# TIVO Question



## MrDad0330 (Jun 16, 2007)

2 weeks ago I said goodbye to my land line phone. Asside from my cell phone which i mostly used, I purchased a magic jack that turns my home phones active thru a USB port on a PC. So i have normal home phones for $19.95 a year. Sound quality is good. 
I tried to let my Tivo's "call home" thru this set up. They did call thru the "magic jack" but would not communicate thru this pc set up. I have no idea why but they wont connect.
So, assuming I cannot get my Tivo's to call that way, what happens to my Tivo's if they cannot call home? My understanding is the quide is downloaded from the satellites and although I probably cant purchase PPV by my remote, I can still record if i purchase online and use the DVR Scheduler. So for recording, I am good to go. So the question is.......other than getting new software downloads, will my Tivo's operate ok without being able to "call home"?
My HR20 calls D via my internet so that is not an issue...


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## curt8403 (Dec 27, 2007)

MrDad0330 said:


> 2 weeks ago I said goodbye to my land line phone. Asside from my cell phone which i mostly used, I purchased a magic jack that turns my home phones active thru a USB port on a PC. So i have normal home phones for $19.95 a year. Sound quality is good.
> I tried to let my Tivo's "call home" thru this set up. They did call thru the "magic jack" but would not communicate thru this pc set up. I have no idea why but they wont connect.
> So, assuming I cannot get my Tivo's to call that way, what happens to my Tivo's if they cannot call home? My understanding is the quide is downloaded from the satellites and although I probably cant purchase PPV by my remote, I can still record if i purchase online and use the DVR Scheduler. So for recording, I am good to go. So the question is.......other than getting new software downloads, will my Tivo's operate ok without being able to "call home"?
> My HR20 calls D via my internet so that is not an issue...


tivos will not get software upgrades without a phone line

is there any control panel for settings on your magic jack (Like quality)


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## FlBillsfan (Apr 23, 2008)

MrDad0330 said:


> 2 weeks ago I said goodbye to my land line phone. Asside from my cell phone which i mostly used, I purchased a magic jack that turns my home phones active thru a USB port on a PC. So i have normal home phones for $19.95 a year. Sound quality is good.
> I tried to let my Tivo's "call home" thru this set up. They did call thru the "magic jack" but would not communicate thru this pc set up. I have no idea why but they wont connect.
> So, assuming I cannot get my Tivo's to call that way, what happens to my Tivo's if they cannot call home? My understanding is the quide is downloaded from the satellites and although I probably cant purchase PPV by my remote, I can still record if i purchase online and use the DVR Scheduler. So for recording, I am good to go. So the question is.......other than getting new software downloads, will my Tivo's operate ok without being able to "call home"?
> My HR20 calls D via my internet so that is not an issue...


Could you take your TIVOS to a friends or relatives & force the call once a month or so if need be?


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## EricJRW (Jul 6, 2008)

Thinking the Tivo wants to establish a modem connection, I looked on the FAQ and found this:

Can I send and receive faxes using magicJack?

_Sometimes.

We do not officially support using faxing with magicJack.

Please try the following steps to use magicJack with your fax (contact your fax vendor for details):

Turn off error correction on your fax machine or program 
Set the fax machine or program to use the slowest speed available 
Increase the speed, checking at each speed that faxes work _

I guess it all depends on the service and network, but I suspect timing is an issue... I would hope the Tivo would auto-negotiate to a slower speed... No Tivo experience so I don't know if it's something you can set.


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## EricJRW (Jul 6, 2008)

Found another:

TIVO

_TIVO may be able to dial out depending on the quality of your ip connection. We use a codec that will support modems but you may also have to ask TIVO for codes to lower your baud rate if it does not work by default. You also need to make sure you have the magicJack set to telephone, not headset.

Another option is, if you have wireless Internet in the house, to put a wifi adapter in the TIVO and you don't need a phone line, unless the TIVO is series1 or directv._


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## luckydob (Oct 2, 2006)

guide stil works w/out dialing in. I haven't connected my Tivo from D* for over a year now. Just get the annoying message that I haven't dialed in for 372 days or whatever. You can still order online and you can still set up and use season passes etc...


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## gully_foyle (Jan 18, 2007)

curt8403 said:


> tivos will not get software upgrades without a phone line


TIVO doesn't require a phone for updates, exactly. They download from the satellite. It's just that an activation signal needs to come over the phone during the weekly call.


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## Michael D'Angelo (Oct 21, 2006)

I am moving this to the "DIRECTV Legacy Receiver" forum.


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## pprather (Nov 12, 2006)

FlBillsfan said:


> Could you take your TIVOS to a friends or relatives & force the call once a month or so if need be?





kcmurphy88 said:


> TIVO doesn't require a phone for updates, exactly. They download from the satellite. It's just that an activation signal needs to come over the phone during the weekly call.


I did this the other day. I took my Tivo to a friends house and let it dial in. it worked fine and the new software was installed.


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## Matt L (Nov 10, 2007)

I've got a DTiVo that hasn't call home in 1420 days or so, no problems except no software updates. If you have current software you should be fine. Odds are there will be no more software updates anyway.


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## MikeW (May 16, 2002)

pprather said:


> I did this the other day. I took my Tivo to a friends house and let it dial in. it worked fine and the new software was installed.


I'd be concerned about dialing in from somebody else's home. Part of the call-in process is for account security to ensure your reciever(s) are not being shared with friends and family. If audited, your receiver could be flagged as a violation. You're better off with the nags to connect and missing updates (of which there probably won't be many). If your box is stable, just leave it alone.


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