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November 17, 2004

PVR with no phone line?

I want a PVR, but have no land line.  Are there any that can use my wireless network?
-- kevin

November 17, 2004 in DVR, Networking

Answers

Sure! TiVo's entire Series 2 line have USB ports that you can run wireless adapters from. Here's TiVo's information page on what is supported:

http://customersupport.tivo.com/knowbase/root/public/tv2006.htm?

And here was my adventures last summer trying to setup a new unit without a phone (long story short, you might have to go to a friends house and borrow their phoneline to get the latest OS on it):

http://www.pvrblog.com/pvr/2003/07/how_to_setup_a_.html

Posted by: Matt Haughey at Nov 19, 2004 3:09:54 AM

As Matt said, all of TiVo's standalone Series2 models can work with a network and no phone:
http://www.tivo.com/network
http://www.tivo.com/adapters

But they do officially require a phone for the initial Guided Setup. I say officially because you can set them up using *some* wired Ethernet adapters and the ,#401 backdoor. But only wired Ethernet (not WiFi), and not *all* adapters. (Though you could use a wired adapter and a WiFi bridge.) It may be easier to just connect to a friend's phone line for the initial calls, have the unit call a couple of times until it upgrades itself and recognizes your adapter, and then take it home.

Also, ReplayTV units come with a built in wired Ethernet port and you can connect them to an external WiFi bridge.

Posted by: MegaZone at Nov 19, 2004 6:44:14 PM

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