Apps are Frustratingly Slow to Start

[winegums]

I’m not technically minded but I’ve got a TiVo box with 200 mbps broadband.

my grandchildren like to watch things on YouTube and Netflix and they are frustratingly slow to load and sometimes time-out.  My granddaughter wanted to watch Gabbys Dollhouse on YouTube so I clicked on it and made a cup of coffee before YouTube loaded. Then when searching I had to wait at least 30 seconds between each letter. It took over 15 minutes to load YouTube and then get search results for Gabbys Dollhouse. Surely that’s not right? My tv is a brand new smart tv with only the home cctv recorder and TiVo box plugged into it. 
Any advice would be much appreciated

[japitts · Accepted solution]

The legacy TiVo box was first launched in 2010, it was never known for its speed with streaming apps but is now elderly and is being actively withdrawn. The newer V6 runs the same software but on much newer hardware - it's far quicker, has more recording tuners and many more apps than the older TiVo.

Be very aware of any sales pitch for the alternative TV360, it runs on the same box as the V6 but is very different software and fundamentally not TiVo. It is as different to TiVo as Android is to Apple - but is often badged as an upgrade in VM sales patter.

The TiVo has its own inbuilt modem and doesn't use your home broadband, unlike the V6/TV360 which rely on a connection via your home-hub for all the online functionality.

[winegums]

Ah, I get it.  I upgraded the broadband speed thinking it would also help with the speed of the TiVo box. I didn’t realise that it has its own internal modem.

I've looked on the forums and there do seem to be issues with the V6 also.  Is it reliable ?

[japitts]

Yes, the V6 is very reliable. What are the issues you've seen reported?

[winegums]

I’ve seen a couple of posts saying it’s slow and another one has said they are missing some channels since swapping to it. I guess though that people are only going to report problems so it will be the minority.  I’ll phone up and ask to swap to one. The technical came out to fit boxes in 2 of the bedrooms but couldn’t get them to work and said someone else will call out and do them. No-one came and I’ve phoned up a few times but still nothing. I’ve had them since June!

[newapollo]

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@winegums wrote:

I’m not technically minded but I’ve got a TiVo box with 200 mbps broadband.

my grandchildren like to watch things on YouTube and Netflix and they are frustratingly slow to load 

My tv is a brand new smart tv with only the home cctv recorder and TiVo box plugged into it. 
Any advice would be much appreciated

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Since you have a smart TV and also M200 broadband with VM you should also consider connecting your TV to the internet, then you can make use of it's inbulit apps such as YouTube and netflix  which will defintely be faster than accessing those apps via your tivo box.

You should be able to connect the TV to the internet with either an ethernet cable or by wifi.

[japitts]

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@winegums wrote:

I’ve seen a couple of posts saying it’s slow and another one has said they are missing some channels since swapping to it.

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Missing channels can happen on all TV boxes, that's an account-specific issue.

Because the V6 runs TiVo-software, many users confuse the slow TiVo with the much quicker V6. The V6 runs the same hardware as the currently-sold TV360.