Anyone know of a third party WIFI/WRLS USB stick that works with the Patriot Box?

[aasoror]

You absolutely will need a short USB cable extender. The Zonet will not plug snuggly into the back without one, as the lip of the PBO case prohibits full contact. The Zonet is simply too wide to go in directly. For a few pennies more they might have thrown one in but (1) it would increase the weight of packaging, and (2) increased the final cost to you-and-me.

The Zonet is trouble free. I use WPA2/AES and was up and running in minutes.

Same experience with the Air link just plug and play (speaking on personal experiance) + its cheaper + its smaller and will fit without an extension cable.

I would like to elaborate more on the fact that, it really doesn't matter the make or the model of the adapter, if you prey your adapter open you will find the very same Realtek manufacturered chipset that is in the Airlink or the monoprice one. If someone is having hardware related trouble that's a probably a faulty adapter (regardless of the brand).

Now the need to troubleshoot is something else, your end-to-end pleasant experience has so many variables that its unreasonable to attribute it all to the adapter. Variables that ranges from the firmware version of the PBO, the router, the exact adapter placement relative to the router, number of radiating household appliances and wireless electronics and their place relative to signal path, even the interference with the neighbors' existing network. So if it went smoothly for you that doesn't mean it would go "trouble free" for everyone else.

While I do appreciate your positive feedback and your recommendation, I know we all need to reason to feel good about our purchases (especially with the existence of similar if not more convenient and cheaper alternatives), but the Zonet adapter can be anything but the messiah of wifi adapters, its not a one step solution to all the wireless streaming problems and certainly not any other adapter listed here (they are all the same) You haven't even reported 1080p streaming yet (not that I expect it to be any worse/better than the results already reported by the same chipset adapters)

Peace out,

[desertkoala]

I hazard to guess that my itemization of gear is more detailed then any you will find on this message board. I itemized all of my equipment: PC (PlayOn), Router, Adapter Cards, OS Version, blah blah blah. It took a long time to do that. I did that for the community. So please - just chill out dude. You totally have me rethinking ever revisiting this site. I reported what worked for me 100%. If everyone does the same, we all get better. If you are try and shoe horn in and say that somebody -might- not have that experience based upon solar flares and your speculation, you are not helping. yes, I realize the chipset is the same. I'm not dumb. That does not mean they behave the same. Manufacturing batches vary.

Stick with reporting what works and report it in detail. Save the conjecture for Facebook.

[aasoror]

I hazard to guess that my itemization of gear is more detailed then any you will find on this message board.

Stick with reporting what works and report it in detail. Save the conjecture for Facebook.

desertkoala, first let me apologize for any offense taken because honestly non were meant.

Next, I have been here long enough to vouch for your detailed post as one of the better batch of posts on this forum (and I thank you -once more- for the sharing the experience and recommendation).

I am not sure why we got off the wrong foot, but let me rephrase, not all the members here are of equal technical background, skills or expertise. If you spend sometime looking at the different threads here, you would know that wifi connection is one of the most troublesome issues for the average Joe PBO owner (any other senior member can confirm). Lots might get a wrong impression thinking that one adapter is the answer for their wireless problems (and there is many problems). Then, reading your post

The Zonet is trouble free. I use WPA2/AES and was up and running in minutes. No trouble shooting like the prevous note. I'm not sure what he ran into.

This just put the blame on the user if he can't get it right ? as it should run in minutes ?

The point I wanted to make is if your setup works for you then good for you, this doesn't necessary mean Zonet would be trouble free for others and that should be the general understanding (and I don't refer to you by that). And as you said, batches might be faulty but its hard for whole production lines to be.

Once more I hope my post is now clearer, and should by no means deter you from visiting this forum, the PBO community relies contributors like yourself for leverage.

Thanks again,

[outatouch0]

You are not a "member" unless other posters are interacting with you and commenting on your posts.

[desertkoala]

I agree. We must have had a bad day and I was a bit on edge myself.

That said, everything is cool.

Hey. I moved my setup to another part of the house and sure enough, I had to fiddle with the Zonet location using a longer USB cable to get it to work this time. Milleage DOES vary. :-)

My next round of testing will be to use my Linksys Gaming adapter and do some speed comparisons over the internal 10/100 port to Linksys gaming adapter versus the Zonet.

I also plan on some future tests of multiple streams throughout the house under 'relatively' controlled scenarios. What I ultimately want to know is if I can stream 3 NetFlix videos in my house simultaneously:
1. PBO USB Zonet wireless-N
2. Sony BDP-S570 integrated wireless-N
3. Windows 7 PC NetFlix player with Linksys PCI wireless-N

Obviously that bit of testing is unique for my setup but should give a flavor swag of what might be possible in a standard COX Cable 100% wireless house with a PBO in the bedroom. That is my 'finish line' if you will for success.

In a side note, I turned off ALL of my TiVos yesterday. Cox Cable came out and hooked up their HD DVR in place of my TiVo HD DVR. I'm wheening off the system ...slowly but surely.

Peace!

[wigout]

In a side note, I turned off ALL of my TiVos yesterday. Cox Cable came out and hooked up their HD DVR in place of my TiVo HD DVR. I'm wheening off the system ...slowly but surely.

*off-topic*

Whoa, hey I like the Tivo HD- in fact Tivo HD (and streambaby & pytivo) opened my eyes to the awesomeness of home-streaming. Does Tivo not play well with Cox Cable or have you (sounds like) soured on Tivo?

-wigout

[desertkoala]

Yes. I soured on TiVo over the years. I know it's way off topic for this thread so I'll keep it brief. I think this thread is mostly for WiFi rigs that work with PBO.

Remember, you asked ;-). So I'm not flaming TiVo. These are my personal reasons. TiVo has the BEST remote and is very family friendly.

Here are my TiVo gripes:
1. Paying annually for a channel guide feels wrong. Paying for a channel guide for three TiVo is just plain criminal.
2. TiVo does not block/mark commericals. Ever play with SnapStream, then you know what commerical skip really is. 30 second jump is not a work around. I don't mind watch Hulu 20 second commercials. I DO mind watching 3 or 4 minutes of commercials and then trying fast forward.
3. TiVo embeds commercials (sometimes) during fast forward. What?X@!
4. TiVo takes forever to reboot and does not have a clear on/off. Nice job green machine. Shall we melt another iceberg while you figure out how to go green.
5. TiVo is a closed system in every aspect. I can't add any willy nilly external hard drive. I can't swap the internal drive without going through a major ritual involving candles a Roman Catholic priest and a 6pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon.
6. Lack of UPnP/DLNA makes this system non-compatible with everything else being launched by Sony, LG, Samsung, ...heck everybody.
7. The next generation of products (Premiere) are overpriced and lack features. Where the heck is the BlueRay player in this thing.
8. No Wireless-N. Oye. I had to hookup up a gaming adapter to get this to work properly with NetFlix streaming.

Net-net. TiVo was a fantastic technology back in -say- 2002. It bridged the gap between the VCR generation and the video streaming generation. TiVo is a way to throw out a fishing net and catch content WHEN the broadcaster are sending it out. In a world of streaming on demand WHEN we want it, storing content on a local DVR seems kinda silly. I don't want to buy 2TB worth of storage in 4 places in my home to replicate NBC nightly news. I want to watch the news and have it evaporate off my gear when I'm done. The TiVo pardign simply does not add up anymore. The only thing I want to store on local disk are home movies. The rest should be stuff we stream from the Internet on-demand. ...again, where is the BlueRay player on Premier? Such a missed opportunity.

Remember, you asked. ;-) Have a good day. I'm not ranting. This is just a personal opinion. Again, TiVo is great for a lot of folks. Just not me.

[Interlocutor]

I used an adapter, as you warned. After a couple of weeks however, I noticed that the dongle didn't connect well to that either. In a fit of anger I shoved it into the back of the box office and it not only fit, it seems to have a much better connection????

[aasoror]

Probably the most recognized adapter among the PBO community ..
on sale at Meritline again

Start From 8:30AM Pacific Time (3/29)
$9.99 w/Coupon Code: MLCK216244032950NL1 For First 700 Orders
$12.99 w/Coupon Code: MLC216244032935NL1 After 700 Orders

P.S. a US only deal.

[Interlocutor]

That is a really great deal but is it that much better than the zonet dongle ZEW2546? Or the 2 Linksys wusb100 APs I have. I have a lot invested already--a WL ROUTER&AP BUFFALO|WZR-HP-G300NH should be here tomorrow.
Despite all my machinations all I really have to show so far are files that I could more easily burn on a CD (if I haven't already) and pop into my CD/DVD player.
I installed Tversity and, while I seem to have content in there, most of it remains, inaccesible for some reason. Streaming--Ha! It streams to my desktop then dries up. If I had this working and I thought it would work better with those sticks, then I would get them in a heartbeat (still might, but that's because I'm a sucker and want to get someting for my money).
Please don't think I'm running you down, this is a good post, I'm just so frustrated with the little box that couldn't.
Even if I get this thing working, I'll have to hold a seminar, to teach anyone else how to use it. This is strictly geeksville tech.