Question about a Tivo DVR?

Question

I have acquired a Samsung SIR-S4040R and I am wondering, since it is a Tivo unit, if I absolutely have to have a phone line connected to it in order to use it. I have heard conflicting answers about this, so hopefully somebody can set me straight.

Supposedly you only need the phone line plugged in if you want to receive updates on your box, which I don't really care about if it's not necessary. Plus, we have no home phone service and really have no need for it, so even if I wanted to I couldn't hook it up to a phone line.

Anyway, the guy at DirecTv told me I need a phone line for it and tried to upsell me to another DVR, but my friend said it doesn't matter. I'd like another opinion, anybody have any experience with Tivo boxes? Do they *really* *really* need to be hooked up to a phone line?

Anyway, I'd like to finally buy an access card and use it, so hopefully somebody knows if I can actually use it or not.

Answer 1

Hi Neko,

It depends on which TiVo you have.

I don't have my series 2 or series 3 TiVo hooked to the phone line. I hooked them to my Internet.

If you have a wireless router you can get an adapter for a series 2 TiVo at the TiVo community store. Check it here - http://store.tivocommunity.com/merchant....

If it is a series 3 TiVo it has an ethernet port on the back and you can plug it into your router.

It will eventually stop working without a service update. You will also be required to pay a monthly fee.

You can leard a lot about your TiVo here - http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/ind...

Norm

Answer 2

You really, really need to hook it up to the phone when you activate it (which could be at a friend's house with D*). If you then hook it up at your house after a few weeks it will refuse to record anymore until you let it phone home. Non-DVR receivers run fine without the phone connections but they don't record. I know this because the phone line fell out of my DirectTivo and it went on strike a few weeks later. My normal receiver has not been hooked to the phone for years.

Answer 3

directv w/ tivo used to nned a phone line in order to function correctly (software updates) but they have not had any for couple of years. since now they have theyre own model of dvr. yheyre currant dvr gets its update from the sat. so they dont need to be connected to a phone line....you can verify this at satellitteguys.us