USSWaddell's profile

Teacher

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7 Messages

Saturday, September 29th, 2012 12:13 PM

DVR Does Not Come Up Without Internet Connection

Knowing that U-Verse does not allow me to copy off recorded shows to my laptop and the website does not have recently aired shows, I decided to bring my DVR down here to the lake to watch shows I recorded last week over the weekend.  I have done with with both my old Cox DVR and Tivo DVR......but not AT&T U-Verse.  The screen just sits there with the blue AT&T U-Verse boot screen and the spinning circle in the lower right screen.  I am not saying that  would expect the TV broadcast services to work over a different ISP (although it would be great if they would), but I certainly would expect it to work as a DVR to watch previously recorded shows.  Has anyone else tried this?  Did you get the same result as me?  I would think it would just boot, give an error that Internet was not available (as they have probably restricted the device to a certain IP segment/address) but still let me navigate the menu.

Accepted Solution

Official Solution

Guru

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428 Messages

12 years ago

The DVR needs to interface logically with the Residential Gateway (modem) to authenticate. Without a connection to AT&T and your RG, the DVR will not boot fully let alone allow you to access the recordings.

ACE - Expert

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27.6K Messages

12 years ago

The Residential Gateway (RG) is the 'brains' of the operation.

 

As bauwls said, without it, nothing works.  Even though your recordings are held on the hard drive of the DVR, it must be able to access your account via the RG.  It's the same if your RG stops working: you can't watch your recorded programs.

ACE - Expert

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34.7K Messages

12 years ago

And don't think you can just take the RG with you and everything will work, either.

 

To complete the boot, the DVR will access a server at the VHO through the AT&T network.  If that can't happen, the DVR won't finish booting.

 

To view a recording, the DVR will access a server at the VHO through the AT&T network to get authorization to show the recording.  If that can't happen, the DVR won't show the recording.

 

It's the way it is.

 

Teacher

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7 Messages

12 years ago

All good replies...and thank you for them.  I don't like the conclusion, but I understand it.  What confuses me (reference my previous thread), is how a company that promotes mobility, has a DVR solution that is anything but.  If I am using their solution at home, it's second to none.  If I want to do anything outside of my home....though turkey.  Looks like I will need to give in a buy a Slingbox and/or a Hauppauge and/or rig my Tivo Series II to one of my wireless receivers and deplicate every recording.  Was just hoping I could get a converged solution.  Please don't get me wrong, I really like AT&T U-Verse.....I just get frustrated as they are so close to having the perfect solution if they would just add two more capabilities (download recorded shows and/or have a web app that shows recently aired shows).

ACE - Expert

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27.6K Messages

12 years ago

It's kinda like: The DVR needs the RG, the RG needs the internet connection and the internet connection needs the wiring at the provisioned address....unless you have a Slingbox.

Former Employee

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1.1K Messages

12 years ago


@USSWaddell wrote:

Knowing that U-Verse does not allow me to copy off recorded shows to my laptop and the website does not have recently aired shows, I decided to bring my DVR down here to the lake to watch shows I recorded last week over the weekend.  I have done with with both my old Cox DVR and Tivo DVR......but not AT&T U-Verse.  The screen just sits there with the blue AT&T U-Verse boot screen and the spinning circle in the lower right screen.  I am not saying that  would expect the TV broadcast services to work over a different ISP (although it would be great if they would), but I certainly would expect it to work as a DVR to watch previously recorded shows.  Has anyone else tried this?  Did you get the same result as me?  I would think it would just boot, give an error that Internet was not available (as they have probably restricted the device to a certain IP segment/address) but still let me navigate the menu.


As the others have mentioned, connection to the U-verse network is mandatory, so the authorization can be made.

 

For mobility, have you tried uverse.com?  It's Internet accessable and with nearly any recent laptop or tablet, there an HDMI output you can feed to the TV wherever you are. There's more content available there than any one DVR (from anyone) can hold, and it's save all the connect / disconnect ... and permits recording your shows while you're gone ... which you can't do if you were dragging the DVR around with you.

 

All you need to do is log in with your U-verse email ID.  I believe it works from many smartphones too.

 

Maybe not perfect, but it works (for me). Check it out.

 

 

Teacher

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7 Messages

12 years ago

I have been looking over uverse.com.  I really like being able to control my DVR from uverse.com and/or my android application.  Am still a little confused about uverse.com in that available videos seems to lag.  Is there any relationship between what I record on my DVR and what is shown on uverse.com?  What delay should I expect between when a show is actually aired and when it is available for viewing on uverse.com?  I agree with you that uverse.com would negate my need to copy shows from my DVR to my laptop if the content availability was timely...but it still doesn't address the ability to watch shows when disconnected from the internet (like a 16 flight to Dubai).  Thoughts and recommendations?

Expert

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9.4K Messages

12 years ago

I was about to suggest a SlingBox as well, but I see you're already considering that idea.

I have never once been able to play anything on uverse.com. You can search everything and find lots of stuff, but the site does nothing when you click on something to play it. I've tried multiple computers and multiple browsers, all with the same results.

Former Employee

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1.1K Messages

12 years ago


@SomeJoe7777 wrote:
I was about to suggest a SlingBox as well, but I see you're already considering that idea.

I have never once been able to play anything on uverse.com. You can search everything and find lots of stuff, but the site does nothing when you click on something to play it. I've tried multiple computers and multiple browsers, all with the same results.

Interesting. Can you play stuff from Hulu?  www.hulu.com

 

I'm thinking it's likely a firewall issue (either hardware or os-based).

 

I've never had any issues with it, other than some occasional bandwidth pinches.

 

Master

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5.9K Messages

12 years ago


@SomeJoe7777 wrote:
I was about to suggest a SlingBox as well, but I see you're already considering that idea.

I have never once been able to play anything on uverse.com. You can search everything and find lots of stuff, but the site does nothing when you click on something to play it. I've tried multiple computers and multiple browsers, all with the same results.


You're not missing much. Beside the unintuitive interface, what I found, last time I went to the site, was some old stuff (at least a couple months old), but it seemed most of the crap was nothing but trailers of programs.

 

 




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