New box on Saturday
 

My trusty old TiVo has bitten the dust (well, the hard drive has) and I am getting a V6 installed on Saturday? How much better than the basic TiVo is it and anything to look out for, pros and cons, on the V6?

Re: New box on Saturday
 

Cons it's Virgin media :p:

pros - only guessing here mate but more storage, 4k, apps load much faster, box itself is far more smoother, wireless?

Re: New box on Saturday
 

More storage depends on which TiVo box a customer had before, as there was a 1TB version (although only the 500GB version is now installed or sent out)

For the apps there are also now more on the V6 than on TiVo as all the recent ones are V6 only e.g. BBC Sounds.

Also even if you don't have a 4K TV, you'll still be able to watch the 4K channels if you have the right subscription, as the V6 can downscale them. The old TiVo couldn't decode them in the first place.

The V6 is HDMI only so you will need a compatible TV for it to connect to.

Re: New box on Saturday
 

Well the interface is the same, so you'll know how to work it straight away. The difference is just that it doesn't have that "moving through syrup" feel that the old box felt like even at the best of times.

And of course you'll have 6 tuners, which is more than enough for most people normally.

And if you have a tablet or smartphone you can stream recordings from the box whilst in the vicinity of your home network.

Re: New box on Saturday
 

Personally, I was swayed by this feature when I joined VM but I never found any recording I am able to stream to my IPad, so I gave up trying.

But feel free to tell me what I can.

Re: New box on Saturday
 

What extra apps do you get?

Re: New box on Saturday
 

All of them. Not sure what's wrong for you. Sorry.

---------- Post added at 14:44 ---------- Previous post was at 14:41 ----------

It's a while since I had a Tivo, so this may be incorrect...but off top of my head...

All4, My5, Pluto TV, Prime Video, BBC Sounds, STV Player (in Scotland, but soon UK-wide supposedly), ITV Hub (not in Scotland).

Re: New box on Saturday
 

I tried a number of recordings from varying stations, but I was particularly interested in Recordings of live football/rugby matches from Sky/BT sports - non had the option to download.

Re: New box on Saturday
 

Ah, I never download recordings with this service, only stream with the VM TV Control app within wireless range of my V6 box.

Only select shows are available to download because either each broadcaster's deal with VM is different or each broadcaster's deal with the rights holders, if it's not their show, are different, so it can vary on a show by show basis and out of VM's hands in the latter case.

E.g. maybe a football league's deal with BT/Sky doesn't allow them to sublicense downloadable recordings capability for that competition/event.

I'd imagine sport is particularly susceptible to this.

I only ever want use it in the house and garden so its fine for me.

Re: New box on Saturday
 

STV Player is now UK wide.

Re: New box on Saturday
 

https://www.virginmedia.com/help/vir...tv-control-app
Click on "Streaming or downloading recordings"

Re: New box on Saturday
 

The apps are the main improvement, in my view, because they all work as they should! On my old TiVo, the only one that worked properly was Netflix, although it took a while to load initially. Once in, it was fine.

The BBC i-Player was diabolical. Stuttering, blocking and chucking you out altogether - it was dreadful. With the V6, it works perfectly.

The second big advantage was the speed - so quick compared with the TiVo.

Re: New box on Saturday
 

That's great! I had the same problems as you on my TiVo

Update: VM have moved my appointment - coming this afternoon! :):)

Re: New box on Saturday
 

Good foryou! Let us know what you think when you've had a play!

Re: New box on Saturday
 

I have a V6 and TiVo so can compare. As mentioned the V6 is mostly better but there are a couple of drawbacks. You lose the scart output, which for me is handy as an extra output for another device. Also the TiVo has its own integrated BB connection, whereas the V6 is dependent on your separate BB connection. Usually this means it needs installing near your hub if you want a reliable wired connection. However I've mostly been ok with WiFi.

Having said that they do work well together streaming to each box, so you can use the advantages of each box if you have a V6/TiVo combination.

Re: New box on Saturday
 

I have not used scart for years and my VM BB modem is less than a metre away from my box so no worries there either :)

---------- Post added at 09:34 ---------- Previous post was at 09:34 ----------

Will do! :)

Re: New box on Saturday
 

Thanks for the link, confirms my experience - nothing I want to download can be.

The VM salesman told me this was possible 2.5 years ago when I joined. At no time was I ever told there were restrictions and I was never given a link to research.

I feel a little let down.

Re: New box on Saturday
 

After many months trying to get our recorded stockpile down to a "VOD" level, we swapped our trusty TiVo out a few weeks back, and I just wish we'd have been able to do it sooner.

Losing my SL was a pain but I had them saved elsewhere so, oh well. The box itself, is just light years ahead and I'm beginning to wonder if a few "bugs" we were having with the old box were early warning signs of failure...

Just a couple of issues really... the power-saving options, I've realised that to use TV Control remotely, "Eco" mode won't work and it needs to be in "Connected" mode - the wording on the help pages seems to emphasise that home-streaming is the issue and not necessarily all remote access.

And more importantly, in "My shows" view, the program panel on the right-hand side has stopped displaying channel logos for anything recorded. It's showing the logos for any VOD bookmarks, but nothing else. I've rebooted the box once (first in 3 weeks) that made no difference, new/old recordings, toggled channel logos/names in the EPG, zilcho change.

When the box was swapped over, I created VOD-bookmarks for everything we'd not watched on the old box which we've now slowly got through, I'm guessing something's confused the poor thing but I can't seem to find how to un-confuse it :-/

Re: New box on Saturday
 

Are you primarily wanting to use it off your property then?

Re: New box on Saturday
 

Anything downloaded, would be used off property - not sure why anyone would watch on an IPad when they have a 50" tv in the home.

Just good to be able to watch recordings when away or travelling.

Re: New box on Saturday
 

That's weird. So does it say "From:" but it's just blank under that?

Try a "Clear Programme Info & Planned Recs". (Despite the name it won't do any harm as long as you have no recordings scheduled in the next couple of hours)

Re: New box on Saturday
 

Because there are other rooms in the house, other people have different tastes and it doesn't cost more to access recordings in other rooms that getting another box installed would involve.

Also some people hog the TV for live broadcasts when others may be in the mood for something else.

Re: New box on Saturday
 

Can't Series Links be transferred over to a new box along with thumbs up/down etc?

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I suspect I'm guilty as charged - but no-one watches programs on an IPad anywhere, let alone in the house.

Re: New box on Saturday
 

Yes and it's quite straightforward.

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Yeah - the program graphic/picture shows, and channel name, and it's then just blank except for the HD logo if applicable.

I might try the clear info option, but what does it actually clear - I understood this to mean "delete the guide and all manual recordings, then download the guide from scratch"?

As for the SL copying - I'm sure it should be easy, but there seems to be a problem with it at the moment. A trickle of complaints on the VM forum, and I think a ticket might have been raised.

Re: New box on Saturday
 

Took 20 minutes for tech to install and about a hour for all the software to install and update. Picture quality and sound much better and Netflix takes about 5 seconds to load (my TiVo took about a minute!). So far well satisfied!! :) I'm gonna have a play with apps, recording, etc today... :)

Re: New box on Saturday
 

Are you using the VM SuperHub or your own router with a different DNS?

Re: New box on Saturday
 

Hub 3.0

Re: New box on Saturday
 

I don't think you can change the DNS then. I lost all the channel logos once when I changed my router DNS.

Re: New box on Saturday
 

I'm using the VM SuperHub in modem mode, my own Netgear router but with default DNS settings. The program graphics work fine on the discovery bar, and in the panel - it's literally just the channel graphic on recorded programs.

Another poster mentioned the PQ, we'd also agree something is better. Our TV maxes at 1080p, but the old TiVo only went upto 1080i. If I use the auto-setup, the box ticks 720p, 1080i & 1080p. But it seems to work well with only 1080p ticked.

Live TV is presumably upscaled from 1080i to 1080p, and pictures do seem slightly sharper & clearer. I think even SD looks a little better.
HD-VOD happily streams at 1080p and is hard to tell from live TV. Similar for iPlayer.

Re: New box on Saturday
 

It may be worth checking the router DNS still. I tried changing my router to use a faster DNS.
Operation of TiVo was fine except for the misising channels icons.
In the end I used the VM DMS on the router and use DNS settings on the required devices.
DNS for VM should be 194.168.4.100 and 194.168.8.100

I think the best output settings for your tv would be both 1080p and 1080p passthru set on.

Re: New box on Saturday
 

It's a good point.. the router is set to "get DNS automatically", but primary & secondary are set to VM ones (I've not done this) but are greyed out. So, as best I can tell, the only other tweak would be to forcibly set what's already happening anyway.

Thanks for the pointer re the passthru, that's something else to try!

Re: New box on Saturday
 

May be worth checking the secruity settings on the router. Maybe a port is blocked which doesn't need to be.

---------- Post added at 13:28 ---------- Previous post was at 13:11 ----------

Something else worth a try to prove the issue - connect the V6 to the SH3 in router mode and do two network callbacks.

This may prove where the issue lies.

Re: New box on Saturday
 

I'm sure Spiderplant has said in the past that some features of the V6 only play well with the Virgin Media DNS servers.

If you route out via a 3rd party DNS then that breaks the 'internal' chain of connections to the VM network.

Re: New box on Saturday
 

He did - but the user says they have not changed away from the default DNS - so something else is blocking the chain.

Re: New box on Saturday
 

Eureka!!

Disabled the modem mode, moved the V6 Ethernet to the SH3 and immediately on calling back, the channel logos appeared.

Re-enabled modem mode and swapped the cables back, VOD & callbacks work (thus proving the connection), but the logos disappear from recorded programs.

Re: New box on Saturday
 

I agree that sounds like a blocked port. But I don't know which one it requires. The built-in Port Configuration Test won't help much as it's designed for US TiVos and often fails even on a fully-working setup.

This page may give you some clues, but again it is intended for the US market and isn't necessarily correct for VM boxes:
https://support.tivo.com/articles/Tr...ng-my-TiVo-DVR

Re: New box on Saturday
 

After a few pokes and prods, it's starting to look like my "no channel logos in my shows" issue is something queer with my Netgear (WNDR3700) router.

It's going a bit beyond my area of expertise, but I'm pretty sure I've "unblocked" all the relevant and required ports - but alas still the same unless I disable modem mode and connect V6 to the SH3 directly.

Oh well.

Re: New box on Saturday
 

Yes, that's probably the right answer.

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It would be the "politically correct" answer, indeed.

I'm still not 100% convinced my attempt at "port unblocking" (probably the wrong teminology) has worked. I've got a pretty good list of the ports that need checking.