DirecTV TIVO in Canada

DirecTV isn't offered in Canada, though TIVO service is. A person can
have DirecTV, though, if they have a U.S. address. That is my
situation. I would now like to get a DirecTV TIVO, BUT if the unit has
to call DirecTV it won't work, because there are no DirecTV numbers to
call in Canada. I talked to a DirecTV tech and he said there are two
kinds of DVRs used by DirecTV: their own units (Hughes?) and TIVO
units. He said if I bought a DirecTV TIVO (i.e. made by TIVO), it
would call a TIVO number, which is fine because there are TIVO numbers
in Canada. My question is, how do I identify a TIVO unit made for
DirecTV? I saw one at Walmart, for example, that says DirecTV and TIVO
on it, but that disdn't tell me what I needed to know. Anyone have any
ideas on this?

Also, I do have DSL Internet service if that does anything for me.

<looknfourit.RemoveThis@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:1144877820.749972.62850@t31g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> DirecTV isn't offered in Canada, though TIVO service is. A person can
> have DirecTV, though, if they have a U.S. address. That is my
> situation. I would now like to get a DirecTV TIVO, BUT if the unit has
> to call DirecTV it won't work, because there are no DirecTV numbers to
> call in Canada. I talked to a DirecTV tech and he said there are two
> kinds of DVRs used by DirecTV: their own units (Hughes?) and TIVO
> units. He said if I bought a DirecTV TIVO (i.e. made by TIVO), it
> would call a TIVO number, which is fine because there are TIVO numbers
> in Canada. My question is, how do I identify a TIVO unit made for
> DirecTV? I saw one at Walmart, for example, that says DirecTV and TIVO
> on it, but that disdn't tell me what I needed to know. Anyone have any
> ideas on this?
>
> Also, I do have DSL Internet service if that does anything for me.
>

DirecTV DVRs with TiVo are designed to make two types
of phone calls. The TiVo service call is made every other day
or once every 8 days. The number used for this call is configurable
to a select number of telephone exchanges in the US and perhaps
Canada if your information is correct. The other phone call is made
a few days before the monthly DirecTV billing cycle closes. This call
is made to a 1-8xx phone number and is not user configurable.

The 1-8xx number could be used to verify the reported location of the
DVR using Automatic Number Identification (ANI). Callerid blocking
won't disable this feature. ANI will report the exchange and phone
number of the line where the call originates. The 1-8xx numbers might
not be accessible from Canada.

A DirecTV DVR with TiVo software will have DirecTV and TiVo logos
on the front panel.

Some users report their DirecTV DVRs with TiVo are never connected to
a phone line.