WD Live Hub USB wireless adapter

WD Legacy Products WD TV Live Hub Discussions
1

Hey Guys need your help and advice

I want to buy USB wifi adapter for my WD TV Live Hub, cuz im really tired with this wired network.

So i saw that there is a list of some specific adapters which work.

http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3805/~/list-of-compatible-devices-for-the-wd-tv-live-hd-media-player-and-wd-tv-live

I went to the shop and told them i wanna see if it works first and then to buy it;
So i brought my WDTVLIVE and tried two USB adapters they had that were on the list

TP-Link Wireless N USB adapter TL-WN821N Ver 2.2 (but they had v. 3.0)
and

D-Link Wireless 150 USB Adapter DWA-125 Version A1, FW 1.00 (have no idea which version they had)

So none of them turned on,i mean the light didn’t blink on the usb adapter either, and Network Settings couldn’t find anything;

So later when i came home i noticed that firmware should be

“The following devices have been tested and are known to be compatible with the WD TV Live (WDBAAx0000NBK) HD Media Player (using firmware 1.06.15_V) and the WD TV Live Plus HD Media Player (using firmware 1.06.16_B).”

But on this site i saw different

http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5688/~/list-of-compatible-devices-for-the-wd-tv-live-hub-media-center-and-wd-tv-live

it says 

The following devices have been tested and are known to be compatible with the _ WD TV Live Hub Media Center _ (using firmware 3.01.19) and WD TV Live Streaming Media Player (firmware 1.06.04).

Then i checked my firmware and as i saw it was 2.xx something;

So, what can i do? What is the reason for that?

Maybe i should buy the Lan-Wifi that plugs in not into the USB but Lan port of the Media Player? But will that work?

Plz advice; 

P.S.

When i plug it in even if its working, should i install some drivers? 

2

The first URL you list is adapters for the WDTV Live HD and the WDTV Live Plus.   It’s not applicable to the Live Hub.

 So, what can i do? What is the reason for that?

What is the reason for what?

 When i plug it in even if its working, should i install some drivers? 

No, the drivers for the supported WiFi adapter are built into the WD’s firmware.   That’s why only certain models / revisions work.

3

So the question i have, 

how do i upgrade firmware? through internet?

and if i upgradde  it, duz it mean, that the same usb adapters will turn on? 

because today it didnt even have lights blinking, when i plugged it in the usb, and now it will have after firmware upgrade? 

4

Read the user manual on how to upgrade the firmware.

If the Brand / Model / Revision listed in the WD website matches what you have, it should work.

5

It’s not just the model that needs to be matched. The Version/Revision needs to be exactly the same too. The wireless adapters you mentioned doesn’t match with the list, that’s why it’s not working. The LAN-Wifi devices will work so that’s your option if you can’t find an exact match.

You can upgrade your firmware without connecting the hub directly to the internet. Just read your manual for details. 

6

Since no one has mentioned it, if you plan on streaming HD content via wireless you can forget it. The Hub will choke on high-resolution content over wireless in 98% of installations.

7

Which USB adapter was slow for you in case of HD movies? 

and HD movies u mean ones that are over few GB’s in size right?

What about just regular 1.4GB ones, will it have a trouble with that?

8

ShoToradze wrote:

Which USB adapter was slow for you in case of HD movies? 

and HD movies u mean ones that are over few GB’s in size right?

What about just regular 1.4GB ones, will it have a trouble with that?

It really doesn’t matter much what USB adapter you use.

You can’t use the HD video’s size as the basis. It will depend on whether it is 720p/i or 1080p/i and its bitrate. In my case, if I use both wireless on the hub and computer, I can play HD videos in 720p with 3mbps bitrate and below but anything higher than that specially the 1080p, I can’t. But what works for me is I wired my hub while my computer is still wireless. With that, I can play all 720p and 1080p videos that I have smoothly.

9

As was said, file size has nothing to do with it, the bitrate is what is important. I prefer to convert my BD rips to a lossless MKV, which results in high bitrate files of about 20gb in size. No way these will stream wirelessly on the Hub, but they play just fine when stored locally.  If you’re willing to sacrifice some quality for a streamable bitrate, then wireless is possible.