Slashdot Mirror


802.11b on your Tivo

Otto writes: "Those who don't regularly read the Tivo Community Forums may not know that a 802.11b wireless adapter for the Tivo, called AirNet, is in the works. It's being made by jafa, who also created the TurboNet card, a similar device to the TivoNet adapters available at 9thTee but faster. Long story short, he's auctioning off 4 beta boards of the AirNet adapter for the Tivo and giving the proceeds to the Elf Foundation, a group which brings Home Theater to ill children by setting up mini-theaters in children's hospitals nationwide. Good fun techie geek stuff, and for charity too! You can't beat that. The auction is here on ebay." Looks like the guy's home page is silicondust.com.

14 of 120 comments (clear)

  1. Does this mean.. by Sarlok · · Score: 4, Funny

    .. that I can connect my Tivo to my neighbor's network and force him to watch Pauly Shore movies?

    1. Re:Does this mean.. by curunir · · Score: 4, Funny

      Technically: Probably
      Under the DMCA: Probably Not
      Under the Geneva Convention: Expressly Forbidden

      --
      "Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos!"
  2. Okay, so maybe I'm being stupid but... by darien · · Score: 3, Informative

    Err, why is this such a great thing? I mean, obviously it is - there are people on the forum mentioned above saying that the guy who did this is a "deity" and so forth. But none of them actually seems to have said what they intend to do with wireless, and I have to say it's not obvious to me what a Tivo and a PC could usefully have to say to each other.

    Can anyone who knows a bit more about the Tivo enlighten me?

    1. Re:Okay, so maybe I'm being stupid but... by onethumb · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Sure, here's a quick rundown:

      #1 - No more phone line needed. The TiVo can get it's next 14 days worth of programming via the 802.11b card and PPP.

      #2 - You can install a web server on your TiVo and browse through the TiVo's menus over the web. This includes scheduling show recordings while you're at work, for example.

      #3 - You can backup shows on your TiVo to your computer rather than to VHS. You can also stream the shows to your PC to watch them there, rather than on your TV.

      I'm sure there are plenty more, but those are the biggies.

      Great stuff!

      Don

      --
      my smug mug is on smugmug ... is yours?
  3. Re:MPAA by curunir · · Score: 3, Funny

    Not that they ever come off looking good anyways, but it'd be fun to see them try to villainize terminally-ill children.

    "Your honor...don't let their ventilators, bald heads and palid complexions fool you...those children represent a huge menace to society."

    I'm not sure even a lawyer could say that with a straight face.

    --
    "Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos!"
  4. Cable Relay, Perhaps? by Mithrandur · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Even not knowing the video format, how hard could it be to hack two tivos such that one broadcasts the data it's storing over the wireless link, and the other stores said data. Combine that with a good antenna, and one guy on the block could provide cable for everyone.

    --
    vi is my shepard, I shall not font.
  5. Home theatres for ill children? by iReflect · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I might get modded down as a troll for this, but...
    Isn't this charity kind of frivolous?

    <sarcasm>Forget homeless/starving/victims of war, we need to make sure sick american kids can watch "dude, where's my car?" in surround sound.</sarcasm>

    1. Re:Home theatres for ill children? by curunir · · Score: 3, Funny

      <sarcasm>Forget homeless/starving/victims of war, we need to make sure sick american kids can watch "dude, where's my car?" in surround sound.</sarcasm>

      You're right...we definitely need charities to help homeless/starving/victims of war watch "dude, where's my car?" in surround sound too.

      --
      "Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos!"
  6. Elf Foundation by Chris+Pimlott · · Score: 4, Informative
    From the Elf Foundation homepage:
    Elf Foundation, a newly-formed non-profit charity organization comprised of consumer and professional electronic dealers, manufacturers, manufacturer's representatives, media and industry organizations, working together for the express purpose of designing and installing entertainment and Internet-based educational systems in Children's Hospitals and ancillary facilities around the country.

    They accept donations here.

    (Because I had no idea what is was either.
  7. Ethernet-802.11b by dtfarmer · · Score: 3, Interesting

    When will someone get on the ball and just develop an Ethernet->802.11b adapter that can be pugged in to any device that has standard 10/100 Ethernet jack so it could be put on a Wireless network?

    Is this just an impossibility? Am I the only one who thinks this would be a hot seller? I want to buy a new ReplayTV 4000, but I have no desire to run Cat5 to it. I want to eliminate extra wiring hassle from my home theater.

    Ah, well - probably just a pipe dream.

    1. Re:Ethernet-802.11b by zaf · · Score: 3, Informative

      That's called an 802.11 bridge, and they've been available since the beginning. They're just a bit expensive, and if you think about it, if you've got a wire and all anyway, why not just run it to the hub?

    2. Re:Ethernet-802.11b by seanadams.com · · Score: 5, Informative

      It used to be the only one was Lucent's Orinoco/EC - very expensive and not in stores.

      There is now a product from Buffalo Technology which does this, call the Airstation Bridge

      A lot of people are using these with our ethernet MP3 player. Everybody says the Airstation works great, and it's only about $160. I can't say I've used one yet, myself.

  8. 802.11whatever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The card itself is just a tivo->PCMCIA(cardbus?) bridge. It should support any flavor wireless you want to stick in it. The enabling factor here is the Prism2 driver software. What would kick some serious ass is if he'd slap on a nic too. That way you could have your tivo and AP in the same box... hack on an antenna and an amp and you'd have a seriously cool broadcasting rig. Keep your power below 1w and nobody's gonna bug you.

  9. Re:Damned Phone by NoMoreNicksLeft · · Score: 3, Funny

    It's your own fault anyway. Tivo's should be rackmounted, where you don't have to worry about such things. Personally, I'm getting at least 3 DirecTivo's and turbonets, and rackmounting them. Don't have to have big hard drives either, just enough to do 10 hours or so. When it's full, archive them to my fibre channel raid, and switch over to #2 or #3 for the 15 minutes it will take to empty the hard drive. Then it's ready again. As far as watching, I've already got plenty of rg6 out to the living room, I'll just move the signal to the TV with that, and have IR repeaters for the remote control. If I need to record more shows concurrently, add another to the rack. If I need more storage, add more FC drives to the raid. Never worry about blessing drives and all that nonsense. Now if we could just manage to get pitou source hosted somewhere again, without the sharks mauling it...

    Oh, and Jafa, if you ever read this, I like your design skills, but why the rj45 on the card itself? A 10 pin male header, so that you could move the jack off the board via ribbon cable would have been ideal. Snaking cat5 into the chassis is just tacky.