Vizio VBR231 Blu-ray Player Failed

Just after installing the TiVo, my Vizio VBR Blu-ray play failed. I did knock the HDMI connector out of the Vizio while installing. After reinstalling the HDMI connector, the Blu-ray would not work. It would show the Vizio logo after powering on and then the screen would go blank and the TV indicated that it had lost the HDMI signal.

After some testing to verify that the HDMI cable was working OK, Vizio agreed to send me another VBR231 as a warranty  replacement. I have sent them the broken player and am now waiting for the new one.

This will be my third VBR231. The first one was an out-of-box failure. The second one failed after less than six months of use. This does not bode well for this product.

Powerline Ethernet

I bought a pair of Western Digital Livewire Powerline Ethernet adapters to connect my TiVo to my home network. I had to plug the Livewire adapter into a power strip, which Western Digital does not recommend. The Geek Squad person at Best Buy told me that it would work fine. He was right. I get better than 180 Mbps out of a possible 200 Mbps through the power strip and the extension cord that connects it to the outlet.

All I had to do was to plug in the adapters, and they worked. Their performance as seen from the TiVo has been great! I recommend this approach.

The Livewire adapter that is connected to my broadband router is plugged directly into a wall outlet. I tried connecting it to another power strip and the perfomance dropped to 40 Mbps. It looks like it is a good idea to plug the router side adapter directly into a wall outlet.

I selected the Livewire because cnet.com's reviews showed that it had the best performance for units that have multiple ports. Having multiple ports will let me connect both my TiVo and my Blu-ray play to the Ethernet network.

TiVo Installation Problems

I ordered the TiVo with a TiVo N Wireless Adapter. I was not able to get it to work. It was apparent to me early on that the adapter was not working. It took me most part of a day on the phone with TiVo support to convince them of that fact.

TiVo sent me another TiVo N Wireless Adapter. This one worked, but its performance was not adequate to support the TiVo. I solved the problem with Powerline Ethernet adapters.

It appears that it is not possible to test the TiVo N Wireless Adapter from a PC. I thought that this would be a good way to confirm the operation of the adapter, but it just would not work for me.

I think that TiVo should provide diagnostics to confirm the Internet connection during the startup phase for the TiVo. These diagnostics are only available after the startup phase has completed. A diagnostic procedure that would identify Internet connection issues at the start of the startup phase would make it much easier to resolve these problem.

New TiVo

I now have a TiVo Premier XL, which has a 1 TB drive. I wanted the ability to record shows for watching at more convenient times. The TiVo integrates Internet TV content with the broadcast TV and makes it easier and more convenient to switch between them. So far the TiVo has provided a real step up in our TV viewing experience.

Usage Charges: The Bane of Internet TV

The Washington Post published an article describing how the FCC is supporting broadband usage charges. This means that you would have to pay on a per megabyte basis. In addition to your monthly fee to Netflix, you would have to pay a fee to  your broadband provider every time you watched a movie.

Now, it is likely that a usage based broadband plan would include some number of megabytes before the usage charges kicked in. However, these allowances will probably only cover a couple of films per month in addition to normal Internet traffic.

Usage charges will be set high enough to make Netflix streaming and other Internet TV services expensive enough to reduce their competitiveness against the broadband provider's own TV offering.

This is a great idea for the broadband providers and a bad idea for us users.

Netflix Accounts for 20% of Internet Traffic

An article in the San Francisco Chronicle said that Netflix accounts for 20% of Internet traffic during the evening hours, the prime time for TV viewing. At this rate Netflix and the other over the top Internet TV providers will dominate Internet trafic. This will have major consequences.

I expect that the broadband service providers, both cable and DSL, will implement usage caps and use other means to limit the use of their networks for over the top TV viewing. They will see Netfflix streaming and the other over the top Internet TV services as swamping their networks without bringing in new revenues. They will also see these streaming services as important competition to their own TV services as more and more people cut the cord.

This will be viewed as a major network neutrality issue and will become quite nasty. Personally, I wish the broadband providers would get over it and install fiber everywhere.

Comcast's Attack on Netflix Streaming

Light Reading has published an article describing how Comcast is forcing Level 3 to pay to deliver Netflix streaming traffic to Comcast broadband customers. This will raise Netflix's costs for delivering streaming video to Comcast customers.

Netflix streaming is a direct competitor to Comcast's own video broadcast and video on demand services. It is using its position as the broadband service supplier to improve its competitive position. Level 3 is calling this a net neutrality issue.

This will work in Comcast's interest in the short run. However, in the long run it will make "cord cutting" more attractive for its broadband customers. Making Netflix more expensive will make it more attractive for its customers to drop its services and move to over the air broadcast TV supplemented with Internet streaming. This will save most customers $100 per month.