[Horizons]

Well, count me as lucky but I received my SB3 on Saturday(wife bought it as a B-day present) and literally within 5 minutes I was browsing through my entire music library (Apple lossless) and listening to Internet broadcasts.  This all on a 802-B wireless router. I plan to upgrade to a G-based router ASAP.

In my almost 30 year audiophile history, the SB3 ranks near the top of my best purchases ever. This think it's amazing for it's features, sound quality, and flexibility. I will never go back to normal CD players just like I abandoned my turntable years ago.

The sound of some of the streaming stations is a lot better than I thought possible. I have already discovered some new music that I will buy and rip.

If you are considering taking the SB3 plunge I recommend a little research and then go for it. The SB3 is truly a revolutionary product.

[Thump553]

I envy you.  I just got one also (to take advantage of their $100 off two discount-it's still going on) along with my brother in law.  I learned a very important lesson-the next time I want to call someone a really bad name, I'm going to call them a router.

I have a Linksys router which I was mostly using wired.  After 3-4 evenings I finally found out I wasn't setting up the encryption right.  THE SB was reporting (erroneously) that it was connecting to the network, but it wasn't.  My brother in law has a Netgear modem and a mixed Apple/Windows network.  It took a couple of days for him (and eventually him and me) to get it running, and he's a networking wiz.  The problem there was we had to turn off the extended features of his router.

SB is a great product and I love mine.  But if you don't know networking (or have access to a really smart teenager) go into it with trepidation.  It is quite a rush when it finally works though.

[RoadTripper]

I had the same problem, sorta; i.e. even though the encryption key I entered was wrong, the SB3 gave no indication that it was wrong. It sailed through that step like Houdini in chains. Not only did it not complain, it even went so far as to display an IP address that it thought it found. Wrong.

What the setup instructions don't tell you is that if your encryption key has '2' or '3' in the sequence, you have to 'enter' the 2 or 3 by using the right arrow button on the remote, unlike all the other numbers that you enter merely by typing them. Otherwise, the letters 'abc' or 'def' are entered.

So, two screwups on Slimdevices part: One, really bad documentation (RBD) and two, weak error handling (WEH).

Only wasted 5 hours of my life and almost cost me a wife who also now thinks I am stupid.

[randytsuch]

Only wasted 5 hours of my life and almost cost me a wife who also now thinks I am stupid.

Come on, didn't she think you were stupid before, you can't blame that on squeezebox.  

My wife either thinks I am stupid or smart, depending if she wants to laugh at me, or ask me for help.

My problem hooking it up was I tryed it with my laptop at first, and for some reason the server did not run correctly when I first installed it on my laptop.  Then, I tryed my desktop, and it worked no problem.  Reinstalled it on my laptop, and everything was fine.

I am running my sb3 into an external dac, and it sounds really good in this mode.  Plus, I love the convenience of having all those songs.

The only thing I don't like is I have to turn on my computer to listen to music, but that is a minor complaint compared to it's advantages.

Randy

[RoadTripper]

OK, you're right. My Squeezebox troubles help ME realize I am stupid.

randytsuch: are you running your laptop as the server with the CD data on your desktop, or what? How exactly are you doing this?

I would like to control the thing from the laptop even thought all the files are USBed on a 200GB maxtor connected to the desktop. And how does the router fit into all this?

[randytsuch]

OK, you're right. My Squeezebox troubles help ME realize I am stupid.

randytsuch: are you running your laptop as the server with the CD data on your desktop, or what? How exactly are you doing this?

I would like to control the thing from the laptop even thought all the files are USBed on a 200GB maxtor connected to the desktop. And how does the router fit into all this?

Hi Seminarian,
I have been using my desktop as my server, I have a 250G and a 160G drive for data files, and a 80G drive for programs, so plenty of storage there.  I play with home video files, that's why I have so much space.  

I also have a 160G external USB drive that I just put all my music files on.  Yesterday, I connected this to my laptop, and used my laptop for my music server.  Before that, I only had a few music files on my laptop, which I used to help burn in the SB3.

I have not set up to use my laptop, with the desktop as a server.  You should be able set up your desktop so the music directory is shared with the laptop.  This will let the laptop access the music directory from the desktop, and then I think you could run slimserver from the laptop, and do what you want.

I would do this, but my laptop is from work, and the way it is setup, it does not support sharing directories.  My IT guys don't like sharing directories, it makes virues easier to spread.

The other thing is, if you have a PDA, there are programs to use your PDA to control  a SB.

Randy

[Eli]

I think the jury is in on this one.  The Squeezebox 2 and 3 _definitely_ have some serious problems talking wireless protocols with many routers.  Firstly, they don't support the protocols that they should (or could, given the Atheros chipset on their wireless card) and secondly, those they do support are very finicky about whch routers they can actually work with.  I've seen surprisingly little acknowledgement from the folks at Sim Devices that these problems exist and even less real work in the form of new firmware in the software betas.  I think Slim Devices currently is completely overwhelmed by the modest demand for their product while trying to develop the software necessary to make it usable.

Bottom line - if you get lucky, it might take you five minutes to be up and running, like the original poster.  If not, it could take you days and a few tries with different wireless equipment before you hear a single note.

[konut]

What makes you think its the SB that has the problem? I have a SB3 on order from Vinnie. Meanwhile I've been lurking here and on the Slim forums a few months. It appears to me, and this is purely my sense of the chatter, that Netgear and Linksys devices are prone to problems, and DLink is virtually trouble free. I could be wrong.

[Eli]

What makes you think its the SB that has the problem? I have a SB3 on order from Vinnie. Meanwhile I've been lurking here and on the Slim forums a few months. It appears to me, and this is purely my sense of the chatter, that Netgear and Linksys devices are prone to problems, and DLink is virtually trouble free. I could be wrong.

Given that people all over the world are using those same Netgear and Linksys routers, as well as other brands that the SB has a problem with, in everyday use with many different laptops and PDAs and othe wireless devices, I'd say the SB has the problem.

[DSK]

What makes you think its the SB that has the problem? I have a SB3 on order from Vinnie. Meanwhile I've been lurking here and on the Slim forums a few months. It appears to me, and this is purely my sense of the chatter, that Netgear and Linksys devices are prone to problems, and DLink is virtually trouble free. I could be wrong.

Yeah, I've seen various forums with many posters describing similar problems with their wireless devices connecting to their routers (not with SB's, these are computer not audio forums). One of the worst was the DLink 624. They get intermittant and frequent hangs.

Fortunately, neither my SB2 nor my wife's laptop have had a single problem with the Netgear WPN824 MIMO router.

[Jay S]

My DLink 730 has had hangs every few minutes ever since I switched from cable modem to DSL.  I don't know why that should make a difference but there it is....

Based on the comments above, I am pretty sure that my next wireless router won't be a DLink. I have heard good things about Netgear and Linksys NIMO wireless routers.  The walls in Hong Kong are all made of thick concrete and my "g" router cannot reach my living room which is separated by 2 walls.

[randytsuch]

My DLink 730 has had hangs every few minutes ever since I switched from cable modem to DSL.  I don't know why that should make a difference but there it is....

Based on the comments above, I am pretty sure that my next wireless router won't be a DLink. I have heard good things about Netgear and Linksys NIMO wireless routers.  The walls in Hong Kong are all made of thick concrete and my "g" router cannot reach my living room which is separated by 2 walls.

I have a dlink 624 sitting in a drawer about 5 feet away from me.  After I had it for about 1 year, I started to have to power cycle it about once a day to make it work.  I got a Motorola router cheap on a rebate sale, I have had to reset it a few times, so far it is much better than the Dlink.

Randy

[seanadams]

I think the jury is in on this one.  The Squeezebox 2 and 3 _definitely_ have some serious problems talking wireless protocols with many routers.  Firstly, they don't support the protocols that they should (or could, given the Atheros chipset on their wireless card) and secondly, those they do support are very finicky about whch routers they can actually work with.  I've seen surprisingly little acknowledgement from the folks at Sim Devices that these problems exist and even less real work in the form of ne ...

Eli,

We are well aware of a number of wireless compatibility bugs. They are documented in our bugs database (http://bugs.slimdevices.com) and also on our WIKI here: http://wiki.slimdevices.com/index.cgi?RouterStatus

The main issues are AES2(WPA) and Turbo-G compatilbility. Resolving these is our highest priority and we have a person working full time right now testing new firmware against all of these routers.

It'll be fixed really soon (beta firmware *probably* next week). The reason it took so long is we had to wait on some outside engineering support for the Atheros driver.

regards,

Sean Adams
CEO Slim Devices

[seanadams]

It'll be fixed really soon (beta firmware *probably* next week).

D'oh - here I was trying to cover my *ss and then I noticed this is in our nightly release as of today.  

please give it a try if you'd had wireless issues as they should be nearly all resolved.

http://www.slimdevices.com/downloads/nightly/latest/6.5/

[Carlman]

Hey cool!  Thanks for coming to our humble community, Sean!
How'd you find us?  Do you read (my) customer comments when placing orders?! Or did you find us by other means?
Thanks again for stopping in, and for the answer on the wireless issue.  We're SB nuts here!  

-C

[jackman]

It'll be fixed really soon (beta firmware *probably* next week).

D'oh - here I was trying to cover my *ss and then I noticed this is in our nightly release as of today.  

please give it a try if you'd had wireless issues as they should be nearly all resolved.

http://www.slimdevices.com/downloads/nightly/latest/6.5/

Hey Sean,

Even though my SB3 is working flawlessly, it's cool to see you coming to our site to help people out!  Loving the Squeezebox by the way!  It's cool to support such a great, innovative company.  Welcome to Audiocircle!

Jack

[seanadams]

Hey cool!  Thanks for coming to our humble community, Sean!
How'd you find us?  Do you read (my) customer comments when placing orders?! Or did you find us by other means?
Thanks again for stopping in, and for the answer on the wireless issue.  We're SB nuts here!  

-C

Glad I could be of help - Yes I read all the comments.  

I'll probably pop in your acoustics forum later next month as we're getting ready to build a new listening room...

[JLM]

I love my modded SB3, but it took 22 days for me to find the courage, time, and help to get it running.  Wish someone could make SB set up easier (more accessible).  Olive is such a product.

IMO the concept is as revolutionary as the CD.  

I'm getting the best sound of my life with the most convenience from a very simple system: RWA modded SB3, Channel Island Audio VMB-1 chip monoblocks, and Bob Brines FTA-2000 single driver speakers.