So IT gibbons Assist me…

I’ve just got a Sony BDPS380 Blueray player and I’m buggered if I’m paying for the Sony dongle to use it with my Wifi…

I’ve heard tell of people using ethernet – wifi bridges with Sony Blueray players and PS3s, etc (it has an ethernet port)…

I have a spare wifi router (Netgear), can these be re-tasked and setup to work as a Wifi bridge? or do I need ot buy a specific bit of kit, and if so – what?

Don’t know about the bridge, but could you use a powerplug setup to link the Sony with your network? Would give you a more reliable data transfer.

So IT gibbons Assist me…

Always a good way to start!

A bridge will be difficult to set up with the Netgear I think.

Get some powerplugs, they’re quite cheap and as above, very reliable.

Did this for my brother’s “internet” TV. It had a USB port at the back which you needed a special dongle for + a bog standard ethernet port. I bought him one of thee:-

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VONETS-VAP11G-WIFI-BRIDGE-SKY-ANYTIME-XBOX-PS3-/230629580185

Plug into the ethernet port for data and takes power from the USB port.

Set it up initially from your PC to connect to your Wifi then plug it into your “home entertainment device” and you’re away.

How far away is the bluray player? Could you run an ethernet cable from your router all the way to it?

Alot of people seem sold on powerplug adapters and I might well go down that route but as I have a spare Netgear router I thought the cheapest option to look at first would be to convert it to a bridge (Zero outlay if it works you see).

Reading up on it a bit more it seems some routers can apparently be used as bridges as they come, other apparently might require a firmware change seeing as it’s now a spare, borking it and turning it into a brick doesn’t really worry me…

Next cheapest option is a ~£20 ethernet bridge off flea bay I think power adapters work out ~£30-£40 but would be alot faster only thing is our actual broadband speed isn’t stunning so having a wonderfully fast home network is not such a big deat TBH…

Sony’s own solution – their USB dongle has an RRP of ~£70 but can be found for around £45ish, still far too much for a re-branded cheapo wifi dongle IMO…

So has anyone fudged a netgear router into a bridge before?

Oh and out of interest do Power adapters have to be plugged directly into a power plug or can they be used in a multi gang extension jobbie?

edit –

How far away is the bluray player? Could you run an ethernet cable from your router all the way to it?

Nope… well I could but the missus has a bee inher bonnet about visible cables at the minute I’m allowed one very neat bit of trunking to the wall mounted telly – a ~20 foot ethernet cable tacked around the perimiter of the lounge and into the hallway would not go down well… no wires is better – keeps her sweet.

if your device is listed here

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Supported_Devices

then you can use dd-wrt as your bridge. works really well

that said – what do you want your bluray player to *do* with the network? 1080p stuff won’t stream over wifi (you really need gigabit for it), and the network-enabled features of blueray are mostly naff

Oh and out of interest do Power adapters have to be plugged directly into a power plug or can they be used in a multi gang extension jobbie?

In ‘theory’ directly into the wall is best, but mine work no problem on extensions. Think the main PC is even on a surge protection thingy and it still chugs away nicely.

Careful mind, there are different speed powerplugs and they don’t all talk to each other, so don’t expect the 95mbps to talk to a 200mbps plug.

that said – what do you want your bluray player to *do* with the network? 1080p stuff won’t stream over wifi (you really need gigabit for it), and the network-enabled features of blueray are mostly naff

I’d like to be able to stream Lovefilm, iplayer, etc through it, we’re just having yet another “Fault” with our broadband diagnosed, when they’ve finished I’d be stunned if the broadband touches 7mbps tops, the Wii and laptops get on fine with iplayer over wifi at the minute, but Streaming HD stuff wasn’t really my goal, I sort of wanted to convert the missus to the the joys of streaming films straight to the TV more than anything so that when the time comes for a new ISP I can make the case for a “fancy fibre” connection… but that’s the long term goal, first things first I need a basic setup working…

ok yeah that should suit fine then. one of these is a simple, cheap way of achieving what you want..

http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?q=WA500G&hl=en&cid=8138668352213463884&ei=YS25TsmLJ4iSjQTY5Yj4DA&ved=0CAcQ8wIwAA#p

In ‘theory’ directly into the wall is best, but mine work no problem on extensions. Think the main PC is even on a surge protection thingy and it still chugs away nicely

Yes but your PC isn’t trying to send data down its power cable! You’re better off plugging it into the wall directly. I’d also recommend the powerplug that has both an ethernet port and wifi as you can plug the Sony straight into it and it will also exend your wireless network.

If you need the four-gang extension cable for your other kit, do it the other way round. Get a passthrough socket and plug the 4gang into that?

Cheers all for the replys,

first thing I’ll try is the dd-wrt firmware on the Netgear see if that’s a goer gotta check the model first, if that fails then I think I might opt for a cheapy bridge…

I like the powerline adapters but the cost/benefit isn’t really there given our relatively low broadband speed anything faster than a basic Wifi – Ethernet bridge is just going to be a waste of money…

” what do you want your bluray player to *do* with the network? 1080p stuff won’t stream over wifi (you really need gigabit for it), and the network-enabled features of blueray are mostly naff”

I have a Sony blu-ray player with wireless built in: it streams Iplayer in HD, which is a really handy feature. It also has Lovefilm, and will stream music stored on my laptop.

So the OP should have no problem streaming with a wired connection.

Good luck with that. My experiences of chipping netgears are it can be a bit of a pain. YMMV.