Connect TIVO throught DSl?

Connecting TiVo to your home network rewards you with a bonus: Once networked with a broadband Internet connection, TiVo no longer uses your phone line. TiVo piggybacks on your computer's broadband connection, downloading show schedules much more quickly.

Networks aren't always difficult to set up, especially with Windows XP or a Mac. TiVo will connect with your computers using wire, wireless, or a combination of both.

After you've plugged in the network adapters and introduced the new setup to your computer, tell TiVo the good news so that it can connect, too. This takes two steps for wireless networks, but only one for wired.

Connecting the cables

If you're wired, connect a network cable between TiVo's wired network adapter and one of the router's ports or a port on a switch connected to the router. You're done.

Wireless networks, being more complicated than their wired counterparts, require more setup work. To introduce TiVo's wireless adapter's antenna to your router's antenna, follow these steps:

1. From TiVo Central, choose TiVo Messages & Setup.

2. Select Settings, and then select Phone & Network Setup.

TiVo displays what it currently knows about your network and adapter, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: TiVo displays what it currently knows about your network and adapter.

3. Select Edit phone or network settings.

4. Select Wireless Settings, read the information, and choose Continue to next step.

TiVo reminds you that you need the three things you wrote down in the previous section: The network's name and password, password type, and encryption level.

5. Select the name of the network to use.

TiVo displays the names of all the networks it detected. As shown in Figure 2, TiVo found two wireless networks - one named Lars and one named linksys. Be sure to select the name you chose when setting up your router's software, or you may connect to a neighbor's network by accident.

Figure 2: TiVo displays the names of nearby wireless networks.

If TiVo doesn't list your network's name, select Connect to a closed wireless network, and enter your network's name.

6. Choose Password Format or no Password.

Hopefully, you remember the wireless WEP password you used when setting up the router. TiVo needs to know your password, as well as the type of password.

7. Enter the password, and select Done entering text.

Enter the password's numbers and letters with TiVo's remote. (To make letters uppercase or lowercase, use the Thumbs Up/Down buttons.)

TiVo will say, "This network was successfully located" when you've entered the same password settings as you did on your router.

If TiVo can't find your network, don't worry yet. Head back to your router and turn off its encryption. When TiVo is able to locate your network, turn on the router's encryption and return here and make sure that you tell TiVo the correct password.

8. Choose Accept these settings.

TiVo should immediately locate your wireless network, although it may not work immediately until you set the TCP/IP settings.

Setting up TiVo's TCP/IP settings

Although the words "TCP/IP settings" sound dreadfully complicated, they're really one of the easiest parts of setting up any network, either wired or wireless. Follow these steps for both wired and wireless networks:

1. From TiVo Central, Select TiVo Messages & Setup.

2. Select Settings, and then select Phone & Network Setup.

TiVo displays what it currently knows about your network and adapter.

3. Select Edit phone or network settings.

4. Select TCP/IP Settings.

5. Choose Obtain IP address automatically or Specify static IP address.

Nearly everybody sets up their router to assign the IP addresses automatically, so choose that. If you set up yours using a static IP address for some technical reason, then you're technical enough to choose the static IP address option and set up TiVo that way.

6. Enter a DHCP Client ID, if you have one.

You probably don't have one, so move along by choosing I don't have a DHCP Client ID. (If your ISP required you to set one up, enter the one you set up on your router.)

7. Make sure that TiVo accepts the values.

When TiVo flashes a screen like the one shown in Figure 3, make sure that it says, "These settings appear to be valid." If it doesn't, it's time to check the connections.