# Can I set up edge for elderly mom at my house and then take it to her?



## wellontheway2014 (5 mo ago)

To be more specific, I just purchased a TiVo edge with lifetime all in service for my elderly mom. It will get here this weekend. I already have three Tivo‘s and was wondering if I could create her account with her email ahead of time to sort of expedite the process when I get to her home to install it for her. She will have ota version. I also am getting a Roamio off ebay with lifetime for her other tv. The guy seems legit. I will post under Roamio also, but is there a way to expedite things to make sure the service transfers correctly before I go to her home? Don’t want her overwhelmed with the process and if it does not work if he is a fraud, I can work with ebay about that and don’t want her to know the trouble I have gone to. She lost her husband to covid and has had to move and downsize, so I am trying to give her a good tivo setup for creature comfort. Thanks for any advice. Ebay guy said he’d call and get a case number, but just crickets from him right now. Maybe he is busy with work. Anyway, I asked him all the right questions upfront and paid fair price. Thanks again for any help.
Laura


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## CWSpangler (Dec 25, 2018)

wellontheway2014 said:


> ... I just purchased a TiVo edge with lifetime all in service for my elderly mom. It will get here this weekend. I already have three Tivo‘s and was wondering if I could create her account with her email ahead of time to sort of expedite the process when I get to her home to install it for her. She will have ota version. I also am getting a Roamio off ebay with lifetime for her other tv. ...


A few years ago I bought a refurb Roamio OTA with all-in-service for my elderly Mother. I bought it direct from TiVo, and bought it with a 3-year warranty, so if anything went wrong she could get it replaced. (I also thought that buying the longer warranty might possibly make TiVo choose a better unit to fulfill the order.) I did not set up a separate account for her, I just made it another unit on my account, as I considered this to be part of my (extended) household. She was not going to use any tools at TiVo directly, and if I needed to have anything done I could do it myself. I could even remotely cause it to record shows for her, although I don't recall having actually done that.

So you might consider just putting them on your own TiVo account, unless you think she will want to use TiVo online tools herself.


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## wellontheway2014 (5 mo ago)

CWSpangler said:


> A few years ago I bought a refurb Roamio OTA with all-in-service for my elderly Mother. I bought it direct from TiVo, and bought it with a 3-year warranty, so if anything went wrong she could get it replaced. (I also thought that buying the longer warranty might possibly make TiVo choose a better unit to fulfill the order.) I did not set up a separate account for her, I just made it another unit on my account, as I considered this to be part of my (extended) household. She was not going to use any tools at TiVo directly, and if I needed to have anything done I could do it myself. I could even remotely cause it to record shows for her, although I don't recall having actually done that.
> 
> So you might consider just putting them on your own TiVo account, unless you think she will want to use TiVo online tools herself.


So if I do that, is it okay that she is in a different zipcode and using her own wifi and such? I never thought of that! She just needs to enjoy them. I didn’t think of extended household. Thanks so much!


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## CWSpangler (Dec 25, 2018)

wellontheway2014 said:


> So if I do that, is it okay that she is in a different zipcode and using her own wifi and such? I never thought of that! She just needs to enjoy them. I didn’t think of extended household. Thanks so much!


I did this in late 2016, and it has been OK ever since. Different zipcode, WiFi in that house, other ISP, etc. Since it is on my TiVo account, it has the same MAK as the TiVo units I own. If I ever wanted to carry one of my other TiVo units there, I should be able to transfer recordings to or from that Roamio. That capability might possibly be of use to you, if you want to transport one of the TiVos.

By the way, I am very happy with my Roamio OTAs, less so with my Bolt, and not tempted at all to buy an Edge. If I were buying another one, it would be a used Roamio OTA, and I would immediately put in a new and larger WD Red Plus disk, probably 3TB. If your Mother will have an Edge and a Roamio, I think it would be a Real Good Idea for them to be running the same generation of TiVo software with about the same user interface, either TE3 or TE4. And I don't know whether an Edge can even be "downgraded" to TE3.


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## DVR_Dave (Apr 19, 2017)

CWSpangler said:


> I did not set up a separate account for her, I just made it another unit on my account, as I considered this to be part of my (extended) household. She was not going to use any tools at TiVo directly, and if I needed to have anything done I could do it myself. I could even remotely cause it to record shows for her, although I don't recall having actually done that.
> 
> So you might consider just putting them on your own TiVo account, unless you think she will want to use TiVo online tools herself.


I did the same for my parents years ago, starting back with a S2-ST, then S2-DT, then Tivo HD, and now Bolt. Originally using FiOS TV, then Comcast TV. No issues to date.


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## pfiagra (Oct 13, 2014)

wellontheway2014 said:


> So if I do that, is it okay that she is in a different zipcode and using her own wifi and such? I never thought of that! She just needs to enjoy them. I didn’t think of extended household. Thanks so much!


You can set it up completely at your house and make sure the account has transferred and everything is working. Then, when you set it up at your mother's house, first change the network settings to get it on her wifi/internet:

How to Configure Network Settings on your TiVo Device

Next, connect the antenna and repeat guided setup and your mother should be good to go:

Repeating Guided Setup


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## wellontheway2014 (5 mo ago)

CWSpangler said:


> I did this in late 2016, and it has been OK ever since. Different zipcode, WiFi in that house, other ISP, etc. Since it is on my TiVo account, it has the same MAK as the TiVo units I own. If I ever wanted to carry one of my other TiVo units there, I should be able to transfer recordings to or from that Roamio. That capability might possibly be of use to you, if you want to transport one of the TiVos.
> 
> By the way, I am very happy with my Roamio OTAs, less so with my Bolt, and not tempted at all to buy an Edge. If I were buying another one, it would be a used Roamio OTA, and I would immediately put in a new and larger WD Red Plus disk, probably 3TB. If your Mother will have an Edge and a Roamio, I think it would be a Real Good Idea for them to be running the same generation of TiVo software with about the same user interface, either TE3 or TE4. And I don't know whether an Edge can even be "downgraded" to TE3.


Thanks so much for that clear explanation. If both used roamios are truly lifetime as I was told, I think I will send the edge back if they will let me. I love my roamio and my 2 vintage Premieres, in fact. Anyway, your solution is perfect. She can not deal with any more tech stuff as she is still learning to use her phone. This will save alot of headaches. Yay! Thanks!


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## wellontheway2014 (5 mo ago)

DVR_Dave said:


> I did the same for my parents years ago, starting back with a S2-ST, then S2-DT, then Tivo HD, and now Bolt. Originally using FiOS TV, then Comcast TV. No issues to date.


Excellent! Thanks for the real-world experience. This is what I will do.


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