5 Steps To Get Your TiVo Back Online With Your New AirPort Extreme

My TiVo and AirPort Extreme Can't Agree on Security

If you've tried to mix a new AirPort Extreme (802.11n), a TiVo with a wireless adapter (802.11b) and wireless security you've probably noticed that even though your AirPort says you're using WEP (TSN) your TiVo thinks you are using WPA2 for security. The TiVo then gives you an error telling you that you must upgrade to an 802.11b/g compatible wireless adapter or turn off your wireless security (not a good idea!).

The Simple, But Not Perfect Solution

1. Open AirPort Utility, select the AirPort Extreme you wish to edit and choose Manual Setup (Cmd-L) from the Base Station menu.
2. Go to the Wireless tab under the AirPort section
3. Option-Click on the Radio Mode selector to reveal the hidden options and choose 802.11b/g compatible
4. In the Wireless Security selector switch from WEP (Transitional Security Network) to the previously hidden WEP 128 bit
5. Walk through the wireless setup on your TiVo to ensure that it works as it did before

Unfortunately, this means that your new wireless network will not support all of the goodness of the 802.11n draft specification and will instead only allow you to use the b or g standards. Several people on Apple's discussion forums seem to think this will be fixed in a future firmware upgrade for the AirPort Extreme. But if you're like me, you can at least use the b/g speeds as well as the new AirPort Disk features until there is a better solution.

Another Handy Tip

Using a wireless password of less than or more than 13 characters may cause problems if your wireless network includes hardware from multiple vendors. I'll avoid getting into the nitty-gritty of how hardware vendors use different encryption methods for passwords and just tell you to save yourself some headaches and be sure to use a 13 character wireless password.

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