# Tivo Series 3 and NIM100s



## jauburn (May 18, 2006)

I read through the threads that contain snippets of information about using a NIM100 to improve the network speed of a Tivo Series 3, but in these threads the actual instructions for using a NIM100 are scattered around and not really coherently presented.

Can someone who's skillful in writing instructions explain exactly how to set one of these up, where to get them, and what alternatives exist, if any? Thanks.


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## ah30k (Jan 9, 2006)

Before you get too far, I'm not convinced the transfer speed is being limited by the network medium. You could probably string fiber optic cable between them and not see too much of an improvement over the TiVo branded wireless adapter.


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## bkdtv (Jan 9, 2003)

jauburn said:


> I read through the threads that contain snippets of information about using a NIM100 to improve the network speed of a Tivo Series 3, but in these threads the actual instructions for using a NIM100 are scattered around and not really coherently presented.
> 
> Can someone who's skillful in writing instructions explain exactly how to set one of these up, where to get them, and what alternatives exist, if any? Thanks.


From the stickied Tivo MRV FAQ:



> Coax networking / MoCA (top choice)
> 
> The best choice for high-speed MRV with multiple TiVos is coax-based networking, also known as MoCA. This provides a 100Mbps ethernet connection between TiVos using the existing coax cable in your home.
> 
> ...


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## bkdtv (Jan 9, 2003)

ah30k said:


> Before you get too far, I'm not convinced the transfer speed is being limited by the network medium. You could probably string fiber optic cable between them and not see too much of an improvement over the TiVo branded wireless adapter.


If you have Tivo Series3 DVRs, there is a substantial difference between 802.11g wireless and wired ethernet (or MoCA).

With the TiVo 802.11g wireless adapters, you typically get no more than 16Mbps between two Series3 DVRs with MRV. With wired ethernet or coax networking, you'll see up to 40+Mbps.

This allows you to watch a 19Mbps recording from CBS using MRV with zero delay and still skip all commercials on the fly.


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## ah30k (Jan 9, 2006)

OK, I am used to S2s which had negligible difference.


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## Gerhard (Sep 29, 2002)

Let me ask you a question:

I just got off the phone with Verizon about my FiOS TV. Basically, when the guy came to my house to install the service, he was unable to explain the FiOS TV requires a network connection.

As such, I wouldn't let him install the Actiontec (sp) router.

I was just told that all I need is a NIM-100. That somehow I attach the NIM-100 to my network and the STB's in the house will have access to the firmware / channel updates / PPV / etc... services.

(Which it appears they do not now.)

(I've been lead to belive that with FiOS they can't update the STB without an ethernet connection.)

The good news is that I have a very sophistcate firewall / intrusion detection system, and that I room to a DMZ to the internet...

Does it make sense that I'd only need one NIM-100 to bridge ethernet to all of the STBs in the house?

[I've got one S3 and two S2's, the later with Motorola 2500 STBs.]

Any input would be appricated.

Gerhard


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## bkdtv (Jan 9, 2003)

Gerhard said:


> I just got off the phone with Verizon about my FiOS TV. Basically, when the guy came to my house to install the service, he was unable to explain the FiOS TV requires a network connection.


Verizon uses the network connection to provide guide data and VOD to their Motorola STBs and DVRs.

The Actiontec is a router with a built-in NIM. The FiOS' Motorola QIP STBs and DVRs also have NIM functionality built-in. If you use your own router, a NIM100 will bridge (connect) the coax and ethernet networks so your Verizon STBs and DVRs can receive guide data from Verizon over coax.

The Verizon STB uses its built-in NIM to request guide data or VOD over coax and the Actiontec router (or a NIM100 connected to your own router) retrieves that data using the network connection and sends it back over coax to your STB.



Gerhard said:


> Does it make sense that I'd only need one NIM-100 to bridge ethernet to all of the STBs in the house?


The TiVos do not have a built-in NIM, so you will need one Motorola NIM100 for each room with a Tivo. You will not need any NIM100s for the Motorola QIP STBs and DVRs because -- as per above -- they already have NIM functionality built-in.


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## Gerhard (Sep 29, 2002)

Cool. The Tivo's have wireless ethernet connections... and I've got them on a separate VLAN. So that's not really a concern for me...

What is a concern is that I appear to need the NIM-100 in order to allow the STBs to get all of their updates. That's annoying.

Thought I do seem to be getting more than one story from Verizon. It appears that they can do some stuff via RF (Coax)... And since I have Tivos I don't need their GUI or their PPV functionality.

Thanks man.

Gerhard


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## Rolento76 (Nov 18, 2006)

bkdtv said:


> If you have Tivo Series3 DVRs, there is a substantial difference between 802.11g wireless and wired ethernet (or MoCA).
> 
> With the TiVo 802.11g wireless adapters, you typically get no more than 16Mbps between two Series3 DVRs with MRV. With wired ethernet or coax networking, you'll see up to 40+Mbps.
> 
> This allows you to watch a 19Mbps recording from CBS using MRV with zero delay and still skip all commercials on the fly.


I can attest to this. Myself and a few others who cannot string ethernet among our homes have tried various other means of improving S3 -> S3 transfer speeds including bridged Wireless N, Powerline adapters, etc. It wasn't until I started using the NIM100s that I can now transfer a 30 minute HD show in 15-18 minutes and an hour HD show in 28-35 minutes. Zero delay and the ability to skip commercials on the fly are features I thought I would never be able to achieve without stringing ethernet to each TiVo but the NIM100s make these features available to me without having to fish ethernet throught the house.

BTW, an hour SD show transfers in less than 10 minutes.


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## HazelW (Dec 6, 2007)

I have one HD TiVo wired and another with a NIM100. But my transfers are very slow. It dan take ah hour for a 30 min SD show from one box to another sor from a box to my computer. Is this typical for the HD TiVos?


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## bkdtv (Jan 9, 2003)

HazelW said:


> I have one HD TiVo wired and another with a NIM100. But my transfers are very slow. It dan take ah hour for a 30 min SD show from one box to another sor from a box to my computer. Is this typical for the HD TiVos?


If it is taking one hour to transfer a SD recording between two TivoHD or Series3 DVRs, then something is definitely wrong with your setup.

MRV between two TivoHDs is about half as fast as MRV between two Tivo Series3 DVRs. A one-hour SD program should take 8-10 minutes to transfer from Series3 ->Series3 and about 15-18 minutes to transfer from TivoHD->TivoHD.

Transfers to PCs are much slower than transfers between different TiVos. A TivoHD -> PC transfer is 1/4 to 1/5 the speed of a Series3 -> Series3 transfer.


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

It's kind of bizarre. In the other thread related to NIM100 I reported good early success with my 2 NIM100s getting 30Mbps MRV transfers with Tivos in normal mode. I have since tried the "optimum" transfer conditions with both channels on both Tivos tuned to channels I receive and was not able to exceed about 19 Mbps going Living Room -> Bedroom. The other way around under "optimum" conditions I was still getting about 32 Mbps or so, but Living Room -> Bedroom seems to be capped at 19 Mbps for some strange reason?


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## Rolento76 (Nov 18, 2006)

moyekj said:


> It's kind of bizarre. In the other thread related to NIM100 I reported good early success with my 2 NIM100s getting 30Mbps MRV transfers with Tivos in normal mode. I have since tried the "optimum" transfer conditions with both channels on both Tivos tuned to channels I receive and was not able to exceed about 19 Mbps going Living Room -> Bedroom. The other way around under "optimum" conditions I was still getting about 32 Mbps or so, but Living Room -> Bedroom seems to be capped at 19 Mbps for some strange reason?


MoyekJ, check out this link. I used it as an unofficial NIM100 guide to get into the interface and check out the settings. There is even a speed rating screen that shows how fast data can transfer between the NIM100s.

http://lemmingreviews.blogspot.com/search/label/NIM100

My setup is slightly different from yours since I had to purchase three NIM100s, one for each of my TiVo's and one for my router. I noticed that when I do a transfer between my Living Room TiVo and my Bedroom TiVo, none of the data hits my router (status light stays steady and not the blinking data activity I am accustomed to seeing). This tells me that the NIM100s are negotiating the transfer amongst themselves without getting the router involved - which can account for my consistant speeds in either direction (Living Room <-> Bedroom). Maybe since you have one TiVo hard wired to the TiVo and one to a NIM100, extra hops slow down the transfer in one direction. Just a theory.


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## generaltso (Nov 4, 2003)

I'm having a speed issue with NIM100s as well. I just hooked up 3 of them expecting to see drastic speed improvement over what I was getting with my wireless G bridges, but transfers seem to be about the same. HD shows are transferring a little slower than real-time, which means I can't really watch them while they're transferring. I have a TiVoHD in the basement with a NIM100, a Series3 in the bedroom with a NIM100, and another Series3 in the family room plugged directly into my router. A third NIM100 is also plugged into the router.

What am I doing wrong? Is it possible that the quality of the coax in the house could negatively impact transfer speeds?

I also noticed that a lot of people are saying to use a splitter to split the coax and connect one side to the NIM100 and the other to the cable modem. But why not just use the NIM100 as a pass through before the cable modem?


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## Rolento76 (Nov 18, 2006)

generaltso said:


> I'm having a speed issue with NIM100s as well. I just hooked up 3 of them expecting to see drastic speed improvement over what I was getting with my wireless G bridges, but transfers seem to be about the same. HD shows are transferring a little slower than real-time, which means I can't really watch them while they're transferring. I have a TiVoHD in the basement with a NIM100, a Series3 in the bedroom with a NIM100, and another Series3 in the family room plugged directly into my router. A third NIM100 is also plugged into the router.
> 
> What am I doing wrong? Is it possible that the quality of the coax in the house could negatively impact transfer speeds?
> 
> I also noticed that a lot of people are saying to use a splitter to split the coax and connect one side to the NIM100 and the other to the cable modem. But why not just use the NIM100 as a pass through before the cable modem?


I use the passthrough and have no problems. All the coax in my house is RG6 and I am using standard cable company splitters. I don't think that the quality of coax matters. According to MOCA (http://www.mocalliance.org/en/aboutus/faq.asp) as long as you can get a TV signal, the network should be fine. Can you tell us if any of the transfers are any faster depending on the direction of the transfer? I know that TiVo HD to S3 transfers won't be as fast and the fact that your S3 to S3 transfer has to travel the bridge from NIM100 through your router may be adding to the slowness. As I mentioned in my last post, my S3s communicate on an all coaxial network so that can be why I am getting faster transfer speeds. The NIM100s seem to do some kind of auto negotiating with each other without the need for my router. I didn't twaek anything in the NIM100 setup screens other than rename each NIM, change the setup screen passwords, and change the DES passphrase.


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## bkdtv (Jan 9, 2003)

generaltso said:


> I'm having a speed issue with NIM100s as well. I just hooked up 3 of them expecting to see drastic speed improvement over what I was getting with my wireless G bridges, but transfers seem to be about the same. HD shows are transferring a little slower than real-time, which means I can't really watch them while they're transferring. I have a TiVoHD in the basement with a NIM100, a Series3 in the bedroom with a NIM100, and another Series3 in the family room plugged directly into my router. A third NIM100 is also plugged into the router.


The TivoHD will only transfer at about half the rate of a Series3. With both tuners in use, MRV between two TivoHDs maxes out at 15-16Mbps, which is also about what you can get with a good signal on the Tivo wireless adapter. There should be a small improvement with Series3->TivoHD transfers, but you'll only see the full benefit of a NIM100 with Series3->Series3 transfers.

What am I doing wrong? Is it possible that the quality of the coax in the house could negatively impact transfer speeds?



generaltso said:


> I also noticed that a lot of people are saying to use a splitter to split the coax and connect one side to the NIM100 and the other to the cable modem. But why not just use the NIM100 as a pass through before the cable modem?


I don't know whether the passthrough on the NIM100 is two-way. If it's not, the cable modem won't be able to make upstream requests. I have Verizon FiOS so I don't have a cable modem to test.

Below is the status screen on my NIM100. I set my PC's IP to 169.254.1.100 with netmask 255.255.255.0, and then pinged 169.254.1.1 through 169.254.1.5 until I found each of my NIMs. Then I opened that IP with my web browser @ http://169.254.1.x and used the password "entropic".










This reports a data rate of 253Mbps between my different NIM100s. I know that 100-125Mbps of that is devoted to error correction, which explains why I see 100Mbps (88-90Mbps after overhead) throughput between my PCs.

The data rate may be affected by the condition of your coax and the number of splitters you have.


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## Rolento76 (Nov 18, 2006)

bkdtv said:


> I don't know whether the passthrough on the NIM100 is two-way. If it's not, the cable modem won't be able to make upstream requests. I have Verizon FiOS so I don't have a cable modem to test.


The passthrough is two-way. I actually have my router's NIM100 connected to the coax that leads to my cable modem and the cable modem works fine. And according to the cable modem's status screen, the signal-to-noise ratio didn't change and the signal strength went from 1 to 0 so only a -1 difference.


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## bkdtv (Jan 9, 2003)

Rolento76 said:


> The passthrough is two-way. I actually have my router's NIM100 connected to the coax that leads to my cable modem and the cable modem works fine. And according to the cable modem's status screen, the signal-to-noise ratio didn't change and the signal strength went from 1 to 0 so only a -1 difference.


Thanks, good to know. I'll edit the FAQ to reflect that.


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## bizzy (Jan 20, 2004)

Rolento76 said:


> and the signal strength went from 1 to 0 so only a -1 difference.


unless its a boolean


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## dslunceford (Oct 19, 2000)

Gerhard said:


> Cool. The Tivo's have wireless ethernet connections... and I've got them on a separate VLAN. So that's not really a concern for me...
> 
> What is a concern is that I appear to need the NIM-100 in order to allow the STBs to get all of their updates. That's annoying.
> 
> ...


Gerhard, good luck in actually getting a NIM from Verizon...they haven't been deploying them for a while and you may have a hard time finding any installer with left-over stock. They do pop up on eBay, however...


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## generaltso (Nov 4, 2003)

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I'll do some more testing and see if the transfer rates are any faster between the two S3s. If I can't get any better throughput, I'll go to the web interface of the NIMs and see what info I can find.

I know it will be slower transferring from the TiVoHD, but are other people seeing HD shows transfer slower than realtime?

I'm also using the NIM passthrough for my cable modem, so it's definitely 2-way.


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## generaltso (Nov 4, 2003)

Okay, I've done a little more testing, and this is what I'm seeing when transferring an HD show.

S3->S3 = slightly faster than real-time
S3 ->TiVoHD = just about real-time
TiVoHD->S3 = slightly slower than real-time

Is this what others are seeing when mixing S3 and HD boxes?


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

Rolento76 said:


> MoyekJ, check out this link. I used it as an unofficial NIM100 guide to get into the interface and check out the settings. There is even a speed rating screen that shows how fast data can transfer between the NIM100s.
> 
> http://lemmingreviews.blogspot.com/search/label/NIM100
> 
> My setup is slightly different from yours since I had to purchase three NIM100s, one for each of my TiVo's and one for my router. I noticed that when I do a transfer between my Living Room TiVo and my Bedroom TiVo, none of the data hits my router (status light stays steady and not the blinking data activity I am accustomed to seeing). This tells me that the NIM100s are negotiating the transfer amongst themselves without getting the router involved - which can account for my consistant speeds in either direction (Living Room <-> Bedroom). Maybe since you have one TiVo hard wired to the TiVo and one to a NIM100, extra hops slow down the transfer in one direction. Just a theory.


 My setup is shown below. Instead of degrading the coax feed to my Tivos I put the NIM100s in front of ReplayTVs instead (don't care about picture quality on them). So as you can see in my setup the Switch & Router are always being used. Perhaps I should try and simplify my setup and re-test.
Once I can get access to hardwire my laptop to my router I will take a look at NIM100 diagnostics as well (right now I have guests staying in that bedroom).

```
== Coax
++ Ethernet
             ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
{Wall}=={NIM100}=={LivingRoom ReplayTV}++++++{Switch}
    ||                                           +
    ===={LivingRoom Tivo}+++++++++++++++++++++++++

             ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
{Wall}=={NIM100}=={Bedroom ReplayTV}+++++++++{Router}+++{Slingbox}
    ||                                           +
    ===={Bedroom Tivo}++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
```


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## generaltso (Nov 4, 2003)

I logged into the web interface of all of the NIM boxes and checked out the reported data rate. The two NIMs that are plugged directly into TiVos report 253Mbps between them. The one that's plugged into the router only shows 225Mbps between itself and the other two. That router location is also the only place where I'm using a coax splitter (to split between the TiVo and the cable modem) and the NIM is on the cable modem side. Maybe the splitter is reducing the speed some?

Regardless, I would think that all of these speeds are more than enough to ensure that network bandwidth is not the limiting factor correct?


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## Rolento76 (Nov 18, 2006)

generaltso said:


> I logged into the web interface of all of the NIM boxes and checked out the reported data rate. The two NIMs that are plugged directly into TiVos report 253Mbps between them. The one that's plugged into the router only shows 225Mbps between itself and the other two. That router location is also the only place where I'm using a coax splitter (to split between the TiVo and the cable modem) and the NIM is on the cable modem side. Maybe the splitter is reducing the speed some?
> 
> Regardless, I would think that all of these speeds are more than enough to ensure that network bandwidth is not the limiting factor correct?


My NIM100 speed rates are similar and I have two splitters in between each TiVo. 225Mbps is still more than enough for the 100Mbps ethernet connection on the NIM100 and the S3s or TiVo HDs. My guess is still the router's involvement with the transfers but at this point it is just speculation. This one is tough to figure out.


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## generaltso (Nov 4, 2003)

Rolento76 said:


> My NIM100 speed rates are similar and I have two splitters in between each TiVo. 225Mbps is still more than enough for the 100Mbps ethernet connection on the NIM100 and the S3s or TiVo HDs. My guess is still the router's involvement with the transfers but at this point it is just speculation. This one is tough to figure out.


What I'm seeing certainly does imply that the router could be slowing it down, but I'm not sure why it would since it's basically a 100Mb switch. Is anyone seeing transfers of HD content between an S3 and a TiVo HD fast enough to fast forward through commercials? It looks like I've achieved that between the two S3 boxes, but not if the TiVoHD is the source or destination.


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## bkdtv (Jan 9, 2003)

generaltso said:


> What I'm seeing certainly does imply that the router could be slowing it down, but I'm not sure why it would since it's basically a 100Mb switch. Is anyone seeing transfers of HD content between an S3 and a TiVo HD fast enough to fast forward through commercials? It looks like I've achieved that between the two S3 boxes, but not if the TiVoHD is the source or destination.


MRV throughput will vary depending on whether your tuners are currently set to SD channels, 10Mbps HD channels, or 18+Mbps HD channels. With two Series3 DVRs, you can generally MRV without delay and skip commercials even under the worst possible conditions.

With TivoHD->TivoHD and Series3->TivoHD, the bitrate of the recording you are trying to watch becomes a major factor, as does the channels that are currently tuned on your TivoHD. With a Series3->TivoHD, you should be able to MRV and skip commercials on some HD channels, but probably not all.

Bitrates can vary quite significantly by channel. Here's a list from FiOS to give you an idea.

*Verizon FiOS HD bitrates as of Dec 23.*

```
[u]Channel            [/u]    [u]Resolution[/u]    [u]Average Bitrate[/u]    [u]Peak Bitrate[/u]

TNT             825     1920x1080          17.8             19.4
ESPN            826     1280x720           18.1             20.0
ESPN2   	827     1280x720           17.8             20.0
NFL Network 	828     1920x1080          16.8             17.0
CSN MidAtlantic 829     1920x1080          16.6             17.7
HD Net          833     1920x1080          17.3             19.2
HD Net Movies	834     1920x1080          17.2             18.7
Universal	835     1920x1080          10.5               ?
HD Theater	836     1920x1080          17.2             18.2  
Wealth TV	837     1920x1080          13.3             14.0
National Geo.   838     1280x720           13.3
MHD	        839     1920x1080          17.0             18.1
Food Network    840     1920x1080          14.2             15.0
HGTV            841     1920x1080          14.0               ?
A&E             842     1280x720           18.0             18.2
Lifetime Movie  845     1920x1080          15.0             18.0
Discovery 	846     1920x1080          12.5             15.0
HBO       	851     1920x1080 
Cinemax  	852     1920x1080
Showtime    	853     1920x1080          12.0             14.5
TMC     	854     1920x1080          12.0             14.5
Starz!  	855     1920x1080          11.0             14.0

No more than two HD channels on any 38.8Mbps QAM slot.
```
MRV on recordings from <13Mbps channels like UHD, DHD, STARZ, SHO, and TMC should be noticeably faster than MRV on recordings from >17Mbps channels like ESPN, Hdnet, and TNT.

As far as local networks, series programming on ABC and FOX is typically 10-12Mbps, whereas series programming on CBS and NBC is typically 15-18Mbps. Bitrate on ABC, CBS, and NBC can vary significantly by market.


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## generaltso (Nov 4, 2003)

That makes sense, thanks for the info. I guess the moral of the story is it all depends!


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## Gerhard (Sep 29, 2002)

So I picked up a NIM-100...

...I'm attempting to connect it to my home RF cable system. (I've got Verizon FIOS.)

Can this thing be connected to the RF system at ANY point in the house?

What I want to do is hook it up in my computer room to a RF outlet in the way, and the other end to my ethernet switch.

I assume that I just plug in the ethernet, and then the RF "out" on the NIM-100? Is that correct?


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## bkdtv (Jan 9, 2003)

Gerhard said:


> So I picked up a NIM-100...
> 
> ...I'm attempting to connect it to my home RF cable system. (I've got Verizon FIOS.)
> 
> Can this thing be connected to the RF system at ANY point in the house?


Yes.



Gerhard said:


> What I want to do is hook it up in my computer room to a RF outlet in the way, and the other end to my ethernet switch.


You can do that.



Gerhard said:


> I assume that I just plug in the ethernet, and then the RF "out" on the NIM-100? Is that correct?


The coax connects to the RF "in" on the NIM-100. The RF "out" is for other devices, such as a TV or TiVo.

I'm assuming you have the Actiontec router elsewhere in your home with a connection to coax.


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## Gerhard (Sep 29, 2002)

Nope... I only have the NIM-100.

This was not installed during the FiOS install in my house.

I originally got the FiOS data, and then added FiOS TV much later (they didn't have it originally).

So, I've got an ethernet connection in my office that is connected to the ONT. I've got a Coax connection to the entire house from the ONT...

...and nothing else.

I'd like to connect the NIM-100 in my office...

I do not use the Actiontec router because THEY NEVER INSTALLED ONE!

The only purpose for the NIM-100 would be for the Tivo2 units to have their STBs download the guide and frimware updates.

So, whatdaIneedtodo to make that work?? -smile-


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## bkdtv (Jan 9, 2003)

If you don't have the Actiontec router, then you need a second NIM100.

One NIM100 (or Actiontec) must be connected to your router. That creates a COAX connection to your existing data network. The second NIM100 connects the TiVo, a PC, and other devices in a different room to that network using COAX.

The cheapest solution is to probably call Verizon and tell them you never got an Actiontec router. They should ship you one. That way, you could stick the NIM100 in the room with your TiVos and connect the Actiontec to a LAN port on your existing router.


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## Gerhard (Sep 29, 2002)

bkdtv said:


> If you don't have the Actiontec router, then you need a second NIM100.
> 
> One NIM100 (or Actiontec) must be connected to your router. That creates a COAX connection to your existing data network. The second NIM100 connects the TiVo, a PC, and other devices in a different room to that network using COAX.
> 
> The cheapest solution is to probably call Verizon and tell them you never got an Actiontec router. They should ship you one. That way, you could stick the NIM100 in the room with your TiVos and connect the Actiontec to a LAN port on your existing router.


Ok... So basically, I just stick the ehternet connection into my current router and then the Cable IN connection into the NIM-100... and that's it?

It's the STB's in the house that seem to have the occational issue and seem to need to get updates from Verizon.

...my understanding is that the STB's have NIM-100 functionality built into them.

Though the idea of getting other NIMs-100 so that I don't have to use wireless is pretty appealing. I guess the big issue there is that they are hard to find!

Gerhard


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## Gerhard (Sep 29, 2002)

I'm playing with this NIM-100 I've got here... and I'm noticing some odd things.

First, I'm noticing that when you connect the Coax (RF) cable to the NIM, you can not then use the 169.254.1.1 management address. Which is odd.

So there is no way to know what the NIM is doing...

...is that normal?


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

Gerhard said:


> I'm playing with this NIM-100 I've got here... and I'm noticing some odd things.
> 
> First, I'm noticing that when you connect the Coax (RF) cable to the NIM, you can not then use the 169.254.1.1 management address. Which is odd.
> 
> ...


1. Connect your computer via ethernet cable directly to NIM100 ethernet port
2. Control Panel->network connections and double click on Local Area Connection to bring up Properties.
3. Find Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and click on Properties
4. Change from "Obtain an IP address automatically" to "Use the following IP address" and set IP=169.254.1.100 & Netmask=255.255.255.0
At that point you should be able to get web browser to bring up url 169.254.1.1 and view the NIM100 diagnostics.

Of course once you are done reset the TCP/IP settings back to DHCP (Obtain an IP address automatically)

As mentioned above, however, you won't be able to do any Coax networking in your situation until you have at least another NIM100: you need one attached to your broadband router and 1 on the Tivo (if Tivo is in a different room than the router).


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## Gerhard (Sep 29, 2002)

I just want to say that you guys rule.

Yeah, I finally noted that little blerb that indicates you can't get to the management interface until the NIM-100 is disconnected from the RF feed.

So I did that, and then connected to the NIM-100, changed the password, set it to DHCP, and them connected it to the network.

...and after about 20 mintues I noticed that the Verizon STB's seem to connect to the internet and get their updates.

My real interest in doing this is so that I have cable box functionality in the event that one of the Tivo2's croak. (Previously I had NO guide data, and F'ing Verizon didn't inform me that that would be the case without a NIM-100 or the Actiontec router... and one was never installed.)

Also, I use a more industrial firewall, and the Verizon Actiontec and DLink routers do not use the firmware from the respective companies. They have diagnostic features and other things that I'm not willing to hook up to my internal network without specific knowlege of the capibilties.

...in fact, the tech got a little miffed with I told him that I was using a full blown Intrusion Detection System and Firewall. (No idea why...Seriously.)

Thanks again... I now understand how the darned thing works... and will keep my eye out for a few other NIM-100s!

Gerhard


----------



## generaltso (Nov 4, 2003)

I guess the word must be out about these NIM 100 boxes. One just sold on ebay for over $150! It's funny because while people were busy bidding that one up, there was another brand new one sitting there with a Buy It Now of $75 and that one didn't sell. It looks like we all probably bought at the right time. Those prices are getting ridiculous!


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## Gerhard (Sep 29, 2002)

I must be looking them up wrong, because I haven't been able to find them.

I did NIM100, NIM-100, NIM 1000, etc... and they are no where to be seen.

Oh, and if you type in NIM100 at the EBay search prompt, it changes it to NIB100...


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## crawform (Mar 16, 2003)

Gerhard said:


> I must be looking them up wrong, because I haven't been able to find them.
> 
> I did NIM100, NIM-100, NIM 1000, etc... and they are no where to be seen.
> 
> Oh, and if you type in NIM100 at the EBay search prompt, it changes it to NIB100...


Same here. Any other sources?


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## crawform (Mar 16, 2003)

Any reason whey these Ethernet over Coax bridges wouldn't work? I know they are pricey, but I am having a hard time getting my hands on NIM100s.

Has anyone tried any other brand other than the Motorola?

http://www.vpi.us/eth-coax.html

http://www.newtechindustries.com/newtech/zyxel/home_networking/zyxel_homepna_hpce-322m_ethernet_bridge_to_coax.htm


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## ah30k (Jan 9, 2006)

crawform said:


> Any reason whey these Ethernet over Coax bridges wouldn't work? I know they are pricey, but I am having a hard time getting my hands on NIM100s.
> 
> Has anyone tried any other brand other than the Motorola?
> 
> http://www.vpi.us/eth-coax.html


I would make sure they conform to the MoCA standard since that is the protocol that the ActionTec router and ONT communicate via. If you use a non-MoCA device you may need to install a pair of them using their own proprietary protocols and these proprietary protocols may conflict with the MoCA ones.


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## crawform (Mar 16, 2003)

ah30k said:


> I would make sure they conform to the MoCA standard since that is the protocol that the ActionTec router and ONT communicate via. If you use a non-MoCA device you may need to install a pair of them using their own proprietary protocols and these proprietary protocols may conflict with the MoCA ones.


Got it. Since I don't have FIOS or the ActionTec router, I was already planning to use a pair. Hopefully it will do the trick.


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## ah30k (Jan 9, 2006)

Sorry, I was thinking the Verizon solution. If you use a pair then you should be good to go. With Verizon you only need one since they already implement MoCA in their equipment.


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## ah30k (Jan 9, 2006)

NIMs were originally built to interface the non-MoCA STBs to an ethernet LAN. Now that the newer STBs have MoCA built into them there is no need for NIMs as originally intended. Using them for a quick high-speed internet connection on a preinstalled MoCA LAN (ie any home with Verizon FiOS) is a bit of a new use-case for the manufacturer.


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## crawform (Mar 16, 2003)

fyi, this guy has 10 NIM100's available for the "BuyItNow" price of $75 each.

Link


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

crawform said:


> fyi, this guy has 10 NIM100's available for the "BuyItNow" price of $75 each.
> 
> Link


 I bought 2 NIM100s previously from this seller and just bought 1 more (to get rid of my final wireless bridge for a ReplayTV unit). Very efficient seller and units arrived in good packaging in very good condition.


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## Rolento76 (Nov 18, 2006)

moyekj said:


> I bought 2 NIM100s previously from this seller and just bought 1 more (to get rid of my final wireless bridge for a ReplayTV unit). Very efficient seller and units arrived in good packaging in very good condition.


I too bought from this same seller. He was great, the NIMs were packaged well, and he shipped quickly. I would buy from him again.

Perhaps he is a Verizon installer selling off NIM100s that are no longer needed now that Verizon's STBs have MOCA built in. Nice side income


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## ah30k (Jan 9, 2006)

Got three (one for me and two extra for friends & family who realize what it is used for), down to six left.


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## Gerhard (Sep 29, 2002)

Thanks CrawDude! -smile-

I got two...

Now I'm wondering... Can you hook a switch up to a NIM100 to allow multiple network devices to run through it?

Gerhard


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## GoHokies! (Sep 21, 2005)

Absolutely - I have a netgear router/WAP (configured to just act as a WAP) between the NIM 100 any my tivo, works great.

I bought mine from this guy (although he doesn't have any for sale right now):
http://myworld.ebay.com/snoopycelebration/


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

Gerhard said:


> Thanks CrawDude! -smile-
> 
> I got two...
> 
> ...


 Absolutely, I'm doing just that. Downstairs I have a NIM100, a Tivo S3, a ReplayTV and a Slingbox all hooked up to the same switch which all bridge to my NIM100 connected to my main router upstairs.


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## crawform (Mar 16, 2003)

8 more available by same seller...

Link


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

I finally got a chance to test out the link speeds between my NIM100s this evening. The NIM100 link status shows 250 & 240 Mbps speeds capable between upstairs and downstairs units.

However, performing a large file copy between a WinXP computer upstairs and one downstairs showed about a 42 Mbps average speed (shown using Windows Task Manager). I don't know if that's an accurate way to measure the network speed. If anyone has a better suggestion for testing network speed please let me know.

EDIT: I found a network performance tester called "netio" to measure TCP/IP network performance on a LAN. For 1K to 32K packet size transfers I'm getting about 9500 KBytes/sec or *74 Mbps* for transfers either way - very satisfied with those kind of speeds!

If someone could run tests on their LAN as a comparison that would be much appreciated. The program can be found here:
http://freshmeat.net/projects/netio/
In zip file look for win32 executeable under bin folder and rename to netio.exe for convenience.
On 1 computer run:
netio.exe -t -s

On 2nd computer run:
netio.exe -t <IP of 1st computer>


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## ilh (Dec 21, 2007)

I see about 11600kB/s or *92Mb/s* between two XP machines on switched 100Mb/s ethernet.

--Lee


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## bkdtv (Jan 9, 2003)

ilh said:


> I see about 11600kB/s or *92Mb/s* between two XP machines on switched 100Mb/s ethernet.


This is what I get as well (within 200kB/s).

Network throughput on computers is often affected by installed antivirus and security software, as well as by your CPU, network adapters, network drivers, and installed protocols (some protocols will add a few percent overhead).


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

Thanks for the feedback guys. I also just tried 2 XP machines directly connected to a 100Mbps switch and get about 11550KBytes/sec or *90 Mbps* that way, so I think this netio test is an accurate test of max network speed. I am very happy with the 74 Mbps between NIM100s.


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## urkel-Os (Oct 23, 2005)

crawform said:


> 8 more available by same seller...
> 
> Link


That seller's out now too. This run on NIMs is amazing. About six weeks ago, I bought a used one on ebay and a new power supply at Rat Shack. I thought that spending $45 between the two was a little high, but current auctions on ebay are WAY higher. Right now, someone's bid a used NIM (possibly with ps, doesn't specify) up to $102.50, and the auction doesn't end for three more days!


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## bkdtv (Jan 9, 2003)

urkel-Os said:


> That seller's out now too. This run on NIMs is amazing. About six weeks ago, I bought a used one on ebay and a new power supply at Rat Shack. I thought that spending $45 between the two was a little high, but current auctions on ebay are WAY higher. Right now, someone's bid a used NIM (possibly with ps, doesn't specify) up to $102.50, and the auction doesn't end for three more days!


At one time, ebay had lots of 10 with $40 Buy it Now. And single auctions went for as little as $25.

That was before I started recommending them here.


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## DaveDFW (Jan 25, 2005)

I'm using three of these too--I was amazed that something so easy to set up actually works, and beyond that, they work well.

I think these would be an excellent item for Tivo to sell in their store. Everywhere you use a Tivo, chances are likely there is a coax run available. Which means you can have an instant ethernet network with these moca bridges.

TTYL
David


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## evlg (Jun 26, 2002)

Better yet, why doesn't TiVo add MoCa support to the boxes natively?

That would be a dream!


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## bkdtv (Jan 9, 2003)

evlg said:


> Better yet, why doesn't TiVo add MoCa support to the boxes natively?
> 
> That would be a dream!


Hopefully, Tivo will have the sense to add it to their next box.

Motorola announced that all of its future STBs and DVRs would have MoCA. Scientific Atlanta also announced a MoCA version of its HDTV DVR.

This allows reliable, high-performance HD MRV without the need for wireless or ethernet cables. I think this feature is basically a requirement for any future HDTV DVR product.


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## evlg (Jun 26, 2002)

I wonder if MoCa could be added with just a software upgrade?


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## bkdtv (Jan 9, 2003)

evlg said:


> I wonder if MoCa could be added with just a software upgrade?


It's definitely hardware.

TiVo would need to include the Entropic EN2210.


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## crawform (Mar 16, 2003)

bkdtv said:


> At one time, ebay had lots of 10 with $40 Buy it Now. And single auctions went for as little as $25.
> 
> That was before I started recommending them here.


He's now getting greedy. He just reposted a new lot of 10 for $100 each (BuyItNow).


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## rturrentine (Jan 24, 2003)

Here is an alternative... I don't know how well it works though. I'm just searching for other ethernet over coax solutions.

This one is $83 each.

http://www.newtechindustries.com/ne...homepna_hpce-322m_ethernet_bridge_to_coax.htm


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## bizzy (Jan 20, 2004)

Tivo seems to try to be as agnostic as possible when it comes to L1 networking choices. This makes sense when you consider that they probably value keeping the unit cost as low as possible. There would likely be a huge percentage of homes where the MoCa support would be unused. Ditto for 802.11 wireless support. I agree with Tivo here and am glad they let me choose what networking support to buy.


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## bkdtv (Jan 9, 2003)

bizzy said:


> Tivo seems to try to be as agnostic as possible when it comes to L1 networking choices. This makes sense when you consider that they probably value keeping the unit cost as low as possible. There would likely be a huge percentage of homes where the MoCa support would be unused. Ditto for 802.11 wireless support. I agree with Tivo here and am glad they let me choose what networking support to buy.


I suspect only a small minority of TiVo owners have 100Mbps networking connections in their TV room, living room, and bedroom.

Reliable, realtime high-definition streaming from PC->TiVo and TiVo->TiVo isn't possible for those customers unless they follow these forums and buy some adapter on Ebay.


----------



## bizzy (Jan 20, 2004)

I agree with you but even the S3 doesn't push anywhere close to 100mbps. I doubt that a well-configured 802.11g network would constrain transfers- and even my wife's grandparents have a well-configured 802.11g network in their house. ;-)


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## DaveDFW (Jan 25, 2005)

rturrentine said:


> Here is an alternative... I don't know how well it works though. I'm just searching for other ethernet over coax solutions.
> 
> This one is $83 each.
> 
> http://www.newtechindustries.com/ne...homepna_hpce-322m_ethernet_bridge_to_coax.htm


Anyone here brave enough to be an unpaid tester for this product? It looks like it has the same funtionality, but without the price gouging for the discontinued NIM100s. 

TTYL
David


----------



## bkdtv (Jan 9, 2003)

bizzy said:


> I agree with you but even the S3 doesn't push anywhere close to 100mbps. I doubt that a well-configured 802.11g network would constrain transfers- and even my wife's grandparents have a well-configured 802.11g network in their house. ;-)


With the TiVo wireless adapter from 3', the TiVo Series3 maxes out at around 16Mbps. If you have a weak wireless signal, or adjacent wireless networks, your wireless throughput could be just half that (or less).

On a wired ethernet or MoCA network, MRV on a Tivo Series3 is consistently 30+Mbps. One would expect future TiVos to feature faster CPUs and even higher sustainable transfer rates.

Part of the reason for the current MRV "copy" implementation is that TiVo can't guarantee the performance necessary for reliable streaming, due to differences in home network setups. MoCA on every TiVo would take the home network setup out of the equation and guarantee a high performance connection between every TiVo, as needed to make reliable streaming a reality.


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## bizzy (Jan 20, 2004)

I just had a thought- what's keeping your MoCa network's L2 from leaking into your neighbor's house?

I assume that the distribution taps that the cableco have on the poles might do a bit of isolation, but considering how much of cable service is 2-way now, it would not be surprising at all for me to see this become a security nightmare.


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## bkdtv (Jan 9, 2003)

DaveDFW said:


> Anyone here brave enough to be an unpaid tester for this product? It looks like it has the same funtionality, but without the price gouging for the discontinued NIM100s.


You've got to be careful.

That link doesn't say anything about real world throughput.

Some 802.11n products claim 300Mbps but 230-260Mbps of that is often spent on hardware error correction. The Motorola NIM100 claims 250+Mbps and more than half of that is spent on hardware error correction. Real world throughput from the ethernet output on the Motorola NIM100 is 90-92Mbps, ignoring protocol overhead.


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## Rolento76 (Nov 18, 2006)

bizzy said:


> I just had a thought- what's keeping your MoCa network's L2 from leaking into your neighbor's house?
> 
> I assume that the distribution taps that the cableco have on the poles might do a bit of isolation, but considering how much of cable service is 2-way now, it would not be surprising at all for me to see this become a security nightmare.


According to the MOCA.org FAQ (http://www.mocalliance.org/en/aboutus/faq.asp), there is enough isolation at multitaps and distribution drops. On the NIM100s, you can also change the DES encryption key and the frequency it uses so that can thwart any kind snooping in case a neighbor steals your cable.


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## bkdtv (Jan 9, 2003)

Rolento76 said:


> According to the MOCA.org FAQ (http://www.mocalliance.org/en/aboutus/faq.asp), there is enough isolation at multitaps and distribution drops. On the NIM100s, you can also change the DES encryption key and the frequency it uses so that can thwart any kind snooping in case a neighbor steals your cable.


On TiVos with built-in MoCA, I'm assuming each account would have their own encryption key.


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## rturrentine (Jan 24, 2003)

This SMC alternative looks viable if we could buy as consumers in the US.

http://www.smc.com/index.cfm?event=viewProduct&localeCode=EN_USA&cid=13&scid=124&pid=1615

Note that it can do both powerline and coax. For some reason, sales in the US have been restricted to ISP and MSO.

The press release said pricing would be around $99.


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## ah30k (Jan 9, 2006)

I just popped the NIM on the RF cable and like two seconds later the thing was working. I am on a Verizon FiOS system so I already had the ActionTec router. 

I tried the throughput test noted above and am seeing about 10.7 KBytes/sec (85.6 mBits/sec) at the larger packet sizes.

The thing I am curious about is how well this would perform on a GigE LAN? We are all reporting throughput close to the 10/100 limit of the run-of-the-mill routers.

So much for them being rare now on eBay. Word must be getting out and sellers are trying to unload while they are hot. There are now plenty of them available.


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## ah30k (Jan 9, 2006)

Oh, and on the isolation topic. Another good thing about FiOS is I never share any RF with anyone. My own little RF domain in my castle!


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## Rolento76 (Nov 18, 2006)

ah30k said:


> The thing I am curious about is how well this would perform on a GigE LAN? We are all reporting throughput close to the 10/100 limit of the run-of-the-mill routers.


Since the NIM100s only have 10/100 Ethernet ports, I doubt there would be a performance boost on a GigE LAN. But since the theoretical throughput is much faster than 100mbps, if the ehternet port was 10/100/1000, then I would assume better performance on a GigE network.


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## ursa99 (Aug 21, 2005)

DaveDFW said:


> Anyone here brave enough to be an unpaid tester for this product? It looks like it has the same funtionality, but without the price gouging for the discontinued NIM100s.
> 
> TTYL
> David


I bought one to try. No luck so far. I have FIOS and the Actiontec router. Doesn't seem to want to sync up. Just tried it once so I'll dig a bit deeper and see if I can get it going.


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## ursa99 (Aug 21, 2005)

crawform said:


> He's now getting greedy. He just reposted a new lot of 10 for $100 each (BuyItNow).


Starting bid is $99.99.

Buy It Now is $169.99

What a gouger.

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-MOTOROLA-NI...ryZ58299QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


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## ah30k (Jan 9, 2006)

ursa99 said:


> Starting bid is $99.99.
> 
> Buy It Now is $169.99
> 
> What a gouger.


If you had some of these would you sell them for less than what the market would bear because you are a stand-up guy?


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

ursa99 said:


> Starting bid is $99.99.
> 
> Buy It Now is $169.99
> 
> ...


I'd buy from this guy (John). Got all 3 of my units from him and he is a good seller. He has increased Buy It Now prices to $85 recently but I would still recommend these at that price.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Motorola-NIM100...ryZ58299QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


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## ursa99 (Aug 21, 2005)

ah30k said:


> If you had some of these would you sell them for less than what the market would bear because you are a stand-up guy?


Why are you defending him? Lots of people would like these and can't afford them at that price. Considering they were only worth $40 a few months ago I'll stand by my statement.


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## ah30k (Jan 9, 2006)

ursa99 said:


> Lots of people would like these and can't afford them at that price.


Boo hoo.



> Considering they were only worth $40 a few months ago I'll stand by my statement.


Things are worth what people will pay today. What they were going for months ago is irrelevant. What country do you think we live in?


----------



## ursa99 (Aug 21, 2005)

ah30k said:


> Boo hoo.
> 
> Things are worth what people will pay today. What they were going for months ago is irrelevant. What country do you think we live in?


Must be nice to be rich like you and have no heart to boot.

Wait, let me do it for you....BOO HOO.


----------



## ah30k (Jan 9, 2006)

ursa99 said:


> Must be nice to be rich like you and have no heart to boot.
> 
> Wait, let me do it for you....BOO HOO.


Having heart has nothing to do with it. I just can't stand it when people claim sellers are being unfair because people can't afford things.

We are talking about HDTV home theater equipment here. It is not like vitamin fortified formula for starving babies in third world countries.

You have no grasp of the market forces that this country was built on. For instance, here is a $20 NIM. How do you propose this go no higher so the poor souls you refer to can afford it?


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## bizzy (Jan 20, 2004)

It amuses me that there seems to be a basic misunderstanding here about how auctions work in general, whether online or in person.


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## ah30k (Jan 9, 2006)

Uh, oh ursa99. The price went up. Poor people are missing out on NIMs! Better call John Edwards and put an end to this two classes of TiVo users. He should have some free time soon to solve this problem.


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## evlg (Jun 26, 2002)

ursa99 said:


> Must be nice to be rich like you and have no heart to boot.
> 
> Wait, let me do it for you....BOO HOO.


This is basic economics at work. Prices rise when demand is greater than supply. Eventually the price rises to a point where the two are in equilibrium and then the price stays there. Once demand falls off, the price lowers.

What's so hard to understand here?


----------



## evlg (Jun 26, 2002)

bkdtv said:


> It's definitely hardware.
> 
> TiVo would need to include the Entropic EN2210.


I just looked at my ActionTec router Network Status Page, and I see this link "MoCA Diagnostics Information" next to the IP STB (my SD box hooked up to the old TV) and also next to the TiVo Series 3!

When I clicked on the link, I see that the TiVo apparently has a MoCa connection but is not getting an IP address! That is, it reports a speed of 240mbps back to the MoCa router.

I wonder if there is a hack to enable IP routing over this connection on the TiVo?


----------



## ah30k (Jan 9, 2006)

evlg said:


> I just looked at my ActionTec router Network Status Page, and I see this link "MoCA Diagnostics Information" next to the IP STB (my SD box hooked up to the old TV) and also next to the TiVo Series 3!
> 
> When I clicked on the link, I see that the TiVo apparently has a MoCa connection but is not getting an IP address! That is, it reports a speed of 240mbps back to the MoCa router.
> 
> I wonder if there is a hack to enable IP routing over this connection on the TiVo?


Must be a bug in the ActionTec router status screens that shows bogus MoCA data for regular (wired or 802.11) connections to the router.

As mentioned already, no hack will enable MoCA on the TiVo. This is why the NIMs are selling like hotcakes. The NIM has the Entropic chipset which provides an ethernet connection at any RF cable outlet.


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## evlg (Jun 26, 2002)

ah30k said:


> Must be a bug in the ActionTec router status screens that shows bogus MoCA data for regular (wired or 802.11) connections to the router.
> 
> As mentioned already, no hack will enable MoCA on the TiVo. This is why the NIMs are selling like hotcakes. The NIM has the Entropic chipset which provides an ethernet connection at any RF cable outlet.


I don't think that's the case - not all devices connected via the NIM-100 get that link.

For example, I have my laptop connected via Ethernet to the NIM-100 and it doesn't get the MoCa Diagnostics link.

So there must be another explanation.


----------



## GoHokies! (Sep 21, 2005)

IIRC, I think that it's the other way around - I think that everything connected to the COAX network gets a link, regardless of whether it's a MOCA device or not.

I can't check it from work, but I think that I remember seeing what evlg is describing.


----------



## ah30k (Jan 9, 2006)

Regardless, the TiVo will never work on the MoCA LAN without a NIM or equivalent.


----------



## bizzy (Jan 20, 2004)

ah30k said:


> Regardless, the TiVo will never work on the MoCA LAN without a NIM or equivalent.


How do you explain the person who claims his ActionTEC sees his S3?


----------



## ah30k (Jan 9, 2006)

bizzy said:


> How do you explain the person who claims his ActionTEC sees his S3?


It is seeing it through the IP path not the MoCA path. The ActionTec is also a standard wireless router and DHCP server. Come on, do you really think there is MoCA built into an S3?


----------



## evlg (Jun 26, 2002)

bizzy said:


> How do you explain the person who claims his ActionTEC sees his S3?


It's possible I am not understanding the router screen. I'll try to take a screenshot of the ActionTec admin tool tonight.

But given that my laptop doesn't get that link, and the TiVo does have that link, just no IP, really makes me wonder.


----------



## dbtom (Feb 14, 2002)

This is a very useful thread for me. I can't bring myself to pay the going rate for the NIM-100s right now. I'm hoping similar devices are widespread by the second half of the year.

At CES, D-Link announced a product (the DXN-220), which will hopefully be the start of many more. It is expected to be released at the end of Q1.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUS145420+08-Jan-2008+PNW20080108


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## rturrentine (Jan 24, 2003)

The SMC powerline/coax adapter (SMCHPAVH-ETH) that I mentioned earlier is not available in the US yet. A SMC salesman actually called me to confirm it and he said he didn't know when/if it would be available in the US. He wasn't sure why. It's nice they called to confirm but would have been nicer to have more info. 

Anyone have friends in Europe?


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## ah30k (Jan 9, 2006)

dbtom said:


> This is a very useful thread for me. I can't bring myself to pay the going rate for the NIM-100s right now. I'm hoping similar devices are widespread by the second half of the year.
> 
> At CES, D-Link announced a product (the DXN-220), which will hopefully be the start of many more. It is expected to be released at the end of Q1.
> 
> http://www.reuters.com/article/idUS145420+08-Jan-2008+PNW20080108


How cheap do you think it will be? Most of the ethernet over coax adapters on the market now are close to $100. The eBay prices of NIMs are between $75 and $100 (a few people went way higher when before they realized so many were coming to ebay) so they are not that far out of whack.


----------



## ah30k (Jan 9, 2006)

evlg said:


> It's possible I am not understanding the router screen. I'll try to take a screenshot of the ActionTec admin tool tonight.
> 
> But given that my laptop doesn't get that link, and the TiVo does have that link, just no IP, really makes me wonder.


It looks to me like any device that is tagged as a IP-STB has the MoCA status link next to it. I manually set my device type to be IP-STB in the config screens. Maybe the router screen is simply using user provided data (ie STB) to decide when to include the MoCA hyperlink. Do you remember if you set the device types yourself?

Even though my TiVos have that link, when I go to it I only see the true MoCA devices assigned.


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## Gerhard (Sep 29, 2002)

dslunceford said:


> Gerhard, good luck in actually getting a NIM from Verizon...they haven't been deploying them for a while and you may have a hard time finding any installer with left-over stock. They do pop up on eBay, however...


Well, at this point I have 3 of them.

I've used them to get all of the Tivos and my Denon 3903Ci onto the network without wireless.

I kinda like having fewer wireless devices in the house...

Also, I use a multiple network firewall applicance, so this means that I can separate the Tivos / MM applicances from the rest of my network.

I have great concerns about Verizon and Tivo not collecting any information about the rest of the traffic it sees on your network. (Yeah, I'm being paranoid, but what happens when some learns to hack a Motoral cable box, or Tivo 2 / 3, etc...)

Anyway, the NIM100s are working great. I've got a 5 port - 1Gbit swich hooked up to one with the Series 3 and the Denon 3909 and the work great.

I've also noticed that I can send a show from one Tivo to another and the speed is fast enough that you can just start watching it. (No need to wait or it to cache or copy over...)

*I should also point out that when I installed one of the NIM100s on the same coax drop as one of the Motorola STBs, it would not get a network connection when in line with the STB. To resolve this I tried using a two way high-end splitter at the outlet, and then passed one side to the STB and the other to the NIM. With not doing things directly in-line everything suddenly worked fine...*

Gerhard


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## ursa99 (Aug 21, 2005)

rturrentine said:


> Here is an alternative... I don't know how well it works though. I'm just searching for other ethernet over coax solutions.
> 
> This one is $83 each.
> 
> http://www.newtechindustries.com/ne...homepna_hpce-322m_ethernet_bridge_to_coax.htm


I got one and it doesn't sync up...save your money.

I also got a NIM100 and had it working in 5 minutes. Kind of amazing there are not any retail devices like this. It works as advertised.


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## ah30k (Jan 9, 2006)

Looks like the high prices have brought sellers out of the woodwork. The last auction sold for only $66 after some had gone for up to $150.

One guy keeps putting lots of ten up for sale. This must have been his third or fourth lot of 10.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

Since these have gone into the stratosphere, this is only for curiousity..

One can use these *without* being on FIOS, right? Descriptions talk about them talking with the FIOS network? But I presume they really can be used as a generic "coax<>ethernet adapter", similar to powerline network adapters?


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## Rolento76 (Nov 18, 2006)

mattack said:


> Since these have gone into the stratosphere, this is only for curiousity..
> 
> One can use these *without* being on FIOS, right? Descriptions talk about them talking with the FIOS network? But I presume they really can be used as a generic "coax<>ethernet adapter", similar to powerline network adapters?


Correct. I don't have FiOS. I have three NIM100's. One before each of my two S3s and one connected to my router.


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## The Swami (Jan 24, 2008)

Thanks to all for the great info in this thread. I have some questions hopefully someone will have answers to. I want to enable the MoCA setup so my pair of Tivo Series 3 boxes will talk to each other and transfer HD showings faster/at fixed 100mbps. 

Currently I use the wireless G adapters to talk to the ActionTec router, on a good day it takes about 45-65 mins to transfer SD and I don't even want to talk about time to transfer HD. I record a lot of HD on one Tivo that has a 1TB drive expansion, hence the need to be able to move HD upstairs to watch there in reasonable 100mbps transfer time!

I have seen info stating some ActionTec routers/older ONTs are not with built-in NIM (you had to connect a NIM between wall and ActionTec on these), and some are. I had FIOS internet installed here in NoVA January 2007. I had FIOS TV installed January 2008. I do have an ActionTec MI424WR router. Just can't tell from internet router log-in screens how to see if it has built-in NIM ability or not. This seemingly easy question will be explained shortly as no I dont currently have a NIM between wall and this router BUT

When the FIOS TV was installed this month, NOTHING was connected additionally to my router. I have had the existing two Tivo 3s so I told the installer I was never going to use a VZ STB so he didn't install anything additional to the router since I would never have use/ability for the features of FIOS VOD, programming guide, etc. So all I have is the original FIOS internet provided yellow CAT5 10/100 ethernet line-to-router setup. No coax connected at this time.

So, I need to ascertain if my setup as it has the built-in NIM or if I would need one behind the ActionTec router like I read in year old posts. Since the tech didnt install anything to my router for TV, I dont know if he would have had to add a NIM100 here or not.

I am assuming I will have to connect the coax line to the router to make this all work (or it wouldnt be MoCA), and connect said coax line outside to the VZ splitter where all my TVs connect and then head into ONT. 

Is this plug and play stuff, or am I going to have to configure the router to recognize how to use MoCA when I plug the coax line into the router? 

Any info anyone might have greatly appreciated. The connections of the other 2 NIM100s I will need from wall to Tivo boxes are straight-forward and easily understood, with the coax-NIM100-ethernet+coax output to Tivo box, but with my somewhat unusual not-quite-complete-TV hookup with my router, I am leery of what I need to do around my router to prepare first! Thanks!


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## bkdtv (Jan 9, 2003)

The Swami said:


> I have seen info stating some ActionTec routers/older ONTs are not with built-in NIM (you had to connect a NIM between wall and ActionTec on these), and some are. I had FIOS internet installed here in NoVA January 2007. I had FIOS TV installed January 2008. I do have an ActionTec MI424WR router. Just can't tell from internet router log-in screens how to see if it has built-in NIM ability or not. This seemingly easy question will be explained shortly as no I dont currently have a NIM between wall and this router BUT


I've seen people post that, but it's not correct.

*Every* FiOS Actiontec MI-424WR router has in a built-in NIM. There are three revisions and all have the built-in NIM.

You can't network your TiVos to the Internet without either (1) a NIM100 connected to your own router, or alternatively a (2) Actiontec MI-424WR router. If you have the Actiontec router, then you just need one NIM100 per TiVo. If you don't have the Actiontec router, then you need one NIM100 per TiVo, plus one to connect to your router.


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## The Swami (Jan 24, 2008)

bkdtv said:


> I've seen people post that, but it's not correct.
> 
> *Every* FiOS Actiontec MI-424WR router has in a built-in NIM. There are three revisions and all have the built-in NIM.
> 
> You can't network your TiVos to the Internet without either (1) a NIM100 connected to your own router, or alternatively a (2) Actiontec MI-424WR router. If you have the Actiontec router, then you just need one NIM100 per TiVo. If you don't have the Actiontec router, then you need one NIM100 per TiVo, plus one to connect to your router.


thank you so much for clearing up my confusion on that! I wonder if I have to hook up an extra coax line from the Verizon connected/supplied TV splitter under the ONT into my ActionTEC MI-424WR router to complete MoAC setup to network 2 Tivo's w/NIM100s.

Seems likely I imagine. Would be nice if it would complete MoAC network as set up today with just the ethernet line leading into/from router, but that does not sound logically probable. Guess I'll test and see if the 2 Tivo's w/NIM100s will talk to the router-without-coax-line-to-ONT-splitter before I move this huge desk and put coax in there.

Thanks for the help!


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## ah30k (Jan 9, 2006)

mattack said:


> Since these have gone into the stratosphere, this is only for curiousity..
> 
> One can use these *without* being on FIOS, right? Descriptions talk about them talking with the FIOS network? But I presume they really can be used as a generic "coax<>ethernet adapter", similar to powerline network adapters?


You can use them without FiOS but you would need at least two. With FiOS you can get away with one since their ActionTec router acts as the other.


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## dslunceford (Oct 19, 2000)

Could you use an Actiontec 424 as a NIM only? As in, you have one 424 as your router, you use a second to connect to a TiVo just to use its built-in NIM functionality...


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## ah30k (Jan 9, 2006)

dslunceford said:


> Could you use an Actiontec 424 as a NIM only? As in, you have one 424 as your router, you use a second to connect to a TiVo just to use its built-in NIM functionality...


You are the only person I've come across with two ActionTecs. Let is know how it works out!


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## rturrentine (Jan 24, 2003)

Along the same line, can I use two ActionTec routers as NIMs with my standard LinkSys router? I have cable internet and would like to network my Tivos with NIMs but the ActionTec routers are selling a lot lower than the NIMs.


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## ghken (Jun 4, 2007)

Here's another thumbs up vote for the NIM100's. I admit to having reservations - would it really be just a plug and play setup, would it really not mess with my video signal on the coax, and most importantly would I be able to transfer HD in faster than realtime.

After finally getting my second S3 this past week, I pulled out the two NIM100's I had picked up in the last month and swapped out my wireless G setup. First test, a PBS HD 1 hour program. My smile grew as the green transfer status bar starting moving ahead of the playback marker. Transfer time was a little over 30 minutes - yeah! Then just for giggles, I transferred a 1 hour SD show, which was done in about 5 minutes. Even my daughter was impressed with that one, thinking I had invented some sort of time machine.

Anyway, just wanted to add my voice to others extolling the virtues of these little black boxes.


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## dslunceford (Oct 19, 2000)

ah30k said:


> You are the only person I've come across with two ActionTecs. Let is know how it works out!


I don't have a second, but it looks like it may be a more affordable option than a NIM at the moment.


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

ghken said:


> Anyway, just wanted to add my voice to others extolling the virtues of these little black boxes.


 They really are gems. Makes you wonder why Motorola doesn't push these (or a successor) in the consumer market? I did notice that these NIM100s run rather hot so I wonder if perhaps the longer term reliability could be a problem?


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## The Swami (Jan 24, 2008)

ghken said:


> Here's another thumbs up vote for the NIM100's. I admit to having reservations - would it really be just a plug and play setup, would it really not mess with my video signal on the coax, and most importantly would I be able to transfer HD in faster than realtime.
> 
> After finally getting my second S3 this past week, I pulled out the two NIM100's I had picked up in the last month and swapped out my wireless G setup. First test, a PBS HD 1 hour program. My smile grew as the green transfer status bar starting moving ahead of the playback marker. Transfer time was a little over 30 minutes - yeah! Then just for giggles, I transferred a 1 hour SD show, which was done in about 5 minutes. Even my daughter was impressed with that one, thinking I had invented some sort of time machine.
> 
> Anyway, just wanted to add my voice to others extolling the virtues of these little black boxes.


Now that's what I want to see! Can you give a rough estimate/baseline of what your old transfer times were on wireless G setup from one S3 to the other for comparison purposes?


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

The Swami said:


> Now that's what I want to see! Can you give a rough estimate/baseline of what your old transfer times were on wireless G setup from one S3 to the other for comparison purposes?


 For my case my wireless G transfers were at best 19 Mbps and normally less, making real time transfers impossible for some shows and skipping commercials out of the question. Once I upgraded to NIM100s I consistently get >= 30 Mpbs which is plenty good enough to watch transfers as soon as they start and skip all commercials. Of course that's the case for S3s - THD units being half the rate of the S3s don't have that luxury.


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## ghken (Jun 4, 2007)

The Swami said:


> Now that's what I want to see! Can you give a rough estimate/baseline of what your old transfer times were on wireless G setup from one S3 to the other for comparison purposes?


I didn't do any extensive MRV testing with the two S3's on wireless G. I tried a couple of transfers, which was enough to confirm what others had already reported here - a bit less than realtime for an HD program. So a 1 hour HD program might take anywhere from 60-75 minutes. Not horrible if you have patience, and I probably would have lived with it if I hadn't found out about the NIM100's from the folks here.


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## The Swami (Jan 24, 2008)

ghken said:


> I didn't do any extensive MRV testing with the two S3's on wireless G. I tried a couple of transfers, which was enough to confirm what others had already reported here - a bit less than realtime for an HD program. So a 1 hour HD program might take anywhere from 60-75 minutes. Not horrible if you have patience, and I probably would have lived with it if I hadn't found out about the NIM100's from the folks here.


definitely worth it as wireless still made for an annoyance to be sure for you. if you wanted to start watching via transfer, you'd have to plan ahead by at least 20 mins to avoid buffering into commercials, etc...mine is even worse as the best signal i can get out of wireless buried in basement Tivo is about 52%. Best I can currently do is about 30 mins transfer one hr SD and 120mins for transfer of one hour HD. Since I record nearly everything in HD that ain't gonna cut it. NIM it will be!


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## generaltso (Nov 4, 2003)

I'm having a problem with one of my NIM100 boxes. I have two S3 boxes and one TiVoHD all in different rooms and each with its own NIM100. The TiVoHD is in the basement, and I have the NIM100 plugged into a Netgear 10/100/1000 switch. The TiVoHD, a Slingbox Classic, and a Toshiba HD-A2 are also plugged into that switch, so everything is sharing the connection through the NIM100. Most of the time, everything works fine. But sometimes, when I start to tansfer something off of the TiVoHD, I lose connectivity to everything in the basement. It usually happens after about 1 minute has transferred. It stays in this state until I do one of the following:

1. Reboot the NIM100
2. Reboot the switch
3. Unlplug one end of the network cable that's between the NIM100 and the switch and plug it back in

As soon as I do any of these things, connectivity is immediately re-established. I've tried replacing the patch cable between the switch and NIM100, but that didn't fix it. I don't have an easy way to replace the NIM100, so I guess my next step should be to replace the switch. Anyone have any other ideas?


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

generaltso said:


> I'm having a problem with one of my NIM100 boxes. I have two S3 boxes and one TiVoHD all in different rooms and each with its own NIM100. The TiVoHD is in the basement, and I have the NIM100 plugged into a Netgear 10/100/1000 switch. The TiVoHD, a Slingbox Classic, and a Toshiba HD-A2 are also plugged into that switch, so everything is sharing the connection through the NIM100. Most of the time, everything works fine. But sometimes, when I start to tansfer something off of the TiVoHD, I lose connectivity to everything in the basement. It usually happens after about 1 minute has transferred. It stays in this state until I do one of the following:
> 
> 1. Reboot the NIM100
> 2. Reboot the switch
> ...


 One suggestion to narrow down where the problem is: swap the basement NIM100 with 1 of your other ones to see if the problem moves with the suspected bad basement NIM100.


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## generaltso (Nov 4, 2003)

moyekj said:


> One suggestion to narrow down where the problem is: swap the basement NIM100 with 1 of your other ones to see if the problem moves with the suspected bad basement NIM100.


Good call. I'm not sure why I didn't think of that. Thanks.


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## urkel-Os (Oct 23, 2005)

Gerhard said:


> *I should also point out that when I installed one of the NIM100s on the same coax drop as one of the Motorola STBs, it would not get a network connection when in line with the STB. To resolve this I tried using a two way high-end splitter at the outlet, and then passed one side to the STB and the other to the NIM. With not doing things directly in-line everything suddenly worked fine...*


Just had my FiOS TV install on 2/1, and I had the same experience with a NIM. First tried wall-coax->NIM-coax-in;NIM-coax-out->STB, but the coax LAN would not come up. Then I introduced a splitter as described above, and it just worked. Anybody know why this happens? I was hoping to have one less cable living in the spaghetti farm that's growing around that television set, but I can live with it this way if it's in fact the only way to go. FWIW, I have the Actiontec router...


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## Gerhard (Sep 29, 2002)

urkel-Os said:


> Just had my FiOS TV install on 2/1, and I had the same experience with a NIM. First tried wall-coax->NIM-coax-in;NIM-coax-out->TV, but the coax LAN would not come up. Then I introduced a splitter as described above, and it just worked. Anybody know why this happens? I was hoping to have one less cable living in the spaghetti farm that's growing around that television set, but I can live with it this way if it's in fact the only way to go. FWIW, I have the Actiontec router...


I noted that we've got an STB (with a built in NIM) and the NIM100 on exactly the same serial circuit...

...it probably shouldn't matter, but it did.

So the splitter seems to have fixed that problem...

I am thrilled that the NIM100 hooks up to a 1000baseT switch, so I've now got:

- Tivo S3
- Denon 3808ci
- AppleTV

...all hooked up and working over coax.

These things are certainly useful!

(I'm thinking about buying a Vudu as well...)


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## urkel-Os (Oct 23, 2005)

Gerhard said:


> I noted that we've got an STB (with a built in NIM) and the NIM100 on exactly the same serial circuit...
> 
> ...it probably shouldn't matter, but it did.
> 
> So the splitter seems to have fixed that problem...


Sorry, should have said "wall-coax->NIM-coax-in;NIM-coax-out->STB" in that previous post (now edited). So, it works with the splitter, but I still don't know why...


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## Gerhard (Sep 29, 2002)

I think it's a matter of the frequencies used and that having one right after the other probably filters out that range to devices immediately up stream.

So if you put them on a splitter, then they both get the full range of frequencies...


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## Flyinace2000 (Aug 2, 2005)

I just got my NIM100 from ebay. When i turn it on the RF light never becomes illuminated except during boot. The ethernet light will come on when i plug in but i can't get to the admin page even if i set a manual IP/subnet. I even did a scan of the entire 169.254.1.0/8 and i all that comes up is my laptop. Any ideas?


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## generaltso (Nov 4, 2003)

Flyinace2000 said:


> I just got my NIM100 from ebay. When i turn it on the RF light never becomes illuminated except during boot. The ethernet light will come on when i plug in but i can't get to the admin page even if i set a manual IP/subnet. I even did a scan of the entire 169.254.1.0/8 and i all that comes up is my laptop. Any ideas?


How many NIMs do you have? The RF light won't come on unless you've got another one on the coax for it to talk to.


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## Flyinace2000 (Aug 2, 2005)

Sorry here is my setup:

FIOS Actiontec router gets its WAN connection via Cat5 from the ONT. Coax comes from the ONT to a 5x splitter. One of those feeds goes to my Actiontec. Another 2 go to TiVoHD's and a 4th goes to a Moto STB.

I got a NIM100 to use with one of the TiVo's that i didn't run Cat5 to. 

From the wall (originating from the 5x splitter) i plug in the RG6 into the cable in on the NIM100. Cat5 from the NIM100 goes to the laptop.


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## Flyinace2000 (Aug 2, 2005)

Her is exatcly what happens. 

Plug power in
RF Light Turns on
Ethernet Light Turns on
RF light turns off
Ethernet Light turns off
Ethernet Light turns on

Thats it.


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## Flyinace2000 (Aug 2, 2005)

I think i got a dud, i can't even get to the internal config page. What a wast of an evening....i could of been playing GTA


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## generaltso (Nov 4, 2003)

Flyinace2000 said:


> I think i got a dud, i can't even get to the internal config page. What a wast of an evening....i could of been playing GTA


Yeah, sounds like it. See if the ebay seller has another one to exchange it.


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## Flyinace2000 (Aug 2, 2005)

I couldn't get it to work at my office either. (We have a free FIOS connection there) I am gonna contact the seller.


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## Flyinace2000 (Aug 2, 2005)

Finally got around to getting some new NIM100's. Found a seller selling 2 for 30 each. Got combined shipping and paid 72 for 2 of them. Both work perfectly.


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## raghu1111 (Nov 16, 2005)

Does MoCA work well for condos? In my case, I think each room's cable is going to a location common multiple condos, unlike a typical set up where all the cables in one house meet at one place.


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## dbtom (Feb 14, 2002)

Hi All,

I hope you can be of some help with a problem I am having with a NIM100 network. I'm completely stumped.

I had set up a NIM100 in the basement feeding a switch in the living room that feeds a Tivo HD and an xBox 360. So the old setup looked like this:

cable in -> NIM 100 -> Switch -> [ Xbox] & [TivoHD]

This setup has worked great. I get super-fast network transfers. I recently added another xbox in the bedroom so I bought another NIM100. I added a splitter after the first NIM100 and thought everything should work fine. I changed the network so that it looks like this:

cable in -> NIM 100 -> Splitter

[1] -> NIM 100 -> Switch -> [ Xbox] & [TivoHD] 
[2] -> NIM 100 -> XBox

The old setup still works, but I am having problems with the new NIM100. When I plug my laptop directly into the new NIM100, I can get network access. The network light on the NIM100 lights up and everything is fine. However, when I plug my xbox in to the NIM 100 I get nothing.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Here are some things I have tried:

- resetting everything on the network
- switching xboxes (i.e. the new Xbox doesn't seem to be the problem. I can plug it directly into the wall and it works)
- using a switch instead of directly plugging the Xbox to the NIM100
- changing the NIM100 settings to DHCP from the default.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated


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## sriggins (Feb 21, 2005)

Hi! Am late to the game.

Seems NIM100s are only available used these days. Is that a safe bet?

It also seems as though I will need a splitter from the wall to the NIM I plan on connecting to my router, but on the NIM I plan on putting downstairs in front of the TiVo Series 3, I can just use the passthrough on the NIM?

Thanks!


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

sriggins said:


> Hi! Am late to the game.
> 
> Seems NIM100s are only available used these days. Is that a safe bet?
> 
> ...


 They have always only been available used. They were used by FIOS in 1st generation network rollout but were since phased out for Actiontec routers. For a while (early in this thread) they were pretty popular and selling quickly on eBay but lately they have cooled off so are much cheaper now. I'll probably order a couple of spares myself since they are cheap enough now.
Yes, passthrough works great on the NIM and the signal degradation seems to be minimal.


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## ah30k (Jan 9, 2006)

New ones are eBaying for $50 +S now. New, but secondary market.


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## phdeez (Aug 21, 2003)

I just wanted to throw my vote in....

These things are *AWESOME*. I *tried* to setup wireless N networking between my "content server" and PS3/TivoHD and initially it worked ok, no problems for the TivoHD but trying to stream 1080p content to my PS3 was painful... constant pauses, sometimes no good at all. Then, about a month after it was setup, I had inconsistent speeds ALL the time, sometimes NO network connectivity at all!! My guess is someone else setup a Wireless N network that was conflicting... Anyways, I sold the 2 Wireless N router/APs on Craigslist and bought *3* NIM100s used off ebay. Now, I can reliably stream 1080p content to my PS3 with NO problems and it's solid as a ROCK. Additionally, TivoHD content transfers are off the chart better.

Thanks to the MRV thread and this board I found these bad boys... TCF FTW!


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## sriggins (Feb 21, 2005)

My NIMs arrived!

I wired the TiVO NIM:

Wall->NIM->TiVo. This seems to work

I wired the router NIM:

Wall->1ghz splitter->NIM
->Cable Modem

Problem is, when I power up the NIM split off the cable modem, the cable modem goes offline. As soon as I remove power from the NIM, the cable modem comes back.

Clues?


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## sriggins (Feb 21, 2005)

SWEET! The passthru worked! The splitter did not but on the passthru, I am getting the full 30mbps/5mbps of comcast cable. Have not run local tests yet.


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## bkdtv (Jan 9, 2003)

sriggins said:


> SWEET! The passthru worked! The splitter did not but on the passthru, I am getting the full 30mbps/5mbps of comcast cable. Have not run local tests yet.


Cable companies typically use the first 750-860Mhz on the cable; the NIM100 creates a 100Mbps network using the 950-1150 MHz frequency range. Thus, you wouldn't want to use a splitter limited to 1000MHz (1GHz).


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## sriggins (Feb 21, 2005)

Good to know!

I am getting about 1MB/s from the Mac Pro to the series 3 (via a gigabit switch and apple router)


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## deek_md (Jun 22, 2003)

I am feeling my age.. 

OK, so I would like my TivoHD and PS3 to be connected via NIM-100s to avoid wireless (want netflix for TivoHD and downloads for PS3).

here's what ive done so far:

Cable in (coax) --> splitter --> NIM-100 RF in --> (CAT5e) --> Switcher 
....................................--> Cable modem 



In my Home Theater:

Cable in (coax) --> NIM -100 --> (coax) TivoHD
....................................... --> (cat5e) Tivo HD

I havent done anything to the modem or router.. But I did reset my Tivo and it did not connect to Tivo - says No DHCP

(I havent done it yet, but i planned on splitting the cable before the TivO and add another NIM to the PS3)


So, my questions:

(1) Do I need the splitter before the cable modem or can I use the Nim as a passthrough? 
(2) If I use the splitter, what advantage does it provide?
(3) Do I need to reset my modem and/or router?
(4) Should I connect the first NIM to the router directly or is it OK to connect it to the switcher?
(5) How do I test the NIMs? From my PC?

Thanks for any help you all can provide.. I thought I knew more about computers, but as far as networks go, I seem to have reached the limit of my knowledge....


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## sriggins (Feb 21, 2005)

I was able to forgo the splitter, the NIM passthru worked better. In that case:

RF: Wall->Nim100->CableModem

Ethernet: Cable Modem->Router

Router goes to NIM
Router goes to Computer

etc

You do need a router and not just a switch in most cases, but if your modem has a router built in, you can replace Router with Switch.

However, make sure Cable modem goes to the switch/router, and from that to the nim and other devices


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

deek_md, I'm trying to understand your setup but it sounds like in your configuration you don't have devices connecting to a router which is why no DHCP - the router is what sets up a network on your LAN and gives out DHCP assignments.
Most consumer routers also have at least a 3 or 4 port switch, so depending how many wired devices you need to attach you may not even need a switch. So, without knowing exact details here's what you need to do in your 1st part of setup:

The simplest setup:
== is coax
-- is cat5
Cable in (coax) == splitter == Tivo & NIM-100 == Cable Modem -- Router -- PS3 & Tivo & NIM-100

OR (if you don't have a router with a built in switch)
Cable in (coax) == splitter == Tivo & NIM-100 == Cable Modem -- Router -- Switch -- Tivo & PS3 & NIM-100

NOTE: Your home theater setup seems OK

1 final note, I understand you are trying to get wireless out of the equation, but you can still use wireless router (if that's what you have) in the diagrams above. You are just connecting things with cat5 cable to the router. That also still leaves wireless available for a laptop or other wireless devices you may have which can be useful, but all the critical stuff will be hard wired.

Splitting things up a little for more clarity (note that splitter is 1 single splitter not multiple):
Cable in == splitter input
splitter output 1 == Cable Modem -- Router WAN port
splitter output 2 == NIM100 == Tivo

Router LAN port -- Tivo
Router LAN port -- NIM100
Router LAN port -- PS3


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## deek_md (Jun 22, 2003)

Thanks so much to moyekj and sriggins! Very helpful.

I indeed did not plug the NIM 100 to the router. I will try that and I will try the passthrough option (no splitter).

The only thing I am confused about is attaching the TiVo and the PS3 to the router? My router is near my cable modem and is in a separate room from my Tivo and the PS3. 

So, I am not physically doing anything with the router from the Tivo and the PS3, right? I am using the NIM to communicate. I plan on using 1 NIM to router and then 1 NIM each to the Tivo and PS3. Right??? 

Trying not to be a moron, but I need clear instructions.

I appreciate your help in advance


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## rturrentine (Jan 24, 2003)

You are correct... just use another NIM to connect to the Tivo and PS3. You can use 2 NIMs there or one NIM connected to a small switch which connects to the PS3 and Tivo.


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## ah30k (Jan 9, 2006)

I think the best thing to do is trace an imaginary line over the coax cable between all MOCA devices (NIMs and ActionTeks) and make sure there are all connected directly to each other (splitters are OK). If you trace an imaginary path and find that you need to go over one deviec to get to another then you will have problems.


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

deek_md said:


> Thanks so much to moyekj and sriggins! Very helpful.
> 
> I indeed did not plug the NIM 100 to the router. I will try that and I will try the passthrough option (no splitter).
> 
> ...


It would be helpful to list which devices you have where. From what I understand now:

Room 1: cable modem & router
Room 2: Tivo & PS3
Room 3 (Home Theater): Tivo

Assuming above is correct then:
== is coax
-- is cat5

Room 1
Cable in (coax) == NIM-100 == Cable Modem -- Router WAN port

Room 2
Cable in (coax) == NIM-100 == Tivo
Switch -- NIM-100
Switch -- Tivo
Switch -- PS3

Room 3
Cable in (coax) == NIM-100 == Tivo
NIM-100 -- Tivo

NOTE: It's a little silly to have cable modem and router in a separate room with no other devices hard wired to them if that's the current setup. If you move cable modem & router to Room 2 or Room 3 then it would simplify things and you would not need a 3rd NIM-100.


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## deek_md (Jun 22, 2003)

rturrentine said:


> You are correct... just use another NIM to connect to the Tivo and PS3. You can use 2 NIMs there or one NIM connected to a small switch which connects to the PS3 and Tivo.


The advice above is excellent and I am amazed at your deductive skills since I didnt provide enough information. I appreciate all of your patience.. hopefully the explanations will help others as well. I think rturrentine has it the best, but I will clarify with moyekj's diagram:

Room 1: cable modem & router
Room 2: Home theater with Tivo & PS3. Coax + wifi only. No wired Cat5e.

Assuming above is correct then:
== is coax
-- is cat5

Room 1
Cable in (coax) == NIM-100 == Cable Modem -- Router WAN port

Room 2
Cable in (coax) == splitter (1) == NIM-100 == & -- Tivo
..........................splitter (2) == NIM-100 -- PS3

(the "...." are just placeholders and dont signify anything)

(a) Will this set up work?
(b) Do I need to power on/off the router, tivo, etc?


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

Ok, then no need for 2 NIM-100s in Room 2. I would do this:

Room 1: cable modem & router
Room 2: Home theater with Tivo & PS3. Coax + wifi only. No wired Cat5e. 

== is coax
-- is cat5

Room 1
Cable in (coax) == NIM-100 (1) == Cable Modem -- Router WAN port

Room 2
Cable in (coax) == NIM-100 (2) == Tivo
Switch -- NIM-100 (2)
Switch -- Tivo
Switch -- PS3

NOTE: Even better option would be just to move cable modem & router to Room 2 and then you don't need any NIM-100s and also no need for a switch (assuming your router has at least a 2 port switch). i.e.

Room 2
Cable in (coax) == splitter == Cable Modem -- Router WAN port
splitter == Tivo
Router -- Tivo
Router -- PS3


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## deek_md (Jun 22, 2003)

OK, I have set things up according to the suggestions, but I cannot get the Tivo to be seen on my network...

OK, here is my current set up:

== coax
-- cat5

Room 1:

Coax == Nim100(1) == Cable modem -- Router (Internet)

Room 2:

Coax == Nim100(2) == Tivo
Nim100(2) -- Tivo


OK, all of my wireless and wired connections work on my network, including my PC, HP Mediaserver, Netcenter, my other Tivo.
The TivoHD settings look sound - the subnet mask and gateway are correct.
But, I get a NO DHCP error when I connect to the network on the Tivo.

NIM(2) (pretivo) has a green network light lit, NIM(1) has nothing.

What gives? Is it possible that the coax going to the Tivo was split from the cable modem coax? Does that matter? In other words, if I understand how a NIM works, if the coax "circuits" are not connected then it wont work.. so, I have to check the birds nest of cables, but there are a lot of splitters (thanks Cox!) and I wonder if the coax cable going to my TIVO from the wall somehow is not connected to the coax cable going to the modem (now via the NIM passthrough). If the split is pre-modem, then they wont be able to communicate, correct? OR does that not matter?


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

Sorry, missed one connection for Room 1 - revised to connect NIM-100 ethernet to router:
Coax == Nim100(1) == Cable modem -- Router (Internet)
Nim100(1) -- Router

Room2 looks good.

If things are working properly then each NIM-100 will have 2 green lights lit solid.

(In previous setup there was no path from Tivo to router, hence no DHCP)


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## deek_md (Jun 22, 2003)

First I appreciate everyone's help.. I am sure it must be tedious and not much fun..

Anyways, I have set everything up correctly, but the NIMs RF light does not go on. This makes me think the RF going to the cable modem is separate from the ones going to the rooms for TV, hence the NIMs (1 on the internet "circuit" and one on the other rooms "circuit") cant see each other.

Is this even possible? Is there a fix?
I will be trying putting the cable modem on the other "circuit" and see if that fixes it and how it affects my internet speeds.. 

Any final thoughts would be much appreciated


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## deek_md (Jun 22, 2003)

ok that worked 
I plugged the modem into a different coax cable (looked like the main one not going to the cable modem) and it works just great now. Thanks to all.


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## jilter (Oct 4, 2002)

/bump

Would MRV transfers from a Series 2 to a TivoHD be faster with this application
(MOCA)? I am trying to read everything I can here, and if I understand correctly, transfers from a Series 2 to a TivoHD are slow for other reasons than network limitations.


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## routerspecialist (Jun 19, 2008)

jauburn said:


> I read through the threads that contain snippets of information about using a NIM100 to improve the network speed of a Tivo Series 3, but in these threads the actual instructions for using a NIM100 are scattered around and not really coherently presented.
> 
> Can someone who's skillful in writing instructions explain exactly how to set one of these up, where to get them, and what alternatives exist, if any? Thanks.


Well, I'm posting a bit late but I have relevant information.....

So, I have wired Ethernet between my two Tivo HDs. That means I had cable run right to my router/bridge. There's no intervening devices. Both Tivo HDs plug directly into the Ethernet drops. So you might want to know that I max out at 25 Mbps. The reason? It's the Tivo....it's processor bound, and really can't produce much greater speed. (and yes, the cable is truly capable of greater speed - it's been tested, and with other devices does produce much better speed).

An S3 can get even higher speeds. I used to own one, and it maxxed out at ~ 35 Mbps.


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## jilter (Oct 4, 2002)

This thread has truly been illuminating.
The main reason I went and got a third Tivo for my basement is to have the ability to transfer. Now it seems like the TivoHD's have a real limitation where networking is concerned. I believe I will wait to initiate service on this brand new Tivo.

Is there any indication Tivo is going to address this issue in planned upcoming hardware?


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

jilter said:


> This thread has truly been illuminating.
> The main reason I went and got a third Tivo for my basement is to have the ability to transfer. Now it seems like the TivoHD's have a real limitation where networking is concerned. I believe I will wait to initiate service on this brand new Tivo.
> 
> Is there any indication Tivo is going to address this issue in planned upcoming hardware?


 I don't think there is any indication. But I think the current limitation for hard wired networks is the limited TiVo on board CPU power and RAM, so hopefully if that portion of hardware is upgraded then there should be an improvement even if TiVo does nothing on software side to improve TTG/MRV protocols to make them more efficient.


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## jilter (Oct 4, 2002)

routerspecialist said:


> Well, I'm posting a bit late but I have relevant information.....
> 
> So, I have wired Ethernet between my two Tivo HDs. That means I had cable run right to my router/bridge. There's no intervening devices. Both Tivo HDs plug directly into the Ethernet drops. So you might want to know that I max out at 25 Mbps. The reason? It's the Tivo....it's processor bound, and really can't produce much greater speed. (and yes, the cable is truly capable of greater speed - it's been tested, and with other devices does produce much better speed).
> 
> An S3 can get even higher speeds. I used to own one, and it maxxed out at ~ 35 Mbps.


I can not find it now, what speed can I expect from wireless (Series 2 to TivoHD)?


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