Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Network Problems

Yesterday evening I had problems with the WiFi network connection to the VBR231. At first I could not establish a connection. After some fiddling I got a connection but Vudu would not work due to a network connection problem. Vudu started working, but I started to get "buffering" messages and finally Vudu gave up.

I then went to Netflix and watched a half hour TV program with no problems. I then went back to Vudu and restarted the movie that was interrupted earlier and was able to watch it without further problems.

I don't know what the problem was. I guess that it was a problem with my WiFi. The signal in the room with the VBR231 is not strong, and maybe something happened that brought it below an operational threshold.

Problems like this will turn less technically inclined people off to this service. It would help if the VBR231 would tell the user when the WiFi is getting weak or even make a recommendation to move to powerline Ethernet.

2 comments:

BD Freak said...

Vizio’s new VBR231 is the only Blu-Ray player I have ever seen with built-in Dual Band Wi-Fi function. I found this Blu Ray to be the best value ever, set-up was a breeze and the streaming functions are incredible! Netflix works better on this unit then my LG BD370 (which was Ethernet only) now I can lose the wire that was running across my den. VUDU and Pandora excellent, and the picture and 7.1 sound quality will blow you away. I totally disagree with most of the reviews I have read on-line, I own this unit (got mind at Sam’s Club) and it works great!!! I think Vizio is a bit crazy for selling this so cheap it is clearly the best Blu-Ray on the market at this incredible price. The picture quality and sound is superb all for just $148??? Where are you going to find anything even close to this unit at that price? The other units with similar features cost $199 to 299, and they don’t offer Dual band Wi-Fi. The USB is for Pictures, MP3 Audio and downloading movie trailers from BD-Live. I already have a Dual Band router anyways, but don't understand why Vizio’s recommendation to add a Vizio dual band router bothers these people so much? I guess they never heard of marketing. The new Vizio dual band router works with both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz just like the VBR231. I find the remote to be solid and works great, but do agree the design is a bit funky, and not comfortable to hold. I also find Vudu to be very slow at times and when it starts buffering (usually evenings and Friday nights), I always wonder how many user they can support?

Bob Larribeau said...

I agree with the comment. I am very happy with the VBR231 and its streaming services. I have not compared it to other units, but I certainly reccomend it.

I am about to make another post on another incident of network problems. I am starting to wonder if AT&T is throttling video traffic to manage network congestion.