Sorry if this has been asked before, I didn’t seem to find a related post. I"m all “new” to the WD, in fact I’m waiting on it to arrive. I purchased the Live Plus but have not ordered an adpater as yet as I’m not sure what to get. I’m running the lastest system software on my Mac (snow leopard) and it is upstairs. My box will be in my theater room in the basement so I’ll need something semi-long range I guess. “N”? Guess I’ll have to get a new router too.
Anyway, if someone could let me know what they’ve had success with I’d really appreciate it! Thanks in advance!
Bear in mind that whatever anybody recommends you must get the same version / revision adaptor as the one they have or it may not work. The problem is that the manufacturer often changes the chipset of adaptors and then the hub may not recognise it. Unfortunately the suppliers do not normally list these version / revision numbers.
One way of reducing the “risk” is to look into getting a wireless bridge instead.
You plug into it via ethernet, so there should be zero compatibility issues with the Live. A wireless N / dual band router may be a good investment. Or, if you already have a router that works ok, perhaps a pair of wireless N Access Points / Bridges, like this. Plug one into the Live, the other into the router.
Another alternative is Powerline, such as WD’s Livewire solution that provides networking via your electrical wiring.
My only concern there is how much it depends on the quality of your wiring. In my apartment I get about 24Mbps stable transfers; the Livewire reports much higher “connection” rates (above 100Mbps) but actual speeds never get much above 3MB/sec.
Still, it’s enough for 720p streaming and I even got 1080p working smoothly enough via media server (but I can’t guarantee that all 1080p files would work, I only have a couple of test files).
Thanks…actually the router is upstairs so wouldnt be able to connect the bridge or does that just “boost” the range etc and I would still just get a wireless usb adapter? Sorry…I’m generally good at this stuff but finding this a little confusing…
the wiring in the basement is brand new …I’ll have to look into that as well i guess…actually the powerline kit looks way more then I need…I wouldnt be connecting anything to it…not to sound cheap but was looking for a more inexpesive solution.
I guess what I’ll do is just take a shot at a USB adabpter and see how it goes…
Sorry, I know this is probably really dumb question…I don’t really have a “ton” of movies on my computer actually and now I’m just thinking why don’t I just download them to a mypassport drive, plug that into the WD and play from that? That’s feasible right?
That way I dont have to worry about streaming connection issues etc…I wasn’t even thinking along that route…
I’m really not thinking this thing through…I can use an external drive for movie files etc but if I want to connect to youtube, netflix, blockbuster, etc I WILL NEED a USB adapter…
so back to square one…I’m running out now to shop around…thinking a netgear or the buffalo one…
I use a Netgear WNR3500L together with a Belkin N1 adapter (F5D8051 v3100).
It’s not a Dual Band router (which I slightly regret, being too cheap to buy the more expensive model) but it works well enough for me, with many devices successfully connecting at decent speeds.
Right now, I get about 5MB/sec stable to the Hub, although in the right conditions I’ve seen as high as 7MB/sec stable (peak has been 8MB/sec but that’s very rare). Fast enough for 720p from net shares or 1080p from media server (media server is more stable if you get stutters over network shares).
Should point out that the Belkin F5D8051 is an older Draft-N wifi dongle and you may get better results using a newer Netgear dongle (assuming it’s on the oh-so-unhelpful WD compatibility list).
I’m using it in a single level apartment with a bunch of neighbours polluting the airwaves with their AT&T routers.
Not sure how well it’d cope getting into your basement.
I have been using the Linksys WNDR3700 wireless router with the Cisco\Linksys WUSB600N (V2) wireless adapter with great success. Having simultaneous dual band and being able to dedicate the 5MHz radio to video made a noticeable difference. I am on the Windows OS but it should work the same with a Mac.
Well I ran to BestBuy as I was to excited to get home and unpack the “box”, and of course not much selection so just picked this up Belkin - Surf & Share Wireless-N USB Adapter (Model: F7D2101 Wireless-B+G+N Up to 300 Mbps) at least to try and see what kind of signal I would get etc.,
Get home, unpack the Amazon box, and the WD Live Plus is damaged! UGH! The neverending saga!
