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Vudu Finally Gets Wireless Kit (Works Fine, Expensive by Competitive Measures)
Posted by Wilson Rothman at 2:00 PM on June 5, 2008
So many products, including the US$100 Roku Netflix box, come with wireless, so it was surprising that the US$300 Vudu broadband video-on-demand box requires a hard Ethernet connection. Today Vudu announces a US$80 Vudu-branded Ethernet-to-802.11g bridge kit built by Asus. I tried it over the weekend, and it worked great.
The dongle near the box powers itself directly from the Vudu's USB jack , meaning no extra power brick. The other end, near your router, does need to plug in, but that's less of a hassle. Best of all, it requires no on-screen configuration and works without any visible degradation when delivering high-bandwidth video. (I can't say the same for the Roku Netflix box, which choked a bit when I tested its built-in Wi-Fi.) Vudu will sell the kit with the video box itself for US$350—I think it's a wise addition, though this kit costs as much as the Netflix box in its entirety, and half of the price of an Apple TV. Clearly, a bridge is the most expensive way they could go, and you also have two more things to plug in. [Vudu]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
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kickace
Posted 3:12 PM 5/6/08
oh and the wireless works great for me for the netflix player, even unplugging it for days, it still has everything saved.
kickace
kickace
Posted 3:11 PM 5/6/08
$380 for a the voodoo box with wireless? i will gladly take the netflix roku player for $100 with wireless included over that....
and thats why i bought the netflix player :) for anyone interested, ive used it every night and it works flawlessly and the quality is excellent - HD will be there soon....all for 8.99 a month, not $3.99 a rental
kickace
RobotVampire
Posted 7:58 PM 5/6/08
@kickace: Good to know, I just order the Netflix box this week and was intending to use it with the wifi. Hopefully it will ship soon, daddy needs to unbox something.
RobotVampire
homerjay
Posted 9:58 PM 5/6/08
I don't have NetFlix but I would if I could use the roku box instead of dvd's by mail. Any idea why they don't have any info on the box on their site yet?
homerjay
jhcovert
Posted 10:31 PM 5/6/08
@homerjay: they do, but it's not boldly placed. Click on the Watch Instantly tab at the top of the screen, and then a sub-tab will appear below that reading NEW - Instantly To Your TV.
Strange placement for something that is more or less a game changer for their business model and for much of America (maybe not the HD fanboys who populate this site, but for Ma and Pa Kettle it might be what the doctor ordered).
jhcovert
lunasdude
Posted 1:08 AM 6/6/08
The price on this IS RIDICULOUS! Even my Apple TV was kind of stupidly expensive after I hacked it to play all the formats that I wanted! Then I Got a Popcorn hour (no wireless but you can use a usb dongle) and it does just about every video format out there in hi def for $179.00.
I also got a Roku netflix player (I know im a video whore) and we love it! BUT you do need a good strong broadband connection to get good quality, if you have that then GET IT NOW (there back ordered 2 weeks) we love ours and the guys at "coolness roundup" are WRONG! It does have a resume feature! About 13000? Movies available but not too many newer (after 2007) movies but some good ones just the same and for $99.00 I couldn't resist! Our Apple TV is much prettier and a much slicker interface but to dam much $$$$ and crappy video support out of the box until you hack the hell out of it!
I will not be adding the Vudu to my collection!
Call me when it's around $199.00 or lower!
BTW using wireless on for ANY VIDEO STREAMING is not a good thing unless you live nowhere around anybody else that can you cause interference and crappy results
lunasdude
Rusdude
Posted 4:05 AM 6/6/08
@lunasdude: I live in an apartment and have at least a dozen of other wireless networks around me and I still get Instant HD with Vudu (I am not using the new kit -- just a Buffalo G router flashed with Tomato firmware on Vudu end and D-Link's DIR-655 N router on the other end).
I am not privvy to any insider information, but I think Vudu people didn't include wireless out of the box because they were sure that most people would rather use wired connection since it's more reliable and wouldn't have any issues keeping up with HD streams and constant P2P communication going on.
But since quite a few of people have been asking for a wireless model on Vudu forum, they did the next best thing and came up with adapters. If you are familiar with network gear, you'd realize that $79 is a very fair price (read -- pretty cheap) for 2-piece wireless bridge and is cheaper than a powerline kit. And for new adopters, they are making it even sweeter by giving a $29 discount.
Rusdude
RobotVampire
Posted 11:03 PM 8/6/08
I'll be using my Roku mostly on a Linksys wireless bridge (that my Tivo uses as well), but will occasional be using the built in wifi if it goes into the kids room occasionaly. Be intersting to see how well the built in wifi compares to using the bridge.
RobotVampire