Hi all,
I've been struggling with getting the Buffalo ethernet converter to work properly for me, so I could sure use some help and advice.
First off, I was able to successfully connect my HR20 to the WMP11 server on a non-Viiv PC via a Linksys WGA54G device. However, I had "borrowed" that Linksys from my Slingbox located in another room, so this was just a temporary solution. I decided to try out the Buffalo because of the great buy.com deal I read about here on this forum, plus the fact that it allowed more than one device to connect to it and I can certainly make use of that in my home theatre.
The setup of the Buffalo seemed very strightforward. I have security turned off, MAC address cloning disabled, and just to be safe I also disabled the "frame bursting mode" feature that I believe is specific to Buffalo devices. BTW, the Linksys had also been configured with security and MAC address cloning disabled. The HR20 was configured with a static IP address, and I was able to successfully complete the network connectivity test while connected to the Buffalo.
However, despite my rebooting the HR20 several times, the unit was never able to "see" my WMP server. When I go into the WMP server settings the "unknown device" is showing up there, but I wasn't sure if that was just due to the fact that my PC had previously discovered it while it was connected via the Linksys. So, what I ended up doing was installing WMP11 on a 2nd machine in my home, enabled the media server, and lo and behold the new "unknown device" showed up. However, when I go back to the HR20 it still cannot locate any media servers.
So, I next decide to reconnect the HR20 to the Linksys, reboot the HR20, and when it comes up I now notice that my WMP server now shows a second "unknown device" on my network. This tells me that whatever information gets broadcasted over the network is different between the Linksys and the Buffalo, so WMP thinks they are separate devices. As expected, my HR20 now sees my media server just fine.
Just for fun, I now disconnect the HR20 from the Linksys and plug it back into the Buffalo (without rebooting the HR20), and then I try accessing the media server. At first nothing seems to happen, but after a couple of minutes it somewhow figures things out and surprising I am able to access my media content through the Buffalo!
So, my conclusion thus far is that there is definitely some type of difference between the Linksys and the Buffalo in terms of what happens during the WMP server auto-discovery process. But it sounds like others on this forum are having none of these difficulties with the Buffalo, so I'm quite confused. BTW, my HR20 is running the 10b version of softare, and my wireless AP is a Linksys WRT54GS.
Oh, one last interesting tidbit. I also happen to own a Roku Soundbridge network music player device. The Roku has built-in wireless, but just for fun I disabled it and connected its ethernet port to the Buffalo. No problems whatsoever...the Soundbridge could access my WMP11 audio content just fine. Very strange...
Bob
I've been struggling with getting the Buffalo ethernet converter to work properly for me, so I could sure use some help and advice.
First off, I was able to successfully connect my HR20 to the WMP11 server on a non-Viiv PC via a Linksys WGA54G device. However, I had "borrowed" that Linksys from my Slingbox located in another room, so this was just a temporary solution. I decided to try out the Buffalo because of the great buy.com deal I read about here on this forum, plus the fact that it allowed more than one device to connect to it and I can certainly make use of that in my home theatre.
The setup of the Buffalo seemed very strightforward. I have security turned off, MAC address cloning disabled, and just to be safe I also disabled the "frame bursting mode" feature that I believe is specific to Buffalo devices. BTW, the Linksys had also been configured with security and MAC address cloning disabled. The HR20 was configured with a static IP address, and I was able to successfully complete the network connectivity test while connected to the Buffalo.
However, despite my rebooting the HR20 several times, the unit was never able to "see" my WMP server. When I go into the WMP server settings the "unknown device" is showing up there, but I wasn't sure if that was just due to the fact that my PC had previously discovered it while it was connected via the Linksys. So, what I ended up doing was installing WMP11 on a 2nd machine in my home, enabled the media server, and lo and behold the new "unknown device" showed up. However, when I go back to the HR20 it still cannot locate any media servers.
So, I next decide to reconnect the HR20 to the Linksys, reboot the HR20, and when it comes up I now notice that my WMP server now shows a second "unknown device" on my network. This tells me that whatever information gets broadcasted over the network is different between the Linksys and the Buffalo, so WMP thinks they are separate devices. As expected, my HR20 now sees my media server just fine.
Just for fun, I now disconnect the HR20 from the Linksys and plug it back into the Buffalo (without rebooting the HR20), and then I try accessing the media server. At first nothing seems to happen, but after a couple of minutes it somewhow figures things out and surprising I am able to access my media content through the Buffalo!
So, my conclusion thus far is that there is definitely some type of difference between the Linksys and the Buffalo in terms of what happens during the WMP server auto-discovery process. But it sounds like others on this forum are having none of these difficulties with the Buffalo, so I'm quite confused. BTW, my HR20 is running the 10b version of softare, and my wireless AP is a Linksys WRT54GS.
Oh, one last interesting tidbit. I also happen to own a Roku Soundbridge network music player device. The Roku has built-in wireless, but just for fun I disabled it and connected its ethernet port to the Buffalo. No problems whatsoever...the Soundbridge could access my WMP11 audio content just fine. Very strange...
Bob