My situation was originally that I didn't actually have a home phone and just used my cell phone. When I decided that I needed a home phone line, I chose to go with Vonage, versus working with the phone company. While nearly everything about using Vonage is positive for me, there was one major detriment. I had to buy an adapter since I couldn't use Vonage to connect with my Tivo.

From my experience, there are very few solutions to using Tivo without a phone line. In order for Tivo to download new program information, it needs to connect and the most common way to do this is through your phone line. There are some products that will allow you to connect to your broadband connection, but not everything you can buy at your local electronics store is going to work. I've found a couple of products that work with the Tivo (I have a Series 2 unit) but the Tivo G USB Network Adapter is the one they have created specifically for usage with their product.

The adapter is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, but in order for it to start picking up your wireless signal, you have to flip up the top portion of the device and leave it up. There is a status bar that lets you know if the device is properly connected to your wireless signal. If it's a solid green bar, you're good to go. If it flickers, it's having issues. With my experience with the product, the closer you place it to your router, the better. I've had a few issues with placement, but as long as it's not too far away from your router, you should be ok. The device connects to the back of the Tivo by way of USB and there's an extension cord if your Tivo is hard to get to and you need some leeway. I would guess that the next step is bluetooth so you can be completely wireless, but we're not there yet.

You have to go into your Tivo settings in order to set up the connection. Like I said earlier, I have a Series 2 unit, so my menu might be configured differently from a Series 3 unit (it isn't compatible with a Series 1 unit). If you go into your messages and settings option and then go into your settings, you can find your phone and network controls. From there, you go into your network settings and set up the Tivo to connect to your router. It's a pretty easy process, but does take some time as the router and the Tivo have to connect. The downloading of the program information is much faster though the broadband network, but it does take some time to set up.

Once you're set up, you don't have to do anything in order for the Tivo to update itself. It sets up a schedule when to download, and with the Tivo adapter, it doesn't tie up your phone line.

I have had a few issues with the product. I am on my second device because the first was faulty. It tended to overheat and wouldn't keep a connection. It was very inconsistent and seemed to work on certain days, and then for no reason at all, would stop working. I followed all of the tips from the Tivo website and couldn't find a resolution. After using a different USB device for some time, I was back using this one for a second go round. The second device is very stable and hasn't had the same overheating problem. It hasn't dropped the connection one time, though, when I had to make some changes to my router, it caused Tivo to stop a specific server, but I'm not certain that it's the fault of the device.

Overall, I've been happy with it, though I wish there were more selection of products that actually work with the Tivo unit. Without more variation, you're stuck with this one and few others. It can be pricey, since it does have the Tivo logo on it, but it has dropped in price of late and is now a pretty decently priced item.

I know that it's compatible with the TivoToGo service and with transferring information from Tivo to Tivo, but I don't use those services so I can't say how it works. I also have no idea if it works as a wireless networking device for anything else. Obviously, it's a Tivo product, and it's made for Tivo DVRs. If you don't have a Tivo DVR, this probably isn't the product for you.



Recommended: Yes