IVS
IVS (Internet Video Sharing) is the mechanism which allows ReplayTV users to send shows from their unit to another ReplayTV user.
Setting up IVS is a two-part process. The first part is done on your ReplayTV and the second on your router.
Contents |
Part I - The ReplayTV
(These instructions are written for the ReplayTV 5xxx models. If you are using a 4xxx model, the steps required may be slightly different. Prepare to adjust accordingly.)
- If you haven't already configured your ReplayTV for ethernet/broadband, please see Appendix A below before continuing.
- Go to "Menu | Setup | Internet Identity and Address Book."
- When prompted, enter the name of your choice for your ReplayTV. To make it easy for others to recognize your unit, it is nice to include your Poopli user name in the name of your ReplayTV.
- When prompted for a port number, enter the number of an unused port on your network. This number should be higher than 1024. 29000 is generally a good choice. Remember this number, it is the "IVS PORT" that must be forwarded to your ReplayTV in your router later.
- At some point during the above steps, your Internet Serial Number (ISN) should be visible in the menu screens. It will be in the form "XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX." Write it down. This is the number you will enter for your ReplayTV on Poopli and is what others use to contact your ReplayTV for sending/receiving shows. Thus, it is a little like your ReplayTV's IVS phone number.
- If you need to find out your ISN and IVS PORT later, you can do so at "Menu|Setup|System information|Video sharing."
- If you need to find out the IP address of your ReplayTV, you can do so at "Menu|Setup|System information|Ethernet."
Part II - The Router
General Instructions
- Access your router's configuration screens. Normally, this is done by using a web browser. Generally, the following are the defaults for the major brands of routers:
Consult your router's manual for details.Brand Access URL Username Password Buffalo http://192.168.11.1 root Belkin http://192.168.2.1 D-Link http://192.168.0.1 admin Linksys http://192.168.1.1 admin Netgear http://192.168.0.1 admin 1234 OR password - Look for a setting called port forwarding or (on some routers) virtual servers.
- Create a port forwarding entry for your ReplayTV there. Enter the LAN IP address of your ReplayTV for the internal IP (see Part 1, Step 6 if you don't know it), enter the IVS PORT number specified on your ReplayTV (above) for external and internal port #, and choose TCP for the protocol. Save the settings. You may have to reboot your router in order for the changes to take effect.
- IMPORTANT: Despite what the ReplayTV manual says, DO NOT forward (open) any ports for your ReplayTV other than the IVS PORT. Also, DO NOT put the IP address of your ReplayTV in the DMZ. Please see Appendix C for a detailed explanation.
Specific Instructions
- If you need very specific instructions for your particular brand/model of router, you can probably find them here. Select your brand/model router in the list or, if it isn't listed, choose the closest match you can find. Follow the instructions there, making sure you input the IVS PORT number (TCP protocol) and ReplayTV LAN IP as described in the more general instructions above.
- By this point, hopefully IVS is working for you. If it isn't, please check out the troubleshooting steps in Appendix B below.
Appendix A - Basic ReplayTV Network Setup
- Go to "Menu |Setup | Network and input settings."
- "Switch Connection" to Ethernet (if you've not already done so).
Your ReplayTV will then verify the network by a) contacting your DNS server to resolve production.replaytv.net and b)contacting production.replaytv.net at port 80 (HTTP) to make sure you can contact the ReplayTV server (a.k.a. mothership). If the verification fails, then one of those two is failing.
If it is correctly connected to your router, your ReplayTV will be assigned a dynamic (automated) IP address via DHCP. Since this IP could change over time and break your port forwarding rules, you need to either assign a static IP to our ReplayTV or configure your router to always hand out the same DHCP IP to the MAC address of your ReplayTV. The latter is preferred due to the DHCP bug. See also this post. However, not all routers support this feature (most Linksys ones don't). Please consult your router's manual for further details. To change the ReplayTV's IP address to static (manual)... - Go to "Change Network | Change from automated to manual."
Change the IP address to an unused one outside the range handed out by your router via DHCP but still within the same subnet. For example, if your router hands out IPs in the range from 192.168.1.100 to 192.168.1.150, specify a static IP that is above or below that range (note that .1 is generally reserved for the router and .254 is the upper limit)--e.g. 192.168.1.99. Write IP address down, you will need this to create the port forwarding entry. - Press "Continue."
Your ReplayTV will now verify your network again. After your replay successfully verify the network - Press "Keep all settings."
That's it. Your ReplayTV now had basic ethernet/broadband connectivity.
Appendix B - Troubleshooting Steps
If IVS isn't working for you after configuring your router, try the following steps.
- Test whether the ReplayTV's web server is responding at the correct IP.
Using a PC on your LAN, try browsing (with IE, Firefox, etc.) to http://replayIP/Device_Descr.xml. If your ReplayTV does not respond, there are two likely reasons. First, the ReplayTV may not be at that IP address (replayIP), perhaps due to a changed DHCP address or the DHCP bug (see here and here). Second, the ReplayTV's web server may have crashed, probably due to you having placed the ReplayTV in the DMZ or having forwarded port 80 to it. Please see this post for a detailed explanation of why you shouldn't do either. Once you have corrected this, you must reboot the ReplayTV in order to restart its web server. You can do this by power cycling the unit (i.e. unplug and replug into the AC outlet) or by holding the power button on the front of it for more than 10 seconds.
You must pass this test before moving on to the next ones.
- Test whether your ReplayTV is responding to IVS requests.
Using a PC on your LAN, try browsing (with IE, Firefox, etc.) to http://replayIP:IVSPort/ivs-IVSGetUnitInfo. If this responds with ReplayTV info, your ReplayTV is properly configured to respond to IVS requests at IVSPort. If it doesn't, verify that you have correctly configured the ReplayTV to use replayIP and IVSPort (see Part I above).
You must pass this test before moving on to the next ones.
- Test whether port forwarding is set up correctly on your router (test from LAN).
Using a PC on your LAN, try browsing (with IE, Firefox, etc.) to http://routerWANIP:IVSPort/ivs-IVSGetUnitInfo. If this responds the same as in the previous step, your side is setup correctly. Otherwise, this means that either port forwarding is not set up correctly or your router does not support Loopback, which means only that you cannot IVS other units on your own LAN (generally not a problem).
If this test fails, all hope is not lost. To confirm IVS functionality, try the next step.
- Test whether port forwarding is setup correctly on your router (test from WAN/Internet).
Either via a dialup connection or some other Internet connection separate from that used by your ReplayTV (e.g. a friend's house, work, etc.), try browsing (with IE, Firefox, etc.) to http://routerWANIP:IVSPort/ivs-IVSGetUnitInfo. This will simulate what an external IVS sender would encounter if they tried to send you a show. It should respond with your ReplayTV info as above.
Alternatively, you can use the automated IVS Tester to satisfy this step.
If this test fails, try forcing a net connect from the 243-zones menu. Try the test again. If it still fails, it is almost certainly a problem with your router's port forwarding configuration. Verify the port forwarding entry is correct (i.e. verify IP, port, etc.--see Part I above).
You must pass this test to have functional IVS.
A final note for the person who has tried everything and still has an issue
If IVS still doesn't work, it is possible that it is due to something outside of your control. For example, the IVS/RDDNS Server sometimes goes down. Check its status here (a thumbs up means the server is up). Also, general Internet problems such as congestion and fiber cuts can cause problems. Try again later to make sure this isn't the case.
If you still have a problem, please post a detailed description of the results of the above tests, your network config, etc to the Planet Replay Forums.
Appendix C - DMZ
Putting a device/IP in the DMZ causes it to receive all traffic that hasn't otherwise been specifically forwarded to some other device/IP. Thus, depending on whether your ISP blocks incoming port 80 TCP or you have it forwarded elsewhere, a ReplayTV in the DMZ will receive all of the spurious HTTP traffic that was directed at your WAN IP.
If you've ever looked at your firewall logs, you will probably see a lot of attempts to access port 80 (HTTP)--mostly from port scanners etc.--unless your ISP blocks it (as many now do). If they don't block port 80, then with the ReplayTV in the DMZ or with port 80 forwarded to it the web server built into the ReplayTV itself gets to handle all of these requests. Unfortunately, that server is not all that robust and tends to crash when it receives unexpected data. When it does so, IVS and IHVS will stop working until you reboot the ReplayTV since they both depend on that server.
Also, with port 80 open to your ReplayTV, people can access it to schedule/delete shows etc. It's just not a good idea to have any ports other than the IVS port open to your ReplayTV.
Appendix D - Loopback
Loopback refers to the ability of a router to direct one Replay's show sharing request to another on the same router or LAN.
When you accept a show from another Replay'er, you are establishing a connection with that other Replay based on the its IP address, as negotiated via the Replay servers. If that "other" replay is in fact just a second unit on your router, then the WAN IP address for that unit will be same as the IP address of the machine trying to download the show and things could get a little tricky.
A router with "loopbacK" ability is "intelligent" enough to recognize that this network traffic doesn't need to go out via the internet (WAN) at all, but can be simply redirected internally across your home LAN. The show is never sent out across the internet, but instead "loops-back" across the router to the other Replay unit.
Most Linksys home routers have this ability with no special setup needed.
