WISP and Vonage and TIVO

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: Dec 22, 2004 Posts: 4

I have yet to get my TIVO to work via Vonage. Been at it for weeks. I am a wireless broadband guy. TiVo uses an external modem. I've tried every possible combination of dialing prefixes, etc... Can't ever get a connect. My program guide craps out tomorrow...

Does anyone know of options??? I can cable (via serial and PPP) to my PC and go out that way.

What burns my butt is that Vonage tried everything (I think) and then dropped me from their active problem list. Hence, no returned calls to the ongoing service order...

I think what many of us are missing concerning the Vonage/TiVo/Modem problem is this:

1. Packet Loss. I've not seen a single comprehensive post about this. I'm almost positive that packet loss is my problem. Try www.pingplotter.com to see if that's your problem.

2. I did the DSL filter thing. No improvement.

3. Vonage wouldn't tell me what they were doing to my router. Even tho I'm Cisco 7000 certified, they wouldn't tell me what they were doing.

4. No response to emails as far back as 10 days ago.

5. I tried activating port 2 (fax) and it didn't accomplish a thing. Still no-go for my fax, still no-go for the TiVo modem... I'm dead in the water.

6. I tried slowing down the modem via the various ,#xxx commands. No change. The bottom line on this one is that one must go into the modem and FORCE it to run at a slower speed. Merely changing the TiVo modem options won't change the modem handshake procedure... The modem will still try for high speed. The command string from the TiVo will change ONLY the speed between the modem and the Tivo... It won't change the actual protocol that's used by the modem to make the connection to TiVo. I'm still working on this one. But, in a nutshell, one will have to configure their external modem via a PC. The modem will have to be forced to a slow speed (disable certain modem protocols)... If I ever figure this one out, I'll post. If someone has already done this, PLEASE reply!!!

7. I think I want to go direct Internet with this guy and forget the modem. I have an OLD TiVo... Not DirecTV (whom I work for)... EVERYTHING our TiVo gets is via landline. Since we moved to Vonage, we're in trouble... So, can I get my old boatanchor TiVo to play PPP to my PC???

Thanks!!!

Dave.

Posts: 16 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Mar 13, 2004 Posts: 16

You can get an ethernet adapter for a Series 1 Tivo. Then, connect it to your router and get updates via the internet. Go to http://www.9thtee.com/. They have two different types.

It's a fairly easy mod to do and it will solve your update problems. They also either have the documentation you need or links to it.

Good luck!

Posts: 176 · Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2004 9:26 am Post subject:

We series 1 owners should not have to fork out another $80 - $100 just to get the TiVo to communicate with the mothership! That's the price of a brand new one, and if I wanted a newer on I would have purchased it already.

Vonage never returns my emails either. It's been about a week, I send 1 or 2 a day now just so I can have a history of their performance when I file a complaint with the BPU in order to get them to respond.

There is a new firmware out for the RT31P2 out there, 1.26, and mine is using 1.24. I just want to know if this new firmware will enable my modems to be able to make a 1 minute call, and I can't get any ones attention. I sure don't have time right now to sit on hold for long periods of time, I hang up after 30 minutes.

Posts: 20 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Nov 30, 2004 Posts: 20

Do yourself a huge favor... pay the $100 for a new Series 2 40-hour unit... you'll be able to do high-speed daily calls over your network and you'll get all the other advantages of a Series 2 box!

Posts: 281 · Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2004 1:52 pm Post subject:

Terrestrial wireless here as well... unit is very good except when it drops packets during very high frame rates on the AU... ugh =\

Posts: 16 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Mar 13, 2004 Posts: 16

SuperDave wrote:

We series 1 owners should not have to fork out another $80 - $100 just to get the TiVo to communicate with the mothership! That's the price of a brand new one, and if I wanted a newer on I would have purchased it already.

You're right, you shouldn't have to to that. The reality is that Vonage has always said that Tivos couldn't call home on their service.

I already had the card so it was no big deal for me. It's one of the choices you made (or should have made) when you selected Vonage.

Posts: 176 · Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2004 2:07 pm Post subject:

adamwsh wrote:

Do yourself a huge favor... pay the $100 for a new Series 2 40-hour unit... you'll be able to do high-speed daily calls over your network and you'll get all the other advantages of a Series 2 box!

DirecTV TiVos cannot call out over the network, whether they are series 1 or 2, so why would I spend money on a series 2? I like my SAT-T60, I modified it and I like the remote a lot more than the Series 2 boxes. So I'll keep it for as long as it works, because now that Murdoch owns DTV the new boxes are lighter and cheaply made. I figure it won't be long until he gives them away.

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: Dec 22, 2004 Posts: 4

WHEW! Thanks, everyone! I musta hit a nerve!!! I'm chasing the PPP option at the moment. I don't have a lot of bucks to throw at this problem. Actually, it would be cheaper to go back to landline than to get the ethernet card, etc. But, I'm a hacker by nature.

The fundamental problem I have is with Vonage and their 'fax support'... NOT! I never got my fax to work on line 1 or 2. And, when you come right down to it, the modem handshake tones are the same during negotiations. I can't get past that point. So it doesn't matter if it is a fax machine, a fax modem, or a TiVo. If the initial negotiations fail, the connection fails.

I've been in the modem networking racket for over 30 years. I can tell by listening when a modem/fax isn't going to go... But, being an old antique like I am, I've forgotten the Hayes commands to force the modem to negotiate with the older, slower protocols...

I managed to get the TiVo to try at ,#396... No go... Aything slower (,#324, ,#348) isn't valid and nothing happens. So, the slowest that the TiVo will go to the modem is 9600. The problem is STILL that I need to force the modem to a MAX connext of 4800 or 9600, and no minimum speed mandate.

If memory serves, this would be Hayes commands AT&N[something] for max speed, and AT&U[something] for minimum speed... Anyone's memory better than mine??? (GRIN) I'd like to try this hack... Get the right code for the modem, tell it to be a SLOW modem. I'll have to do this via a serial port on my PC, then carry the modem back to the TiVo and, probably, watch it crap out again.

What I'd give for one of the old modems I threw away. A 2400 or 9600... An antique that doesn't know about the new protocols... Looking at packet loss, I can tell that a very slow modem would overcome the gaps. After all, at 2400 or 9600, a 'bit' is MUCH longer than at 56k... A millisecond interruption won't kill the connecton. And I have lots of time! So go slow!!!

In a nutshell, I need to get away from modems and Vonage! Need to get the TiVo networked...

Thanks!

Dave.

(Merry Christmas, folks!!!)

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: Dec 22, 2004 Posts: 4

adamwsh wrote:

Do yourself a huge favor... pay the $100 for a new Series 2 40-hour unit... you'll be able to do high-speed daily calls over your network and you'll get all the other advantages of a Series 2 box!

So where do I find this beast for $100??? Just checked on ebay... Gonna be ore than that. Should I ry a search on TiVo from Google or something??? Wish I had DirecTV. We're leting 'em go for $50 right now. BUT, I need a standard cable/off-air TiVo.

Dave.

Posts: 59 · Full Forum Member Joined: Dec 16, 2004 Posts: 59

I've read a bunch of threads on Tivo dialouts, both here and on Tivo forums (search http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/ for keyword Vonage and you will find various threads) and have done some testing myself dialing out from a Series 2 Tivo over Voip using various telephony adapters and various settings. I've concluded (not surprisingly) that it is somewhat hit or miss, but the success rate depends to a large extent on the specific telephony adapter and its configuration.

I can successfully make dialouts on the TiVo Series 2 IF the telephony adapter is set to G711, silence suppresion off, and 10 millisecond packetization is used. Any higher packetization, and any other compression codec, and forget about it. Furthermore, with those settings, I can succesfully dialout with some TAs and not with others. To give an example, I can dialout successfully with a Cisco ATA running firmware 3.2, but not if its running firmware 3.1. I have tested with a couple of other TA devices but not with either of the Linksys devices at this point. Does Vonage's fax line setting use 10ms packetization?