# New to TiVo



## Geezer64 (Jul 16, 2014)

I live in eastern NC in a community served by Time Warner Cable. I have 50/5 internet service only and am considering adding Digital TV along with a TiVo Roamio 6 tuner and two TiVo mini's. Have cable lines already to the rooms where the Mini's will go, as well as ethernet. The local office doesn't have much of a clue as to what i need from them to make this work. If any of you guys are in NC and familiar with TWC, any help would be appreciated.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

You need a cable card for the Roamio, and all devices need to be connected to the same internal network and have access to the internet.


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

The TWC people you call aren't going to volunteer any info about what you need. They want you renting their crappy, overpriced equipment rather than using TiVo. Their usual strategy is to play dumb (or who knows maybe they are actually dumb). You just have to tell them exactly what you want and usually they will relent and give it to you. All you will need from them is a CableCard (specifically a "multi-stream CableCard" or "M-card") and a Tuning Adapter. The rental fee for them is $2.50/month. You should be able to pick them up at your local TWC office.

I am on the TWC system in Raleigh, and I have the exact same setup you are describing, a Roamio Plus and 2 Minis. I got them last November. For the first month or so, I was having trouble with the Tuning Adapter not working correctly which was annoying, But sometime in January TWC pushed a firmware update on the Tuning Adapter that solved all of my problems, and now everything is working beautifully. I am saving $50/month in equipment rental fees on my cable bill and no longer have to put up with TWC's crappy DVR and cable boxes, and I could not be happier.

You're actually in luck because right now TiVo is running a special sale on the Roamio Plus w/lifetime for $600:

https://www.tivo.com/shop/promo/summer-savings?SSAID=101512&SSAID=101512

That is the best price you will ever find for the Roamio Plus anywhere, so if you are serious about going with TiVo you should probably jump at that deal ASAP.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

Geezer64 said:


> I live in eastern NC in a community served by Time Warner Cable...


Welcome, fellow victim!


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## Geezer64 (Jul 16, 2014)

Thanks guys, your help is appreciated 

I'm not quite sure on the tuning adapter though................is this a set-top box or a smaller adapter that's on the cable line. Are they needed on each Mini?

Also, do I need the cable lines hooked up to the Mini's or will this all be coming from the ethernet & my network.


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

Minis are through your home network, either ethernet or MOCA. No extra boxes needed from your cableco.


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## ajwees41 (May 7, 2006)

Geezer64 said:


> Thanks guys, your help is appreciated
> 
> I'm not quite sure on the tuning adapter though................is this a set-top box or a smaller adapter that's on the cable line. Are they needed on each Mini?
> 
> Also, do I need the cable lines hooked up to the Mini's or will this all be coming from the ethernet & my network.


the tuning adapter goes with the Roamio not mini


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

You only need 1 CableCard and 1 Tuning Adapter. The Tuning Adapter comes along "free" when you rent a CableCard from Time Warner Cable. The Minis have no tuners of their own. They get all of their programming from communicating directly with the Roamio over your home network, so they don't need their own CC or TA.

The Tuning Adapter looks like a small set-top box that attaches to the Roamio with a USB cable. It allows you to view the SDV (switched digital video) channels. Some cable companies that have gone all digital, like Comcast, don't use SDV, so on those cable systems no Tuning Adapter is needed. Because Time Warner Cable still uses a lot of analog channels (which use up a lot of bandwidth), many of their digital channels are SDV, so a Tuning Adapter is going to be required for you to receive a large number of the channels on TWC.

Here are some pictures of what it looks like:

http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/08/cisco-sta1520-sdv-tuning-adapter-impressions/


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## Geezer64 (Jul 16, 2014)

tarheelblue32 said:


> You only need 1 CableCard and 1 Tuning Adapter. The Tuning Adapter comes along "free" when you rent a CableCard from Time Warner Cable. The Minis have to tuners of their own. They get all of their programming from communicating directly with the Roamio over your home network, so they don't need their own CC or TA.
> 
> The Tuning Adapter looks like a small set-top box that attaches to the Roamio with a USB cable. It allows you to view the SDV (switched digital video) channels. Some cable companies that have gone all digital, like Comcast, don't use SDV, so on those cable systems no Tuning Adapter is needed. Because Time Warner Cable still uses a lot of analog channels (which use up a lot of bandwidth), many of their digital channels are SDV, so a Tuning Adapter is going to be required for you to receive a large number of the channels on TWC.
> 
> ...


Thanks tarheelblue32, and the rest of you guys. This is exactly the info I was looking for. 

Go Heels!!!!!!!


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## kdemas (Jul 16, 2014)

You're going to love your TiVo once it's up and going!


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## Geezer64 (Jul 16, 2014)

I am even considering going with 3 Basic Roamio's instead of the Plus and 2 minis. More costly i know but i get a few more tuners and the wife and i, along with my son, actually do quite a bit of recording. We have DirecTV now and am also considering "cutting the cord" alltogether and going with OTA and supplement that with Netflix & Hulu Plus. Haven't really decided what to do yet but the TiVo's are definitely in the equation.


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

Geezer64 said:


> I am even considering going with 3 Basic Roamio's instead of the Plus and 2 minis. More costly i know but i get a few more tuners and the wife and i, along with my son, actually do quite a bit of recording. We have DirecTV now and am also considering "cutting the cord" alltogether and going with OTA and supplement that with Netflix & Hulu Plus. Haven't really decided what to do yet but the TiVo's are definitely in the equation.


If you do go with 3 basic Roamios on TWC, then you will need 3 CableCards and 3 Tuning Adapters.


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## Geezer64 (Jul 16, 2014)

Thanks tarheelblue32


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## Geezer64 (Jul 16, 2014)

Ok, took the first step in cutting the cord and ordered a Roamio Basic from Amazon and will order more receivers later. I decided out of curiousity this weekend to hook my 2010 60" Samsung Plasma up to my cable line which I only have 50/5 internet service. It scanned in and is receiving about 20 channels which seem to be local affiliates. Not sure how I get these but they are there for my viewing.

My question is..............will my TiVo Roamio, when it arrives, be able to scan these channels in without a CC & TA?


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

Geezer64 said:


> My question is..............will my TiVo Roamio, when it arrives, be able to scan these channels in without a CC & TA?


Probably yes....and probably no. If they are clear QAM channels, then the Roamio should be able to find them, but without a CableCard to map them to the correct channel number, guide data for those channels will be unavailable. Some people have reported success in solving this problem by buying a CableCard off of ebay to do the channel mapping. It is a YMMV situation, but if you are getting those channels coming through for free anyway then it is probably worth a shot. The hardest part will be knowing whether or not to get a Cisco or a Motorola card. I think most TWC areas are Cisco, but I think a few are Motorola. If you are really interested in giving this a try, someone will probably be able to tell you which brand of equipment your area uses.


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## Geezer64 (Jul 16, 2014)

The channels in question are scanned into my Tv as 2-1, 3-1, 4-1, 10-1, 13-1, 27-1, 33-1 & 43-1. Some are also in the 70's range but are Standard Def. These numbers are the same via OTA according to a neighbor who has OTA. I do not as of yet.

Would a CC still be required?


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

Geezer64 said:


> The channels in question are scanned into my Tv as 2-1, 3-1, 4-1, 10-1, 13-1, 27-1, 33-1 & 43-1. Some are also in the 70's range but are Standard Def. These numbers are the same via OTA according to a neighbor who has OTA. I do not as of yet.
> 
> Would a CC still be required?


Without the CC to remap the channel numbers, I think the issue you are going to run into is that you will be using the clear QAM cable tuner rather than the OTA ATSC tuner, so the Roamio will be trying to have you use the cable channel numbers for the guide data rather than the OTA channel numbers. There may be a way to force the Roamio to use the OTA guide data while using it with the cable QAM tuner, but I have never tried doing that and so I don't know if it is possible or not. Hopefully someone else will be able to answer that question more definitively for you.


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## Geezer64 (Jul 16, 2014)

Thanks tarheelblue32


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## Fielding (May 28, 2010)

Thanks - good infp


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## Fielding (May 28, 2010)

I meant thanks - good info


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## Geezer64 (Jul 16, 2014)

*Update:*

Finally got the Roamio last week and all hooked up via OTA. Answering my previous question in regards to cable channels being scanned and received by the Roamio, they did scan in without a CC but could not be viewed without it. Bummer, but OTA is excellent though.


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

Geezer64 said:


> *Update:*
> 
> Finally got the Roamio last week and all hooked up via OTA. Answering my previous question in regards to cable channels being scanned and received by the Roamio, they did scan in without a CC but could not be viewed without it. Bummer, but OTA is excellent though.


OTA HD picture quality will generally be better than cable anyways since it tends to be less compressed. But if you want to give the cablecard a shot, you can generally buy one on ebay for $5 to $10.


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