TDS “TV+” IP cable box integration

[gwagner]

My TV service provider, TDS, just installed new set top boxes for their TV+ service. TV programming as well as internet is delivered directly to my house over their all fiber network. I’m getting 600/600 Mb/s internet speeds.

The boxes they are supplying are eSTREAM 4K 2x2 Model number IPA1114HDW 02.1 500 00T TIVO. The manufacturer is evolution digital. They are connected to my local GB ethernet network on a wired basis but apparently can work WiFi as well. In addition to the ethernet jack there are two standard size USB jacks and a SD card slot. It appears that the OS inside these things is Android with a lot of TIVO functionality.
 

Now for the bad news: The remote communicates with the box using Bluetooth. I can’t see anything on the box that might be an IR receiver. The remote is apparently capable of emitting IR to control other devices like the associated TV.

So, how can these devices be integrated into my C4 system? Two possibilities I can think of:

1. An IP driver.My dealer and I tried a couple of TVIO drivers without much luck, but we didn’t sped a lot of time on it

2. Video Storm makes a USB to IR dongle that might be another approach. Their website even states “now works with android TV boxes” 

 

Any help would be appreciated. 
 

George

( I was a C4 dealer for 10 years before selling my business and retiring)

 

 

[alanchow]

Looks like it is Android based.  If so then it will work with our Android TV driver.

https://www.chowmainsoft.com/android

Requires a 3rd party app to be installed and setup.  See the PDF installation guide for details.  Please test it out using the 90 day trial before licence purchase.

[zaphod]

It is also possible that the device has IR as well.  But Android would be the way to go if it works ok.

[gwagner]

Alan Chow,

Thanks, that looks great. Unfortunately, following your instructions, once I hit “about” in the device it said I was in the developer mode and immediately threw up a screen asking for a PIN preventing me from enabling USB debugging. This was apparently put in by the box manufacturer. 
 

Can they do this legally under a Android license?
 

 

[tmj4]

@gwagner -- yes they can legally do this since you are leasing the TDS TV+ box from TDS. It's just a TiVo-branded SEI Robotics box w/mostly TiVo functionality. I believe it's listed as Android, but the boxes, if I'm not mistaken, are essentially the most recent TiVo UI. Would be curious if any of the TiVo drivers work out for you instead as the UI is different than what is on the Android-based TiVo Stream 4k devices and more closely matches that of the OTA/Cable DVR devices.

Another, and IMO the preferred, option would be to not use their hardware and just have one "dummy" box in the house, but this depends on how many video endpoints you desire. TDS TV+ does not require their box at every TV. Surprised you went this route as it ends up costing more with most folks having the streaming devices already. List of compatible devices: https://tdstelecom.com/support/tds-tv-plus/personal-devices-compatibility.html

There is a limit, however on number of devices and simultaneous streams:  

Quote

Your use of third-party apps is subject to the terms of use and privacy policy of the app provider. You may register a maximum of 5 unmanaged (customer owned) personal devices. A maximum of 3 unmanaged devices can concurrently stream live content. You can manage your registered devices by logging into your TDS My Account. Live content can only be streamed while your unmanaged device is on the same local network as your TDS managed device(s)

Have one main box to fulfill their requirement of it being on your network, then use other third-party devices that play nice w/C4 to actually watch TV. 

[dw886]

Did you ever get this to work, or did you end up building an IR driver?

[tmj4]

It does work -- I used it myself for a few months for Bally Sports before they launched their standalone service -- but you'll need the IRUSB device and whatever driver is compatible with that guy (can't remember off hand).

[dw886]

Ouch, I was hoping there was a better solution.  I have 3 of these to contend with.  I may reach out to the manufacturer to see if USB debugging being disabled is from their end or the service provider.  If I can get USB Debugging enabled, I'd imagine we could use Zank Remote and Alan's driver instead?

[dw886]

On 10/5/2023 at 1:11 PM, tmj4 said:

It does work -- I used it myself for a few months for Bally Sports before they launched their standalone service -- but you'll need the IRUSB device and whatever driver is compatible with that guy (can't remember off hand).

I'm in the process of setting this up with IRUSB.  Did you use the VideoStorm driver?  When I do, it looks like I the "Menu" and "Guide" buttons on the Control4 side don't do anything (I'll probably remap "Menu" to the IRUSB "Home" button, as that seems to be what it should do). 

 

Did you have any issues with the "Guide" button, and if so, did you figure out a way around it?

[tmj4]

On 11/19/2023 at 8:51 AM, dw886 said:

I'm in the process of setting this up with IRUSB.  Did you use the VideoStorm driver?  When I do, it looks like I the "Menu" and "Guide" buttons on the Control4 side don't do anything (I'll probably remap "Menu" to the IRUSB "Home" button, as that seems to be what it should do). 

 

Did you have any issues with the "Guide" button, and if so, did you figure out a way around it?

Oh man -- it's been about 2.5 years since I had them. I dumped them once Bally Sports+ launched for the Wisconsin market. I only had them so I could watch Brewers and Bucks games since they were dropped from YouTube TV. I'll gladly help you out anyway I can (including Zoom or whatever meeting software you use) but I haven't used it in a long while and don't remember what buttons were mapped or not.