'Network too slow' message from recorded programs.

[jenfamily1]

I apologise in advance if I've chosen the wrong 'board' but here goes;

I thought when recording programs onto the Tivo box, it stores those programs onto its hard drive and doesn't rely on the wi-fi / networking to enable them to be replayed.

On two Tivo boxes out of three in our house, I tried to play two recorded programs at differing times but the boxes struggled to play the shows, showing the message 'Network too slow' suggesting I use an ethernet cable. Oddly enough without using the cable, I found the programs on 'Catch Up' which does rely on the network and the shows played beautifully. It's possible however I was watching these programs on a TV & box from which they weren't originally recorded, if so then I've answered my own question that if the network is slow, it cannot play something recorded from another box in the house ????

[japitts · Accepted solution]

Judging by your thread back in November 2022, you have a V6.

Recorded programmes are indeed recorded to the hard drive and played out from the HDD. If you are multiroom streaming a programme recorded on box-A, but watching it on box-B, box-C or box-D, then that is using your home network.

Box A <----> homehub <----> viewing box

The symptoms may alter depending whether any connection issues are on the uplink from the donor box, or downlink to the recipient box.

[nodrogd]

I would put my money on this being several V6 boxes trying to share a bandwidth cluttered 2.4Ghz WiFi connection. This might work for streaming OD content, which is a single link to the hub. Inter-box streaming doubles that bandwidth requirement & if 2.4 (usually the strongest signal) is congested with this traffic & also competing with traffic from neighbours hubs on the same WiFi channel there will be problems.

[scrd01]

please note.....

VM introduced the option to use the 5.4Ghz connection option about a month ago 

[jenfamily1]

Excuse my lack of tech but would I be right in thinking that considering VM only came to my house on March 10th to change my router ( presumably for the 'latest' update, would this / should this have increased my Ghz to 5.4 or is there something I should do myself? The Technician didn't say a word, just removed the old one and connected the new one saying' everything should be fine now' and disappeared as quickly as he came!

[jenfamily1]

Hi Scrd has mentioned something about VM offering a 5.4 Ghz band width option a month ago. I explained to Scrd that I'd only had my router changed for an updated model on March 10th.Should this router produce 5.4Ghz or is there something I should change myself?

[japitts]

I'm not familiar with the VM hubs, mine is in modem mode and I use my own router, however..

WiFi is broadcast on 2 frequencies - 2.4Ghz & 5Ghz, both have pros and cons but generally 2.4Ghz is more popular while 5Ghz can support faster speeds but has a shorter range. VM Hubs broadcast WiFi with one single SSID (network name) but allow devices to "seamlessly" (ahem) swap between the two bands as necessary. I say seamless, because it's the first thing to eliminate if you have performance issues.

I agree with nodrogd above, who has suggested your issues could be due to congestion on 2.4Ghz in your home, and forcing 5Ghz could be the next step. Historically the way to do this with the VM hubs was to manually separate the bands, and create a different SSID for each one.