TiVo AN0100 Wireless N Network Adapter (Gray) Review

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When you understand what this thing really does, it becomes clear that it's an amazing device. Yes, you need to plug it into power, but that's only because it has a built-in microprocessor and internal web-based setup guide and those capabilities require power. This isn't a "dumb," USB-based adapter. It's much more powerful, and it serves as a stand-alone ethernet bridge.

As I mentioned, the basic idea is that this device is nothing more than a wireless-to-ethernet bridge. By enabling it and hooking it to your TiVo's ethernet port, your TiVo simply thinks it's hooked to a hard-wired ethernet connection. The beauty is that it requires no changes to your TiVo configuration. The adapter is detected automatically.

Ok, so it's a wireless-to-ethernet bridge, like many others available. What makes this one different? First, it's FAST, and it gets great reception, and it also works in the 5 GHz band, which is less crowded than the typical 2.4 Ghz band. If you have an N-standard wireless router (or dual-band router) such as the Linksys WRT610, you can fully utilize the power of this adapter. I've tried it using both old-fashioned WEP encryption, as well as the WPA2-AES mode (which is the Draft-N standard encryption protocol). I EASILY get 25 Mbit/sec data rates from across the house and through walls from my Linksys 5 Ghz N router.

Simply put, if you set this up properly and don't get full-speed streaming via Netflix through your TiVo HD, it's due to excessive Netflix server loading (or limits to your home internet service) and not a speed bottleneck in this adapter. Or, your adapter may simply be too far from your router, but I find this adapter to work very well at longer distances.

As a side note, if you hook this adapter to any PC or laptop via the ethernet port, you can use it as your N wireless connection to your router and to the internet. That is, if you have a machine that needs a wireless connection, and you don't have or don't want to put a wireless adapter in it, this device works great as a general-purpose wireless-to-ethernet bridge. You simply connect it to your remote PC's ethernet port and set it up. Thus, it's a convenient way to get a N connection to your N wireless router from a PC or laptop that doesn't have wireless but does have an ethernet port. I love this thing, and it's well worth the money.

One final note for techies... if you use "channel bonding" on your router, that is, joining two channels together to achieve 40 Mhz bandwidth instead of the typical 20 Mhz, this devices takes advantage of that too!

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Product Description

The TiVo Wireless N Network Adapter creates a high-performance, 802.11n connection between your TiVo DVR and the internet via your wireless home network, so you can enjoy faster downloads of HD movies and TV shows. This next-generation network adaper also features simple push-button set up get you up and running in minutes

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Product Details

• Color: Gray
• Brand: TiVo
• Model: AN0100
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .65" h x 3.62" w x 2.00" l, .22 pounds

Features

• Less waiting: download HD movies and TV to your TiVo DVR faster
• Quicker multi-room viewing: Transfer recordings from one TiVo DVR to another with greater efficiency
• Faster TiVoToGo: Load shows onto portable devices sooner with quicker transfers to your computer
• Speedier access to VOD: Get more rapid, reliable and efficient performance of streaming movies, web videos and music

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