# New Tivo Stream Problems



## web1b (Oct 3, 2006)

I just got a new Roamio and Tivo stream two days ago. It is connected to an OTA antenna. I have Limited Basic cable that includes locals, but prefer to use an OTA antenna because I get better picture quality and a few extra local channels from the antenna. 
The stream worked fine on my iPad 3 the first day, but starting last night the picture and sound on the iPad would pause for a second every 30 seconds to a minute or so. 
It was the CBS local news and then on a recording of a CSI show also on CBS.
I then switched to streaming a recording of an NBC show and it played smoothly.
So, it looks like the reason I didn't see an issue the first day is because I didn't try streaming any CBS shows the first day.
I can play CBS on the Tivo directly without the pausing, So, it is only a streaming issue. I don't have the problem on other channels, so it doesn't appear to be a bandwidth issue.

What causes this and is there a fix?

Also, there is frequently way too much fan noise coming from the Tivo Stream box. It is next to the TV in the living room since there is no place better to put it. The cable outlets are only in the living room and bedrooms. So, moving a noisy device to a bedroom would not be an improvement.

I'm considering either switching from the Roamio to a Roamio Plus or just returning everything 
I purchased the devices from Best Buy and then added lifetime service and an extended warranty on the Tivo.com web site when I got home. Do I have 30 days to return it and get a refund on everything including the lifetime service and warranty?

I assume the Roamio Plus with built-in streaming is quieter than using the Tivo Stream, but as I posted above, I prefer using OTA because I have better picture quality than the locals on cable and there are some local channels I occasionally watch that the cable provider is choosing not to carry. I also don't like the idea of not being able to use the Tivo at all if I ever wanted to cancel cable.

If there is a way to fix the Tivo Stream pausing on CBS and the loud fan noise, I'll keep it, otherwise, I will need to to return it before it is too late to get refunds on everything.


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## dizziness (May 8, 2006)

What region are you in? I'm having the same problem with CBS ch.2 in Chicago. NBC, FOX, ABC all stream fine with only occasional hiccups. It does not seem to be related to 720p vs 1080i sources since NBC works fine. 

Something is of issue with the CBS 2 broadcast and difficulty in the Tivo Stream transcoding.

Is there someone in particular we should contact and report this? I also am running a basic Roamio and Tivo Stream with OTA.


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## web1b (Oct 3, 2006)

I'm in California.

There is a similar thread in this forum last year with no solution seen in the posts.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=493459

Since it is been a year, it seems like there should have been more than enough time for Tivo to make updates to fix this issue by now if it is widespread.
If I have a defective unit, then I'd like to just return/exchange it, but since it appears to be limited to CBS, I'm thinking it is probably not my specific device causing the problem.


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## dizziness (May 8, 2006)

Yeah, I found that thread, too. Here's hoping somebody has a solution.


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## web1b (Oct 3, 2006)

I just tried downloading CSI Miami (CBS show) in best quality (over 1 GB file size) and I can play it directly from the iPad and it plays smoothly with no pauses, but it pauses frequently when I try to stream it to the iPad.
I can still stream NBC, ABC, FOX and CW HD programs without this issue. 
It doesn't make sense.


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

web1b said:


> I just tried downloading CSI Miami (CBS show) in best quality (over 1 GB file size) and I can play it directly from the iPad and it plays smoothly with no pauses, but it pauses frequently when I try to stream it to the iPad.
> I can still stream NBC, ABC, FOX and CW HD programs without this issue.
> It doesn't make sense.


 I had playback issues with some recordings downloaded using "Basic" quality. For that same recording when I tried "Medium" and "High" quality they worked well. All 3 quality levels encode to different resolutions and bit rates, so looks like Stream struggles to encode depending on source and target quality level.

Note that for in home streaming the quality is equivalent to a "High" download, so your case is strange if indeed "High" quality download works, but in home streaming of the same show does not.

I pretty much gave up on streaming directly since OOH streaming quality is terrible and trick play is pretty slow. I'd rather just download and start watching as it downloads since that way trick play is much faster and that gives better quality for OOH downloads. Of course downside to that is you need to give it some time to buffer, especially for OOH downloads.


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## wuzznuubi (Jan 17, 2013)

Probably the Zenverge ZN200 chip in the TiVo Stream & Roamio+/Pro has QoS enabled for streaming and not downloading. CBS HD bitrate OTA is close to max at about 18Mbps and throw in a bunch of transport stream discontinuities and maybe the TiVo Stream can't keep up. Try recording the same CBS program OTA and CABLE and you'll see what I mean. CABLE re-encodes (rate shapes) the original CBS feed which results in a much lower bitrate and probably gets rid of the discontinuities.


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