Wireless for Netflix?

[JimD]

I am at the planning stage for a TV/playback upgrade later this year. I want a LED/LCD TV, probably 40 inch because of space limitations. Price seems to be coming down and the old TV works OK for now. My question relates to the playback, however.

I want a Blue-ray player that can receive movies from netflix. It would be far easier for me to hook up the Blu-ray and thereby TV wirelessly. But I've read some information making me wonder about speed. Anybody try this? If I have to, I can run a wire from the router but it will mean some rewiring. I assume I will need to upgrade my "g" router to "N" but that is no big deal. I want to be able to watch the streaming movies that Netflix provides.

Experience or opinions?

Jim

[Alex Franke]

I watch Netflix a lot now with the Roku player (a genius player -- Netflix, Amazon, MLB, YouTube and a whole lot more), wireless using a Linksys wrt54g. I haven't had any problems at all.

I don't have a HDTV, so I haven't tried any of the HD downloads, though.

[Copper]

We have Netflix on our Wii, which is connected to our wireless network (b/g). I've watched a couple of movies using the "watch instantly" function. Only once did it have to buffer for about 5 seconds. So typically, the speed is just fine. The movies they offer to watch instantly aren't high quality. I'm not sure what will happen when they start streaming hidef movies.

[dbhost]

We do Netflix on our Wii as well. Don't recall the WiFi device, it's actually my BIL's, he NATs behind my Netgear router / switch... We pull Netflix from the Wii, and a couple of Netbooks...

[Alex Franke]

The movies they offer to watch instantly aren't high quality. I'm not sure what will happen when they start streaming hidef movies.

Copper, I'm pretty sure Netflix is streaming a reasonable selection of HD titles now.

[crybdr]

I also, have been wirelessly streaming to the Wii for 480p movies. That little white machine still amazes me. I don't have an HD set yet so I can't offer information on Neflix HD streaming.

Coworkers have the Roku players running wirelessly (nothing fancier than a normal home wireless connection) and they love it.

I would think the only things that could trip you up would be your distance from the wireless router to your streaming device or your bandwidth limit from your internet provider. It seems as if wireless technology itself is very capable of handling the bandwidth.

[Copper]

Copper, I'm pretty sure Netflix is streaming a reasonable selection of HD titles now.

Thanks Alex. I guess I never paid much attention since the Wii doesn't have an HDMI connection - only component. However, I guess I could hook up my laptop...

[gerti]

I believe the Netflix connection is adaptive: better bandwidth=better picture (up to a limit). Of course if your wireless connection exceeds your download bandwidth, faster will not make a difference.

[JimZ]

Opinion only -- we stream Netflix to the Wii, but it's not HD. . .

I'm in the process of doing something similar with a friend's PS3, and I'm wiring Cat-6 (gigabit) ethernet. More of a pain, but my rationale (however weak) is that
a. He owns the house and has no plans to move,
b. if there are changes in Time Warner's infrastructure, it will be toward more bandwidth. I've seen differences in the last 10 years, and it's been amazing,
c. I don't know where the throttling might occur, so eliminating some spots before it even occurs is worth the time to try,
d. if I'm wiring, it's Cat-6 gigabit cable every time -- the pain is in the pulling, not in the price difference.
e. No matter how congested the wireless neighborhood gets, or whatever electronic gizmos she gets that are putting out EMI/RFI, he won't get interference on what might be a bandwidth-intensive segment.

Mind you, I don't recommend it wholesale -- most if the time you don't use nor need that much clear bandwidth. But for dedicated video I'd think more is generally better.

My $0.02

[Cochese]

I have watched a good bit of Netflix on my Xbox and haven't had any issues, even on a G network.

Now if you're going for future compatibility, always run wire. I'd really like to have everything hooked up by wire, but accessibility is an issue. It's in the future plans, but it works fine for now.

[jziegler]

Actually, wireless g should be just fine, as long as you aren't heavily using the connection for other things while watching. The bandwidth of your internet connection is far lower than that of wireless g.

I have a Samsung blu-ray player that does netflix, and the Netflix portion of it works well, but it has trouble playing some DVDs (it will start playing, but then stops responding to any button presses except for power). Funny thing is I haven't ever put a blu-ray disc in it, so I don't know how it works for that.

With all of that said, I have a wired connection between it and my router (I use wired for any fixed location connection in my house. More work, but more reliable and the connection process is easier once it is wired). With the samsung player, you need a samsung USB wireless interface if you want to use wireless, and it is somewhat expensive.

Jim

[SHADOWFOX]

I am using wireless connection via (Linksys WRT54GS) wifi router to stream Netflix HD movies to my Sony PS3 (built-in wireless) and love it, HD stream looks nice. Then my Sony Bravia TV upstairs in the master bedroom is Netflix capable and I just use a wireless bridge (Linksys WET54GS) so I don't have to run wires through the wall and the quality is still great.

[sscherin]

Should work fine.. We have a PC on the 40", Wii downstairs and the kids PC streaming netflix too.. Yeah we've had all 3 running at once sometimes.. We have a 7 meg cable modem package..

It's all on a wireless G network.. (54meg)
you should be good to 50% of your wireless networks capability on a wireless link before you start to see performance issues..

Your internet access will always be your bottleneck.. Not the home network..
Well that is unless you have some insane access like Dual DS3's..

[Cochese]

I will note that if you have your wireless locked down by a passkey, you probably aren't going to see 54Mbps.

[Hoakie]

I just switched from wireless on the Roku where my wireless router was in my basement office and the Roku in the family room upstairs. It was painful to wait for stuff to buffer. I now have it wired by using Sling Media's internet over power line solution

http://www.amazon.com/Slinglink-Turb...5605218&sr=8-1

I added an additional wireless router and plugged the Roku into it. This has the additional benefit of moving a wireless router upstairs which improved the wireless signal and internet speed on the first floor from 1-2 MBits/sec to 10MBits/sec.

Highly recommend this approach. The sling link also lets you hook upto 16 additional units so you can run high speed to all your favorite places. The also have a model that comes with 4 10/100 ports as well

http://www.amazon.com/Sling-Media-Sl...5605632&sr=8-2