Networking Products Inside

I bought this Wireless Bridge to connect my DirecTV HD-DVR to the internet so I could use the On Demand DirecTV offers (and other features). The On Demand allows you to search and then download to your DVR specific movies or programs that you want to watch now or save for later. I had an ethernet cable running from my wireless router to the DVR but I thought that was a waste to have everything wireless and have ugly cable running all over just for my DVR. I decided on the WET610N because I believe it is exactly like the unit DirecTV sells for $99. So since this is the one they recommend, and I didn’t want any issues connecting or it being compatible, I went with this one.

Yesterday I installed a new wireless router to my network. I bought the D-Link DIR-855 Wireless Router D-Link DIR-855 Xtreme N Duo Dual Band Draft 802.11n Media Router (also purchased from Amazon) to replace my old D-link router. I say this because I believe having the newer router made the installation for the Wireless Bridge MUCH smoother than what others have experienced.

I opened the box and took everything out. Quickly read through the instructions so I knew what to expect. Then I moved my laptop to the room in my house where the D-Link Wireless Router lives. I put the CD in my laptop and followed step by step what it asked me to do. EVERY step was spelled out – probably a little too much, i.e. “plug the blue ethernet cable in to the back of the wireless router” with animated picture, click NEXT, “plug the other end of the blue ethernet cable into the back of the Ciso/Linksys Wireless Bridge” with animated picture, click NEXT, etc.

Basically my steps were: I entered a password to protect my new Wireless Bridge. It searched my system for my components. Then started connecting them. My new router has the “connect” button (looks like to arrows forming a circle) to speak to anything you would want to connect to the router. The CD told me to hit that button then hit connect. Once I held that button, then clicked connect on my laptop it was connected with no problem. So easy it was like connecting a wireless mouse to it’s transmitter. I picked my network from the list of available networks that came up and I was wireless. I unplugged it from my router and connected it to my DVR and plugged the AC adapter into the wall. Once the lights stopped flashing it was booted up. I looked at the channels for the On Demand on my DVR and I was already connected. Didn’t have to configure the DVR to see the Wireless Bridge at all. It just thought the old ethernet wire was plugged back in.

I never opened the web address page or homepage for the Wireless Bridge or for my router. Never entered my password for my network. Didn’t even see anything asking for anything complex like if my network was PPPOE, if it was static or dynamic, if I was using DSL or cable, or if it was 2.4 Mhz or 5 Mhz. Nothing. It was so very easy. So much so I almost felt guilty after reading some of the horror stories in some of the reviews. It literally took minutes. Maybe 10 minutes including walking from room to room.

Rating: 5 / 5

I bought this based on the great reviews and disregarded any reviews I’d read complaining about the connectivity issue, as I’m pretty tech savy.

Now, having spend the last two days trying to get it to work, I should have heeded the warning signs.

I’ve been on the Linksys site trying to troubleshoot the connection, and have tried all the suggestions from google searches with absolutely no success.

The product is supposed to be plug and play, well, it is absolutely not! Even the CD with the PC drivers doesn’t work on my PC, however I’m trying to network this with my Mac, first and foremost.

My Airport Express 802.11n router is able to see the bridge, and I can assign an IP address, but no matter what I do, or how many times I reset it, the bridge will not connect my canon printer.

I waited for a half hour to talk to a rep via IM on the Linksys site, but while they responded to my questions, the only response that came through was the operators name and identifying employee number, so no matter what she typed back, I couldn’t read it. Useless.

I’ll be ebaying it tomorrow and buying a 75 foot ethernet cable instead. I wish I could charge Linksys for my wasted two days.
Rating: 1 / 5

Super easy set-up & works perfectly.I couldn’t be happier.

Product Description

Move up to the Power of N! The versatile Wireless-N Ethernet Bridge with Dual-Band can make a wired Ethernet-enabled device a part of your wireless network. It’s optimized for streaming video to reduce glitches. It’s ideal for wirelessly sharing music, photos, movies, and other files around the home. Since the Bridge is based on dual-band Wireless-N, it works with any device supporting Wi-Fi standards, and is compatible with Wireless-G, -A, and -B. Connect digital video recorders, set-top boxes or computers to your Wireless-N network. Convert your wired-Ethernet printer, scanner, camera, storage device, notebook, or desktop for wireless connectivity. The Wireless-N Ethernet Bridge works on any platform and under any operating system. Since there are no drivers to load, setup is a snap – configure the network settings through your PC’s web browser, then plug it into your device and go. To protect your data and privacy, all wireless transmissions can be encrypted with industrial-strength Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) security. Wi-Fi Protected Setup helps make secure connections pushbutton simple. Easy-to-use setup wizard Equipped with one 10/100 auto-crossover (MDI/MDI-X) port Unit Dimensions 5.71 x 4.17 x 2.05 (145 x 106 x 52 mm); Unit Weight 5.61 oz (159 g) Power 12V, 1A Package Contents – Wireless-N Ethernet Bridge with Dual-Band; Setup Software and User Guide on CD-ROM; Quick Installation Guide; Network Cable; Power Adapter Minimum Requirements – Device with Ethernet port; Wireless Access Point or Router (802.11g, 802.11b, 802.11a, or draft 802.11n compliant); Internet Explorer 6, or Firefox 2 or higher for browser-based configuration; PC with CD-ROM drive (for Setup Wizard only); Setup Wizard requires Windows XP, Vista, or Vista 64-bit edition with latest updates; Maximum performance derived from IEEE Standard 802.11 specifications. Actual performance can vary, including lower wireless network
Rating: 5 / 5