Using Tivo or Replay TV w/o a Phone Line?

IronChef asks: "I'd like to use a Tivo or Replay digital recorder, but I don't have a land line -- we're a cell phone only family. How can I record all the Simpsons episodes every day on a Tivo without paying for a phone line that I don't need for anything else?" This situation is not as unusual as it seems, and there will be more "cellular-only" households in the future. Are there ways for people who don't want the hassle of copper wires to take advantage of services that expect one?

Comments

TiVo thru Cellular

[ilsie]

hmm.. I've never used TiVo before, but I assume it's sort of the same idea as when you order a PPV off of a satellite dish. Maybe you could rig the phone jack on the TiVo to hook up to the in/out audio of your sound card, then dial into the TiVo service using dialpad or some other such internet long distance service. A big problem could be the bandwitdth limitations on your cellular/PCS phone, and so the sound quality might not be good enough for the TiVo to decipher.

Check the TiVo forum

[jwsh]

TiVo hosts a forum for its users, and have helpfully provided a group for the 'TiVo Underground' (read TiVo hackers)
Checkout this thread, assuming you have some sort of net connection, and a computer at your house.

http://www.avsforum.com/ ubb tivo/Forum6/HTML/000398.html

HTH

Cellular Modem?

[Argyle]

Perhaps you could try a cellular modem. Most phones have optional modems that work at 14.4 to 28.8 speeds.

I'm not sure how you'd trigger the Tivo to call in while you've made the call into an ISP.
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Different Phone Tarrifs

[maggard]

Most (all?) US State Public Utilities Commissions (the folks who are supposed to regulate your local phone company) have mandated special low-cost phone services. These services are generally intended for low-income persons who require a phone in their home in case of an emergency yet who could not otherwise afford the usual residential service.

These special low-cost services are generally limited in a number of ways; oftentimes not being able to call beyond the local area, being unlisted, or unable to receive incoming calls. In short, perfect for second-line or modem-line services. Generally it seems there are no qualifiers for these services (income tests etc.) rather they apparently rely on obscurity.

If you're a cell-phone household like mine then this may well be your low-cost answer, assuming your ISP / Tivo / Replay / whomever have a number within your local area. If you're someone who needs a second line just for modem service this may well save you some cumulative bucks too.

To find out if such a service is available in your area I'd try calling your local phone company & grilling them on this (they clearly don't advertise it much) or contacting your State P.U.C. directly.

Re:Different Phone Tarrifs

[lizrd]

While these sort of lines do exist and may be worth checking out I wouldn't get my hopes up too much about it. My grandparents recently built a 4 unit condo. They are required by state law to have a telephone in the elevator for saftey resons. The cost of the line in the elevator is only about $2 less than a regular line and it is pretty severly limited. It can't receive calls and can only make outgoing calls to 911.
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Their - Belonging to them

Make cell phone look like landline

[Vassily Overveight]

You might try using a special add-on to the cell phone that makes it look like a landline (gives dialtone, allows tone dialing, etc.). I know such things exist (I know someone who had one for a Motorola phone, but don't know where he got it), but haven't personally tried it. However, since the phone call is daily and lasts up to 15 minutes, this may end up being more expensive than a phone line.

TiVO over LAN?

[ThePixel]

on a related note, Is there someway for the TiVO to receive it's data through an internet connection? I have a permanent internet connection, and would like to be able to plug a TiVO into the RJ45 jack in my den, and have the TiVO use that connection, rather than dialing up.

Any ideas?

Like a VCR

[bluestar]

To actually answer the original question..

If the TiVo can't dialout, you can still program it like a VCR.

Although, dialing out gives you several cool things in addition to never missing the Simpsons again (the main reason I finally bought mine).

It will start recording shows it thinks you might like whenever there's room on the hard disk.

I wish I hadn't renewed my subscription to TV guide. With the on-screen listings, I never use it any more.

It's also the only (easy) way you'll get software updates and messages from TiVo.

So the TiVo is still usable, but I'd strongly recommend the cheapest phone line you can get. It's worth it..

tivo -- phone not needed daily

[firewort]

I Have the Tivo in its philips form.
I read on the forums about early modem death.

To avoid early modem death, I unplug the phone line from tivo and only allow it to connect once a week.

Second of all, I use a cordless connection kit, essentially a cordless phone type device for a laptop modem. this prevents the tivo from getting shocked.

None of the above *really* helps you, but it does mean that you won't have to have the tivo make the call *daily* just weekly or biweekly. (that 5 minute call is really only 1 minute in call, and 4 minutes in absorbing the new data.)

Others have suggested you could use ppp on the serial port, or things of this nature. I imagine if you could trick it into dialing over the serial port and have it ignore searching for a dialtone that you could have it use your cell as a modem (provided you have the proper data cable.)

Good luck and let us know how you did it, when you finish!



A host is a host from coast to coast, but no one uses a host that's close

Tivo - LAN

[Otto]

You can setup the Tivo to communicate using PPP with a computer via the DSS Serial adapter. Then, give the Tivo an IP on your local LAN, and using NAT or a router or something, the Tivo can connect to Tivo's servers over your permanent connection (Cable modem, DSL, Fractional-T3, whatever). It's actually not extremely difficult to do, but does take a bit of effort.

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The EASY way out w/o another phone line.

[Texas1st]

There is a new Cell phone coming out this fall that I am buying. It has a base that you plug into your home phone wiring and it makes your cell phone act like a land line, dial tone and everything. I will give more details tomorrow. Later. "I am a Bomb Disposal Technician. If you see me running, try and keep up."