ReplayTV and Ooma - Can't Dial In

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dtkeyes
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Re: ReplayTV and Ooma - Can't Dial In

Post by dtkeyes » Mon Oct 25, 2010 9:04 am

Congrats, bw1. Another Replay/Ooma success story.
I've about given up. I tried your advice about phoning into the 215 area code, but my modem wouldn't connect to the 800 number. (Tried numerous times.) I then went back through each of the 14 numbers in my local area. ONE ACTUALLY CONNECTED! Replay dialed in... connected... set the clock... updated Replay Zones... then when it got to downloading the schedule, it immediately quit. I've probably tried it off and on 20 times with the same results.
Am now investigating the getting the cheapest available landline in my area. With taxes, looks like I'll wind up paying about $15/month with taxes for a Replay-dedicated line. If I didn't have the lifetime deal on my Showstopper, I might consider upgrading to getting an ethernet-capable machine, but... so it goes.

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southsound
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Re: ReplayTV and Ooma - Can't Dial In

Post by southsound » Mon Oct 25, 2010 10:09 am

I have 3 Replays - one in our theater (110" screen), one in our livingroom, and another that has never been opened but will be used for spare parts if needed. The active units have 500gb drives. I stopped using them back in late 2008 when I got DishHD and a 722 dual dvr. I use it to power all of our TV's on the same output so I can record two shows at once and watch a third anywhere in the house. I always connected up the Replays using dialup because at the time we couldn't get broadband. The remained in our configuration but had not been powered up in nearly 22 months.

With Autumn in full color, my wife asked me to find a show she remembered that highlighted Autumn across the Northeast. It wasn't on our Dish722 so I fired up the Replay. Of course, it needed to check for authorization (lifetime). I tried using ooma to connect and it failed - then the light went on!! These are 5500's and have a network port that I used for sharing shows between units. I went into setup and changed the connection method to network and selected connect now. In just a few seconds, the unit was authorized and running again! We love nature and travel shows and had several hundred hours of them recorded. I don't care too much for the lack of HD, but it is wonderful to have all those shows available again.
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bw1
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Re: ReplayTV and Ooma - Can't Dial In

Post by bw1 » Tue Oct 26, 2010 4:34 am

dtkeyes wrote:Congrats, bw1. Another Replay/Ooma success story.
I've about given up. I tried your advice about phoning into the 215 area code, but my modem wouldn't connect to the 800 number. (Tried numerous times.) I then went back through each of the 14 numbers in my local area. ONE ACTUALLY CONNECTED! Replay dialed in... connected... set the clock... updated Replay Zones... then when it got to downloading the schedule, it immediately quit. I've probably tried it off and on 20 times with the same results.
Am now investigating the getting the cheapest available landline in my area. With taxes, looks like I'll wind up paying about $15/month with taxes for a Replay-dedicated line. If I didn't have the lifetime deal on my Showstopper, I might consider upgrading to getting an ethernet-capable machine, but... so it goes.
If it connected once, it can connect again. It will pick up where it left off, if it quits when it's in the middle of downloading the guide. You do have it set to 9600 baud, right?

When mine works, it takes 3 calls to get the guide and sometimes more. I can check the call logs on myooma and see when it connects and how long it takes. If it's only around a minute, then I know it didn't connect. If I force a connection then it takes even more tries. Maybe it works better overnight. Try hooking it up and letting it dial in at night.

dtkeyes
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Re: ReplayTV and Ooma - Can't Dial In

Post by dtkeyes » Tue Oct 26, 2010 4:19 pm

bw1 wrote:
If it connected once, it can connect again. It will pick up where it left off, if it quits when it's in the middle of downloading the guide. You do have it set to 9600 baud, right?

When mine works, it takes 3 calls to get the guide and sometimes more. I can check the call logs on myooma and see when it connects and how long it takes. If it's only around a minute, then I know it didn't connect. If I force a connection then it takes even more tries. Maybe it works better overnight. Try hooking it up and letting it dial in at night.
Thanks, bw1. Yes, modem's set to 9600. I tried it another dozen times today with varying success. It sometimes quits immediately after "connecting," sometimes even gets to downloading guide, but then modem quits.

I wasn't aware Replay will pick up where it left off, so that's somewhat encouraging. I'll give it another few tries in the wee hours to see if that helps. I've just noticed I'm getting some 'break up' on some regular phone calls over Ooma. Maybe that's causing some of the problem, too.

gail
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Re: ReplayTV and Ooma - Can't Dial In

Post by gail » Fri Oct 29, 2010 9:39 am

I don't know whether this is relevant, but maybe it is :

I am one of those people who had luck getting my Tivo to dial up my new (new this week) ooma Hub for programming. I had gotten to a point where the Tivo connected but the connection was dropped. I had read somewhere that a DSL filter had saved the day for someone trying to do the same thing. I went out and bought one and voila, it worked! (who knew !) I have posted about this on a Tivo thread: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=69&start=20

dtkeyes
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Re: ReplayTV and Ooma - Can't Dial In

Post by dtkeyes » Fri Oct 29, 2010 11:29 am

Well, Gail, you've given me a glimmer of hope after having just about given up. I'd noticed that a few others mentioned the dsl filter and now it seems like the only thing that I haven't tried for my Replay. Just checked the Staples site and saw they still have a $10 filter. What the heck? I'll let you know if I have any luck. Thanks regardless.

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lbmofo
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Re: ReplayTV and Ooma - Can't Dial In

Post by lbmofo » Fri Oct 29, 2010 11:35 am

I found Fry's to have the best prices on these type of things.

dtkeyes
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Re: ReplayTV and Ooma - Can't Dial In

Post by dtkeyes » Fri Oct 29, 2010 2:41 pm

Just back from Fry's with my $9.99, dual line DSL Filter. Plugged my Replay in and it actually STARTED to download Program Guide info. That's further in the download process than it's gotten to this point. Tried a couple more times, but the modem quit, per usual. I'll try again after midnight tonight, when it's had the best luck connecting without the filter. Fingers crossed.

Thanks for the advice/encouragement.

dtkeyes
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Joined:Wed Oct 20, 2010 7:12 pm

Re: ReplayTV and Ooma - Can't Dial In

Post by dtkeyes » Sat Nov 06, 2010 3:23 pm

Just to let anyone else who might find themselves trying to get an older Replay to 'phone home' through Ooma...

Despite all the good-hearted input and advice found here (and even with adding that DSL filter), I never did get my Replay Panasonic Showstopper to work. Last week I broke down and ordered the most basic local landline available in my area and finally have my Replay Guide/Schedule back. (Basic local service from ATT starts at $10, but I have no idea what taxes and fees and surcharges might bring the total to.) Since the phone line is a pay-as-you-go/metered line, I'll mostly use it to update the Channel Guide as needed and use Ooma for everything else. Since my Replay is still functioning and I've got the lifetime deal, I'll stick with it for now. Maybe one of these days I'll upgrade to an ethernet-capable machine. Or (even better) maybe Ooma's technology will become compatible one of these days.

Thanks to everyone for all the assistance.

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