# Will a Roamio work with my apartment setup?



## toothgrind3r (Mar 5, 2014)

Hello everyone!
So I am thinking about getting my FIRST Tivo box...the Roamio Plus is what I've got my eye on. This being my first, please forgive any ignorance I may show, or any stupid questions I may have. 
But I wanted to ask here (instead of, say, Best Buy, or Time Warner Cable) because you all are the experts :up:

So this is my current set up in my NYC apartment, wired for Time Warner Cable.


Office - This room has a coax cable out from the wall, connected to my modem, which is connected to my wireless router via ethernet, which feeds everything else in the apartment wirelessly (computers, AppleTV, Roku, etc).

Living room - This room also has a coax cable out from the wall, which is connected to the Time Warner Cable DVR.

Bedroom - This room doesn't have a coax cable out from the wall, so all I have connected to the TV in there is the Roku.

So I guess I should just tell you my ideal setup, and you let me know if it will work?

I would like to keep the modem/router in the office, as is.
I would like to have the Roamio in the living room, connected to the internet wirelessly.
I would like to, down the road, add a Tivo Mini to the bedroom TV, connected wirelessly.

That SEEMS simple enough to me, but the more I read, the more confused I get. 
Do I need to have the Roamio connected via ethernet?
Do I need a MoCA connection? (I still don't fully understand what that is)

Thanks for any and all info you may have in advance!


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## ahwman (Jan 24, 2013)

toothgrind3r said:


> Hello everyone!
> So I am thinking about getting my FIRST Tivo box...the Roamio Plus is what I've got my eye on. This being my first, please forgive any ignorance I may show, or any stupid questions I may have.
> But I wanted to ask here (instead of, say, Best Buy, or Time Warner Cable) because you all are the experts :up:
> 
> ...


There are no stupid questions my friend. You laid out your questions very well as a matter of fact. That said, you can in fact use wireless to stream from your Roamio Plus as I've been doing so with my Roamio Pro/Mini and it works very well. However, the Mini doesn't support wireless so you are forced to either use Ethernet or Moca. Moca simply uses your existing coax lines to transmit data. You might be able to get away with using a powerline adapter which transmits data using your existing house wiring (keep in mind that this is less reliable than Ethernet or Moca).

Hope that helps!


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## toothgrind3r (Mar 5, 2014)

ahwman said:


> There are no stupid questions my friend. You laid out your questions very well as a matter of fact. That said, you can in fact use wireless to stream from your Roamio Plus as I've been doing so with my Roamio Pro/Mini and it works very well. However, the Mini doesn't support wireless so you are forced to either use Ethernet or Moca. Moca simply uses your existing coax lines to transmit data. You might be able to get away with using a powerline adapter which transmits data using your existing house wiring (keep in mind that this is less reliable than Ethernet or Moca).
> 
> Hope that helps!


Great, thanks ahwman!
So, since the Mini/bedroom setup is not a top priority, I think I'm good for now, right? Keep my internet stuff in the office, Roamio in living room connected wirelessly. Does the initial setup of the Roamio need to be via ethernet? I thought I may have read that somewhere before.


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## ahwman (Jan 24, 2013)

toothgrind3r said:


> Great, thanks ahwman!
> So, since the Mini/bedroom setup is not a top priority, I think I'm good for now, right? Keep my internet stuff in the office, Roamio in living room connected wirelessly. Does the initial setup of the Roamio need to be via ethernet? I thought I may have read that somewhere before.


I sure wouldn't think so. I can't imagine why you couldn't set it up wirelessly right out-of-the-box.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

Be aware that the Roamio (and Premieres) need essentially a constant Internet connection. Basically, you lose a lot of functionality, and they 'wig out' if the Internet connection is flaky, which is much more likely with a WiFi connection than a hardwired connection.


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## CrispyCritter (Feb 28, 2001)

mattack said:


> Be aware that the Roamio (and Premieres) need essentially a constant Internet connection. Basically, you lose a lot of functionality, and they 'wig out' if the Internet connection is flaky, which is much more likely with a WiFi connection than a hardwired connection.


I agree. I would strongly recommend you don't count on having your Mini connected to the Roamio via wireless initially. TiVo doesn't support that configuration; you can get it to work if you have excellent wireless connectivity without any competition for bandwidth, but it's quite tough to ensure this.

Even the initial Roamio setup will be easier wired; then move it away from your router and use wireless once things are working. Again, if you know what you're doing and what to expect you can do it wirelessly from the beginning but since you're new to TiVo, just take it slowly.


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## dbattaglia001 (Feb 9, 2003)

Buy a Moca adapter and hook that up to your cable modem / router in the office...then I think you can just connect to internet over moca as the plus has moca built in.


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## moonscape (Jul 3, 2004)

The MoCA needs to be installed at the point of entry to your apartment, whether that's your office, living room, or a point prior. I have an upstairs condo with coax in 4 rooms including loft, but no idea where the entry point is for my service. It's not obvious in my case. You might be luckier than I am, but in order to determine this I'm going to need a Comcast truck roll so have been dragging my feet since wireless is working well for me thus far.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

moonscape said:


> The MoCA needs to be installed at the point of entry to your apartment, whether that's your office, living room, or a point prior. I have an upstairs condo with coax in 4 rooms including loft, but no idea where the entry point is for my service. It's not obvious in my case. You might be luckier than I am, but in order to determine this I'm going to need a Comcast truck roll so have been dragging my feet since wireless is working well for me thus far.


 That's not true. It can be installed anywhere on your coax network where the modem/router are. Just the moca/POE "filter" should be installed at the POE. I think you mean it should be installed where your modem and router are, correct?


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## dbattaglia001 (Feb 9, 2003)

HarperVision said:


> That's not true. It can be installed anywhere on your coax network where the modem/router are. Just the moca/POE "filter" should be installed at the POE. I think you mean it should be installed where your modem and router are, correct?


Agreed. Not sure what Moonscape is talking about. Coax comes into my condo, have a splitter behind wall taking one end to living room and other end to bedroom...in living room, coax comes from wall *to splitter, with one end of splitter *to cable modem* and other end of splitter to Roamio Pro*, and i connect Roamio pro to router via ethernet and activate moca bridge on roamio pro. Then, in my bedroom, I have coax into a moca adapter which then connect to my Premiere XL. Moca works flawlessly for me.

I did try installing a POE filter but that screwed everything up so I scrapped that.


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## cherry ghost (Sep 13, 2005)

dbattaglia001 said:


> Agreed. Not sure what Moonscape is talking about. Coax comes into my condo, have a splitter behind wall taking one end to living room and other end to bedroom...in living room, coax comes from wall to cable modem, and i connect Roamio pro to router via ethernet and activate moca bridge on roamio pro. Then, in my bedroom, I have coax into a moca adapter which then connect to my Premiere XL. Moca works flawlessly for me.
> 
> I did try installing a POE filter but that screwed everything up so I scrapped that.


So you don't have/need coax connected to the Roamio Pro?


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## AdamNJ (Aug 22, 2013)

tooth,

do you pay your own separate bill for cable or is it 'free' as part of your rent? and can you add any package like hbo...etc?

I am asking those questions to determine if your cable tv service is your own or shared with others. if it is your own, you can easily setup a moca network and be able to hookup your mini down the road only using the existing coax. roamio plus or pro comes with the ability to create a moca network, however, i think u need a wired ethernet connection for that. otheriwse u buy a seperate moca adapter, set it up in your office where u have your router, and then everything on coax will have internet


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## moonscape (Jul 3, 2004)

dbattaglia001 said:


> Agreed. Not sure what Moonscape is talking about.


Ack! Was thinking about the filter. I've not gone MoCA yet because of my filter issue so that was on my mind 

Sorry 'bout that!


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## waynomo (Nov 9, 2002)

cherry ghost said:


> So you don't have/need coax connected to the Roamio Pro?


You need to get your TV programs. Am I missing something?


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## cherry ghost (Sep 13, 2005)

waynomo said:


> You need to get your TV programs. Am I missing something?


Maybe it was just left out of the post, but there's no mention of a second splitter before the modem and the Roamio. If there is one, I'm surprised it's not causing the modem to have problems.


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## dbattaglia001 (Feb 9, 2003)

cherry ghost said:


> Maybe it was just left out of the post, but there's no mention of a second splitter before the modem and the Roamio. If there is one, I'm surprised it's not causing the modem to have problems.


Sorry, yeah, i inadvertently left it out of post.  Have gone back and edited it. The splitter is before the cable modem and have had absolutely no problems.


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## koolio (Apr 17, 2019)

Sorry for reviving an old post, but the forum would not let me post a new thread. My Roamio refuses to connect via apartment wifi AND phone-data wifi hotspot - what do I need to do ? The apartment has no clue about any firewall for DVRs.


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

koolio said:


> Sorry for reviving an old post, but the forum would not let me post a new thread. My Roamio refuses to connect via apartment wifi AND phone-data wifi hotspot - what do I need to do ? The apartment has no clue about any firewall for DVRs.


Just to double-check: did you try re-booting your Roamio box?


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## Scott9mm (Apr 5, 2015)

koolio said:


> Sorry for reviving an old post, but the forum would not let me post a new thread. My Roamio refuses to connect via apartment wifi AND phone-data wifi hotspot - what do I need to do ? The apartment has no clue about any firewall for DVRs.


I don't see why you talk about a phone data hot spot. I don'r see how something like that would be involved.
Roamios all have internal WiFi capability and should be able to connect wirelessly to your apartment WiFi directly. You will need to go to the networking settings to select WiFi connection (vs ethernet or MOCA), the WiFi SSID, and enter the WPA wireless password (assuming the WiFi is encrypted as it should be). 
Is the WiFi coming from your own wireless router/access point or is it something the apartment provides? If it's not your own router (or something you rent) it's a security issue in my opinion unless you have your own dedicated, encrypted SSID. 
Assuming it is your own router this is not hard; just followed the guided setup?
Assuming you have a smart phone, install an app like "WiFi Analyzer" so you can use your phone to ensure you have a good WiFi signal at the tiVo and also that you don't have too interference from other nearby WiFi systems.


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## koolio (Apr 17, 2019)

Mikeguy said:


> Just to double-check: did you try re-booting your Roamio box?


pretty sure I did, but will try again


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## koolio (Apr 17, 2019)

Scott9mm said:


> I don't see why you talk about a phone data hot spot. I don'r see how something like that would be involved.
> Roamios all have internal WiFi capability and should be able to connect wirelessly to your apartment WiFi directly. You will need to go to the networking settings to select WiFi connection (vs ethernet or MOCA), the WiFi SSID, and enter the WPA wireless password (assuming the WiFi is encrypted as it should be).
> Is the WiFi coming from your own wireless router/access point or is it something the apartment provides? If it's not your own router (or something you rent) it's a security issue in my opinion unless you have your own dedicated, encrypted SSID.
> Assuming it is your own router this is not hard; just followed the guided setup?
> Assuming you have a smart phone, install an app like "WiFi Analyzer" so you can use your phone to ensure you have a good WiFi signal at the tiVo and also that you don't have too interference from other nearby WiFi systems.


Been a Tivo user for more than 2 decades but never set it up on wifi except now coz I am using the apt's whole-complex wifi, I am in IT so I know what I doing
Wifi has excellent speed frmo Spectrum, like 145Mbps
It takes my pwd - when I enter incorrect pwd it gives me a diff error, so I know auth was ok. Its in the 2nd line of the connection its borked

Reg. I don't see why you talk about a phone data hot spot. I don'r see how something like that would be involved.
So I read on another post here that apt. wifi might have firewalls and such thats why the tethering, to see if it works with that at least


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## Scott9mm (Apr 5, 2015)

Well, if you are on a WiFi system managed by someone else, there is no telling what combination of ports, IP addresses and NIC addresses might be blocked or throttled. Maybe someone here (or at TiVo) can tell you which addresses/ports TiVo needs and then you can talk to the dude that manages that WiFi.

I am not in IT so I'll disengage now.


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## koolio (Apr 17, 2019)

After entering wifi pwd on tivo it says now connected. It also gets an IP from the DHCP. Then says we will now connect. Then says problem with connection. My laptop and phone are hunky-dory with the connection speed. Power cycled; still complains Service connection issue.


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## Scott9mm (Apr 5, 2015)

Maybe this will help: Port Configuration Test
https://support.tivo.com/articles/T...resses-Need-to-be-Open-When-Using-my-TiVo-DVR


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