I post the following for the enlightenment of you all. As you may recall, I recently networked my TiVos. They're in different rooms but I can now record a show on one and then transfer it to another (via my home network) for viewing. Or at least, I could do that until a day or two ago.
Today, I noticed they were not connecting. As I recently made some changes in my network, I figured I had confused them or changed a setting or otherwise caused this lack of communication. I spent a lot of time today adjusting settings on the one in my office, then running downstairs and adjusting settings on the one in my TV room, then running upstairs and adjusting settings on the one in my office and up and down and up and down…and they just wouldn't acknowledge each others' existence.
Finally, searching for a clue as to what I was doing wrong, I logged into the TiVo Community Forum, a discussion group of TiVo owners. There, I discovered what I was doing wrong. I was assuming the problem had been caused on my end and was fixable. A message on the forum from a TiVo support staffer said, "Folks, we had a bit of a glitch with the multi-room viewing authorizations today." This means that when my TiVos connect with TiVo Central to download program information and other data, they're being told that they're not supposed to interface with other TiVos on the same home network. The TiVo Tech Guy goes on to say, "The problem affected a small number of customers. We apologize for the problem. We believe it is completely resolved at this time…"
Well, it isn't resolved on my machines. They still don't talk. But at least I know that I didn't cause the problem and probably can't fix it without the TiVo folks doing something on their end. I could have saved a lot of time and stair-climbing if I'd checked that forum first. Let that be a lesson to me.