Customer Reviews

TiVo AG0100 Wireless G USB Network Adapter for TiVo Series 2 and Series 3 DVRs

5 star:		(751)
4 star:		(136)
3 star:		(23)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

First, thank you to the previous reviewers: I had several questions regarding this product such as "does it support Wireless Encryption?" and the previous reviews really helped...by the way yes, it supports WEP.

What you will need if you want to use this:
1) Wireless Internet Access (Wireless Router and Connection to Internet) within range of your DVR
2) Series 2 DVR (with USB plug)
3) A computer for some of the advanced features

Once you have these two things then using this product is amazingly simple to set up for about 80% of "Lucky People."
1) Plug it In
2) Follow the Instructions
3) Enter your WEP key (alphanumeric or hexadecimal --- alphanumeric is much easier)
4) I had to restart my DVR
5) If you're connecting a computer and using TivoToGo, you have to install the software on your computer...which also has to be connected to the network for your TIVO to see it and for your computer to see your TIVO and you'll need your Media Access Key.

Benefits I received from this product:
1) I don't have to use a phone line to get updates (no dialing)
2) TIVO updates come much faster over Broadband (Faster updates)
3) I bought TIVO to Go Plus --extra $$ from TIVO for the license key that you use with the computer software and I can listen to my iPod music through my Bose in my living room
4) I have my picture library shared....baby pictures are nice on the television....but caution, the quality of the pictures will only be as good as your TV....ie HDTV is still not as good as a good laptop screen and if you don't have HDTV, they'll only look as good as your TVs best resolution. Its still very cool to show baby pictures on the big TV.
5) I have a huge Attached Hard Drive array on my computer...its really a Server...so I offload movies I plan to keep and they're always there when I want to watch them so the 180hour DVR size limit kindof doesn't apply.

Issues / Challenges:
1) You have to know a little bit about computers if you want to get some of the more complex benefits such as share pictures, music, download movies.....ie you have to know about firewalls, how to install software, IP addresses and things like that.

2) If you have wireless access already set up and just want to use it to connect to the internet and get program updates instead of using your phone line, its pretty easy but you'll have to a) have DHCP turned on or b) assign it a static IP......for those of you who think I just typed in Greek, chances are that you have DHCP but if you happen not to, you could bump into problems.

3) If you want to listen to your IPod, share pictures, download to your computer, please make sure to read the software/hardware requirements for your computer.

Overall, these are my thoughts on the average person installing this easily:

A) 80% of the people who buy this should have Zero problems installing this product because you have a standard network configuration, know your way around networks, or are just lucky.

B) 20% of the people who buy this who don't have a standard Wireless network configuration AND don't have some knowledge of networking....you could become frustrated at trying to connect this product ESPECIALLY if you want to use some of the advanced functionality.

My Luck:
1) Start to finish it took me 5 minutes to install this to get its updates through the wireless network.

2) It took me about 30 minutes to install all the other software and get everything configured to share music, pictures and enable TivoToGo on my computer.

Experience was as follows:

1 ) Plugged unit into TIVO USB port.
2 ) Went to TIVO network setup menu.
3 ) Network immediately recognized.
4 ) Clicked on network name.
5 ) Entered WEP password using alpha-numeric alternative.
6 ) Network link established.
7 ) Used on-screen signal strength to reposition Adapter and router antenna.
8 ) Connected to Tivo service.

Good product. Recommended.

This Tivo Wireless Adapter is way better than the D-Link usb wireless adapter I was using on my Tivo. The performance increase (transfer speed from Tivo to PC using Tivo Desktop software) was about 25-40%. Signal reception also improved as displayed on the Tivo itself to "Good 70%" instead of "Fair 50%".

I highly recommend this adapter if you are interested in taking advantage of some of Tivo's more advanced functionlity like transfering programs to your PC to burn to DVD or transfer to other Tivos in your house.

For the last 10 months I connected my Tivo's wirelessly, using a Netgear and a Linksys Adapter - I had nothing but problems, the signal strength in the network did not remain constant, resulting in one of the boxes not communicating. I tried using two Linksys, the same problem.
Tivo customer service suggesting I invest in their branded Adapters and since installing them (which was a breeze), I have had no more problems.
I just wish Tivo had released these at the same time they launched Series Two Tivo's, that would have avoided people like me wasting time on adapters that were really not compatible.

If you're looking for a USB network adapter to use with a TiVo series 2 DVR, then the TiVo Wireless G USB network adapter fits the bill just fine. I have to say that overall I'm very disappointed with TiVo series 2 DVR's compatibility with USB network adapters. There are many good 802.11g USB network adapters available on the market at affordable prices, but you'll find the TiVo series 2 DVR is not compatible with most of them. I really think TiVO should update the network technology of their box. They're way behind. I settled on the TiVo Wireless G USB network adapter because it was one of the few that works perfectly with my TiVo, but it does not support security features that I really wish it did support. For example the only wireless security it supports is WEP encryption. It does not support WPA at all. And by the way, if you decide to use WEP encryption, make sure you use a Hex key, not an ASCII key. When I tried to set it up using a 128-bit ASCII key it would not connect to the wireless network at all. As soon as I changed to a Hex key, it finally connected and has maintained a reliable connection ever since.

If you're looking for a USB network adapter that will work reliably with the TiVo series 2 DVR, this is a good one to consider.

The Tivo AG0100 makes hooking the Tivo up to a PC Network so darn easy I could do it in 15 minutes.... and that's saying something.

It has a very small footprint and is powered by the Tivo Unit not another AC power-supply behind the TV, of which I have tons.

One great benefit of this is that now the Tivo service can check several times a day instead of just once every 24hrs or so using the phone-line. This seems to keep the Guide a lot more up to date.

I am very satisfied with it's ease of setup, functionality, and even it's esthetics.

I would highly recommend this to someone who is " Network Illiterate " .... As I am.

There is one installation issue with this adapter that I was not aware of, and it took me a few detours to get the wireless adapter functioning with my new TIVO series 2 box.

The adapter plugs into the TIVO recorder and uses the TIVO software onboard the recorder to connect to the internet. Unfortunately, the software in the TIVO was a revision 7-something and that only works with WEP security encryption. Unfortunately in this case, my network uses WPS2-PSK wireless encryption. In order to access a network (like mine) using WPA-level encryption security, it was necessary to first download a software update from TIVO, to a level 8-something. But since I had no landline telephone access and the adapter could not get through to my network, I was apparently stuck. No way to download the software that was required to get the adqpter operating. Then I realized that I had an undocumented work-around. Since the adapter recognized all of my neighbors' networks and showed their names (SSID) as networks TIVO identified in the setup program, I found one of those which had no security.

I then set up my TIVO using my neighbor's wireless network SSID as if it were mine. I was then able to connect to TIVO through my neighbor's internet connection and download the software update which then allowed the adapter to access WPA security. After the download, I went back into TIVO settings and changed the wireless network setting from my neighbor's to my own wireless network and the adapter and TIVO accepted my change without a hiccup.

It worked, but before I figured that out, I spent a lot of time messing with setting up IP access settings (and inadvertantly shut my own computers out of my network until I hard-wired a laptop with a network cable and then added all of my devices' IP addresses). Don't do that. Grab an unencrypted neighboring wireless signal and save yourself lots of time and aggravation.

A note on how to find which neighbors' accounts are unencrypted. My Netgear wireless setup program (which boots up with the computer every time it starts) has a search for available networks tab. I clicked that and it gave me a list of all networks my computer could identify, showing network name (called the SSID), security level (WEP/WPA/WPA2-PSK or "none"), and strength of signal. I noted the name of the strongest signal without security and then told TIVO that was "my" network.

Good luck.

When I first got my TiVos I had to run a phone cord to them to get the daily updates, then later on the TiVo downstairs near my PC was hooked directly to my router. Then when the TiVos became wireless I bought some b wireless adaptors. When g came along I was able to set my newer model TiVo up with g but not my older TiVo. Finally, the TiVo Wireless G USB Network Adapter for ALL Series 2 TiVos came along! Both my TiVos are in bedrooms now and pick up the signal from the wireless router perfectly.
Plus the TiVo software will now recognize added adapters and they're easier than ever to set up.
3 thumbs up!

TiVo's new software is WPA compatible, so this little network adapter can now (some might say finally) be used for those of us who haven't wanted to downgrade our network security. Mine easily and quickly connected with my Apple Airport-based network, requested the password, and then went about its business. There are two small green LEDs to indicate power and ongoing communications; the unit itself receives its power from the TiVo's USB port so there's no extra power adapter. Using TiVoDecode Manager on my Mac, I was easily able to wirelessly download programs that are stored on the TiVo, then watch them at my convenience. As an extra bonus, I don't have to pay for those long local phone calls that the TiVo used to make for service and information upgrades (where I am, local phone calls over the landline cost quite a bit). Overall, a nice easy to use product.

After searching for someone to write a review that definitively states that this works on Tivo Premiere, I decided to just take a chance and try it for myself. I can now post my findings. Yes, this DOES work on Tivo Premiere (aka Tivo Series 4). Despite Amazon saying that this is for Tivo Series 2 & 3, I can now confirm that this works on Tivo Premiere with a Wireless B/G network. It is much cheaper on Amazon than through Tivo or other electronic retailers.

Now Tivo Premiere has pissed me off by only accepting the Tivo Wireless Adapter - others won't work (at least not yet), as they did on previous Tivos. And you need to use either one of these Tivo Wireless Adapters, a LAN cable, or purchase an adapter to turn a phone line into a LAN line. Not too happy about that, but this Wireless Adapter works very well so far - I've only had it running for about an hour now. It does seem to get the signal much better than a different adapter used on a different Tivo in the same spot. So basically I am happy.