BLU-RAY

Well The paper work says I bought this on 3/12/10. So today after saying to Directv, kiss my ass. I got it installed and working. Think I'll have another drink. :smack:

That's what I use, only mine is a bit newer. Now if I can only get my old one working out in my camper...which requires a bridge. No one seems to know how to set one up in my network, even tech support schlubs.

A bridge? Suspension or pontoon? Seriously, post a link. I've set up a couple bridges in my time.

Let's see. I have a Verizon DSL modem/Router, then there is a wifi antenna to boost range since I do not want to bury an ethernet cable, then in my camper there is a bridge which, if I understand it correctly, acts like a switch to allow me to connect computers and blu ray devices to my network.

The setup isn't easy, and I find a lot of complaints online. I can get into the bridge via ethernet on my laptop to run the wizard, but then the trouble begins. I only get wireless, no ethernet. And it password-protects the bridge on it's own and doesn't let me back in, forcing me to reset and lose configuration. I'm beginning to wonder if it's DOA.

Hmmmmph. What's the model number of the bridge?

I've dealt with these in a situation where you have a transmitter on one building and a receiver in the other, with external antennas (external to the buildings that is). The bridge on the receiving end is plugged in to the antenna.

The thing is, these bridges are really expecting to connect a single device back to the main network. When you get into other scenarios, the bridge gets confused at best. (Does it take the first device that plugs in and hold on to that address for dear life? Does it switch? What MAC address does it use? etc.)

The solution that worked for us was to get another router and plug its WAN/uplink/internet port in to the bridge. The bridge is happy because it's dealing with a single ethernet device. Your "inside" computer(s) connect to the router, and don't know or care how the internet services actually gets to the router.

The biggest "gotcha"? You're essentially running a network within a network. You have to make sure that you're providing different pools of IP addresses. If the Verizon router is handing out 192.168.1.xxx addresses, the new router has to hand out something different or there will be confusion.

Bear in mind, all this if good only if you're dealing with the kind of wifi-to-ethernet bridges I've used. You may have something else.

At this point you may be saying, "This is stupid! And complicated! And not really a bridge! A real bridge would just exchange packets from both sides and not have fits like this!" I agree, but this is what it is. I personally have not seem consumer-priced gadgets that do this, though I have not researched it lately. Beyond this you get into custom firmware for your router (like this) or setting up a computer to bridge connections and using that computer as your access point or something.

I never really understood the advantage in Blu-ray over DVD visually, and when I saw this article 2 years ago, I decided it ain't fer me.

And seein' all 'at crap Steve's talkin' ''bout, I know it ain't worth it.

John R. Sellers;819142 wrote:

And seein' all 'at crap Steve's talkin' ''bout, I know it ain't worth it.

This crap (way to nice a term IMO!) has nothing to do with Blu-Ray as such. Brian's trying to convince his Blu-Ray player to talk to the Internet. That's irrelevant to whatever visual advantage Blu-Ray has, or doesn't have.

Blu-ray laser diodes have many other uses. Just sayin' of course.

SteveDallas;819169 wrote:

This crap (way to nice a term IMO!) has nothing to do with Blu-Ray as such. Brian's trying to convince his Blu-Ray player to talk to the Internet. That's irrelevant to whatever visual advantage Blu-Ray has, or doesn't have.

I bought TWIL a couple of the mid range Sony players... no builtin network card and I declined to buy the necessary Sony-only wireless usb nic. So... I just have to wait for the thing to timeout when it tries to report back to the mothership my viewing habits. Fuck them.

Actually, Steve, I'm not having trouble getting the Blu-Ray player to talk to the internet. I'm having trouble getting the internet TO the Blu-Ray player!

Let's be specific here.

same difference, you know that.

For that matter, why don't you consider a wireless network connection for the blu-ray players?

I did. From now on, all Blu-Ray players shall be wireless in this house.
Unfortunately, THIS one is older than that rule and the only way to make it wireless is to special-order a wireless unit from Sony and pay $100.

Not happening.

Plus, this is only a camper here. I don't LIVE there, I just take naps sometimes. And I am remodeling the back bedroom into an office. In my spare time anyway.

Still waiting on you, Steve. Any ideas?

sounds like we both got the same sony unit. I don't have the model number, but it has a usb port (wooo!) to which you may connect a wireless network adapter.

...


IF you buy the Sony Wireless adapter, for a price approximately equal to the cost of the discounted blu ray player. Fuck that shit.

BrianR;819728 wrote:

Still waiting on you, Steve. Any ideas?

Umm ok.. so do I understand?

You have wifi up and running where the Blu-Ray player is?
The Blu-Ray player has an ethernet jack, but no Wifi support?
And you have a bridge thinger that you're trying to plug into the ethernet jack to get the Blu-Ray player to talk to the wifi?

If that's not right, draw me a picture or something. What's the brand & model # of the bridge?

look back at my post with explanation. I provided a link to both my bridge and antenna.

Yes, there is wifi but not through the bridge. I can get three (out of five) bars of signal. I'm hoping for better throughput with ethernet. I don't even have the bridge plugged in at this point. If I could just get a router going, I would be happy, but two routers don't play well together, in my experience.

BrianR;819329 wrote:

Blu-ray laser diodes have many other uses.

Just imagine what ET could do with one.

BrianR;819897 wrote:

look back at my post with explanation. I provided a link to both my bridge and antenna.

Yes, there is wifi but not through the bridge. I can get three (out of five) bars of signal. I'm hoping for better throughput with ethernet. I don't even have the bridge plugged in at this point. If I could just get a router going, I would be happy, but two routers don't play well together, in my experience.

OK, so how far did you get? Could you plug your computer in to the bridge and go through the wireless config wizard?

After you've done that, I'd start by trying to plug a computer in to the bridge with ethernet only and see if you can get it to work. If everything is working, it should pick up an ip address your router (passing through the bridge to get there) and you'll be fine. Off hand, my guess is that your player isn't, for whatever reason, picking up a good IP address.

Yes, I can access the bridge with a computer via ethernet. I can run the wizard. But once the wizard is run, it reboots the bridge (normal) and slaps a password on the bridge so that I cannot get back into it without resetting the thing to it's factory configuration. No place in the wizard or other tabs shows this password or a box to disable it. There is no further access to the bridge via ethernet or wireless at that point. The devices can SEE the bridge on the network but not access it in any way.

Googling it finds me a hint that is a bit beyond me: Some recommend setting a static IP for the bridge in my router. I'm not sure how to do that.

BrianR;820137 wrote:

The devices can SEE the bridge on the network but not access it in any way.

I'm confused by that. If it is a bridge, then it does not have an IP address. As a bridge, the router only sees IP addresses of devices on the other side of that bridge.

BTW, to be clearer about another's post. Routers do play will together IF the first router has an IP address of 192.168.1.1. And the second router is 192.168.2.1. For some routers, one of the device ports might be disabled when the second router connects as a device to the first.

All devices connected to the first router get an IP address of 192.168.1.x. All devices connect to the second router get 192.168.2.x

Manual for the bridge or the manufacturer name and model number is what?

BrianR;820137 wrote:

Yes, I can access the bridge with a computer via ethernet. I can run the wizard. But once the wizard is run, it reboots the bridge (normal) and slaps a password on the bridge so that I cannot get back into it without resetting the thing to it's factory configuration.

The default seems to be user: admin, password blank. If it's unilaterally assigning something after configuration, that's very odd.

This video probably tells nothing useful that you don't already know.

[YOUTUBE]OsO3qJqXqMQ[/YOUTUBE]

But it does suggest using WPS, which I have never used. It also seems to suggest plugging all your devices in before you run the configuration--though it's a bit ambiguous, you might try it.

I don't know if a static IP address would help. Theoretically you should be able to look at the router and see what address was assigned to it. Of course, theoretically once the bridge has authenticated itself onto the wireless network, the devices plugged into it should see the network on the other side of the bridge, and that doesn't seem to be happening. At any rate, you ought to be able to give the bridge itself a static ip address--just tell it not to use DHCP.

tw is correct that a bridge, strictly speaking, does not need to have an IP address. But they often do, so you can connect to it over the network to configure it. (This address may be "in band," part of the network, or "out of band," a completely different network only used for the admin connection. In fact I wonder if that may be what's happening here.)

At any rate, this is getting very close to the limit of what help I can give without having the devices in my hands and using a hammer on them.

Re: the hammer. Do NOT tempt me!! :D

Assigning static IP addresses is not one of my strong points. Nor do I understand a lot about DHCP. I treat router and bridge configuration like I treat editing my registry. I avoid it unless I have EXACT instructions and a road map.

There is too much possibility of something going horribly wrong and we might lose our internet connection. It is used for business as well as pleasure.

In this case the static ip is (or ought to be) a red herring. Its only purpose is to allow you to configure the device through a web browser, and not by plugging in a serial cable and using a VT100 interface. (Everybody who knows what a VT100 is... DRINK!! If you actually used one, two drinks.)

I'd suggest taking a look at the router config. It should have a page telling you what devices are actively talking to in on the LAN side. You can at least confirm (or not) that the bridge got onto the network and picked up an address.

SteveDallas;820228 wrote:

tw is correct that a bridge, strictly speaking, does not need to have an IP address. But they often do, so you can connect to it over the network to configure it.

When configuring, the device is not a bridge. Once its configuration is enabled, the bridge is enabled and IP addresses no longer exist. A bridge only echos packets. Looking at an IP address means higher level functions that a bridge always ignores.

Once put into bridge mode, there is no login or password. No DHCP. Does not care what any IP addresses are. Does not know nor care if addresses are static or dynamic. Ignores and does no encryption. Those are higher level functions that a bridge ignores. A bridge simply echos all incomng packets onto other networks. Does not look at any packets. Therefore would not see any IP address. And no longer has any login functions.

How to login to a bridge? Reset the hardware. Then it is no longer a bridge. Then it has a default login and password. Then it has an IP address.

tw, that is not the way this or this work, both of which I have in production on my network at work. I assure you they retain their IP addresses after initial configuration. Does that mean every product works that way? Of course not. But clearly some do.

SteveDallas;820287 wrote:

I assure you they retain their IP addresses after initial configuration. Does that mean every product works that way? Of course not. But clearly some do.

What they have called a bridge is actually a bridge and another device - a server. No IP utilities can see the bridge. And that is the point.

Using the Linksys as an example, critically important are the two lights on its front panel to report on the 'incoming' connection and 'outgoing' connection. Without those lights (and some statistics from the server), then nobody can say with certainty what the bridge is doing. If its connection is even working. (Except maybe if operated in an ad hoc mode which apparently is too complex here.)

Is BrianR's bridge just a bridge? Or is it a bridge and separate server? Manual for the bridge or the manufacturer name and model number is what?

This is the manual for the bridge. It is a .pdf, be warned.

From what I can tell, the bridge NEEDS to have an IP since it is acting as a router.
DHCP may or may not be dynamic. I might need to set IPs for all the devices since I can't run two DHCP servers. This is where I get to things that are above my paygrade. I'm about to chuck the whole concept of a wireless network and a hard wired outbuilding and just have someone else come in and bury the proper data cable. Of course, that would be a week before the wife tells me that she wants to move the camper to the BACK yard. :/

Pam the Befuddled

BrianR;820424 wrote:

It is a .pdf, be warned.

OK. Due salesman and other useless entities, most of the first seven pages say nothing. The bridge is not just a bridge. It is a router and a bridge with a server to configure both.

I read the first twenty pages. And will continue later tonight. Meanwhile, you must provide some essential information.

Start with your computer. A network (ethernet) cable connects to it. What are lights (typically) adjacent to that cable reporting? If the other end is properly connected to some working ethernet device, then at least one and probably two should be lit.

Second, goto Command Prompt (typically in Start>All Programs>Accessories). Enter the command
IPCONFIG /ALL
Many important numbers will be displayed. Relevant are numbers in "Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection". Especially numbers labeled IP Address, Subnet mask, Default Gateway, and DHCP server. Most (except mask) will be 192.168.x.y. Those numbers are essential to start a solution. And so that you might learn something from the experience.

Next, in the browser (IE, Chrome, etc), enter 192.168.x.1. (x is the actual number discovered in that previous paragraph). That will connect to a server inside some router. Which router is displayed?

Third, what is connected to what? For example, the computer's ethernet cable connects to what? What other network devices also connect to that router and to which receptacles? Is the 'Dlink' also connected to that router? If yes, then where?

For each connection should also be a light on the router's front panel. For each connect and disconnect, does that light illuminate and extinguish?

Fourth, if the 'Dlink' connects to another router, then which 'Dlink' socket is the ethernet cable connected to? And again, when the ethernet cable is connected and disconnected, then what front panel light illuminates and extinguishes?

Information necessary just to know what you have long before trying to ask relevant questions.

wow
I'll try for that info as soon as I can. Can you tell me what info you want, such as IP info, in Linux-speak? the computer in question is a Ubuntu 10.04 machine, not Windows, and I'm not as well-versed in command-line usage as I wish I were.

Instead of

IPCONFIG /ALL

Go to a command prompt as root and type ifconfig

You may need to do /sbin/ifconfig

thank you

next trip out to the camper, I will gather the requested information.

Pam