Can I do this with Airport Express?

[lord patton]

Problem: My TiVO connects wireless with the "b" protocol. This throttles down the speed of my whole (wireless) network.

Solution 1: Get an Airport Extreme base station for g and n, and continue to use the Linksys g/b to provide a signal for the TiVO. I've been thinking of getting the AEBS anyway, so maybe I'll do this.

Solution 2: Get an Airport Express and connect the TiVO to this with an ethernet cable. That way, I'm transmitting to the express with the g protocol, and TiVO won't have to use it's "b" receiver. Bonus, I get AirTunes.

But will this work? I know the express has an ethernet port, but I'm not sure if it can be used in this way. The product pages on apple.com say it's for connecting to a router or wireless modem. Does this mean it won't connect to the TiVO and allow the TiVO to access the network?

 

[yg17]

Solution 1 will work. Don't think 2 will, as I don't believe an Airport Express can be used for that.


I've never used a Tivo before, but can it not be configured to only connect to the wireless network when it needs to download updates, which is like once a day? Seems like if you can make it disconnect when not using it, your network would be G except for the few minutes it's connected

 

[lord patton]

Hmmm... I don't know if the Linksys router works that way. I think it is set up for either b/g or g only—that is, it doesn't switch on the fly. Too bad, because you're right—the TiVO just connects a few times during the middle of the night.

I'll probably just get the AEBS. Saw one refurb from Apple for $140 (the non--gigabit one).

The whole reason I noticed this was doing a video chat in iChat and the connection got really choppy and unusable. I'm thinking the "b" protocol was responsible for it.

 

[yg17]

The way it should work is that with it set to b/g, when everything connected to it is g, speeds are g, and then when a b device connects, it drops to b. When all b devices are disconnected, it goes back up to g.

The whole reason I noticed this was doing a video chat in iChat and the connection got really choppy and unusable. I'm thinking the "b" protocol was responsible for it.

What sort of internet connection do you have? Unless you've got FiOS or something like that, B should still be faster than your internet connection

 

[ChrisA]

Problem: My TiVO connects wireless with the "b" protocol. This throttles down the speed of my whole (wireless) network.

Solution 1: Get an Airport Extreme base station for g and n, and continue to use the Linksys g/b to provide a signal for the TiVO. I've been thinking of getting the AEBS anyway, so maybe I'll do this.

Solution 2: Get an Airport Express and connect the TiVO to this with an ethernet cable. That way, I'm transmitting to the express with the g protocol, and TiVO won't have to use it's "b" receiver. Bonus, I get AirTunes.

But will this work? I know the express has an ethernet port, but I'm not sure if it can be used in this way. The product pages on apple.com say it's for connecting to a router or wireless modem. Does this mean it won't connect to the TiVO and allow the TiVO to access the network?

I don't think you can use an AP Express as a bridge. So #2 may not work.
I have the AP Extreme base station Buy it if you plan on using the USB features
for a disk and printers but as a router it is VERY lacking in features compared
to the typical linksys or Dlink home router

Your best bet is to run a wire to the tivo. It is not a portable device but if you really
can't pull wire then using two wireless networks, one for "b" and the other for G and N would work fine

 

[lord patton]

The way it should work is that with it set to b/g, when everything connected to it is g, speeds are g, and then when a b device connects, it drops to b. When all b devices are disconnected, it goes back up to g.


What sort of internet connection do you have? Unless you've got FiOS or something like that, B should still be faster than your internet connection

So, I don't know what I'm talking about, made assumptions, and was wrong. Cool, thanks for the education. [seriously, no sarcasm] Although I did think that it was just g and n that were faster than the typical cable modem.

What's the best way to monitor the network speeds? Activity monitor? I could look at that during the iChat and see what's going on.