Tivo newb questions - whats the HNP for and what speeds are your file transfers

Forums › TiVo › Tivo newb questions - whats the HNP for and what speeds are your file transfers

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ferg_nz

175 posts

Master Geek

#617349 30-Apr-2012 11:38

You will find that if you have not paid for the HNP you will lose the MAK soon

I to had the MAK the first time i fired up my Tivo and wondered how. i went to buy the Desktop plus key but it would not let me add it to my account as it had no record of the HNP being brought.

I sent emails to the Support people in Aussie (you buy the HNP and Desktop Plus Key from Aussie) and was told that after an upgrade had been done in the States to the Tivo Backend it then allowed all Tivos that got activated to get the MAK with out paying for it. They also told me that anyone that got it that had not paid for it will have it removed from their Tivo once the bug was fixed.

In the end I just brought the HNP and got them to refund my money on the extra Desktop Plus Key as you get one with the HNP.

I dont use the Tivo software to stream my stuff to it i use pytivo but this still requires you to have the HNP

see below for the email i got from Tivo

Thanks for your email and we apologise for the frustration and confusion.

TiVo Inc US has recently performed maintenance, including to the system that supplies the Home Networking Package and the Media Access Key, and, as a result, some customers who have performed TiVo activations since this maintenance have erroneously received a Media Access Key without purchase and activation of the Home Networking Package. We are working on rectifying this issue and the Media Access Key will be removed from all accounts which have not purchased the Home Networking Package.

To further confuse the issue, the way customer purchase and access the Media Access Key in New Zealand (and Australia) is different to in the United States. In the U.S. TiVo is sold with a subscription (which includes the Media Access Key) but they must pay US$14.99/month which is why you were able to download TiVo Desktop from the US website. In Australia and New Zealand the TiVo media device is sold outright and with no monthly subscription and therefore the Home Networking Package is sold as an optional accessory for AU$90. As you are probably aware in the U.S. the Desktop Plus Key must be purchased for an additional US$24.95, whereas in Australia and New Zealand one Desktop Plus Key is included in the Home Networking Package.

For more information on our pricing policy, please click here: http://www.mytivo.co.nz/buy/onlinedirect/pricingpolicy/

old3eyes

9120 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#617403 30-Apr-2012 12:47

gished:
old3eyes: I get about 10 ~ 12 Mbits..

12Mb = 1.5MB/s... Wireless I take it?

Wired.. My Popcornhour sitting beside it on the same LAN switch does about 50Mbits..

Regards,

Old3eyes

TivoTimmy

23 posts

Geek

#617410 30-Apr-2012 12:57

when transferring files from PC to Tivo, the software has to transcode to the format that the Tivo will accept.

So the main bottleneck on most systems will be processor capacity, rather than network capacity

Check out CPU usage while you're transferring... on mine it goes to 100%.

gished

276 posts

Ultimate Geek

#617413 30-Apr-2012 13:11

Wow. If my MAK's going to be revoked soon anyway (given ferg_nz's comment) I can't see myself bothering with the HNP if these are the normal transfer speeds. It'd be far quicker using tv on-demand or just grabbing a copy off usenet for an HD version of the program - less than 5 minutes off usenet vs 45minutes from my Tivo. I have a media pc in the lounge for all the other stuff.

ferg_nz

175 posts

Master Geek

#617418 30-Apr-2012 13:19

you can watch the program as it is "copied" to your Tivo. so long as the pc that is sending the file keeps ahead of the speed you watch at it will be fine. i do this all the time.

As I said i don't use the Tivo Desktop Software I use a product called pyTivo. very easy to use and setup and runs as a service on you machine. I do use the Tivo desktop if i want to take a recording from my Tivo to my PC but only because it is a nicer interface than the pyTivo on for this.

there is a guy that has made a version for NZ users that has some custom settings needed for NZ

his is the Lucasnz fork of it found here

http://pytivo.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Current_Release#lucasnz_fork' target='_blank'>http://pytivo.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Current_Release#lucasnz_fork

mattwnz

20164 posts

Uber Geek

#617426 30-Apr-2012 13:36

gished: Wow. If my MAK's going to be revoked soon anyway (given ferg_nz's comment) I can't see myself bothering with the HNP if these are the normal transfer speeds. It'd be far quicker using tv on-demand or just grabbing a copy off usenet for an HD version of the program - less than 5 minutes off usenet vs 45minutes from my Tivo. I have a media pc in the lounge for all the other stuff.

Really I find the main advantage is transferring recordings between tivos. If you only have one, and have a mdeia pc already then the HNP probably wouldn't be needed.

dukester

475 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#617518 30-Apr-2012 16:57

gished:
dukester: You need the HNP to transfer files from TiVo to your computer. I get around 10 Mbps when transferring on a wired connection or around 8 mbs on wireless.

gregmcc:
I dont think the HNP gives you web server access, it just allows you to transfer recordings to/from the tivo(s) to other other devices on the network

...but I can already do that and I definitely haven't purchased the HNP. Are they giving part of the HNP away now or something?

Dukester are you using a gigabit switch and/or wireless N?

Yes, I use a gigabit switch.

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mattwnz

20164 posts

Uber Geek

#617526 30-Apr-2012 17:09

dukester:
gished:
dukester: You need the HNP to transfer files from TiVo to your computer. I get around 10 Mbps when transferring on a wired connection or around 8 mbs on wireless.

gregmcc:
I dont think the HNP gives you web server access, it just allows you to transfer recordings to/from the tivo(s) to other other devices on the network

...but I can already do that and I definitely haven't purchased the HNP. Are they giving part of the HNP away now or something?

Dukester are you using a gigabit switch and/or wireless N?

Yes, I use a gigabit switch.

I believe Tivos wireless adaptor is also only wireless G anyway, so hooking it up to a N router will only get G speeds.

gished

276 posts

Ultimate Geek

#617771 1-May-2012 08:19

mattwnz:
I believe Tivos wireless adaptor is also only wireless G anyway, so hooking it up to a N router will only get G speeds.

You can get Wireless N devices for Tivos from what I've seen on the net, whether or not you can get them in NZ or if they'd work with the devices is another matter.

JimmyH

2886 posts

Uber Geek

#618139 1-May-2012 22:44

You can get Wireless N devices for Tivos from what I've seen on the net, whether or not you can get them in NZ or if they'd work with the devices is another matter.

There's always something like the Netgear WNCE2001 wireless adapter. It's a wireless N adapter than you can plug an ethernet cable into - it will connect at N speeds and the Tivo will think it has a wired connection. Circa $100 retail in NZ from memory - I considered buying one for another bit of kit but then decided on another option.

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