme or a similar wireless-AC (the current fastest consumer wireless standard) router that has ethernet inputs. Plug your Tivo and Stream into that new router.

Since your bedroom does not have coax or ethernet, you will need to either use a wireless bridge or powerline networking to connect the Mini to your network. The wireless bridge tricks the Mini into thinking it is connected over ethernet and the powerline network adapter uses your home's electrical wiring to transmit/receive data.

If you go with a wireless bridge, the quality of experience you get from the Mini (i.e. how much stuttering/freezing, pixelation, or lack thereof, etc) will depend on the quality/strength of the wireless signal in your bedroom. You can turn that Airport Express into a wireless bridge following the directions posted on Apple's support website and thus would not need to purchase a separate wireless bridge (you still need to purchase a router with multiple ethernet ports, however). The Express, however, to my knowledge only supports wireless-N (and not the fastest wireless-AC standard) so that may not result in the smoothest video playback experience on the Mini. Wireless-N has worked fine for some people though with the Mini so it may be worth a shot. If not, then you can try a wireless-AC bridge such as this one: http://www.amazon.com/Linksys-Wireless-AC-Universal-Connector-WUMC710/dp/B0090DX8O8

If you go with powerline networking, your Mini experience will greatly depend on the quality of the electrical wiring in your home. Since you have stated the home is quite old, this may not be the best option. If you want to give it a try though, you can purchase a powerline networking kit such as this one: http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-PA511-Powerline-Starter-Kit/dp/B0081FLFQE One adapter plugs into your router (and an electrical wall outlet) and the other into an electrical outlet near the Mini in your bedroom.

Good luck!


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## DennySF415 (Oct 21, 2014)

Thanks for your help Marty. This is slowly making sense, but since I am not so techie please bear with me.

So you are saying I should return the Airport Express and get the Airport Extreme instead because it has more ethernet ports correct? TiVo and Stream go into the Airport Extreme in the living room.

Then I purchase this powerline network adaptor (http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-PA511-Powerline-Starter-Kit/dp/B0081FLFQE) which will plug into the wall in my bedroom--it creates a wireless connection to the Airport Express in the living room. My TiVo Mini then plugs into this device which thinks it is connected over ethernet but it actually uses my home's electrical wiring to receive data. Provided my signal is strong enough I should be able to use the Mini in my bedroom?

Do I also need a router?? Let me know if this is also something else I need to order. The guy who installed my new internet said my ATT modem was crappy and old. I thought I was going to be able to get rid of the old dsl router in my bedroom finally.

Sorry I have so many questions--I am almost there! I may still have a little of this confused but I appreciate you all helping me out!!

Denny


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## Marty1781 (Jan 2, 2004)

DennySF415 said:


> Thanks for your help Marty. This is slowly making sense, but since I am not so techie please bear with me.
> 
> So you are saying I should return the Airport Express and get the Airport Extreme instead because it has more ethernet ports correct? TiVo and Stream go into the Airport Extreme in the living room.


Correct, Tivo and Stream connect to the Airport Extreme (which is a router). You may want to hang onto the Express though as it can act as a wireless bridge for the Mini (discussed below).



DennySF415 said:


> Do I also need a router??


The Airport Extreme is a router!



DennySF415 said:


> Then I purchase this powerline network adaptor (http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-PA511-Powerline-Starter-Kit/dp/B0081FLFQE) which will plug into the wall in my bedroom--it creates a wireless connection to the Airport Express in the living room. My TiVo Mini then plugs into this device which thinks it is connected over ethernet but it actually uses my home's electrical wiring to receive data. Provided my signal is strong enough I should be able to use the Mini in my bedroom?


I think you are a little confused here 

You use the powerline kit OR the wireless bridge (but not both) to get the Mini connected. In either scenario, you will need to disconnect the Express from its current place in your living room as the Extreme will be taking its place/role.

If you go the wireless bridge route, then you may be able to repurpose the Express that you already own (and thus not have to purchase a dedicated/separate wireless bridge). Simply google "setup airport express as wireless bridge" for instructions. Using this setup, the Express will wirelessly connect to the Extreme. You then plug the Mini into the Express's single ethernet port and you're done. The one issue here is that the Express uses wireless-N, which is not as fast as the wireless-AC standard. Therefore, video on the Mini may skip, pause, etc. It just depends on the quality/strength of the wireless signal in your bedroom. If you find the Mini experience is not optimal using this setup, then you may want to consider purchasing/using the wireless bridge I linked to in my previous post (which utilizes wireless-AC).

The other option is to use powerline networking. Plug one powerline adapter into the Extreme and an electrical wall outlet. Plug the other powerline adapter into an electrical outlet near the Mini in your bedroom. Plug an ethernet cable from the powerline adapter in your bedroom to the Mini. Again though, because this method is dependent on the quality of your home's electrical wiring, it may result in skipping/pausing/etc on the Mini. There really is no way to know beforehand until you try it.


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## DennySF415 (Oct 21, 2014)

Awesome! You are amazing!! I will pick up the Airport Extreme and keep my fingers crossed!!! Hoping that will work. Youre amazing!! Keeping my fingers crossed. 

Will keep you posted 

Denny


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

That is supposed to be a great router, but if you are looking to go on the cheap, there are many many others out there that are cheaper and get the job done.


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## DennySF415 (Oct 21, 2014)

Hey Guys

So I set up the new Airport Extreme in the living room, connected the TiVo Stream and TiVo Roamio directly to it. I then put the Airport Express in the bedroom and did the like you said. I setup airport express as wireless bridge which Im assuming I did correctly because it said it was successful and the computer just basically did it for me.

Now I am getting a TEMPORARY SERVICE CONNECTION ISSUE on the TiVo when it tries to connect to the internet?? Any idea why this is happening?? I checked status.tivo.com and apparently everything is ok?

I tried to log into the iPad app so I could least see if TIVO STREAM is working, but I'm getting "A network error occurred. Please try again". 

That being said I am now able to watch shows in the bedroom again. I will try to watch a few shows before bed and see if it streams without the lag I experienced before.

Denny


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## Marty1781 (Jan 2, 2004)

DennySF415 said:


> Hey Guys
> 
> So I set up the new Airport Extreme in the living room, connected the TiVo Stream and TiVo Roamio directly to it. I then put the Airport Express in the bedroom and did the like you said. I setup airport express as wireless bridge which Im assuming I did correctly because it said it was successful and the computer just basically did it for me.
> 
> ...


So just to be clear, when you setup the Airport Extreme, you connected your DSL line into the single WAN port on the Extreme and the Stream and Roamio into two of the Extreme's ethernet LAN ports, right? Are you able to browse the internet with your iPad or laptop when connected to the Extreme's wireless network? Also, on the Roamio, did you configure it to use ethernet in the network settings?


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## DennySF415 (Oct 21, 2014)

I had to reset the Aiport Extreme cause it wasnt set up properly. I also had one of the plugs in wrong as you suggested. So that's all working now! So I am able to stream shows and watch live tv in the bedroom now. The Tivo Stream is finally up and running. Will test it out today at work over wi-fi. 

I tried watching a program on the Mini last night in my bedroom. It finally wasnt choppy or lagging but it would lose the connection every so often. Do you think if I switched the Airport Express to an Airport Extreme in the bedroom it would correct this problem??

Thanks for all your help. Youve been amazing. 

Denny


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## Marty1781 (Jan 2, 2004)

DennySF415 said:


> I had to reset the Aiport Extreme cause it wasnt set up properly. I also had one of the plugs in wrong as you suggested. So that's all working now! So I am able to stream shows and watch live tv in the bedroom now. The Tivo Stream is finally up and running. Will test it out today at work over wi-fi.
> 
> I tried watching a program on the Mini last night in my bedroom. It finally wasnt choppy or lagging but it would lose the connection every so often. Do you think if I switched the Airport Express to an Airport Extreme in the bedroom it would correct this problem??
> 
> ...


That would probably be overkill. I am guessing that a 2nd Extreme could be setup as a bridge (like how you have your Express setup now) but I've never tried it. You can also try purchasing that Linksys wireless bridge that I linked to on Amazon a few posts back. It uses wireless-AC, which is faster than the wireless-N that the Express is currently using. Thus, it may solve your issues and is significantly less expensive than purchasing a 2nd Extreme.


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

I'm guessing you have some interference. You may want to change the channels the Extreme is broadcasting on. If you have an android phone, there are some great tools to test the strength of the signal. 

Moving sources of interference such as a cordless phone could help, sliding the express to different locations could also help. a foot can make a difference. This is the reason tivo recommends hardwiring.


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## telemark (Nov 12, 2013)

The Apple Apple Express has had 2 ethernet ports for a number of years. It's no longer required to get an Airport Extreme to get wired router functionality. You just need a switch with the right number of ports.

There is a speed difference, N vs AC and 10/100 vs Gigabit, but DSL users might not notice a difference.

The price difference is $100 vs $200.


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## DennySF415 (Oct 21, 2014)

You guys are amazing. Im going to keep trying it throughout the weekend. Glad I wont have to get another Airport Extreme. 

How do I change channels like you mention? I have an iPhone if that helps. 

So that Linksys router you are saying would be used INSTEAD of the airport express currently in my bedroom? I can still return my Express if you think that router will prevent the losing connection which is happening. 

Thanks for all your help and advice guys. Id be lost without it!!!

Denny


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## Marty1781 (Jan 2, 2004)

DennySF415 said:


> So that Linksys router you are saying would be used INSTEAD of the airport express currently in my bedroom? I can still return my Express if you think that router will prevent the losing connection which is happening.


Correct, the Linksys wireless bridge (not a router) would be used in place of the Express that is currently in your bedroom. You will have to first associate/link the Linksys to the Extreme's wireless network before installing in your bedroom, however. This is easily done with the included software that comes with the Linksys. I obviously cannot guarantee that it will solve the connection problem but its definitely worth a shot.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

telemark said:


> The Apple Apple Express has had 2 ethernet ports for a number of years. It's no longer required to get an Airport Extreme to get wired router functionality. You just need a switch with the right number of ports. There is a speed difference, N vs AC and 10/100 vs Gigabit, but DSL users might not notice a difference. The price difference is $100 vs $200.


As telemark is alluding to, what version of Airport Express are you using, the old one with a single Ethernet jack, or the newer one with a WAN and a LAN port like this: http://www.apple.com/airport-express/


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## DennySF415 (Oct 21, 2014)

Well the streaming and lagging issue is gone but it still drops the connection occasionally which is something I can live with. 

Movies, music, Netflix, etc playback is fine. It's just TiVo playback that looses the connection. 

If they could get the streaming perfected on their App I'd be super happy. Lots of lag there but could be my wi-fi connection at work. 

You guys were awesome helping me out! Even the TiVo tech support people didnt offer this solution so very grateful for your help. 

Denny


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