Editorial Review

Roku is a little box that allows you to instantly stream tons of entertainment on your TV. Watch over 100,000 movies and TV shows from Netflix, Amazon Video On Demand, and more. Listen to music on Pandora, or listen to your own iTunes playlists. Even watch major sports, news, or original Internet programming. It's all available whenever you want it. The all-new, top-of-the-line Roku XDS sets a new standard with 1080p streaming video, the latest wireless technology, and Instant Replay. All for under $100. No wonder Roku is the best selling streaming player ever. ... Read more

Reviews

Every once in a while, a truly impressive device comes along., October 16, 2010
Like a lot of people who use Amazon, I own all kinds of electronic gear. Every once in a while, you get your hands on a device that really stands out in terms of ease of use and performance. When I first hooked up my Slingbox, for example, I realized that it was unique and was going to add something truly useful and impressive to my audio-video set-up. When I read a description of the Roku box, I had a similar expectation. Could it be as easy to use as advertised? Would it perform on a level that would really satisfy? Would it be one of those "stand out" devices? Now I can say in all honesty that the Roku player is everything I hoped and more. When the description says you will be up and running in just a few minutes, you can believe it. I opened the box, plugged in the power cord, attached a cable to my high speed router, and ran audio to my amp. I turned everything on and immediately saw the set-up screen for the Roku player. To run a quick test, I tried streaming a video from Netflix--it worked perfectly. This initial set-up and test took no more than 10 minutes. After several days of using the Roku, I have yet to have even the slightest problem. I have added a couple dozen channels and all work as expected. My only moment of hesitation came when I saw how small the Roku player is. It is tiny sitting there with all the other components, but when I saw what it could do, the size became inconsequential. The Roku player truly is an impressive device. While not necessarily a replacement, the Roku XDS Streaming Player is another serious alternative to cable TV. By the way, for those traveling outside the USA, where Netflix does not allow the streaming of movies on your PC, there is a way to connect the Roku player to your Slingbox. You then have access to Netflix through the Roku wherever you have an internet connection.

Cable Killer? For my family YES!!, October 15, 2010
I have been looking for an alternative to cable/satellite for awhile. The ROKU XDS is the closest thing to it. With the support of Netflix streaming(some episodes even in HD), and with Hulu plus coming in the fall, the ROKU XDS is all my family needs. Also, if you look at the ROKU forums, developers are creating other private and premium channels. This is something that Apple.tv cannot do. They also mention on their website that with an update in November you will be able to play video off USB. Setup took only minutes and the picture in awesome on my 1080P LCD. The only draw back would be if you watch a lot of sports, currently they only have MLB.tv. As soon as Hulu Plus is added I will be dropping my $90/month satellite bill and pay $20 a month for Hulu and Netflix.

### COMPONENT CABLE USERS, Info ~ ROKU Rules NOW it plays your MP3 MUSIC & .MP4 VIDEOS! & .JPG, November 4, 2010
No need to comment about the NETFLX features of this new version ROKU XDS it is SUPERB as always...
..................................................
[] ### COMPONENT CABLE USERS (Red/Green/Blue RCA to 3.5mm male jack) info:

*** F.Y.I. ## COMPONENT CABLE Users (Red/Green/Blue RCA to 3.5mm male jack): You will require a Special COMPONENT CABLE to use the Roku XDS on your TV. In case the Roku website says "OUT OF STOCK" for this cable, you CAN BUY THIS CABLE through Amazon, which WILL WORK for you to connect the Roku XDS to your TV:
##> Media Player Component Cable <##

* You will need to use the 'Composite Cable' -- Red/White/Yellow RCA connector cable -- to enable AUDIO to your TV. Using the Red/White as needed ONLY for AUDIO from the Roku XDS to your TV's input RCA jacks.

* NOTE: an HDMI cable carries Both AUDIO and VIDEO in the one single HDMI cable.
* NOTE: Quoting From Roku's Support Site: "PLEASE NOTE: To take advantage of HD content available on Roku, you must use either HDMI or component."
..................................................

*** F.Y.I. for you WIRELESS Users: I am using this TRENDnet 300 Mbps Wireless router, and it is working perfectly with my Roku XDS setup [Excellent range, NO dropped signals, GREAT!]:
TRENDnet 300 Mbps Wireless N Gigabit Router TEW-639GR (Black)

..................................................

Here's what I am doing with the new ROKU XDS:

[] I bought from Amazon, this Hard Drive enclosure:
Eagle Tech ET-CS2PSU2-BK 2.5-Inch SATA to USB Portable HDD Enclosure w/Built-in USB cable
** Notes about this Hard Drive enclosure:
# Fits 2.5-Inch SATA hard drive up to 500GB and connects to USB 2.0
# Enclosure measures 5.4 x 3.2 x 0.44 Inches

[] I added the following WD 250gb 7200rpm 2.5" Hard Drive:
Western Digital 250 GB Scorpio Black SATA 7200 RPM 16 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Notebook Hard Drive WD2500BEKT

Using your computer/laptop you will want to create on the external Hard drive. three FOLDERS:

VIDEO
MUSIC
PHOTOS
Now from your computer, you add your mp3's to the Hardrive folder called "MUSIC" etc... you get the idea.
USB Media Browser will display these FOLDERS on screen in your Roku XDS
NOW I am converting all my videos to .MP4 format and loading them onto the WD Hard drive in the enclosure. Adding .MP3 Audio files is working great also. You can also view .JPG photo files...

Plug the Hard drive Enclosure into the USB Jack on the side of the ROKU XDS and turn on the ROKU and your TV. [ You may need to add the "Private Channel" for the "USB MEDIA BROWSER" as a 'Private Channel' for your ROKU XDS first]

[see below instructions to ADD PRIVATE CHANNEL to your Roku XDS]:
Channel code: KGULU
................................................................

#### HOW TO ADD ROKU PRIVATE CHANNEL - to your Roku XDS - "USB MEDIA BROWSER" ####

Here's what you will need to do to learn MORE about the file formats that are supported using the "USB Media Browser" that you added by doing the following:
USB Media Browser allows you to access content via the USB port on your Roku XR & Roku XDS.

* If you haven't already, login to your online Roku Account owner(dot)roku(dot)com
* On the "My Account" page, click the link labled "Add Private Channel"
* You will be prompted to enter a code.
* The code to install "USB Media Browser" is KGULU
.......................................................................

To learn more about what FILE FORMATS can be used by the "USB MEDIA BROWSER" do a Google search for the following (copy and paste the below line into search box):

roku usb media browser forums file formats

From what I am seeing on the Roku forums, I can't confirm this because I haven't tried these yet here is a list that the forums have said will work on the Roku "USB Media Browser":

[VIDEO FILES[
.mp4

[AUDIO FORMATS]:
.mp3
.wma

[IMAGE FORMATS]:
.jpg
.png
.gif

Read more on the Roku forums, there is more information there from users that are working with the "USB Media Browser."

[] I am formatting my VIDEO files to .mp4 because the .MP4 video files will also work on my Ipod Classic, Sony DASH, and Sansa Fuze. ]

To View your USB Media Browser:
1) Turn on Roku XDS (and TV)
2) Scroll over to the right with your remote, until you find the Yellow Icon titled "USB Media Browser" and click on it, and again... until you see the files on your external Hard Drive (or inserted USB Drive , which ever you are using for your file storage on the Roku XDS USB port.)

Roku is always updating their menu, and features. Great way to get videos -- as well as Amazon video-on-demand, and more. Excellent Purchase!! 5 Star device.

Great features but wireless needs some work..., November 4, 2010
I brought this for my mother because it will be simple for her to use. I especially liked the simple remote control which is not overwhelming. However the wireless connectivity was a little difficult and very finicky. The wireless router is located about 20 feet away, and we've never had any problem conencting with laptops or iPhones/iPods. However, I had to fidget with the placement of the Roku and attempted 2-3x before connecting finally. It then downloaded an update and after it rebooted, it lost the wireless connection again. So I fidgeted with the placement again until it connected. Then I tried to setup NetFlix and the wireless had dropped again, so I reconnected, got the activitation code and it validated the Roku box. Thankfully, you cannot turn the Roku off so hopefully once it's connected, it stays connected or tries to reconnect. I am hoping it was just the initial setup that was slightly flakey. To be on the safe side, I made sure the wireless router and the Roku had as few electronic obstacles around it. I am very impressed with the streaming technology and how the Roku is able to buffer the streaming so the movie is shown smoothly and crisply. It does look so much better than watching NetFlix on the PC or Wii. I also have Netflix on the PS3 and Xbox360 and I find the quality comparable. Another great feature is that the audio is turned on for BOTH HDMI and left/right audio cables so you can run the sound to the receiver and TV. Unfortunately, I ran out of optical inputs on the receiver but I'm assuming that toslink connection is always on as well. I have high hopes that my mother will be able to use the Roku, and once Netflix starts providing closed-captioning on the Roku, it will be even more useful! I am just concerned about the wireless connectivity but if it does prove to be a problem, my solution would be to run ethernet straight to the Roku or wire the electrical outlets with Netgear PowerLine equipment (they seem to provide very good results).

Great device. Here's some wireless setup help., October 17, 2010
OUT OF THE BOX;

Comes with the basic unit, Composite cables (pretty useless), power supply, remote, a very minimal setup guide, and batteries for the remote.

WIRELES SSETUP:

Wired ethernet is also an option.
1. There is some plastic film to peel off. Plug the unit in and connect your HDMI cable (or component cables) to your TV or HD AMP. Turn your TV and amp on and set the correct inputs. The unit will display the first screen on TV and immediately ask what kind of connection you would like. I used wireless, which I suspect will be most popular.

2. Wireless networks in range with SSID broadcast on will be displayed. Choose your network and click Ok. The next screen has alphanumeric input to supply your network password if your router is set to WEP or WPA protection. If you have MAC filtering on, turn off your MAC filter or add the MAC device ID to your router. The ROKU's MAC is displayed if you seek help from a help menu button on the password screen.

3. If the following sounds a bit complicated, it's not really. The setup proceedure will lead you through it well. The unit will connect and do a rather lengthy download of a "software" update. If this is successful, the home screen will be displayed with options of what service you want to link to the ROKU. If any step fails, back to the first setup screen. Thankfully it remembers your net password. You will also have to choose a display size configuration and resolution. The unit will then display a code to link to the ROKU site. You can ignore it or link to the ROKU site and choose your service from there. I picked 1080P HD, and chose Netflix directly from the ROKU menu. A new Netflix specific code will be displayed. Then I went to my computer to pull up the Netflix site, migrate to streaming access, pick the ROKU out of a menu of devices (it's "other") and input the Netflix code.

4. Thats it! The ROKU will now be ready and will display a nice Netflix menu to choose what you want to stream and play. The Computer menu is a bit easier to browse when choosing a DVD or show to watch than the ROKU screen, but the latter is perfectly serviceable, especially if you know what you want to watch.

Some caveats/suggestions/musings. When I started the setup routine, the device kept rebooting and loosing network connectivity. It was position. It is VERY sensitive to it's placement. Don't put it in between a large amp and a DVD player, or in a deep cabinet, say. Have it positioned out in the open. If you don't have a gigabit 802.11 "n" router, get one. There's lots of info downloading and streaming to this device through your router. Some reviews have criticized the ROKU's remote. I found it worked just fine. If you are wedded to the idea of streaming media, this device is great at present. But, there is an increasing selection of Blu- Ray DVD players with this capability already built in. They are much more expensive at this time, but prices will come down. If you are almost ready to upgrade to a Blu-Ray player, maybe good to wait a bit and pick one when prices fall in the near future.

AFTER SETUP;

Great. video quality and sound are terrific at 720p. 1080p and surround sound to probably come from Netflix next year, I hear. Wasn't disappointed at all. Terrific buy.

Initial Problems Overcome, October 20, 2010
This is a great product. Not only can you get streaming Netflix - but so much more. Now that there are so many of makers of 'streaming boxes', just doing that singular act is not so miraculous anymore. Its how many other 'apps' that are available on the box that gives you that 'extra'. And ROKU is great about adding new apps all the time. And I like that there are so many options on how to connect the device to my tv. That allows me to move the ROKU box around in the house and attach it to other tvs - even my older tvs that only have red,white,yellow RCA connectors on the back of them. I can even take it on trips with me and attach it to 'whatever' tv, as long as wireless is available to me.

When I got my new ROKU XDS I, like others that reported here, had some problems getting it to connect to my wireless network. So, I reported the problem to ROKU support and they provided me with the 'fix' (see below). Glad I waited for their response before sending it back.

***************THE FIX*****************************
Kindly go through the following instructions.
1.Turn off the Modem, Router, and the Roku player.
2.Plug the Modem back in, give it some time to settle down.
3.Plug the router back in and when ready, turn on the Roku player.
If you have a cable modem, kindly unscrew the co-axial cable, wait for 30 seconds and then plug it back in.

Great little box, October 15, 2010
This roku player is alot smaller than I expected which is a plus. It has an attractive sleek design. Super simple to set up. Sure you have to link up netflix and amazon video but alot of the "apps" are free items. This does not take long at all and once you have it done you don't have to do it again. So far it has streamed perfectly for several hours. I got this because the blu ray players I bought wouldn't stream correctly so I'm giving this a try since my extended family loves it. Really I'll probably just use it for amazon on demand and netflix. Who has time for all the other add ins? There is also a news channel where you can watch that mornings news or the previous night. Pretty neat.

Are you on the fence about what to buy?, November 18, 2010
So picture this.... Here I am, paying over $110/month to a cable company for internet and cable. I have a thousand channels, but yet every night when I get home from work I struggle to find anything to watch..

Then I discover Netflix streaming on my Wii. Well I was so enamoured that I decided to look into set-top boxes that could bring Netflix and more to my TV (the Wii remote is just a pain to use as a TV remote).

I did some research, and came across the then upcoming Boxee Box. Well I just couldn't wait to try it out, but I didn't have a tv with an HDMI, so I kept looking and saw the Rokus support any tv hookup and if you have the tv its in 1080p too! (where available). So I bought the XDS. I was instantly impressed on how easy it was to set up. I had my Netflix, and all of a sudden I was choosing from a hundred different channels of content from Hulu + to live streaming 24 hour news out of Russia, France, and England. Needless to say I was impressed.

Even though I was happy, I still really thought about getting the Boxee Box and returning the Roku because I had used the software on my PC and it was so slick, and with the addition of its browser I figured how could I go wrong? Well once that BB was released and it was lambasted in the reviews, I quickly realized the Roku was exactly the right choice!

True there are its deficiencies, (no product is really going to be EVERYTHING) one of them being local playback. It doesn't support the breadth of codecs that others do, but pop in a thumb drive of videos in mp4 and you can watch personal files on your TV too! That's the extent of my local library so local playback isn't very important to me anyway. Other than that, all I know is for the price of Netflix and Hulu ($17 combined) I canceled BOTH my expensive cable and internet, plugged in an antenna for OTA local channels, and picked up a DSL package from my phone company for $20. So for $37/ month,down from $110, I have infinitely MORE to watch on my own schedule... Well I couldn't be happier. My only complaint is there is almost too much I want to watch!

If you are looking to save some $$$ from those cable provider rip-off artists, actually want MORE for your money not LESS, and aren't really concerned about local playback, then my advice is to definately buy the Roku.

Absolutely amazed, October 18, 2010
I ordered this from Amazon (pre-order) and received it only 2 days ago. Prior to this, I was streaming netflix via a WII disc. I got this little box, set it up (setup was a breeze on my wireless network) and started viewing netflix. Only after viewing thru Roku, I came to know how bad WII streaming is.

Netflix quality is amazing even on my SD TV. We watched content for more than 12 hours and I haven't seen any inturruption. I have Wireless N router. I connected Roku to TV thru RED-WHITE-YELLOW cable. I'm planning for a HDTV with HDMI and looking forward to seeing 1080p netflix movies.

Youtube rocks as well. You can search for songs, movies and start playing them instantly. If youtube clip is HD, it's beautifully rendered by Roku box.

Overall, I'm completely satisfied with this little box. Hope it works well for next couple of years.

-Sam.

Fantastic streaming internet device, November 27, 2010
I bought this device for my father as he is somewhat technically challenged. He kept telling me that he wanted to watch Netflix on his 52" LCD television. He was under the impression that he had to buy a Blue Ray player to achieve a high quality streaming experience. I figured it would be nice to buy a Blue Ray player since he'd have the player for all the DVD's he owns and the Netflix streaming would be gravy. After pricing the BR players I realized that if I wanted WIFI built in, I'd have to buy an off brand unit to be at a comfortable price point. Further research revealed the Roku XDS which is a fantastic piece of tech. It is extremely easy to set up. From the time you open the package to the moment you're watching a movie streaming from Netflix is around 15 minutes. You could probably even do it faster, but I was tinkering with some of the other channels that Roku has to offer.

Since WIFI connectivity was an extremely important feature, I quickly went to that screen in the setup sequence to make sure I had a good signal. Since my router is 10 feet from the Roku box my throughput is very high. I could have ran a cable to the ethernet connection but then we're talking more wires. I hate wires!!! I put in my WEP password and the box promptly started updating the firmware. In order to link your Netflix account the Roku will show you an alphanumeric code. You just go to [...]and input the code that appears on the screen. Within 15 seconds or so the Roku screen will advance and you are now fully integrated with Netflix. There is no need to do this again unless you reset the Roku back to factory settings. The same procedure is used for Pandora and other channels offered on the Roku.

There are dozens of other channels that you can add to Roku. If you have an Amazon VOD account, it integrates just as easily as the Netflix account. Then you have the ability to add Hulu + as well but I don't recommend that. The cost is $7.99/month as of this writing and since you still have to watch ads, I don't see the value. Lastly, if you're on the fence about which Roku to purchase (there are three) you should consider the top of the line model or the second tiered unit. Do not consider the cheapest model because it lacks WIFI and will not transmit in HD.

I happen to own the new generation of Apple TV (nearly same size as Roku). The reason I have the Apple unit is because of how it tightly integrates with iTunes and the iPhone 4 which I have. I can easily recommend the Roku player to anyone who wants to add a nice piece of tech to their multi-media systems. Best of luck and thanks for reading my review. ... Read more

Editorial Review

The Linksys Wireless-G Broadband Router is really three devices in one box. First, there`s the Wireless Access Point, which lets you connect both screaming fast Wireless-G (802.11g at 54Mbps) and Wireless-B (802.11b at 11Mbps) devices to the network. There`s also a built-in 4-port full-duplex 10/100 Switch to connect your wired-Ethernet devices together. Connect four PCs directly, or attach more hubs and switches to create as big a network as you need. Finally, the Router function ties it all together and lets your whole network share a high-speed cable or DSL Internet connection. ... Read more

Reviews

Open NAT for xbox 360!, March 28, 2008
This was very easy to set up. It took about 5 minutes total to set up the router and have a wireless connection to my desktop. I have an excellent reception to my desktop that sits about 30 feet away in another room. Also, I have my desktop and laptop (both running vista), xbox 360, and ps3 connected to it wirelessly. the xbox 360 NAT is open and the ps3 NAT is type 2. I'm not sure what that stuff means technically, but in normal person terms it means that I can connect to others with no problems. The back of the router has 4 10/100 ethernet connections on it as well if you want a wired connection.

The design of this router is really excellent. The antennas are built into the router and the dimensions of it are really small and thin! This gives you more flexibility of where the router can be placed.

Streaming recorded TV, music, and pictures from my desktop to xbox (using media center) work well for both being connected wireless with no reduction in picture quality.

With the release of the new Xbox 360 dashboard I am able to stream HD video from Netflix wirelessly through my 360 with this router. The wait time for video to start is short and the picture quality of HD shows like Heroes and 30 Rock is great.

*Update* I have had the 20" 2.66ghz iMac since May 08 and connecting it to my linksys was as simple as selecting the network and typing in my password. The router has been up and running several months now with no resets or connection issues. This is a very stable router that requires little to no maintenance. Now my connections to this router are a laptop with Vista every now and then, Mac with OS X 10.5, ps3, 360, and 2 iPhones. There are no problems when 2 or more devices are using the connection. I am connected to a 6mbps cable connection.

Recently I got the new unibody MacBook and an eyeTV hybrid 2009 model. I use it to record TV (mainly the HD shows sent via QAM from comcast) on my iMac. I want to stream a HD show like The Office from my iMac to my macbook that is connected my my 46" samsung (lnt-4665), but I have found that "g" is not fast enough to stream a show recorded in HD. It is fast enough to stream a show recorded in SD, so I need an "N" router if I want to stream wirelessly.

Great product - if only the DHCP server didn't have problems and it was hard to get support from the linksys forums, August 9, 2008
I have to say that I have come to like the WRT54G2 a lot.

Works very well with my PC, my fianc�'s Mac, a Playstation3, a wired multiuse printer/fax/copier and the standard cable modem RCN provided.

Configuration was quick and easy and I had no problems in that regard.

My only complain with this product is the fact that the DHCP server has problems after a while. If you leave a PC/device on for too much time, it will "lose" it's IP address and there is no way around the issue other than rebooting / power cycling router and affected devices. It doesn't happen too often so it's not a major issue, but I would have appreciated the linksys forums to be more supportive of my post on this issue - as they really have not been.

So 5 stars for product design, features and ease of use
- 1 star for DHCP server flaw
- 1 star for poor product support
= 3 stars

Does what it's supposed to., May 14, 2008
I had an original WRT54G that I bricked screwing around with the firmware. I needed another router right away, so I picked the WRT54G2 up at my local BB for $50. I was going to spend a lot more for an "N" router, but figured it wasn't worth it for my modest DSL/home network. I had the WRT54G2 up and running within 10 minutes. No problems. No drama. I was concerned about the internal antenna, but I still get a full signal even in my basement. It seems to work very well, and looks much better in my office than the original WRT54G.

unbelievably easy, June 10, 2008
I am still just stunned. Here I was, all prepared for a painful afternoon of geekese and error messages and unexplained no-connectivity, like the last time I had to do this...ordering out for pizza and a late night and probably some booze to ease the pain...and twenty minutes later, I'm on my laptop. (Fifteen minutes of that was fighting with the laptop.) You insert a CD, it walks you through four easy steps, generates the needed keys, and you're done. So now I have to stay sober and cook dinner, but it's a small price to pay. The wifi signal is strong, the router design is sleek and unobtrusive (a minimum of horrible sleep-disturbing blinking green lights, my personal pet peeve), the price was absolutely right. We'll see how I feel a month from now, but at the moment I'm on a non-techie high....

Probably not the best out there, but it will suit almost everyone perfectly!, May 16, 2008
This is great! I'm not too "computer savvy," and this was just the right wireless router to get me started with my own home network. I'm sure there are many more wireless routers that can perform better than this one, but they're so much more expensive, and I guarantee this will suit your needs perfectly!

All I had to do was put the CD in my computer, then some text instructions and an animation showed me exactly what to do. There are about 4 steps, (not including naming your network and such.) This is a well-priced, general wireless router, and is just amazing! I used this to connect to my game systems also - (A Wii and Nintendo DS) And they connected perfectly! No worries at all. And, I get a perfect "3-bar" range everywhere in my house! The router is on the middle floor of my house, and I can get perfect connections in the basement, upstairs, wherever!

I highly recommend this router to any first time users of a wireless network, and anyone else looking for a reliable wireless network. Many other routers are 2x more expensive than this router, and don't do that much different. I hope this is the router for you!

-Sleek design -> No external antenna
-VERY simple set-up, even to a first time user
-Great range, no "dead spots"

Enjoy! ^_^

Quality router, worth the price, June 4, 2008
So far it's working quite well after 2 weeks.

I previously bought a Belkin F5D7230-4, but soon exchanged it for this one (see my review for it). This router is noticably faster loading uncached web pages, and I see less performance overhead in the Networking pane of Windows Task Manager. I suspect it's because of a newer, faster chipset.

So I definitely recommend this router but won't give it 5 stars unless it lasts at least 2 years.

One tip for those who know little or nothing about wi-fi: This router doesn't have auto-channel, so pay attention to which wireless channel you're using. There are 11 channels (1-11), but by default all Linksys use channel 6. If you live in a congested wireless environment, like my apartment complex where I can detect up to 10 signals simultaneously, then you'll want to use a software tool to detect all available wireless signals. The Dell Wireless Utility does a great job for me. If your environment is anything like mine you'll see most people use the default channel with a few using channels 1 and 11. I use channel 2 since there's only one other weak signal on channel 1 and I want to stay as far away from 6 as possible. Otherwise I get interference and performance loss.

Flawless setup on the first attempt., June 24, 2008
A good friend of my just set up his pc in a new apartment. He wanted to wirelessly network his pc with that of his roomate and an Xbox 360. As a long time owner of a Linksys WRT54g router that I've never had a problem with, I reccommended this one to him. Since I was doing the setup, I wanted to work with something I was familiar with. We were not dissappointed. To setup the router to his roomates pc in the living and to configure a Linksys WUSB54GC Compact Wireless-G USB Adapter to his pc and setup the 128 bit WEP encryption took all of 30 mins. Everything connected on the 1st attempt. Connection range to router about 80 ft away, thru 2 walls was at max strength at a constant 54Mbs . If I ever need to get another router, this is the one that it will be. Linksys makes a great product.

I do believe this is my first 5 star review., May 7, 2008
OK.

So I was initially looking at the Wireless-N version of this router, to potentially replace my old WRT54GS (Linksys Wireless G Router with SpeedBooster). That router had problems, admittedly so. It worked, but not as well as I'd liked given my setup. Since all of my devices are either G or B wireless, I figured I would just settle for the G router and save money (this one is almost half the cost of the N router).

For the record I've got a laptop (wireless), media server (wireless), PS3 (wireless), PSP (wireless), DS (wireless), EEE PC (wireless), PS2 (hardwire), 360 (hardwire), printer (hardwire), and DirecTV HR20 (hardwire). Yeah, I know. What's important: the media server is in the master bedroom's closet, far from the router, which is in the living room. With my old router, signal strength got weak through walls, extremely weak. Local network activity was painful, streaming movies from the media center was painful as it would frequently lock up and stutter; thumbnails would not load.

Enter this router. First thing to note: the CD is NOT required. If you're new to wireless connections you may want to just follow the directions and CD, but if you're comfortable with navigating the router web interface, just bypass the CD and set it up like you normally would; it'll work. Setup was quite painless and recognition was fast, I managed to replace my old wireless network in a matter of minutes. There is also a feature that allows for a WiFi Protected Setup with a one-button press, but apparently the receivers require that feature to be built in as well - and none of mine did. Therefore I just ignored it. For those who are setting up for the first time and bought receivers with the feature included, they might find it useful when doing the setup.

I immediately noticed an improvement in the local networking speed. The aforementioned media server is now screaming fast over the network; thumbnails load just as fast as if I'm at the machine, file transfers are nowhere near as slow and streaming content plays with minimal lag. Internet connectivity was also slightly improved on devices that were not close to the router.

There are a couple of issues, not necessarily the router's fault, but more an issue with the way Linksys designs them. First, getting internet connectivity took way too long and was not as easy as it should have been. I had to powercycle my modem to get it to pull the IP information - even though the details should have easily been accessible from the previous router having gotten them. This might be a Time Warner issue rather than a Linksys issue - maybe it sees a different MAC and freaks, but I doubt it. Once I got the IP information, the router still would not give internet connectivity for a minute. I'm using Vista Premium so I can tell when it's "Local", "Internet" or both and it struggled to get both up.

Second, and a minor nitpick at best, the power cord is easily half the size of the WRT54GS. For the life of me I can't understand this. It makes it hard for me to locate the router in a good place, because I like to have the router on the UPS, and by shortening the cord I have to have the router in the middle of the floor. Minor issue, but still a problem for me.

Otherwise, I highly recommend this. It seems they fixed the majority of the problems the previous devices had. I noted that the negative reviews came from people who had support problems; I never call the Bombay support line, so I have nothing bad to say.

Works fine with a Dell desktop and a Macbook Air, April 1, 2008
After reading good reviews in amazon, I bought a WRT54G2 at Circuit City. Although the package doesn't say it supports a Mac and the Circuit City man told me routers are always tricky, implying this might not work fine with a Mac, it works flawlessly with my Dell desktop running Windows Xp and Macbook Air.
The installation was easy, finished in 10 minutes. Macbook Air connected to the Internet at first attempt.
So really there was no problem at all.
Macbook Air supports 802.11n and I could have bought a diffrent router that supports it. But my internet connection is 1.5MB Verizon DSL and I thought 802.11g and 11n do not make any difference in my case.
The range is strong enough to cover my one bed room apartment.
In short, I'm very satisfied with this product.

Linksys WRT54G2 Router, May 14, 2008
Got this router to replace an old 802.11B that was beginning to fail. Easy to set up, was working in minutes. Connected three PC's via the wired ports, had little or no problems connecting a laptop, and two gaming systems (Wii, and PS3) wirelessly. Good router for the price. ... Read more

Editorial Review

The LinkStick is a wireless USB 2.0 adapter that provides instant access to InfoLink RSS data – like news, weather, sports and stock information – on your Samsung HDTV screen! Requirements: Compatible with IEEE 802.11a/b/g and 802.11n draft 2.0. Supports '09 & '10 Samsung TVs with Internet@TV, AllShareTM OR InfoLink. Support '09 & '10 Samsung Blu-ray Disk Players with BD Live. Compatible models: LCD ('2009 : B630 series and higher / '2010 : C550 series and higher), LED ('2009 : B6000 series and higher / '2010 : C5000 series and higher), Plasma ('2009 : B650 series and higher / '2010: C540 series and higher), Blu-ray disc player ('2009 : BDP1200, 1220, 1250, 1252, 1255, 3250, 3275, 7200, 7250, 8200 / '2010 : Except BD-C5500, HT-C5500 ) ... Read more

Editorial Review

Motorola SURFboard SB6120 Cable Modem.DOCSIS 3.0 Certified.Integrated U/S Amp, USB 1.1, 16 SIDsDesigned to provide a cost effective, next generation technology for our MSO customers to offer a high speed residential or commercial service tier.User-friendly online diagnostics and bonded channel status page Remote management using SNMP and TFTP 1 GHz Tuner GigE PC connectivity IPV6 support Up to 160 Mbps downstream, up to 120 Mbps upstream Rear panel color coded for ease of installation and troubleshooting Front panel, easy to read operational LEDs to indicate status and simplify troubleshooting Multi-colored LED option to identify Bonded Channel mode ... Read more

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Xtreme N Gigabit Router ... Read more

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The Hi-Speed USB 2.0 4-Port Ultra-Mini Hub provides four downstream USB ports for Plug-and-Play connectivity to your USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 devices. A perfect lightweight travel tool, this compact Hub tucks easily into the pocket of your laptop bag, and requires no extra power supply. It offers an ideal way to connect on the road, and virtually anywhere you need fast, handy access to your USB devices. ... Read more

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Plantronics Voyager 520 Voyager 520 Bluetooth Headset ... Read more

Editorial Review

The Linksys Wireless-G Broadband Router is really three devices in one box. First, theres the Wireless Access Point, which lets you connect both screaming fast Wireless-G (802.11g at 54Mbps) and Wireless-B (802.11b at 11Mbps) devices to the network. Theres also a built-in 4-port full-duplex 10/100 Switch to connect your wired-Ethernet devices together. Connect four PCs directly, or attach more hubs and switches to create as big a network as you need. Finally, the Router function ties it all together and lets your whole network share a high-speed cable or DSL Internet connection. Once your computers are connected to the Router and the Internet, they can communicate with each other too, sharing resources and files. All your computers can print on a shared printer connected anywhere in the house. ... Read more

Reviews

Solid and Reliable, May 12, 2007
This wireless router, besides supporting Linux firmware, is a tested and true wireless router with 802.11 b and g support. It supports WPA, WPA2 and the older WEP encryption schemes. In addition, it has a built-in firewall, MAC address filtering, and supports access policies (such as "don't allow FTP connections to this computer on Sundays").

When I installed this wireless router, setup was very straightforward (I did not use the Setup Wizard because it didn't work for me). I changed the IP address range (because the DSL modem uses the 192.168.1 address space), set the administrator password, chose a name for the Wireless network, enabled WPA2 encryption and picked a passphrase.

After that, I connected my laptop to the router right away, and received an excellent signal and throughput of 100 KB/sec (for comparison, my DSL connection maintains a throughput of 300 KB/sec when I connect straight to the DSL modem).

I've been using the router for several months now, and have not had any dropped connections (my older Netgear router dropped connections fairly frequently and did not support the newer WPA encryption scheme) and have consistent throughput. The router has been running constantly for these past few months.

For the real tech-heads, this router has customized Linux firmware available from third parties. I haven't tried this firmware, since the base Linksys firmware more than meets my needs.

Finally, good security practices are to: Change the administrator password, disable Universal Plug and Play, disable Remote administrative access, use a unique name for the access point, and if the network is only for a small number of personal devices (i.e. a laptop you own), enable MAC address filtering. A MAC address uniquely identifies a network card, so this only allows certain computers to access the network.

Meet the new box, same as the old box, December 2, 2005
I've bought close to a dozen of the earlier versions of these routers (WRT54G v2-v4) over the past few years as well as recommended them to my friends, and the ability to update and upgrade the flash memory with modified open source software is the reason why these routers deserve a wonderful reputation.

The modified software versions, such as HyperWRT and OpenWRT, Sveasoft, etc. have over the years provided capabilities that Linksys themselves didn't put in the box on their own, such as having routers that link up over the wireless connection, or routers that can work well in P2P applications with hundreds of active connections. Some of these features made it back into Linksys's official codebase over the years, helping to make this a Truly Great Product.

Linksys has chosen to eviscerate the memory of the latest version (v5) of the WRT54G to make it cheaper. This latest version doesn't have Linux inside and as others have reported isn't nearly as stable as earlier versions, nor is it in any condition to have the open source community help Linksys fix the problems. If you want The Little Blue Box That Could, you now have to buy the WRT54GL.

This is really the *original* WRT54G, December 1, 2005
This new "L" model has the same Flash and RAM capacities as the older WRT54G models that ran Linux, and thus will support freely and commercially available third-party Linux-based firmware upgrades (voiding the warranty, of course).

Some background and history can be found here:

LinkSys courts Linux hackers with WRT54G"L"
http://linuxdevices.com/news/NS4729641740.html

LinkSys also offers a WRT54GS "speedboaster" model that uses channel bonding with I believe both A and G signals, to realize faster throughput in some use cases. Some older WRT54GS models were available with 8MB of Flash and 32MB of RAM, while current models have 4/16, and thus will also support fancy firmware upgrades, such as those from http://www.dd-wrt.com/, http://www.sveasoft.com/, http://sputnik.com, and so on. These firmwares offer things like optimization for VoWiFi (voice-over-wifi), integration with Radius authentication, bridging, etc, etc, etc.

Techie knitty-gritty on all the various permutations, serial number sequences, and so forth can be found at James Depew's unofficial LinkSysInfo.org site.

So far very stable, June 23, 2006
I bought this router about 3 weeks ago to upgrade my Linksys BEFW11S4 802.11b router. The main thing I was looking for is the stability. So far, this router has been perfect, it hasn't dropped the connection yet. It also appears this router has much better range than my previous router. The product comes with a CD which has the installation guide on it. As usual, it's not well written.

Update:
It has been more than 3 months since I set up this router and I haven't had any problem. - 8/16/06

Update:
This router has been in operation for 7 months and hasn't had any problem at all. Not even a single reboot. - 1/16/07

Purchased WRT54G, but went with WRT54GL instead., July 1, 2006
I purchased the WRT54G at our local bestbuy store and had nothing but trouble, family would complain of very slow speeds and occasionally the unit would need a reboot to get it working again. Very frustrated, I took it back and the person at the store told us to buy the WRT54GL same parts but different software inside? Plugged it into our network and have never had a problem since, why would linksys keep selling the WRT54G with this much trouble? Oh well 5 stars for the WRT54GL.

Use Caution!, May 3, 2009
If you're a wireless novice, you may find yourself in Router Wilderness. The instructions don't provide a step-by-step guide. You can't tell from the manual that when you set up security, you should be using an Ethernet connection. If you don't, you'll find yourself locked out -- in other words, you'll lose your Internet connectivity.

Moreover, the EasySecureSetup didn't work as described. In fact, the manual mentions it then leaves you hanging as what to do next, except watch the Cisco logo flash. The manual is merely a reference, not a user, guide.

The setup program on the CD isn't very helpful. That's because you have to use an online utility to do the actual setup.

Also, the signal strenth is inconsistent. I use Netfix's Instant Viewing a lot. Frequently, in the midst of watching a movie, the feed stops and is replaced by a notice saying that my connection speed has slowed and Netflix is trying to compensate. Because my PC is only 20 feet from the router, this is unacceptable.

The Cisco Web site has a user forum that is very helpful. If you post a question you're bound to get an answer within 36 hours.

Cisco needs to rewrite its documentation so that even a novice can set up the router without any slip-ups.

The manual for the USB Newtork Adapter with WI-FI Finder isn't much better. Because there is no correlation between the adapter and router manuals, you might think you were installing two totally unrelated products.

I made a living writing instruction manuals, and this isn't the way to do it.

Great Buy for All Wireless Needs, December 28, 2005
I recently purchased this wireless router for my home network and have been very pleased with its performance. The router was easy to set - it was up and running within an hour, with secure admin login, WPA-PSK security and AES encryption out of the box. The signal range is also great. I was at least 50 yards away and had a strong signal through trees and apartments without the slightest hint of degradation.

Also if you like to mess with things, the third-party firmware updates are great. They will increase the performance of this router to a level greater than its competitors.

Do yourself a favor and buy this router, and you won't be sorry.

Great router, May 7, 2006
Pros:
- Compatible with third-party, open source firmware that gives you extra features.
- Fast transfer speeds over wireless.
- Easy to set up.

Cons:
- A bit expensive, considering that this router is pretty much the same as older WRT54G routers.

A classic.. And a great product..., January 17, 2010
The WRT54GL is essentially a reissue of the original and classic WRT54G router that LinkSys started selling in 2003. It is bullet-proof reliable and simply the most upgradeable router you can buy. You can not only purchase high gain antennas to increase its range, but it has the widest number of open source firmware options of any wireless router. I purchased mine and then replaced the factory LinkSys firmware with open source DD-WRT, which allowed me to increase the power output on the antenna and offered other advanced features. My wireless router is now used by my iPhone, a wireless printer and wireless laptop, and is wire-connected to a PC and a Sony PS3. It works perfectly and its throughput is excellent. I never have to reboot this router, as I have had to do with newer LinkSys 802.11n models. And I personally like the classic and timeless industrial design of this router over the newer "Darth Vader" designs that LinkSys has put out.

Obviously the big downside of this router is that it predates the newer 802.11n or "N-wireless" protocol. I'm a fairly tech-savvy user who always likes to get the latest and greatest in terms of equipment, but I've owned 802.11n routers and I always come back to this router because of its rock-solid reliability. What most people don't understand is that for most users, the true "bottleneck" of their wireless network is their connection to the Internet and not the speed of their wireless router. I use Comcast cable for my Internet connection, which is pretty fast (averaging about 8.5 mbps), but the LinkSys WRT54GL router can send and receive data at several times the speed of my Internet connection. That means that even if I had a newer 802.11n wireless router, or even plugged my devices into the network through a wired connection, they would not connect to the Internet any faster then they do through the WRT54GL because the WRT54GL's speed still exceeds the speed of my Internet connection. For me, the illusory benefits of 802.11n simply do not outweigh the proven reliability and expandability of the WRT54GL.

** UPDATE 05/22/2010 **

I have to add one caveat to my review above; having the newer 802.11n may have an additional benefit that I did not mention earlier. I recently moved to a crowded metropolitan area in a building with a lot of tenants. The result is that there are now 25 wireless points/routers within close range of my unit (operated by neighbors) that are sharing the frequency bands of my WRT54GL. The result is substantial interference and moderate to significant performance degradation. A lot of these are DSL customers who have wireless routers. I am seriously considering switching to 802.11n simply because it runs at a different frequency (5 GHZ) than 802.11g and is far less prevalent (at least today), which may result in a lot less interference and less performance degradation.

Excellent Wi Fi router, March 9, 2006
I just implemented this router in my home wireless network after my old Buffalo Tech router died last night.

I am an IT type and Linksys products are the default products for small networks for our remote offices.

I found the initial set up to be very easy even if you are not an IT Pro, this product has very good security features, that everyone should use....YES, please don't set up a wireless network at home or work and leave it open.

The signal strength is excellent, now I have a good signal in some corners of my house where before it was marginal at best.

And for the adventurous types this router also supports third party software like Sveasoft, that might be my next week end project.

In a nutshell, if you are looking for a good solid wireless router buy the WRT54GL.

... Read more

Editorial Review

IOGear GBU421 Bluetooth 2.1 USB Micro Adapter, the IOGEAR Bluetooth 2.1 USB Micro Adapter offers Bluetooth connectivity at a fraction of the size of normal Bluetooth USB adapters. About the size of an adult fingernail, the IOGEAR Bluetooth 2.1 USB Micro Adapter allows users to connect to all the latest Bluetooth devices like cell phones, PDAs, mice and keyboards. Because the Micro Adapter is so small you can easily plug it into your computer without blocking any surrounding USB ports. The Micro Adapter also features Bluetooth EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) technology for transfer rates that are 3 times faster than traditional Bluetooth 1.1 and 1.2 adapters. The Micro Adapter also allows users to connect up to seven Bluetooth devices together and transfer even the largest files quickly and easily. With the Micro Adapter lower power consumption, you can enjoy longer battery life on your notebook computer. This Bluetooth Class 2 adapter is also compatible with both Mac and PC computers, and offers a wireless range of 30 feet (10 meter). It is great for both home and mobile networking needs. ... Read more

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LG's AN-WF100 is a Wi-Fi USB adapter that provides instant access to LG's NetCast content such as Netflix, YouTube, Skype, Picasa and Yahoo! TV Widgets. ... Read more

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Play media from your home network and the Internet on your big screen TV. Plus, enjoy access to your Netflix unlimited membership and other premium content. Don’t confine your movies, music, and photos to your small computer screen. Experience them as big as life on your TV in Full-HD 1080p with WD TV Live Plus HD media player. ... Read more

Reviews

A Real Review from a Real Owner, June 14, 2010
I just got the WD TV Live Plus and I have to say that I've finally found the perfect media streamer (for now).

I've had the WD TV Live (not plus version) for about 5 months and it's served me well, streaming up just about every type of movie file that I've ever encountered. When I purchased the non-plus version, the only two features that I really wanted that it was missing was NetFlix support and full DVD menu support.

Yes, I am a bummered that my existing non-plus version can't support NetFlix, but I very well knew that what I purchased it.

Please Note: Most of the non-plus version marketing material says that it doesn't support full DVD menu navigation, but WD just came out with a firmware update that DOES add DVD menu support - Kuddos to WD for listening to their customers and giving them what they want.

Regarding the NetFlix support, the PLUS version has a different chip inside of it that is required for NetFlix support (something about copy protection). The non-plus version does not have the required chip in order to support NetFlix so if you read some rants about WD trying to !@#$% their customers, it's probably non-plus owners who feel cheated that they have to buy a new product to get NetFlix support.

I understand their frustration, but the truth of the matter is that there is nothing WD can do in order to get the non-plus to support NetFlix.

On the other hand, they *have* just added DVD menu support to the non-plus version, so anyone who says that they stop supporting the older products doesn't know what they're talking about.

To the point of the review, the NetFlix supports both queue playing (when you already have stuff added to your play now queue) AND browsing.

This is my first NetFlix player (other than my PC) so I can't really compare it to other NetFlix players. I know the Xbox also supports browsing, but I think that most other stand alone players do not support browsing.

The activation process was surprisingly easy (I just went to the NetFlix site and entered a code the Plus gave me).

Regarding HD content, I'm not 100% sure if the Plus supports this, but last night I was viewing some 30 rock episodes and it looked *really* good, better than viewing a DVD.

When starting to view a NetFlix video, it took about 15-20 seconds from when I clicked on play to when the video started playing. I don't know if this is good or bad. No streaming issues once it started playing. My device is connected directly to my router.

I also played around with the new MediaFly feature. Never heard of it before. Basically it aggregates some audio and video podcasts by topic. I saw some CNN and NPR content which is cool.

Overall I'd say this is the best media streamer ->currently<- on the market.

I emphasize currently as I REALLY wanted to get a POPBOX, which sounds like a better option (at least on paper), but it still isn't out and I got tired of waiting for it to be released.

Lastly, I know I didn't cover other aspects of the PLUS, but other than NetFlix support (and I think MediaFly support) the plus and non-plus devices are identical so go read some non-plus reviews for more info :)

[UPDATE June 21]
A few people correctly mentioned that the DVD menu support for the non plus version isn't officially out yet since it's still in beta.
You can see the entire thread of people who have download the beta version and successfully played DVDs with menus on the non-plus version here:
[...]

Now I'm Happy with WD Live Plus, July 20, 2010
I purchased the WD Live Plus HD Media Player to watch movies from my Windows Home server. I got tired of all the DVD's and no where to store them so I built a WHS from an old computer and ordered the WD Live plus. I ran a CAT5 cable to my LCD, hooked up the WD Live Plus and it automatically connected to my WHS. I was up and running in as little as 5 minutes streaming a video on the big screen. The 1st movie played flawlessly until I started to watch the 2nd movie. Towards the middle of the movie, WD Live started to freeze up. At first I thought it was my server so I rebooted the WHS and was back up and running again. Started to watch the movie and froze again. Now I'm getting very upset. Now I powered off/on the WD Live Plus and same issue. Some movies played with no issues and some movies just locked up. Now I'm getting upset with this media Player. I checked WD's website and could not find any solution to the device freezing so I ordered the "Asus O! Player" unit to replace my piece of crap WD live Plus. I was already to mail it back and connect the Asus O! Player but something told me to check the WD support website one more time before I mail back WD Live Plus HD Media Player.

I found this on their site:

"When playing a movie over a Network location on a WD TV Live HD Media Player, the video may slow down

Problem:
When playing a high bitrate movie from a Network location (computer or NAS), after a period of time, the video may slow down and jitter.
Cause:
Samba (the method the WD TV Live uses to read a network location) cannot play back high bitrate movies.
Solution:
If this problem is encountered there are two solutions:
1. Try playing the content from the Media Server selection on the WD TV Live HD Media Player. This may require installation of a Media Server on your computer. Windows Media Player 11 has a built in Media Server. There are other alternatives such as TwonkyMedia, and TVersity which may also work for these videos.
2. Copy the high bitrate content to a USB drive, attach the USB drive to the WD TV Live HD Media Player and play the content from the local drive".


I said Hmmm, "playing a high bitrate movie from a Network location", well this was my problem. I went to TVersity and they explained how the software transcodes any video depending on your network speed and devices for proper streaming settings. So I installed the software on my WHS. During the installation it prompted to install the additional AC3 codec. So I installed it on my server. After installation completed, I configured TVersity to use my Video folder on the WHS and behold video was streaming to my LCD with no issues. Actually I believe the video quality is slighter better now than it was before.

So I'll take that back about calling the WD player crap. Now I can say I'm very happy with WD Live Plus and will give it a 4 star rating now. TVersity is excellent software for streaming videos and will help any media player handle video streaming. Oh did it mention that it's free! So go ahead and purchase the WD Live Plus HD Media Player and install TVersity on either your WHS or desktop/laptop and the 2 together they'll make a perfect couple.

Enjoy.

Stick with the Non-Plus version - Buggy!, August 3, 2010
Before I get started, let me give you some background. I've owned 2 WD Live (non-plus) models for about a year. I upgraded the 2 non-plus models to (2 of them, so you can't blame faulty hardware) plus models, which was a big mistake. The reason I did this was that the WD Live is a great product and I wanted to add Netflix support.

So let me start with the positives
*It plays practically everything
*The interface is simple and straight forward
*Support for Youtube, Pandora, Netflix
*Streams 1080p with no issue
*Really easy to setup

Now for the negatives
*The firmware is buggy. There hasn't been a single firmware released since the product has been out either.
*If your networked drive is asleep, the Plus will hang at connecting 95% of the time (non-plus wouldn't do that). You have to do something else on the device before trying again or turn it off and on again to try to connect again - It's like it caches the info
*Takes like 30 seconds to turn on (non-plus takes like 2)
*Menu navigation is slower compared to the non-plus
*It won't remember the place you stopped in a movie/show if you turn off the device (non-plus didn't have this issue)
*Netflix - you can't 'search' for a movie. You can only pick from the selection that is presented. If you want add other movies, you have to do that from you computer.
*If you drop connection while connecting to Netflix, then the device will not try the connection again after you fix network issue. You have to shut off the box and turn it back on
*You can't customize what network devices to show on the menu. It shows all devices on your network (same issue with non-plus)

So I would suggest skipping the buggy Plus version getting the WD Live Non-Plus, because that is a great unit, and do netflix via your tv, wii, ps3 or 360.

Poorly Executed, August 5, 2010
I bought my device 2 months ago. Since then I was enjoying it until Netflix function stopped working. I checked out WD site and realized many of the other "plus" owners are having the same issue and sad part is WD has no solution for it as of now. You Tube and other internet video options are working fine with no issues.
I suggest you stay away from this device until it matures. WD is not providing replacement and saying that replacement will have the same problem. So I am stuck with it and waiting for a firmware update. Looks like WD is using it's customers as guinea pig.

This thing is so buggy. The current firmware is beta., July 30, 2010
The current firmware on this piece of fish excrement is 1.03.29_B. Notice the "B" on the end. They put out a piece of hardware with beta firmware as the standard. The thing works with network shares with a lot of work in most cases. Some may get lucky and have zero problems but I doubt it is many.

I run a windows 7 computer on the same workgroup with 4 other computers. This computer shares files to be played,listened to or looked at. I applied every registry adjustment and setting to the windows 7 serving computer to allow complete access from this wdtv live plus.(I have a mvix 780hd that saw the shares no problem even.) The wdtv live plus didn't see the shares "BUT" it could use the media streaming option in windows 7. Lame. Anyway I changed the workgroup name from the same name that every computer and the wdtv live plus were on to "fruitbat". Then guess what. The stupid wdtv live plus see's the shares. Makes no sense. I have worked with networking for 20 years and this thing needs work in excess. I suggest you look elsewhere for your media player needs. They have not updated this buggy as heck firmware in months and I am beginning to think they never will.

Overall I like it but there are some issues.., July 6, 2010
I've had the WDTV Live Plus for 4 days now, and have watched a few movies on it. So far it's played every filetype I've tried to play, except one movie file where the audio was not playing (probably a file error). I networked my computer relatively easily - had to make some setting changes on the computer and that was it. Netflix works well, Youtube plays well.

The gripes I have are:
1. The user interface is kind of lame and unoriginal. I really debated whether to go with this, wait for the PopBox, or build my own HTPC so I could load up XBMC and the beautiful interface it offers, but in the end my impatience and wallet spoke the loudest. Plus I'd rather not hassle with the extra work - plug and play was too attractive a feature. With that said, there still should be some way of customizing the UI - changing colors, etc.
2. I don't like how it does not remember where you left off in video files that you stop playing. It does ask you if you want to start where you left off if you have not turned the device off, but if you have, then it thinks everything is new and that you've never watched any file before. Pretty stupid.
3. The file preview functionality is not really a preview. When you highlight a file it just starts playing in the little window box. You could watch the entire video just in that box if you so inclined.
4. Last but not least, if you pause a video and the device goes to sleep...when you unpause it seems to take forever to play again. And when it does, everything plays in a sped up pace. This one might be user error but it's happened a few times enough for me to be skeptical of the device.

In the end, if you're looking for a simple media streamer that plays pretty much all of the files you will (likely) ever need it to play, I don't see why this wouldn't be a top choice considering the price. With that said, there probably are better options if you're willing to invest more time and money.

MP4 files are unwatchable, August 3, 2010
This device is *almost* perfect. It has one MAJOR flaw that you need to be aware of before buying.

It integrates with your Netflix, YouTube, Pandora, and MediaFly accounts, which is really awesome. You can also hook in your own hard drive, to play media files.

I have an extensive collection of MP4s. Sadly, this device cannot play them. The audio is terribly out-of-sync. Western Digital is aware of the issue, and their support forums are abuzz with complaints, but there is no fix. However, the player will play MKV files perfectly. So, I've decided to re-encode my movie collection into MKVs. It's a bit of a pain, but it will also give me a chance to re-do everything at higher quality. If it weren't for this major inconvenience -- I have a LOT of movies and TV shows -- I would give this product 5 stars.

Buggy and Frustrating: Stay Away, September 18, 2010
I owned an earlier version of the WDTV. While I always thought the menu navigation was rather clunky and hard on the eyes, it played most video files without a problem and for the most part I was generally satisfied.

I recently upgraded to the WDTV Live Plus and it has been nothing but a frustrating, undependable, piece of junk. It randomly decides whether or not to play certain files. I can play a video fine one day, and the next it gives me an error saying the file is unsupported. It's always a 50/50 chance on whether or not the audio will work. Some days it works, other days it doesn't - with no changes to the files or settings. It's just random and temperamental. It's a very VERY buggy device.

The Netflix navigation is very limited and YouTube videos look just horrible (even the nice professional 720p YouTube clips look like pixilated ten year old VCD quality).

I'm beyond the return period so I'm frustrated that I basically just threw away $120 bucks.

So long Western Digital... never again.

Great features for early adopters; Drawbacks make it not ready for the casual user, December 5, 2010
It took my partner and I about 3 weeks (and dozens of hours of tinkering over Thanksgiving weekend) to decide whether to keep the WDTV Live Plus or send it back. We ultimately decided to keep it, and are happy with it, with some significant caveats. For someone who likes playing with technology and has time to tinker, it is a fine device. We would not recommend it for a casual user who just wants to plug something in and go.

Our reasons for getting it, in rough priority order were: (1) Netflix streaming; (2) Pandora radio; (3) ability to play video from another computer; (4) ability to play music from another computer. Ultimately we want to get to a point where all of our DVDs and music are on a central device and can be played seamlessly on 3+ TV sets/stereos in our house. This was a first step.

CONFIGURING

Configuring and hooking up the device was about as complicated as setting up a home router and took a couple of hours. The device does not come with Wifi built in, so I spent another hour on the WD support website figuring out what inexpensive Wifi USB dongles would work reliably with it. (I landed on the ASUS USB for $19, which has worked well--the super cheap dongles you see on Amazon WILL NOT WORK). One of the reasons we chose this box was that it could hook up to our old CRT-style TV and 20 year old stereo amplifier and did so quite easily. Reprogramming our Logitech remote to control it took at least another 1-2 hours, though this was partially because of our convoluted hookup through old audio devices.

POOR USER INTERFACE

The most disappointing aspect of the WDTV is its user interface. The structure is non-intuitive, definitely not slick, and generally reminds me of something you would see on a cable TV box or game controller fifteen years ago. It took me half an hour with the user manual to determine the command for advancing chapters in a video file which requires a sequence like OPTION - Left Arrow - Left Arrow - Select - Down Arrow - Down Arrow - Select. (Apparently nobody at WD has ever used the "NEXT" button on a DVD player). In the end, it gets the job done with a tolerable level of annoyance. It's pretty clear that WD is in the disk drive business, not the consumer products business and would be well served to poach some of Apple's designers.

NETFLIX AND PANDORA

Once you get to Netflix from the main menu, you are presented with a very pretty interface that is totally different from anything else on the unit. It's very basic with no search capability; if you set up your queues from a computer, you'll be perfectly happy. I doubt you would spend a lot of time randomly searching for movies through the WD interface; it's just too limited and time consuming. I found the Netflix picture quality very good; the video felt a tiny bit jittery in very rapid action scenes; this may have been to our Wifi connection or a mismatch between the WDTV and our antiquated CRT style TV set.

Pandora works perfectly well and again has a very basic interface that works well if you have already set up your Pandora stations on a computer. It appears to have the timeout sequence disabled, even for free accounts, which is a bonus compared to the version for smart phones.

AUDIO AND VIDEO PLAYBACK

Moving on to playing audio and video files, I have one positive thing to say: Every audio and video file that I have thrown at the WDTV was played successfully. I have dozens of AVIs, MP4, M4Vs, VIDEO_TS directories, some with weird codecs, many of which would never play on my older laptops and the WDTV could play every single one of them.

The real disappointment and frustration comes from playing audio and video from another computer. We specifically didn't want to have to leave a desktop computer turned on while we streamed audio/video as is required with Apple TV and itunes. We chose the D-Link DNS-321 NAS for our audio/video serving because it seemed like the best deal out there. Now let me acknowledge that some of our problems were caused by this device's limitations around tag serving. Anyone serious about streaming would be well served researching UPNP/DLNA servers.

The WDTV makes this bad situation worse. Rather than take what information it's given and organize it into a coherent user interface, it requires the user to navigate multiple levels of menu trees. Navigation features both to get to files as well as within files is so painful as to be bordering on unusable. Ultimately there were some very basic things we wanted to do that the WDTV - DLINK combination could not do: (1) Play an audio album with tracks in order; (2) Find a list of albums within a genre and select one to play; (3) shuffle all songs within a genre; (4) Navigate a DVD menu. Note on #4: DVD menu navigation is available, but only if the DVD is ripped onto a thumbnail USB drive that you plug directly into the WDTV. No DVD features worked for us from network shares or UPNP.

WHAT'S NOW PLAYING?

The Now Playing interface, which is 100% WDTV's design, looks ridiculous: the album art and song titles are compressed and blurry so that they takes up a tiny, tiny part of the screen and is clearly an afterthought compared to the controls (pause, play, etc).

Video files ripped with chapter breaks can be played a chapter at a time, but the WDTV gives NO WAY TO DETERMINE WHAT CHAPTER YOU ARE ON and NO BUTTON TO MOVE TO THE NEXT CHAPTER!! You can select an individual chapter to play, which turns into a frustrating guessing game, say, on a DVD that has 38 chapters.

SUMMARY

All in all, this is a fun product to have in the house and its Netflix and Pandora features are enough to keep it around. The promise of Hulu Plus (coming soon) is an additional reason and would probably be enough for us to get rid of our regular Cable TV service. The user interface needs to be dramatically improved before it will be servicable as a day-to-day interface to a music or video collection on another computer or NAS device.

Don't buy for Netflix!!!, September 18, 2010
Like many of the purchasers of this media player, I purchased it to use in conjunction with my Netflix account. It worked admirably well for a few weeks, then I suddenly started getting an error message, to the effect that "... your Instant Queue is not available".

Attempts to find a solution on Netflix yielded responses along the lines of "This isn't our problem, see WD...". Western Digital sells lots of electronic gear, and God help you if you can't or won't endlessly be typing serial numbers, purchase dates, etc, etc, etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., into their support windows. You get absolutely NOWHERE!

Why this device would work, then on its own decide to cause nothing but endless headaches, is beyond me. I don't have the patience to deal with the nightmare; it's going in the trash, a $100 WASTE OF MONEY! If you want to stream Netflix to your TV, buy ANY other media player BUT this WD box! ... Read more

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The D-link DSM380 Boxee Box HD Media Player! watch, organize, share – you are now in full control of your TV for the first time. The freedom to watch what you want. It’s thousands of TV shows ready to watch, instantly. It’s tons of free movies, Hollywood blockbusters, and critically acclaimed films. It’s your videos, your Pandora and Facebook feeds somewhere they’ve never been before – your HDTV: organized, simplified and enjoyed from the comfort of your couch in 1080p. No keyboard or mouse required. Do what more than a million users have already done - download the D-link DSM380 Boxee Box HD Media Player's software and try it for free on your computer first, we’ll automatically import your account when you’re ready to bring the Boxee Box experience to your HDTV. The D-link DSM380 Boxee Box HD Media Player delivers freedom of the Internet to your HDTV in stunning 1080p, Dolby Surround Sound, and a slick interface with a remote to simplify everyth ... Read more

Reviews

Firmware Upgrade Brings Massive User Interface Changes, November 12, 2010
Boxee has addressed some of the concerns I highlighted in my review with firmware updates. Please see the bottom of the review for updates.

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Out of the box, the Boxee Box runs the familiar beta version of the software, which is familiar to me as a prior Boxee user. Everything works fine, from what I tested, though the edges of the screen were cut off a tiny bit (not enough to cause a problem). While exploring all the options, I found that a firmware upgrade to version 1.0 of the Boxee software was available. I installed it, the unit rebooted, and it automatically started a quick-and-simple screen calibration utility. That calibration was useful, because the stock firmware had some overscan problems (that is, the edges of the screen were cut off) on my TV.

Version 1.0 brings with it a new, simplified user interface. I immediately had trouble finding my way around, and was a little disappointed that the experience was different than what I was expecting. My main problem with the new interface is that it now takes several more clicks to access local files (that is, anything on your attached drives or home network). That's my stuff, and that's what I primarily want a video player to be able to play. The old interface allowed you to toggle between your videos, and all available videos, very easily, once you understand where the option is. With the default firmware, after a minute of configuration, I was able to select "Shows" from the home screen and see just my shows. Now, I have to use other, more complex and time-consuming methods to do the same thing, such as "Files > Shows" or "Shows > Files".

The new interface does make it easier to start searches (just start typing), and is very attractive. I just would rather that it allow me to put my videos front-and-center. Networked content is fine, but my own content should have primacy over it. I think that new users will not have a problem with the interface, but experienced users should know that changes are in store for you.


Networked Content

I had no problems streaming SD and 720p HD H.264 and DivX files from my NAS to the Boxee Box via my wireless-N network. Internet videos play well, but some Internet video sources are kludgy. Playing a video on Fancast, for instance, will open a web browser, showing the web page and the video in a small box. You have to use the remote to move the mouse cursor to the tiny "full screen" button and click it to get the video to play full screen. Good luck doing that on the couch, 10-20 feet from the TV! This is a big deal because the new Boxee software puts networked content front-and-center, in the "Most Popular" movies and shows pages. It's wonderful to be able to watch (ad-supported) shows that you haven't paid for, but it's a pain that you have to hunt for the full screen button, which looks different on every website, to do so.

Apps, on the other hand, are fantastic. TED and YouTube work exactly as you would expect, and there are dozens more available. Netflix and Hulu Plus apps have been promised; Boxee is working out the arrangements and hope to have these available by the end of the year (early next year for Hulu Plus). I hope for their sake that they do. Competing devices all support Netflix, and Netflix is, in my opinion, one of the most compelling sources for staming content.

Linking your online Boxee account to Twitter and Facebook seems like overkill at first, but it actually is pretty compelling to be able to watch videos that your friends are sharing. The RSS app is great, too. Through the Boxee website, you can subscribe to a whole bunch of video and audio streams (podcasts). Then, you can launch the RSS app and browse through the stream. It's very nice. I don't bother sharing what I watch on TV with my Facebook friends and Twitter followers, though, but I could if I wanted to. I think that if a large number of people I know used Boxee, this would be a lot more useful.

Another quibble I have with the UI is that "Watch Later" queue shows your most recent additions on top, and you can't sort it. To find the next episode of a series you've been watching from the queue, you have to scroll down. If I'm going to the trouble of queuing videos, doesn't that imply that I want to watch them in order, not in reverse order?


Hardware

The unique shape of the box is controversial, but it is very small and you should be able to tuck it away somewhere. The remote uses RF, instead of IR, to communicate with the box. Therefore, unlike most (if not all) of your other components, you don't need a line of sight. I actually decided to put the BoxeeBox behind my TV; I can't even see it, but the controller works perfectly fine! The only thing better would be to have Boxee software integrated directly into my TV.

The box is very capable. Until new video formats arrive on scene, I don't see an immediate need for Boxee or D-Link to refresh the hardware. I just hope they continue to improve the software and make the updates available to the Boxee Box.


Overall Impressions

The hardware is great. The box is small and silent (from across the room at least), the RF remote is fantastic, and the hardware overall is a good value over buying an ATOM/ION nettop and IR remote, and installing Boxee (beta) yourself.

Honestly, Boxee got off on the wrong foot with me for introducing so many changes to its UI at the same time it launched this product. Boxee 1.0 looks great--better than ever, really--but it is so simplified that it now takes extra button presses to get to my own content, and I think that was a bad move. I like the product, though, and will get used to the new interface soon enough.

I still think this is a geeky product that is trying to be usable for non-geeks, and just hasn't gotten all the way there yet. I'm a little disappointed in that, and hope that the software will be updated eventually to make it easier and faster to access both local and online content.

It is difficult for me to rate this product 3 stars, but I think that it just isn't quite up to snuff yet to earn 4 or 5. Some software updates and agreements with content providers could improve the user experience greatly (fix that full screen problem or provide a shortcut, please!). I am eagerly anticipating the Netflix app, and plan to award an additional star once it arrives.

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Firmware updates.

11/25/2010 update:

Boxee updated the firmware on Thanksgiving to improve playback issues and stability. This resolved an issue I ran into infrequently (after I wrote my review), in which some local MP4/H.264 files would start playback with sound but no video.

12/13/2010 update:

This is an important update to the user interface!

Boxee updated the firmware to allow users to put local content up front in the "Shows" and "Movies" sections (the top-level, giant icons on the home screen), or to allow online content to take precedence. This is accomplished in the least geeky way possible: After updating the firmware, you are simply sked whether you use the box mostly for local or online content. If you pick "local," the main "Shows" and "Movies" sections default to local content, and online content is buried one level deeper in the menus. You can toggle this preference, and refine it independently for Shows, Movies, and Apps, in Settings > General > Menu. Bravo to Boxee for listening to their users and pushing out this change.

The update also added an hourly scan option for your local content folders, and an icon in the "Local Shows" and "Local Movies" screens that allows you to kick off a rescan immediately. Hourly scanning is a huge upgrade from the daily scanning option, and the new location of the rescan command is a lot easier to get to than it used to be (in Settings > File Sources > [Share Name]).

Boxee also added sorting (A-Z, and Newest First) for Shows and Movies, though, sadly, not in the Watch Later queue. There are also new A-Z lists in the Local Shows and Local Movies sections, to help you browse faster.

There still aren't Netflix or Hulu Plus apps, unfortunately. I think the Boxee Box's UI and playback are shaping up incredibly nicely, though. Now they just need to match their competitors' online content choices.

Only going to get better, November 14, 2010
Some perspective on me: I have never written a review but felt it was necessary in this case. I have been streaming video accross my network since the Buffalo Link Theater (7 yrs ago). I consider myself somewhat of a computer\electronic geek. I, like many others, have been excited about the release of the Boxee Box. I have tried several other similar alternatives (X-Box, LG Blu-ray player, WD...etc) and NOTHING even comes close to the experience I've had so far with the Boxee.

Pros
-Quality hardware
-compact
-qwerty keyboard on back of remote (brilliant!)
-User interface (needs to improvement though)
-Zippy fast getting around (except for downloading cover art for thumbnails)
-Lots of content providers (more to come for sure, Netflix, etc)
-Streams every file I have thrown at it (my movie collection is over 500 strong with different formats).
-there are many more

Cons
-As others have commented (the qwerty remote is unreadable for me without extreem light (come on, grey on black letters!)
-no options to customize the user interface more (advanced settings?)
-many apps load a webpage with the video in a small window with the "full screen" option small and difficult to brows to with the remote (needs much improvement).

If you want to look at your digital piture collection, play your digital videos\movies, listen to your music collection and play content from the web all through a great interface on your DH TV and through your Home Theater system, this box is a must for you. I promise, you will not be disappointed.

I am confident this box will only get better.

A Huge let down, November 12, 2010
I have been using the Boxee software for almost 2 years and have mostly loved it. Boxee was the first XMBC spin off to truly attempt a mainstream hardware launch. I pre-ordered the Boxee Box the day it was up back in September. For months, I have been giddy with anticipation of it's arrival. Then I got it today. Upon opening the box and setting up the device, It looked just like the software I was used to. I always admired Boxee for saying "Try it" and actually having good software to try, knowing that one day the sweet sweet hardware would arrive. Then, about 15 minutes into my wonderful experience and before I had the chance to test everything out, it forced me to update. I was then left with an overpriced popcorn hour that glows green.

I'm too tired to write all of the issues here, but here are a few pros and cons:


PROS:
Very small device, Takes up little space.
Nice remote design (save for a few issues) as long as you have light.
Plays most of my locally stored media very well.
It has an OFF button

CONS:
No Netflix support.
No Hulu support.
No VUDU support (Even though it features the app icon on the screen!)
Many of the apps don't play ANY video at all (like the open university app), stating that the video files are not the correct format or are corrupted (Then why have the app on the screen?)
Several apps simply open up a web page in the built in webkit browser with the video showing on only a tiny fraction of the screen. You must painfully navigate to an extremely tiny 'full screen' button to watch full screen video.
Many other apps also just link to youtube videos and show the progress bar at the bottom of the screen with no way to minimize it (unless you are lucky enough to get the 'glowing green bar')
Navigation and layout of locally stored media is abismal. There is no easy way to organise your local media. This wouldn't be a big deal if there was any decent online media to watch.
Typing numbers on the remote is difficult. You must hold down a 'num' button the entire time.
The remote is impossible to see in a dimly lit or dark room. It has no back lighting.
The remote does not function the same across all apps. In Youtube Leanback (which is really neat), the pause/play and back/menu buttons are completely useless. You have to use just the center button and the directional keys. This issue is compounded by the remote being difficult to see unless in direct light.
For the thousands of videos and movies this device has, it is almost all independent and ad supported. I don't mind video ads but the pop up ads that display (since you are basically watching youtube on a browser) are impossible to minimise and block the video.

Boxee may be salvaged in the future but for now, this is basically an heavily overpriced popcorn hour with a worsened layout.

I strongly urge you to wait until these issues are resolved. When these issues are resolved, I will re-do my review and adjust accordingly.

Horrifically, embarrassingly bad product, November 23, 2010
Massive unannounced UI change on launch. Apps that stream like absolute garbage on a 6mps connection (Also tried on my friend's FIOS connection, equally atrocious). No Netflix, no Hulu. The Pandora app is terribly buggy. Accessing and playing local media files is downright painful. The box freaks out and freezes if you hit buttons on the remote too quickly. A product this bad isn't even ready for beta testing.

I am a habitual early adopter and I've never seen something this bad before. This thing will be going back to Amazon assuming I don't first throw it in the garbage where it belongs.

EDIT: I wrote this review in an absolute rage, and didn't take the time to fully articulate just how god awful this product is. The "Movies" section boasts over 2000 streamable movies, but I have yet to see a single movie anyone I know has heard of with the exception of "Reefer Madness". The Tv Show section is equally pitiful. It seems pretty cool that Boxee displays a show like Entourage until you select it and realize only one episode is streamable. An unacceptably high percentage of shows in the Tv Show section contain only one episode. Most of the rest contain 2 or 3, usually totally random episodes dispersed throughout a show's run.

When you select a show like The Daily Show, you're taken to the Comedy Central website with the video taking up about 2/3s of the screen. You have to manually move the cursor over to the fullscreen button before it plays like a normal video on the full Tv screen. Moving the cursor itself is awful, because the remote isn't a touchpad. Imagine trying to move the mouse cursor on your PC using the arrow keys on your keyboard...

I really don't understand, why bloat your Movies section with crap from the 80's that NO ONE will ever care about and flood the Tv category with shows that feature only one or two disjointed episodes that don't even play in full screen by default?

Don't bother buying this thing to play local files, either. The process of scraping your local media is a complete crapshoot, and only about 40% of my movies have been "found" by the Boxee software. Of that 40%, about 10% are labeled incorrectly, even though XBMC gets them 100% correct every single time I install it on a PC. I have also gone through the screen calibration process over a dozen times and the only movies that actually play with the correct aspect ratio are ones encoded at 1920 by 1080 pixels. Everything else is a smashed, distorted mess no matter how I calibrate the screen. If a 1920x1080 video plays perfectly on a 1920x1080 Tv screen with the correct aspect ratio and no cropping, shouldn't all videos from the same device play with the correct aspect ratio? 1280x720 videos have massive black bars on the top and bottom despite playing with the same video settings. The mind boggles...

Just to say one positive thing about the Boxee Box: the remote is pretty damn cool. If it is ever sold seperately with a USB dongle to connect to a normal computer, I'll be buying one and turning one of my Mac Minis into a HTPC running XBMC with the Boxee remote.

One final thing before I go. There are probably people out there who would read this review and complain that maybe I'm a dullard when it comes to tech, or that I should go online to the Boxee forums to solve my problems. The straight truth is that I am extremely tech savvy, and I've been using HTPCs in one form or another for almost a decade, back when it was nothing more than me running an AV out from my video card to play crappy downloads of music videos on a tube tv in my bedroom after school. I've built dozens of HTPCs for friends and family, running flawlessy without further intervention. What happens when average joe six pack middle America buys a Boxee Box, as apparently that's the eventual goal of this device? Is he going to go scouring the internet for answers on how to fix his video's aspect ratio? Not a chance in hell.

Avner Ronan should be ashamed of how downright terrible the Boxee Box is at the moment. D-Link should be preparing a lawsuit against Boxee for tarnishing their good name. I'm holding on to mine just to see if XBMC is ported over to it before the grace period for return is over.

disappointing, December 4, 2010

Too SLOW and crashes often....not ready for prime time---try again next year, December 2, 2010
I've been looking to replace my WD HD Media Player and have been testing out the various options-the New WDHD Media Plus, Bright-view cinema, and, of course, the Boxee Box. Out of the three mentioned, the Boxee Box has the best picture quality for photos and videos, however, that's where it stops. There are so many problems when with this unit that I sent mine back within two days. First problem, it's slooowww. The other devices will load all thumbnail photos in a folder within seconds. The Boxee struggles to load even one page. After it finally loads a page of thumbnails and you click on the next page, you again have to wait. What's worse, if you go back to the previous page, the previously loaded thumbnails have to re-load---there's no such thing as an instant buffer or que...horrible. Note, that this test was done with the Boxee connected directly to an external hard drive with USB 2.0 cables---It's even worse when the boxee connects via a wired or wireless network...

Another problem that Boxee has is with the videos. When playing avchd videos, it loads and looks fine but, again it's slow. If you try to FF or RW the videos, the video image disappears, and, in turn you're presented with pixilated lines of color--so you have no idea where to stop the video until you actually click stop on the remote.

The remote. This is another huge problem. Great concept...keyboard on one side, buttons on the other. But where are the buttons? You have a back button and a play/stop button and a selector button...but when watching pictures or videos, the only thing that works is the play/stop. You can't rewind or FF without going through a bunch of menus. So frustrating and again leads to slowww performance.

Another issue is with the apps, there is no netflix, and the limited apps that do load on this machine actually crashed the machine after loading.

Overall, I wanted to like it. I really did...but there are too many bugs and too much frustration to fork over $200 or anything close to $200. The HD WD Live is more reliable, streams faster and is much cheaper. I'd go with that and give the Boxee a year or so to get the kinks out. Than it may be worth it. I hope so.

DLink, I am disappoint, November 12, 2010
I had high hopes for this as a streaming video player, but it is horribly plagued with bugs and major issues, nevermind that originally planned services are missing for the time being (netflix, hulu, vudu - "coming soon").

Menu navigating is frustrating as the remote lacks any other buttons other than play/pause, direction, and a menu/cancel button. A 'home screen' button, power button & dedicated 'full screen view' would be a nice addition. The full keyboard on the flip of the remote is a MUCH appreciated feature as typing on an on-screen keyboard is clunky and slow.

For some unknown reason (and quite a few reviews mention this) videos will not play when set to 1080i (audio only) but setting the device to output 720p resolves the issue for the time being. Unfortunately just changing the setting will not resolve the issue and also requires the device to be rebooted.

Overall I am giving D-Link/Boxee 2 weeks to resolve the video resolution / audio problem or else this is going back. Overall, I am disappointed.

Bait and Switch, December 14, 2010
I received the Boxee Box day one and was very excited. I have been running Boxee for about 6 months now, ever since I cut the cord for TV. My primary use was local content and Netflix. When I heard about the Boxee Box I thought it was going to be great. All in one Boxee solution, better, faster and streamlined. However what was delivered was so far from what was in the beta that it doesn't even seem like the same product.

1.) Local content takes a back seat. There were so many last minute changes that made this just another online content hub, and put the one thing they excelled at (local content) on the back burner. This has made the Boxee Box nothing more then a GoogleTV or AppleTV clone with less support and less sway with the networks. The only reason to get the Boxee Box (for me) was the fact that it handled local content, now that they don't care much about local content this makes it a non-starter for me.

2.) Hardware issues. I have had tons of problems with the device itself. My old setup (recently put back into use using Boxee Beta which is way better then the pay for version) was an Aspire Revo 3610. Rarely had lockups (even on long pauses), content was aggregated fairly well (although not as well as XBMC) and it was fairly fast at detecting new content. However the Boxee Box locks up on long pauses (which they blame network hard drive power downs, but why does it still not happen in Boxee Beta?), if my son gets a hold of the remote he can lock it up in 60 seconds flat just by pushing buttons, and the final nail in the coffin was the fact that the latest update locks up the system when loading. Wireless driver issues were quite a problem, which seem to finally be resolved mostly; but HD content is still far from ideal (which once again works fine in Boxee Beta.)

3.) The box itself is pretty horrific from a design standpoint, very tough to put into a normal A/V center, can't mount it behind the TV like my Revo and with the location of the power button hard reboots (3-4 times a day) were a serious pain in the butt.

4.) One of the biggest shocks came with the announcement (love how they did it after pre-orders shipped) that Netflix would not be shipping on it. Since this is one of the few web content locations that work well it was a huge disappointment and made this even more shady.

4.) The one saving grace was the remote, it was very nice and easy to use, loved the layout and the buttons were raised just enough with enough texture to make it one of the best I have seen. (which is what the two stars are for, the Boxee itself would get no stars)


The bait and switch used with this is just horrible, the last minute changes and lack of communication were so shady that it makes me question using their product at all (even free.) I would not recommend this in the least. They have already shown that they can and will change direction and focus at any time with little regard to their users. I recommend sticking with a standard nettop like the Revo or Zino and using the free software. If they continue in the direction they are heading, you have the option to use something else like XBMC or Media Center or a newcomer, without being forced to stick with one vendor.

Half-Baked Release, November 23, 2010
The Boxee Box looks nice on the outside, and the remote with it's two sides are unique, but the software has a long way to go before it's ready for prime time. Consider this the product of the year for 2011 or even 2012, but for now when you want to watch stuff, you're at the mercy of the content providers (which is outside of Boxee's control for the most part), the hardware manufacturer D-link, and Boxee themselves who are learning the hard way the pitfalls of paid product support versus free beta software.

Definitely wait until Boxee irons out their staffing, workflow and most of all software issues and when they have a little more experience in customer service and updates. The stuff coming down the pipeline looks good and I know this will be a great product in a year or two. But $200 right now for something that will take a while to return on your investment (in terms of watching your own media files without issue, netflix, hulu, fixing the browser to play the content that they have right, etc.) when something better will come out, or better yet, I can build an HTPC and just run Boxee, just seems like a waste.

Not ready for production..., November 19, 2010
I am a long time user of the Boxee software and used it on a hacked AppleTV. I have a number of media extenders in my home (hacked AppleTV, SlingCatcher, three WDTV's), so I feel my analysis may be helpful. I'm also secretly hoping Avner and others will read these reviews and help improve this product.

I was very excited for the release, and pre-ordered shortly after it was available on Amazon. When it arrived, I set it up immediately and updated the firmware.

Likes:
-Some of the apps are great. YouTube Leanback is awesome. LiveStation is pretty cool. The TED app is very nice.

-The keyboard on the remote is great. Huge improvement over hunt-and-pecking. BUT, whoever thought dark grey font on black keys was a good idea, should be fired immediately. You can't see the letters unless you have a brightly lit room...and I keep my room dim...you know, to keep the romance alive. ;)

- The wifi connection seems to have a better connection than my WDTV Live had (located in the same spot).

- I love the look and feel of the UI. It really makes you feel less like you're browsing a drive, and more like you're watching TV.

Dislikes:
- I have a number of shows and movies that the Boxee Box can't figure out what to do with. Some kids shows, movies, etc. Nothing obscure. Mainstream stuff. Boxee can't figure it out. Fair enough. BUT, I should have the opportunity to create locations for them in the Boxee listings and populate the list so I can always open in the slick, informative UI. I think Saphire, running on the Apple TV allowed this. It's nothing new. Instead, I have 160+ shows and movies that can't be viewed in the standard Show and Movie view. So, I'm still stuck browsing the drive, like always.

- When I'm viewing a listing of shows or movies, and looking for...say...Sesame Street....I would love it if I hit "S" on the keyboard and it jumped to the "S" section of the list. Nope...when I do that now, I get the search box at the top of the screen. This is counter-intuitive and I just don't like the way this works.

- It crashes WAY more than anything else I've ever used. Even early versions of the AppleTV hacks didn't crash as often. I am sitting right now, in front of my Boxee Box. Screen frozen, no response to any remote control commands. Just stuck. In the last three days, the Box has crashed 8 - 10 times...just when I've been watching standard Divx AVI's. Something as simple as pausing and coming back to it 3 minutes later, or scanning and then pressing play, can cause it to become unresponsive. This sort of behavior indicates that either I have a bad unit, or this firmware is buggy as all heck (I suspect the latter).

- While the front of the remote is simplistic and cool looking, I don't like the cheap plastic feel. The glossy finish leaves it looking dirty after a few minutes of use with all the finger prints. But I also think they should have included a few other buttons...like FF, REW and STOP, maybe a search button and a home button. Instead, it seems like I can perform basic functions, but when I want to get into more advanced things, I have to tool around in the on-screen menu...which can get confusing. I like to be in control, and the remote doesn't provide some basic functions that I like to have.

- The box is ugly. Sure, maybe a box sinking into the ground looks cool...but it's not a functional design. I'm sure having a standard rectangular form factor would have made it a heck of a lot easier to fit a mainboard and other components inside. May have also made it easier to cool (sans the fan).

- I'm not a Netflix or Hulu user, but releasing the Box without those two included...when they were expected in this release and publicized as such, is just not cool. I've already seen plenty of people commenting about this, and if I had purchased the Box thinking they'd be there...and find them not to be...I'd be quite pissed.

In conclusion, yes...the Boxee Box is pretty decent...but at this point, the slick UI does not make up for the shortcomings and way-too-frequent crashes. I love what Boxee is about and really hoped for an awesome product to wipe out the competition. But I think I'm going to pack the Boxee Box back up, put my WDTV Live back on the shelf...because it just works, and hope that the Boxee bugs get worked out. Sorry Avner. This was not ready for production.
... Read more

Editorial Review

Now with blazing 802.11n, the affordable AirPort Express is powerful enough to run a home Wi-Fi network, yet small enough to take on the road. Share your wireless network with up to 10 users, print documents, photos, and more from any room in the house to one central printer, play iTunes music through your stereo or powered speakers using AirTunes, and more. ... Read more

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The sleek, easy-to-use AirPort Extreme Base Station with simultaneous dual-band support is the perfect wireless access point for home, school, or small business. It offers fast, 802.11n Wi-Fi access for Mac computers, PCs, and Wi-Fi devices such as iPhone, iPod touch, and Apple TV. ... Read more

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Reviews

Nice Entry Level Wireless N Router, May 18, 2010
The E1000 is an entry level wireless N router with a 100Mb switch. This router runs 802.11n in the 2.4GHz frequency (~130Mbs) to be backward compatible with 802.11b/g. The downside is that if you have a mixed wireless client environment at home (Wii/Blackberry) - 802.11b/g, newer laptop with 802.11n) you will only ever get a max of 802.11g speeds. If you have any 802.11b only clients, your performance could be much less. If you have a mixed environment and really think you need 802.11n speeds then you should be looking at the E3000. This device has two separate radios (2.4GHz and 5GHz). You would then dedicate the 5GHz to your 802.11n and use the 2.4GHz for 802.11b/g connections. You also get a gigabit capable switch vs. 100Mb). Running 802.11n in the 2.4GHz frequency in theory is 130Mb/s and in the 5GHz frequency that is pushed to 300Mb/s. Keep in mind, that you will never get the advertised speeds, not even on b/g as the wireless protocol has a very large overhead. You are lucky if you actually see half of that speed. The 2.4GHz frequency does travel farther than 5GHz but with speed tradeoffs. 2.4GHz is also more susceptible to interference from the microwave, baby monitor, or anything else that runs in the 2.4GHz frequency.

I know that was long, but the point is to understand what you have at home for wireless clients and then determine what product you need to buy. I think most people see the E1000 at a lot cheaper price and don't really understand what they are getting.

Now for my review: I have a mixed environment and am just happy with the 802.11g like performance. The speeds are not an issue for streaming HD content from my DireTV DVR to laptops over wireless or streaming video/music throughout my house. I have the device set up in the basement and get adequate coverage throughout my two story home. It even sneaks out to my garage (on the opposite end of the house from the E1000) and the patio. Having much experience with networking equipment, I choose to bypass the "easy setup" and manually configure the device and the clients. I think setup problems from a client perspective have more to do with Windows Vista and Windows 7 security than the E1000. My Wii and Blackberry connected quickly and easily while the Vista and Win7 machines took a couple of tries to connect. Overall, a good product for its intended purpose.

Unexpectedly easy to set-up and reliable. What's not to like?, April 21, 2010
After upgrading my internet service, I was forced to purchase a new router to provide wireless access. After looking at the usual suspects, I purchased this item based on experience with Linksys on prior occasions and a decent price. The unit is rated for speeds up to 300 MBPS, is rated N and 2.4 GHZ. I am very glad I did purchase this particular router.

Pros:

1. Set-up: I literally have NEVER had such an easy time setting up a wireless network before. I simply took the unit from the box, gave it power and after installing the CD on my 'home' computer, the thing literally began finding the internet signal and within maybe 4 minutes completed the task. Voila! I had a network! Besides changing the name of the network and the password, I had no issues whatsoever - it simply worked. And I only had an issue briefly because I failed to turn off the previous router (I was too excited). Unbelievably easy. Actually, I think the word is astonishing.

2. Aesthetic: I think this matters for any electronic item because most likely you will be looking at it on a table or desk somewhere. And I have to say, this thing is ultra cool looking. No antennas. It is simply a futuristic flying saucer looking item. The unit is black, with an ultra-cool "Euro style" blue light panel. I certainly don't mind having it around to look at continually. However, it does not have a small footprint. For a comparison, think of a trade paperback book and you will get the approximation of the size. It is oriented horizontally, not vertically. As is typical with these routers, you get 4 Ethernet ports on the back, a power plug, and a reset button on the back.

3. Reliability: I have not had any issues with this item since I purchased it. The network seems stable, and I have not had any drop-outs.

Neutral:

1. I did enter the router manually, and the router setting are not as easy to navigate around as other routers I have dealt with, but I found the buttons easy to change and manipulate.

Cons:

I bought this at a decent price, it worked instantly and it looks very neat and tidy. I have NO complaints.

Overall, I think this is an excellent product, and this is why I am sharing it with other readers. It just works!

Great router!, May 5, 2010
This router is fantastic for anyone, especially for those new to wireless networking. Linksys has done everything for you. All you have to do is pop in the Cisco Connect disk after you've plugged in the router, and you're pretty much done. They give you an SSID, passwords, etc. You can change your SSID and whatever settings you need to change very easily and quickly using the Cisco software if you like.

I loved the Guest network option for friends and family who need internet access on your wireless network without giving them the key to your main network. The parental controls option is also a fantastic feature for people such as myself who have children whose internet access you need to limit after school and/or on the weekends.

The only issue I encountered was the signal going in and out upon initial hookup. This was quickly fixed by unplugging my cordless home phone. Although my phone is 6.0 DECT and shouldn't have been a problem, it was for some reason. After unplugging the phone and setting up the router, I plugged my phone back in and haven't had any issues of any kind.

This setup was simple and unintimidating. No logging into the router and being so confused you want to either stay wired or end up leaving your system unsecured. I would most definitely suggest this router for newbies or anyone else who's found setting up a wireless network to be frustrating. Best router out there!

Like this router a ton, just wanted to point out a few problems you can avoid! (PS3, other 2.5ghz devices), August 7, 2010
I know this isn't a complete review, I really just wanted to come on here to give a few people that may be having the same problems as me a tip or two.

I was loving my new Linksys E1000 router right up until I tried to connect my PS3 to it. I couldn't get it to connect for the life of me. I read how easily some others are able to connect their PS3 to the router, and began my extensive testing.

Simply instead of going into detail; I read the back of the box after spending a good few hours or so messing with settings, connections, ports, etc. It clearly says that if you want it to work with 2.5ghz devices, you will need to get the next router up (E2000). I found out, that my surround sound system (a common Sony system) was a 2.5ghz device *this is common with almost 90% of wireless rear speaker sound systems* as well as other wireless phones and many other cordless devices.

The easy fix (what I am going to do tomorrow) is getting the E2000 router instead. It has all the great features of this router, just at a 5ghz speed, (gigabit Ethernet ports are also included for faster direct connection speeds) so you can be safe from your wireless devices interrupting your connection.

**Also, this may help anyone with a Nat type problem**

Another simple fix, is to shut off (or unplug) these 2.4ghz devices so they don't interrupt your connection while playing online.

I hope this helps other people. I am off to walmart (they have the E2000 router set at $79.99 as a regular price point)

---

Overall I would for sure recommend this router to a friend as long as you don't have any 2.4ghz devices in your room. If you do, go with the E2000. Both are fantastic! Keep in mind, if you don't have the disruptive devices in your own home, someone within your range may have them; and that can upset the connection as well. I live in an apartment, but heck, I don't know what people have in their apartments! :D

Good home router, August 9, 2010
I have now had the pleasure of setting up two new Cisco routers. One was the Cisco ValetPlus, and the other was the Cisco Linksys E1000. I set up the valet for a customer, and I set up the E1000 at my house. The reason I went with the E1000 was mainly because of the price, but also, because the Valet routers and the E-series routers are almost identical other than the paint job and the fact that the installation software comes on a disc with the E-series, and on a thumb drive with the Valet. It's the exact same software though. The E1000 has the exact same internal parts as the regular Cisco Valet. (Not the Plus.) The E2000 has the exact same internal parts as the ValetPlus. (Except the E2000 adds dual band, I believe.) So, just so you guys know, don't spend the extra $20-50 on a Valet. Because all you are paying for is a white paint job and a 1gig thumb drive. They are both SUPER simple to set up. As long as the connection software works. And it did both times with me. Well,actually the 1st two times I ran it with the ValetPlus, it didn't pick up the router for some reason, but I just reset the modem and then it picked it up fine. So, reset your modem before doing the setup. (But AFTER disconnecting any previous routers.) The connections on both seem very stable so far, but we'll see if they stay that way. My previous router was a Belkin G+MIMO, and it required a reset about twice a week, and a re-run of the setup CD about once a month. Absolutely ridiculous. I'll never buy another Belkin router. I knew that Cisco was one of the most respected makers of networking equipment, so that is why I went with them. I had seen a few reviews of this router saying it was hard to setup, and that it didn't work for some people. All I can think of is either the store you bought it from left a batch of them out in the heat, or maybe they dropped a case of them, or either your current setup is just conflicting with the router for some reason. I have set it up on two Windows 7 PC's, an Ipod touch, a Droid, a Samsung Blu-Ray player, and I plan to set up my PS3 on it today. All with no problems so far. So, I can't imagine what you guys are doing wrong. I really think some of the units must get damaged easily in transit or something. Because there are just too many people who say these routers just work. 5 minutes from opening the box to being online. Thats just awesome. In the end both the Valet line and the E-series line of Cisco routers are awesome products, but I would not recommend paying the markup on the Valet series. It really is the exact same router with the exact same software. Same circuit board, same processor, same switch. So I say, go buy an E-series Cisco router, you most likely won't regret it.

Stay away from this router if you need wireless RANGE, June 9, 2010
I brought this router to replace my old WRT54G. I wanted to stick with linksys since I knew the gui etc. While the product itself looks nice, and is very fast WIRED, the wireless range is complete CRAP especially with VOICE IP. Voice Ip forget about it, was choking non stop( I have a cable connection) and my laptop thats about 50 feet away was getting low 10-11MBPS 2 bar connections which at that range is UNACCEPTABLE.

After 3 days of messing with all the settings and firmware upgrades, I sent it back to Best buy and purchased a NETGEAR RANGE MAX model 3500L. Now Im getting 4 bars solid greens at 54MBPS on that laptop and voice IP smooth like butter.

If you have a lot of wireless products and laptops stick with NETGEAR. Linksys is grimy, it seems they created products so distinct within a tier system with the e1000 2000 and 3000 all increasing in price to confuse the consumer into thinking they need to get a e2000 instead of a 1000 etc, thus making you spend more. Although I indeed spent 99 on the netgear range max, I will never go back to linksys again.

Setup Pretty Simple, April 27, 2010
This router is pretty easy to set up and link other computers in as well. The software does most of the work. Signal is strong all over our property. For basic, secure home networking, this is a high-quality product that will suit your needs.

Good router but poor installation procedure, April 18, 2010
Admittedly, my installation is not typical. I already have a router and another wireless access point, that one G and this one N. So I had to change the settings. I had to disable DHCP before I could even get started, and I made some other changes, too. The problem is that the setup program is intended only for the simplest form of installation, directly to the modem and with no other routers in the network. I think it's called Cisco Connect, on which the user guide is focused. But I never even got to the point where Cisco Connect could even be installed, much less function or solve any of my problems, due to my nonstandard installation.

In the end, I was able to set it up correctly, just poking around in the setup program and enduring a problem that seemed to solve itself after a couple of hours. With a different set of instructions for nonstandard installation, I might not have made so many frustrating wrong turns. The Cisco Connect approach probably works well for many, but not for anyone who strays from the straight and narrow.

Anyway, all is well now and it seems to be doing its job well as an N access point.

Idiotic Software, April 19, 2010
There are two interfaces to configure this router. One you access through the provided Cisco Connect Software, the other you access through the web interface at the standard 192.168.0.1. Neither one controls all of the features, and once you use one, you are forever barred from using the other unless you reset the router. This means that if your setup is anything non-standard, you lose much of the router's functionality.

I'm currently stuck with an insecure guest wireless network broadcasting from my router. This guest network can only be configured or turned off using the software. However, I have to use the web interface to set up the static IP for my isp, because there's no way to do it in the Cisco Connect software. Since I've changed settings using the web interface the software refuses to let me use it. Therefore, forevermore, whoever wants to can use as much of my bandwidth as they like, and I have no way to prevent it.

What a piece of crap.

Good start, April 12, 2010
So far so good. This is my third or forth router and the first one in a few years so maybe they are all this easy to set up. Basically, this thing is plug and play. For the computers in my home (2 desktops, 1 wireless laptop) I needed to put in a usb drive to the primary computer - into which I had loaded the info from the cdrom - and then reinsert it into the other computers. About 20 seconds each computer, and they all linked up from there. I was able to change the password into something more manageable (and memorable) quickly. The speed across the board has improved also. I only have wireless-G for the laptop so I can't comment on the speed for N but based on how well everything else worked, I am optimistic. Good job. ... Read more

Editorial Review

With Apple TV, you can rent and watch standard-definition movies with stereo sound or stunning high- definition movies with pristine Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. Without leaving your couch. Apple TV also lets you browse millions of podcasts—including HD video podcasts—watch YouTube videos, view your Flickr and .Mac Web Gallery photos, and buy music and TV shows—all from your widescreen TV. ... Read more