# TivoToGo Transfer Speed!



## techgold (Jan 22, 2006)

Last night i transferred a 1/2 an hour show recorded at High quality(1.053 GByte file) from my Tivo's "Now Playing List" to my laptop. This transfer took 1hr and 15 minutes which gives me a transfer rate of aproximately 1.872 Mbps. Below are the network components involved:

DVR: HUMAX DRT800 w/USB1.1
Netgear (wired) FA120 Adpater (USB to ethernet)
Netgear RP114 router (wired)
Laptop w/ 2.4 Ghz processor, 512 MB of Memory and a 54 GByte hard drive.

Does this transfer speed seem reasonable? I was expecting something a little faster?!

Have any of you tried this TivoToGO feature and what are the transfer times you're getting for the different recording quality settings (i.e. different file sizes)?

Thanks in Advance for your replies!

M.L.


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## morac (Mar 14, 2003)

Your transfer speeds a lot slower compared to mine and I'm using wireless. The USB1.1 could be a problem. Are you sure it is USB 1.1 and not USB 2.0 since the Netgear FA120 is a USB 2.0 adapter.

For comparison, my transfer speeds are regularly over 5 Mbps and I can transfer a high quality show in slightly greater than real time, but then again I have a 240 model TiVo which is known to be transfer faster than newer model TiVos.


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## Arcady (Oct 14, 2004)

On my DirecTiVo's, I can transfer an hour-long show in 7-8 minutes...


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## MickeS (Dec 26, 2002)

Arcady, why don't you expand on that? Because it has zero to do with the OPs problem?

techgold, that sounds very slow, but I haven't seen any numbers for that unit before. I have a 230 model, and get around 8 Mbit transfer speed using usb 2.0 and a wireless network with a switch at the PC end. You might want to look in the Home Media Features section of the forum, and search for your model, maybe someone has better answers there.


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## Arcady (Oct 14, 2004)

How in the hell does it have zero to do with the question? It is a series 2 tivo with the same USB wired adapter. 1 hour and 15 minutes to transfer a 30 minute show is a complete joke -- just like your response to my post.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

techgold said:


> Last night i transferred a 1/2 an hour show recorded at High quality(1.053 GByte file) from my Tivo's "Now Playing List" to my laptop. This transfer took 1hr and 15 minutes which gives me a transfer rate of aproximately 1.872 Mbps. Below are the network components involved:
> 
> DVR: HUMAX DRT800 w/USB1.1
> Netgear (wired) FA120 Adpater (USB to ethernet)
> ...


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## MickeS (Dec 26, 2002)

Arcady, so you're using TiVoToGo? Otherwise, it has no relevance to the question. I might as well reply "I transfer my files between my PCs in 1-2 minutes."


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

MickeS said:


> Arcady, so you're using TiVoToGo? Otherwise, it has no relevance to the question. I might as well reply "I transfer my files between my PCs in 1-2 minutes."


Same speed to my PC

Les


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## Arcady (Oct 14, 2004)

MickeS said:


> Arcady, so you're using TiVoToGo? Otherwise, it has no relevance to the question. I might as well reply "I transfer my files between my PCs in 1-2 minutes."


So you're saying TiVoToGo is slower than MRV or any other file transfer? Copying data is copying data. What a bunch of whiners.


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## d_anders (Oct 12, 2000)

Arcady said:


> So you're saying TiVoToGo is slower than MRV or any other file transfer? Copying data is copying data. What a bunch of whiners.


Your situation is likely to be very different...

Yes, transferring on TiVoToGo is slower than MRV and other types of file transers. The extra step of encryption, and making the .tivo files sent to PCs eats up cpu cycles on the TiVo units, and degrades overall transfer performance...that said, the OP's times do appear to be a little slow...


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## 1283 (Sep 8, 2000)

Arcady said:


> So you're saying TiVoToGo is slower than MRV or any other file transfer?


Of course, it is.



Arcady said:


> Copying data is copying data.


TiVoToGo is *NOT* copying data.



Arcady said:


> What a bunch of whiners.


You're not even using authorized code. What does that make you?


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## Arcady (Oct 14, 2004)

c3 said:


> You're not even using authorized code. What does that make you?


A person exercising Fair Use? How about a person watching the TV show he time-shifted to his iPod an hour before you? Someone not willing to put up with cripple-ware? An individual who is paying his monthly TiVo fees?

I'm done with this thread.


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

Arcady said:


> A person exercising Fair Use? How about a person watching the TV show he time-shifted to his iPod an hour before you? Someone not willing to put up with cripple-ware? An individual who is paying his monthly TiVo fees?
> 
> I'm done with this thread.


and a beautiful thread crap you laid on it. the OP is obviosuly new to this and most likely still has no idea what is going on. You ever so cleverly danced around the key peice of info that you hacked your DirectTV, turned off encryption at recording time and are now just FTPing files. Had you been that informative and perhaps added in that the OP would have to replace a ROM chip on his motherboard to be able to do the same thing then it would have helped the OP really understand the situation.

as it is you chose instead to stroke your own ego in your posts and totally take the thread off-topic for *no good reason* Then you give the high and mighty, "I am done with this thread" ? what a load of hooey.


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## jeff92k7 (Jan 18, 2006)

Arcady said:


> I'm done with this thread.


That's the best contribution that you have made to this thread.

To the OP, my transfer speeds are pretty slow too. I have a 540040 with a usb100m usb1.1 adapter and it takes slightly more than real time to transfer shows recorded at high quality and almost double time for shows at best quality.

For a half hour show to take over twice as long is VERY slow.

I have noticed that my transfers run a bit faster when the unit is in standby instead of playing back shows or watching live tv. You might try that and see if it is any faster.

Also, transferring shows via the IP web interface goes noticeably faster than tivotogo. You should also try it that way and see what your speeds are.

Jeff


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

techgold said:


> Last night i transferred a 1/2 an hour show recorded at High quality(1.053 GByte file) from my Tivo's "Now Playing List" to my laptop. This transfer took 1hr and 15 minutes which gives me a transfer rate of aproximately 1.872 Mbps. Below are the network components involved:
> 
> DVR: HUMAX DRT800 w/USB1.1
> Netgear (wired) FA120 Adpater (USB to ethernet)
> ...


first - the DRT800 has USB 2.0 hardware. If you are on version 7x of TiVo then it is using USB 2.0 drivers.

the file size seems a little large for HIGH 30 minute show, are you sure it is not BEST quality?

I have a similar setup - Netgear FA120 wired to a PC.
for my half hour shows from a Toshiba DVD/TiVo which run about 800meg file size it takes around 40 minutes. The reason the current version of TiVoToGo is so slow is that it has to break out the audio, change it so the PC can use the video and audio in mpeg2 format , and then mux it back in. This takes CPU time. (the hack Arcady was referring too, transfers some of this work to the PC which can do it much faster)

also on the 540 type models, including the TiVo DVRs with DVD, the USB chips for the USB 2.0 hardware were dumbed down some to save money. This means the CPU has to take some of the USB load, also slowing things down.
I would bet the hard drive in the laptop slows things down as well being a slower laptop drive.


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## mrjam2jab (Jul 23, 2004)

From my 240 SA Tivo using a Linksys USB11 2.8 to PC with Linksys WRT54G router....using Https site....one hour show at Best Quality....transfered at about 500 kb/s...didnt notice how long it took as i started it then walked away.

Not sure if this is fast or slow...but compared to the rest of you it sounds kinda slow...


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

mrjam2jab said:


> From my 240 SA Tivo using a Linksys USB11 2.8 to PC with Linksys WRT54G router....using Https site....one hour show at Best Quality....transfered at about 500 kb/s...didnt notice how long it took as i started it then walked away.
> 
> Not sure if this is fast or slow...but compared to the rest of you it sounds kinda slow...


your 240 has a good USB 2.0 hardware that produces little CPU load and at 7x will have USB 2.0 drivers - you would do well to upgrade the USB adapter. If you stay at wireless then the wireless adapter from TiVo has gotten good reports in the forum


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## techgold (Jan 22, 2006)

Thanks to All of you for your suggestions and replies!

I've downloaded "Galeon 2.0" and downloaded the same 1/2 an hour show as before and this time it took about 36 minutes (High quality) and i could get much faster peak transfer speeds up to (549 KBytes/s) and an average transfer speed of aproximately (400 KBytes/s).

Conclusion:

As ZeoTivo suggests, Desktop Tivo is pretty slow!!!!

The file size at High quality is indeed 1.053 GB and the same show at Best quality gives me a file size of 1.5 GB, this is from a Humax 80 hrs w/DVD burner (DRT800).

Of course i could get even better transfer speeds with a "fast" multimedia Desktop PC but for now this 3 yrd old laptop will do. Using Galleon was a great improvement over Desktop Tivo and i can live with it for now!

M.L.


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## TechDreamer (Jan 27, 2002)

Arcady,

I have seen threads on the other board about hacked Tivo's using Gigabit Ethernet with smoking transfer speeds, but that has nothing to do with this thread. The point is that your comments are pointless.


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## tekgeek (Feb 8, 2006)

It is the software. I too have the Humax DRT800 with TivoToGo. I have a USB 2.0 adapter. The speed of the network is 100 Mps. I should be able to transfer a 30 mins is 6 mins. yet it takes 30 mins. Don't even get me started on changing the format so you can watch it on your PC. That is another 30 project and the video quanlity is aweful. I am currently looking for a better way.


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## MickeS (Dec 26, 2002)

> Don't even get me started on changing the format so you can watch it on your PC. That is another 30 project and the video quanlity is aweful. I am currently looking for a better way.


Google "directshow dump". The quality is the same as on your TiVo, if you use that, but a PC and monitor is way more revealing than a standard def TV.


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

MickeS said:


> Google "directshow dump". The quality is the same as on your TiVo, if you use that, but a PC and monitor is way more revealing than a standard def TV.


I second directshowdump for tekGeek, it gets the mpeg without any transcoding or reformatting of the mpeg. fast as well.


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## dmaul (Jan 15, 2007)

jeff92k7 said:


> That's the best contribution that you have made to this thread.
> 
> To the OP, my transfer speeds are pretty slow too. I have a 540040 with a usb100m usb1.1 adapter and it takes slightly more than real time to transfer shows recorded at high quality and almost double time for shows at best quality.
> 
> ...


 Great advice on standby mode - that seems to have increased throughput for me by close to 50%. Thanks.


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## sfdf0623 (Sep 7, 2015)

sorry to jump in but can someone please tell me what wireless adapter will work best with my Humax Drt800? Thanks Very Much!!


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## Keen (Aug 3, 2009)

Go start a new thread instead of bumping a 9 year old thread about an entirely different topic.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

sfdf0623 said:


> sorry to jump in but can someone please tell me what wireless adapter will work best with my Humax Drt800? Thanks Very Much!!


The TiVo brand wireless G is your best bet. It has a little microprocessor of its own that takes over some of the work that the TiVo's own CPU would otherwise have to do with anyone else's adapter. That means faster.

Check Craigslist if you live somewhere halfway big and see if you can't find someone selling one for around $25.

You might even find one included in a package deal with a used TiVo for not much more than that.


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