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Difficult start, good for now... (mac OS X)

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    Difficult start, good for now... (mac OS X)

    Well, I wish I had an easier start. I was damn excited to get the Vudu box on my porch. Here is my tale of woe (but it does provide a happy ending)...

    I do not have an ethernet connection at my AV system so I planned on using a wireless hookup. I have an extra wireless access point so I decided to try it out. Well, it was a USB wireless access point and Vudu doesn't support it. Stike! I got a brilliant idea to just add a cable modem under the TV next to the AV setup since the cable goes in there. Off to Best Buy and back with a cable modem. Well, Charter doesn't allow multiple cable modems in one household unless they run the lines in themselves and then open an additional account. No way, strike 2. I remembered I had an additional wireless print server laying around - it is ethernet driven and I was told it would work. Nope, couldn't get the linksys wireless print server to work. Strike 3 (ok, extra innings). So, I looked in this forum and found a way to convert a Linksys router via Tomato to act as an access point. Well, after further investigation I found that this does not apply to the newer version that Best Buy and Circuit City sell - only older versions (or if you can find the Linux version which mine doesn't carry. Strike 4.

    So, I could do the electrical network but didn't want to hassle with it since it wasn't guaranteed to work. At this point I only wanted something to work. So, I found a solution that works with a Mac...

    Airport Express has one Ethernet port and has the added bonus of an audio out that will stream iTunes to your stereo. To set this up, add the airport express as an extender and then you are done. No downloading patches - easy as pie. Now for the happy ending. The $100 airport express ended up costing me over $2000 !! Those Apple Stores suckered me in to buying a new 24" iMac with other goodies. But, damn this computer is nice.

    Guy Gadois

    #2
    Re: Difficult start, good for now... (mac OS X)

    Great story Guy...I am glad you got your VUDU up and running. Enjoy your VUDU and your new iMac. I am surprised you didn't go for the full monty with the Apple guys and get the iPhone or a iPod Touch.

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Difficult start, good for now... (mac OS X)

      Originally posted by Guy Gadois View Post
      Airport Express has one Ethernet port and has the added bonus of an audio out that will stream iTunes to your stereo. To set this up, add the airport express as an extender and then you are done. No downloading patches - easy as pie. Now for the happy ending. The $100 airport express ended up costing me over $2000 !! Those Apple Stores suckered me in to buying a new 24" iMac with other goodies. But, damn this computer is nice.
      Heh! Heh! I love it!

      Welcome, fellow Mac brother! Always good to have us OS X types around...

      Enjoy the new toys!

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Difficult start, good for now... (mac OS X)

        Originally posted by Guy Gadois View Post
        Well, I wish I had an easier start. I was damn excited to get the Vudu box on my porch. Here is my tale of woe (but it does provide a happy ending)...

        I do not have an ethernet connection at my AV system so I planned on using a wireless hookup. I have an extra wireless access point so I decided to try it out. Well, it was a USB wireless access point and Vudu doesn't support it. Stike! I got a brilliant idea to just add a cable modem under the TV next to the AV setup since the cable goes in there. Off to Best Buy and back with a cable modem. Well, Charter doesn't allow multiple cable modems in one household unless they run the lines in themselves and then open an additional account. No way, strike 2. I remembered I had an additional wireless print server laying around - it is ethernet driven and I was told it would work. Nope, couldn't get the linksys wireless print server to work. Strike 3 (ok, extra innings). So, I looked in this forum and found a way to convert a Linksys router via Tomato to act as an access point. Well, after further investigation I found that this does not apply to the newer version that Best Buy and Circuit City sell - only older versions (or if you can find the Linux version which mine doesn't carry. Strike 4.

        So, I could do the electrical network but didn't want to hassle with it since it wasn't guaranteed to work. At this point I only wanted something to work. So, I found a solution that works with a Mac...

        Airport Express has one Ethernet port and has the added bonus of an audio out that will stream iTunes to your stereo. To set this up, add the airport express as an extender and then you are done. No downloading patches - easy as pie. Now for the happy ending. The $100 airport express ended up costing me over $2000 !! Those Apple Stores suckered me in to buying a new 24" iMac with other goodies. But, damn this computer is nice.

        Guy Gadois
        I'm glad to see this post as I've just ordered an Airport Express to hook up to the Vudu box. I too have been sucked into purchasing a 24" iMac along with an iPhone and all the other gear lol. I assume the Airport Express will be easy to setup as a bridge.

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Difficult start, good for now... (mac OS X)

          I too use the airport express for my internet connection to VuDu. I just wanted to mention that you don't need a Mac to use Airport Express. It works just as well with that clunky, blue screen OS.....Microsoft something.

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Difficult start, good for now... (mac OS X)

            Originally posted by jonathon View Post
            I assume the Airport Express will be easy to setup as a bridge.
            You have to set it up as an wireless extender. At least that is how the Apple Support person told me and it worked. Good luck.

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Difficult start, good for now... (mac OS X)

              Originally posted by Guy Gadois View Post
              You have to set it up as an wireless extender. At least that is how the Apple Support person told me and it worked. Good luck.
              One final dumb question if I may: do you connect it via USB or ethernet?

              Cheers

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Difficult start, good for now... (mac OS X)

                Originally posted by jonathon View Post
                One final dumb question if I may: do you connect it via USB or ethernet?

                Cheers
                The only network connection the Vudu supports is ethernet.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Difficult start, good for now... (mac OS X)

                  Originally posted by NA9D View Post
                  The only network connection the Vudu supports is ethernet.
                  Thanks for the response.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: Difficult start, good for now... (mac OS X)

                    Apple needs an "Airport Pro" with at least 8 ethernet connections out the back.. I was going to buy an airport but realized it only had 3, ended up buying another WRT54GL along with an 8 port gig ethernet switch and its all full now!!!!!!!.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: Difficult start, good for now... (mac OS X)

                      I just set mine up with airport extreme base station bridged to an airport express. it works flawlessly.

                      you have to set the express up in WDS mode (bridged). the easiest way to set up as with most apple products is to start from beginning. reset the express to factory state and connect it to airport utility. You have to use the bundled software with AP Extreme called Airport Utility to make it easier (NOT airport admin utility).


                      my setup:

                      cable modem -> AP Extreme (802.11n version) -> (bridge mode) -> AP Express -> Vudu

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: Difficult start, good for now... (mac OS X)

                        Just realize that setting a router up in WDS mode takes away half your available wireless bandwidth. So if you had a 54 Mb/sec connection previously, the best you will not get is 27 Mb/sec. That other 27 Mb/sec is dedicated to the bridging function.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: Difficult start, good for now... (mac OS X)

                          Originally posted by NA9D View Post
                          Just realize that setting a router up in WDS mode takes away half your available wireless bandwidth. So if you had a 54 Mb/sec connection previously, the best you will not get is 27 Mb/sec. That other 27 Mb/sec is dedicated to the bridging function.

                          And that is 27 Mb if you are 10 ft. from the router. The further you are and any obstructions and the signal will degrade. Also remeber that the entire bandwidth is shared between devices so if you have other devices that are wireless the transfer rates will drop even further.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Re: Difficult start, good for now... (mac OS X)

                            to clarify -

                            my understanding on WDS is that if the bridged client (in this case the Airport Express) is configured to NOT accept wireless clients - only use the wired ethernet connection, then bandwidth stays the same and not halved. Essentially it then just acts like a network card or wired access point.

                            now i'm not a networking guy, but i did plug my laptop into the express and ran a bandwidth test. it performed pretty much the same as if i were using the same laptop wireless through the base station (airport extreme).

                            EDIT: should have also said i'm using the new extreme 802.11n

                            none the less vudu seems to work as expected.

                            please guys correct me if i'm wrong.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Re: Difficult start, good for now... (mac OS X)

                              What you described is client mode. And yes you don't lose half the bandwidth in client mode. One other thing in client mode is that usually they only support one device due to the way the "MAC" address is handled (ps. MAC is Media Access Control its the adapter address).

                              Comment

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