Header banner
Revain logoHome Page
Reginald Hamilton photo
1 Level
1319 Review
39 Karma

Review on πŸ“Ί TiVo Mini LUX DVR Extender: Enhance Your TiVo Experience with Seamless Expansion by Reginald Hamilton

Revainrating 5 out of 5

Success in CAT8 Ethernet Connecting TIVO Mini to Bolt, Router

I live in an early 20th century townhouse. I recently added a TV in the bedroom above the main TV on the 1st floor. My Tivo Bolt was connected to this main TV's WIFI on the main plane and to the internal OTA antenna. To improve local station reception, I relocated the bolt and antenna to the TV on the second floor. The Tivo Mini must be connected to the same modem/router that the TIVO subscription device (my Bolt) is connected to via a coax or ethernet cable. That's simply because the Mini doesn't have a WiFi connection. You can add a TIVO WIFI adapter or a MOCA bridge, but I figured a wired connection to the Verizon FIOS ROUTER would improve signal reception. Our FIOS is a low-cost MPS package offered by Verizon. The streaming of our programs has become very heavy lately, resulting in periods of heavy buffering in FIOS. My research on Mini to Bolt connectivity options shows that most Tivo users use WiFi or existing coax cables in the walls to connect TIVO devices. Instead, I opted for CAT8 Ethernet cables. There are many coaxial cables in my walls, and their direction and reliability are in question. In one of my pictures you can see the mini connections to my FIOS router. I ran a new CAT8 ethernet cable from the FIOS router through the vent to the top TIVO stud and a second new CAT8 cable from the Mini to the same router. That works great! The CAT8 Ethernet connection greatly improved and stabilized the streaming compared to the previous WIFI connection with Bolt. The signal and the TV picture in idle mode are sharp and clear. We stream a lot since we cut the cable a few years ago. Netflix, YouTube and other streaming services are now fully compatible. The Mini accesses all TIVO services on the top latch via the included remote control's illuminated buttons using TIVO voice commands. I can run all TIVO FUNCTIONS on the Bolt through the new Mini. The system works very well and I recommend TIVO Mini over CAT8 Ethernet cable. (I like the flat white CAT8 data cables and the ability to hide them in the wall.)

Pros
  • New
Cons
  • Slightly Torn