"Internet ready" blueray dvd players question

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johns

I have a new HDTV and I want to buy a Blueray dvd player
to use with it and stream movies, etc to it. I have Verizon
cableTV and network. I also have a computer which talks
out over a cable DSLmodem, but the modem only has
one network input .. a cheapy, but works fine.

Question: is there a Blueray DVD player that has a
builtin DSLmodem ( not just another RJ45 output ) that
could go straight to the cableTV wallplate ? Or am I
stuck needing a new switch/router/DSL modem combo
with wireless modules for the Blueray ? I have looked
at a dozen Blueray boxes, and not one of them has
a coax connector on the back .. only RJ45.

I ask the Geeks, and it became pretty obvious that they
are clueless regards how all this works. They sort of know,
and they sort of evade my questions.

I also understand that there is a dedicated "Netflix" box
that will do this too. But again, does that box go to
my router/DSLmodem ? Or does it have it's own DSL
modem ?

And then, what will Verizon think of me having 2 DSL
modems ? Will they register both to one account ?

The typical answer I'm getting from all the experts goes
something like, "Yes, you need a router. " Hint: routers
don't talk out to ISPs. That is done by the DSLmodem.
Some router$ have a multiport front end switch .. a router
.... and a builtin DSLmodem. That is not a "router". It is
a combo switch-router-cable DSLmodem.

One Geek at Best Buy tried to tell me that all I needed
was an Internet Ready HDTV ... and he pointed to several
on the wall. Ain't no way that's true.

johns
 
johns said:
I have a new HDTV and I want to buy a Blueray dvd player
to use with it and stream movies, etc to it. I have Verizon
cableTV and network. I also have a computer which talks
out over a cable DSLmodem, but the modem only has
one network input .. a cheapy, but works fine.

Question: is there a Blueray DVD player that has a
builtin DSLmodem ( not just another RJ45 output ) that
could go straight to the cableTV wallplate ? Or am I
stuck needing a new switch/router/DSL modem combo
with wireless modules for the Blueray ? I have looked
at a dozen Blueray boxes, and not one of them has
a coax connector on the back .. only RJ45.

I ask the Geeks, and it became pretty obvious that they
are clueless regards how all this works. They sort of know,
and they sort of evade my questions.

I also understand that there is a dedicated "Netflix" box
that will do this too. But again, does that box go to
my router/DSLmodem ? Or does it have it's own DSL
modem ?

And then, what will Verizon think of me having 2 DSL
modems ? Will they register both to one account ?

The typical answer I'm getting from all the experts goes
something like, "Yes, you need a router. " Hint: routers
don't talk out to ISPs. That is done by the DSLmodem.
Some router$ have a multiport front end switch .. a router
... and a builtin DSLmodem. That is not a "router". It is
a combo switch-router-cable DSLmodem.

One Geek at Best Buy tried to tell me that all I needed
was an Internet Ready HDTV ... and he pointed to several
on the wall. Ain't no way that's true.

johns
Click to expand...

There are devices like this, but this article isn't going to make
anything clearer for you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_extender

Bluray might come in two forms. A raw drive, would fit inside a
computer, have something like a SATA interface, and work like
previous DVD or CD drives.

A Bluray player, would be a settop device, with an HDMI output.
It would sit on top of the TV, and plug directly into the back
of the TV. You'd put in the disc and play it right there.

If you instead had the Bluray drive, and had it on the computer,
then perhaps a media extender, located next to the TV, and wired
with CAT5 Ethernet cablihg, could be used to set up a streaming situation.
But equally well, you could rip the Bluray content to the computer
hard drive, and play it from there. (I see claims in the review
here, that this thing plays ISO files, where an ISO is just
an "image" of the optical disc.)

Western Digital WD TV Live Plus HD Media Player $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136593

Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex USB 2.0 Black TV HD Media Player (Only) STAJ100 $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148585

A press release from Western Digital

"WD TV Live Hub media center"
http://www.wdc.com/en/company/pressroom/releases.aspx?release=f53cc823-7874-41b1-af3e-08ed7dc68099

"WD TV Live Hub Media Center $200"
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136831

I generally look at the connectors on the back, to see whether
it's roughly in the right ballpark as a device.

http://images17.newegg.com/is/image/newegg/22-136-831-Z04?$S640W$

From left to right, the connectors on the back are:

Power input (from wall adapter)
SPDIF output (to home theatre receiver speaker system)
HDMI port to TV set (could well have audio over HDMI)
USB port
Ethernet port (RJ45, plugs into your home LAN router box)
Composite jacks (low res output composite video, left audio, right audio)
Component jacks (YPbPr, roughly same qualities as HDMI)

So basically the box has network in, and TV out. And it has storage
inside. And you can "see it" from your PC. And the device has a
remote control, so you sit on the couch and pick the content to
play. Apparently, there are even third party firmwares for it
(implying a Linux based core inside the box, which can be
updated if you don't like the official release).

I got the connector identification on the back of that example,
from this user manual.

"WD TV Live Hub Media Center User Manual"

http://www.wdc.com/wdproducts/library/UM/ENG/4779-705046.pdf

Maybe you can get what you need from that.

Instead of Cat5 Ethernet cable, you could also attempt a wireless
setup. Some media extenders have wifi already built in, or alternately,
they may take a USB Wifi dongle plugged into one of the USB ports.
But Wifi also adds in variable performance, whereas the Ethernet
cable "just works". The cable is a nuisance to run, which is
why a person might be tempted to try to set up wireless instead.

A place like an Audio/Video forum, is likely to have experts
in the field.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1283694

Paul
 
?As Grinder stated your best option is a wireless router or a wired router
if
you dont mind running cable from the modem to the router to the computer and
to the Blu-ray.
Be careful when buying the Blu-ray some say wireless ready but need an extra
dongle to make it work.
also some say Netflix ready but they still have not updated the firmware to
make netflix work.
I ran into this with a Samsung machine...the wireless dongle was included
and I had no problem
connecting to my wireless router and accessing movies on my computer...but
the firmware update
they promised to access netflix never happened.

A media box is an option as Paul stated but again you would need a wireless
router to access the net.
and again you would need to read the reviews very carefully because not all
of them can access netflix...
only promises of future firmware updates

peter



If you find a posting or message from me offensive,inappropriate
or disruptive,please ignore it.
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to me and I will be only too happy to demonstrate :-)
"johns" wrote in message

I have a new HDTV and I want to buy a Blueray dvd player
to use with it and stream movies, etc to it. I have Verizon
cableTV and network. I also have a computer which talks
out over a cable DSLmodem, but the modem only has
one network input .. a cheapy, but works fine.

Question: is there a Blueray DVD player that has a
builtin DSLmodem ( not just another RJ45 output ) that
could go straight to the cableTV wallplate ? Or am I
stuck needing a new switch/router/DSL modem combo
with wireless modules for the Blueray ? I have looked
at a dozen Blueray boxes, and not one of them has
a coax connector on the back .. only RJ45.

I ask the Geeks, and it became pretty obvious that they
are clueless regards how all this works. They sort of know,
and they sort of evade my questions.

I also understand that there is a dedicated "Netflix" box
that will do this too. But again, does that box go to
my router/DSLmodem ? Or does it have it's own DSL
modem ?

And then, what will Verizon think of me having 2 DSL
modems ? Will they register both to one account ?

The typical answer I'm getting from all the experts goes
something like, "Yes, you need a router. " Hint: routers
don't talk out to ISPs. That is done by the DSLmodem.
Some router$ have a multiport front end switch .. a router
.... and a builtin DSLmodem. That is not a "router". It is
a combo switch-router-cable DSLmodem.

One Geek at Best Buy tried to tell me that all I needed
was an Internet Ready HDTV ... and he pointed to several
on the wall. Ain't no way that's true.

johns
 
The DSL standard only allows for one DSL modem per telephone line.  Hook
two of them up with some kind of telephone splitter and neither will
work correctly, if at all.
Click to expand...

That's what I kind of figured. I'm not on telephone.
I'm on cableTV, which means my DSLmodem is
a "cable" DSLmodem. Regardless, one modem is
one modem. Meaning, I have to go Blueray box
to DSLmodem .. and probably I need a router
with at least 2 switch inputs .. and then to the
modem. The router would take the 2 wireless
modules unless the router was already wireless
.... and then I wonder if the Blueray box could
include wireless .. which I doubt.

Ideally then, I'm shopping for an Internet Ready
HDTV which includes a small PC inside it ...
a wireless NIC .. and if I don't use a router to
share my cable DSLmodem, I need a multi-
port wireless router with RJ45 inputs to network
my laptop, PC, and IRHDTV. Hoooot ! That's
a pile of junk on the table. If no IR-HDTV, then
I need the external Blueray "computer" DVD
player .. hopefully wireless .. or 2 wireless
modules to talk to the router.

I think I'll stick to my game box PC which
has an Nvidia GTX 275 card, and just stream
Netflix to my 24 inch 16:9 lcd monitor. Then
get a whopping big HDTV and be done with it.

Must be a bunch of mad buyers out there
who don't realize what they are getting in to.

johns
 
I was talking about this to a friend of mine this
week, and she says she has an HDTV that streams
HDTV from Netflix, and all she had to do was
use her controller for the HDTV to enter the SSID
of her wireless router. She doesn't have Blu-ray.
Apparently her HDTV is entirely "internet ready"
like the guy at Best Buy was saying ????????
She says the "computer" is the hand-held
controller that came with her HDTV. It is a
small computer with wireless NIC, and it talks
to the HDTV which is also wireless. Her DVD
player is not even in the picture. She has one,
but it has nothing to do with the communication
to Netflix. She was told if she wanted a Blue-ray
DVD player to talk to her router, she should go
"ethernet-over-ACpower .. takes 2 modules to
couple ethernet into her house power lines.

That little controller box is what I did not know
about apparently. It looks suspiciously like a
game console too :-)

This is really getting out of control. I"m going
to wind up with a closet full of useless, but
working, computer parts if I'm not careful.

johns
 
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