TiVo : Basic Tivo question

[andrewjameshowar]

I have a Virgin cable TV and phone subscription - basic VBox, not HD. Not an avid TV fan and very happy with this basic service, particularly the catch-up facility. Have broadband from BT (part of a business package which includes a separate phone line).

Someone gave me a Virgin Samsung 500GB Tivo they didn't want and I thought I'd have a play with it. Connected it in place of my VBox. It works. I can play BBC1 through it and play things already recorded on it. It won't do much else though. Says it has no network connection and won't give itself one through "Settings". Reading up on the net about them, it says they get all their connection through the cable connector, don't need an ethernet connection. So why won't this work? Is it that (i) they only work properly if you have Virgin Broadband (ii) there are some unique codes at play and the Virgin network won't connect to a device unless it is one they have supplied directly to me or (iii) something else?

No piracy intended here -just wanted to try it out - if Tivo'ing requires buying/renting one direct and I decide it suits me, I've no problem paying them, it's not very much money. Just curious is all.

[spiderplant]

You are correct that Virgin Media won't activate a box that they haven't provided. I suggest you return the box to your friend ASAP, otherwise they will get a hefty bill (£250?) for losing the box when VM want it back.

To answer your other question, TiVo has its own built-in broadband connection, so you don't need to take broadband from VM to use TiVo.

ps. Welcome to the forum!

[andrewjameshowar]

Not a friend - a complete stranger. Gave it away on freecycle. There is an implicit assumption in what you say that it must belong to Virgin and that they will want it back. Not sure why that all has to be so. If it is I should probably offer it back to them, if they could be bothered to come and collect it.

But more importantly (to my curiosity at any rate), how does this work? The Tivo has a built in broadband connection? Which cable does it come down? Are you saying that the Virgin TV cable can also carry a broadband signal for the TIVO? And what you refer to as "activation", this must mean putting some extra gizmo in the box at the end of the street so that my cable is given the broadband capability as well as the TV (and phone) signal. As somewhere there must be an ADSL board/chip, unless this is in the TIVO itself.

[Superblade7]

Any equipment given out by VM is 'rented' whilst you subscribe to their services and should you cease to subscribe then VM will want their equipment back as per SP's post. And yes, the TiVo has a built in modem to which VM allocate a 10Mb connection when you subscribe. The 10Mb connection and TV signal come through a single coax cable from the TiVo to the VM socket on your wall.

'Activation' is basically you subscribing to VM and them allocating a TiVo box (or other equipment) to your account to receive their services.

Also with VM, if you have a cabled street then there is no ADSL in sight.

[spiderplant]

Originally Posted by andrewjameshowar

There is an implicit assumption in what you say that it must belong to Virgin and that they will want it back.

Yes. See section E4 at http://store.virginmedia.com/the-leg...html#equipment

As for the built-in modem, your V-Box contains one too. When you use Catch Up, the modem is used to fetch the menus that show you what programmes are available, and also to tell the server what you want to watch.

[andrewjameshowar]

Yes, I can see that that is in their t&c, but we don't know whether this particular device was rented out by Virgin (I accept this is their usual procedure and it most probably was) and we don't know whether any rental agreement was varied. For the sake of argument, if subscriber said "I am terminating", please come and collect my Tivo" and Virgin said "Not worth the bother mate, you keep it" (albeit it won't be much use to anyone).

I guess none of this is really that important, but just following up the point.......

Now as to the explanation of how the broadband signal comes through, thanks for that, I am now a little bit wiser. Moving on, I have aways wondered, what is the purpose of the little red credit card in my VBox with what looks like a SIM chip in it. Is this a way of uniquely identifying the piece of hardware, or of uniquely identifying me?

[spiderplant]

Originally Posted by andrewjameshowar

Yes, I can see that that is in their t&c, but we don't know whether this particular device was rented out by Virgin

It was. They are not available via any other route.

Originally Posted by andrewjameshowar

For the sake of argument, if subscriber said "I am terminating", please come and collect my Tivo" and Virgin said "Not worth the bother mate, you keep it" (albeit it won't be much use to anyone).

Virgin do collect and re-use TiVos as they are a current box. They don't collect some of the older ones.

Originally Posted by andrewjameshowar

I have aways wondered, what is the purpose of the little red credit card in my VBox with what looks like a SIM chip in it. Is this a way of uniquely identifying the piece of hardware, or of uniquely identifying me?

It's a bit like a SIM card in a phone. It tells the box what channels you have subscribed to. But unlike a SIM, the card is 'paired' to the box, so it won't work in any other box.

[devilincarnate]

It is just a glorified door stop I see many people trying to sell them at carboot sales

[andrewjameshowar]

It's not really heavy enough to be a doorstop. However, it is not completely useless, it contains a 500GB SATA drive and I am returning to my original plan when I acquired this of using the drive for another purpose (I have no way of knowing how the donor acquired it - there seems from the above comments to be a good chance that someone has already paid Virgin £250 for it, so my conscience is clear).

Thanks guys for satisfying my curiosity as to the workings of it.