Screw HD, every radio nerd needs one of THESE!

[Holland Cooke]

The genie is out of the bottle...

I have the Acoustic Energy Wifi Internet Radio, already an-oldie-but-goodie.
My Fourth of July company included clients and station owners from-elsewhere-in-the-USA.
And we could listen to their stations, in the kitchen, on what-looks-like-a-radio, by simply pressing-a-button.
VERY cool.

Now, anyone-streaming is "a radio station" to-anyone-listening.
Which was already the case.
What these radio-like WiFi receivers do is simply make-the-SHAPE more convenient.
No need to boot-up a laptop, find a site, "CLICK TO LISTEN LIVE," etc.

A friend of mine, from RI, who now lives in France, raves about hers.
"I LISTEN TO [Oldies 103.3 morning man] DALE DORMAN EVERY DAY!"

 

[DanStrassberg]

I think people are wondering why you are over complicating such a simple process Dan. I'll repeat what I said when I began this post.

Step 1. Connect wireless Modem to cable or phone line
Step 2. Turn on Wifi radio
Step 3. Listen to It.

Well, to start with, your use of the term "wireless modem" is incorrect here--and THAT's confusing! It's a WiFi access point or router. Maybe it contains a DSL modem or a cable modem--although I believe that those are usually separate boxes. Although you talk about connecting it to the phone line or cable, your use of the term "wireless modem" suggests that signal ARRIVES at the device wirelessly. As you know, it doesn't. The access point receives a digital broadband signal over wire and produces a WiFi signal that it radiates into the air. It is that signal that the WiFi radio receives and uses to produce audio.

Also, I don't understand how the access point logs into the wired broadband network without the participation of a computer and and maybe a person. The access point COULD contain the smarts to do this automatically, but does it? After all, the access point ought to be able to work with either a DSL modem or a cable modem and the login protocols for the two services almost certainly differ AND they both must involve user IDs and passwords that are unique to a particular user. Is there a setup protocol in which you enter your user ID and password into the DSL- or cable modem, where it is stored? Such a setup protocol would almost certainly require you to use a computer.

 

[Holland Cooke]

As PDs say, "I'm no engineer...but..."

<< I don't understand how the access point logs into the wired broadband network without the participation of a computer and and maybe a person. >>

I may be answering-a-different-question, but here goes...

The WiFi radio finds my Verizon WiFi network, just like a laptop would.
I've not password-protected it, so if you bring your laptop to my house, and boot-it-up, it'll "find" my little hotspot.
(Heck, people in adjacent houses are probably sucking-it-in too.)
(But who-among-us hasn't zoomed into the Fairfield Inn parking lot to quickly check Email, eh?)

Then, it offers the user a directory of available streams.
The manufacturer has pre-selected thousands of sources, only-some-of-which are FCC-licensed USA AM/FM stations.
I've not read the manual, to know who-put-together-that-directory.
Getting-listed-there puts you on-par-with everyone-else-there to this-particular-appliance's users.

But that's all there is to it.
Said-another-way, "it's a computer," dumbed-down to do one thing.

TRUE nerds among us ("early adopters") will, fondly, recall Kerbango.
Same idea...but wayyyyyyyy before its time...

 

[DanStrassberg]

Re: As PDs say, "I'm no engineer...but..."

The WiFi radio finds my Verizon WiFi network, just like a laptop would.
I've not password-protected it, so if you bring your laptop to my house, and boot-it-up, it'll "find" my little hotspot.

You are sying exactly what I feared was the case: If you want the WiFi "radio" to use the signal from your WiFi access point, you must not secure the access point. Therefore, if the access point is part of a computer system, you are leaving your files unprotected. Even so, don't you still have to log onto your ISP's wired broadband network to enable the access point to obtain the streaming content that it "broadcasts" over its WiFi signal? So doesn't the computer have to be powered up and on-line before the "radio" can function as anything more than a paperweight?

 

[Holland Cooke]

RE "You are saying exactly what I feared was the case..."

Cue first-four-notes-of theme from "Dragnet..."

If you want the WiFi "radio" to use the signal from your WiFi access point, you must not secure the access point.

I don't know that to be the case.
Because my network ISN'T password-protected, I never got that far.
If I'd bothered to read the manual, there'd probably be a one-time set-up routine to enter a password.

I live on an island 12-miles-out-in-the-ocean.
9 months a year, none-of-the-houses-around-me are occupied.
The other 3 months, I'm not home, while renters yuk-it-up there.
So I don't fret about the-creepo-next-door getting-past-my-firewall like I would if I lived in a Noo Yawk condo.
(And who'd want to read MY files? I'm a radio consultant! NOBODY wants to hear-what-I-have-to-say! )
Admittedly, this is atypical.
Thus the value of password-protecting one's in-house hot-spot.

don't you still have to log onto your ISP's wired broadband network to enable the access point to obtain the streaming content that it "broadcasts" over its WiFi signal?

No.

The WiFi radio "finds" my Verizon wireless in-house network, just like a computer would.
The only Internet content the device is configured to access is audio streams from its directory.

 

[Tom Wells]

My internet access is through a 3G wireless cellular card in this laptop.
I don't suppose the radio could use my latop as a wifi router to the "radio", could it?

The other internet access is the unlocked wifi from the university nearby. Will I need to set up
a dish and coax to make this work deep inside the house, as the signal's pretty weak there....
I bet it would have to be by the back window only.....

And no, I'm not paying for wired internet service. When they bring the fiber-optic around we'll talk.
We've all been paying tax on this infrastructure since the Al Gore telephone tax of 199?.
As long as someone is paying for a POTS line, internet access should be free.
And I don't mean dial-up.

 

[Skynet74]

Dan is stuck on one issue. SECURITY! I have personally secured my internet connection because God forbid people access my thousands of Game Show cues. Can't have people accessing all that rare Family Feud music. The world might come to a halt. So tell me Dan..... is the SECURITY of YOUR wireless connection the only real issue you have with WiFi Radio? I am sure your concerns can be answered by simply emailing the company.

 

[DanStrassberg]

So tell me Dan..... is the SECURITY of YOUR wireless connection the only real issue you have with WiFi Radio?

I don't have a wireless connection. I have diasabled wireless access on my PCs because of concerns over security. I need to buy a router to access the external hard drive in the docking station I bought for one of my PCs. The docking station manual says that you MUST have a router to access the external drive (external to the PC but internal to the docking station). I was going to buy a wired router to avoid the wireless security problems but I have bought nothing. The idea of running RJ-45 cables around the house is not very appealing. Now this thread has got me thinking that I should buy a wireless access point/router. Meanwhile, the docking station remains in its shipping container and the hard drive in it remains unused except for whatever files the manufacturer placed on it before it was shipped to me. Someday, if I live long enough, I plan to get around to actually using it...

 

[jeffryan]

Well, you've admitted what I suspected after I read your first post in this thread--that you don't really know what you are talking about.

Actually, I've pretty clearly shown that I do know what I'm talking about. How come everyone else on this thread seems to get it?

Why the hostility? Are you a member of the HD radio Alliance? I smell an agenda. Someone from MIT can't possibly misunderstand something as simple as this.

Now, don't those security provisions affect the ability of your WiFi radio to decode the signals that your access point transmits? Or are you just ignoring security?

Punch in the WPA or WEP code and boom, you're set. Like everything else about this radio... E-A-S-Y.

I'd be glad to come over your home and show you how this radio works if you're still confused. It will take all of two minutes, Dan.

 

[landtuna]

After reading the review via the provided link I'm not sure it's really worth the cost. Too many missing features (main one for me being an output for hook-up to my big home stereo system) and too many limiting 'features' (only 5 presets?). It might be useful if you want to listen to specific programming which changes frequency (like talk shows) but for static shows or music I'd much prefer my 30GB MP3 player. Even 'free' internet radio has commercials, or will have.

 

[jeffryan]

After reading the review via the provided link I'm not sure it's really worth the cost. Too many missing features (main one for me being an output for hook-up to my big home stereo system) and too many limiting 'features' (only 5 presets?). It might be useful if you want to listen to specific programming which changes frequency (like talk shows) but for static shows or music I'd much prefer my 30GB MP3 player. Even 'free' internet radio has commercials, or will have.

Most models do have more connectivity than this model, although it wasn't an issue for me. 5 presets when you have a million stations available isn't many, but there are history banks that can store an infinate amount of favorite stations. And other than the terrestrial stations available through this radio, I haven't found any internet only streams that have commercials. Not a single one.

Holland, it's refreshing to hear that you own one of these. Guess who else we both know has one....

John Rook!

Who suggested he buy one?

Rollye James

Word is spreading. This is fun stuff.

 

[BRUSSTAR]

Oh, Dan, you must be a riot at cocktail parties!

I hope you won a fortune in prize money at those MIT Rube Goldberg contests!

Jeff's radio would work perfectly in my home, indeed with no computer necessary. The house is a hotspot, and still could be even without a single PC on the premises. My wireless routers work just as well without a single computer's being connected. Yes, I did use a PC for five minutes after I bought the router (several years ago) to configure the IP. So what? That was in 2005. Your home TV wouldn't work had the electric company not installed the service line back whenever. You wouldn't have heat had a furnace not been installed. Your car wouldn't go had the factory not completed it.

It sounds to me like you're obfuscating-- big time!

I know from reading your other posts, Dan, that you're really "into" terrestrial radio. And I dig that. That's why most of us are here (or at least, first arrived here-- WHEN we cared). You're several hundred miles from me, yet provided more information about this supposed "King of Prussia station" on the Philly board than I'd even known-- having lived in K of P my whole life. For that, "props", as the kids would say.

But I'm having a hard time trying to figure out why you're seemingly trying so hard to "spit on the prize" here. Are you really trying to discredit any system of aural programming that isn't AM/FM because you love terrestrial radio, or, do you just enjoy a good debate? (If it's the latter, then I can at least understand and in some strange way respect that.)

Yes, as Rollye says, the Information "Superhighway" really still is mostly a dirt road. But the rate at which it's being paved is astounding.

Terrestrial Radio Industry Patriots love to point out that Internet audio listening requires a "subscription". This "logic" is flawed at best, and is a borderline lie.

Few Americans, if any, will get broadband Internet solely for so-called "Internet radio". I realize not EVERYBODY has it yet, but with U.S. broadband penetration about to soar past 60% before year's end-- unbelievably up from just 35% only three years ago (Source: Pew Internet And American Life Project)-- it's clearly ubiquitous for what is now a majority of Americans. In other words, for those of you who went to MIT, they already have it. (Sorry Dan, but you're the one who started all the, "Look at me, I went to MIT" stuff-- grin. Plus I don't feel bad, for my grades probably wouldn't have allowed me entry to even wash the windows there.)

Now, if they already have broadband for a hundred other reasons more important to them than hearing radio online (which for most normal people-- not us, of course-- is indeed the case), then using one of Jeff's radios is in fact just as "free" as is listening to an AM or FM station. Using a TRIP's logic ("Internet radio isn't free; the listener has to pay for broadband"), I could just as easily say the average Rhode Island homeowner pays $174 a month to listen to WPRO (for the electricity). Just imagine the field day Dan would have trying to figure out what it would cost to listen on a car radio! (At $4.20 a gallon, the gasoline's energy eventually is converted by the alternator into DC, which powers the radio, etc.) And I should be careful what I wish for. With his MIT education, he probably could actually calculate that with some degree of accuracy while I'm just now getting my VCR to stop blinking "12:00".

I've seen Jeff's radio, and it is indeed, a gas.

It's a tad clunky, and isn't portable (no battery option, and I have seen at least one other that used "C"-cells and wasn't all that power-hungry at all-- it played for something like 18 hours straight at full room volume on DC). But it seemed very user-friendly, and had tremendous sound.

Right now, I'm listening to WLNG Sag Harbor (from over 100 miles away) via my computer. It's what I listen to every night. It would be great to not have to use my PC, which is hooked to a small in-home FM transmitter.

I want one of these things.

The bottom line, to me, is that this is amazing stuff. And stuff the terrestrial industry needs to pay attention to, rather than poo-poo.

It's so refreshing to read of Holland Cooke's enthusiasm for this technology. I hope he and his clients are making a fortune thanks to his experience, ideas, and foresight.

Kind of makes me want to take the "con" out of "consultant"...

 

[Skynet74]

I Love Terrestrial Radio as much as the next guy. It amazes me when I pull in WHO in Des Moines from 1300 miles away. But I'm also equally amazed that my Satellite radio picks up a crystal clear signal from a satellite that is 23,000 miles in the sky. I also love the fact that I can hear Radio stations in Australia over my computer that sound like they are being broadcast from the next room. You can also pick up a phone in your house and make a bell ring in anyones home in the entire world. Then talk to them to boot! That still amazes me too! I'm just fascinated by technology. But the key is to not overanalyze it. You'll drive yourself crazy. Just be glad that these things work and then enjoy them!

 

[DanStrassberg]

Oh, Dan, you must be a riot at cocktail parties!

It sounds to me like you're obfuscating-- big time!

I was waiting for the "you must have an agenda" post. Thanks for not disappointing me! If I have any agenda on this topic, it is to understand what is REALLY entailed in having a working WiFi "radio." I listen to and enjoy Pandora--when I am at my PC, and I have often thought that being able to listen to Pandora elsewhere in the house, without booting up a PC, would be very nice. But I really wanted to be sure that I understood how I would make that possible before I plunked down several hundred dollars for a "radio" and then discovered that it didn't work. As far as I can tell, the statements made by you and others that, "if you have broadband, you need nothing but the WiFi 'radio,'" are absolutely, positively 100% WRONG! Broadband does NOT have to be WIRELESS broadband, and most people who have WIRELESS broadband have it only because they have purchased and installed a WiFi access point (apparently AKA a WiFi router) and connected it to their cable modem or DSL modem. Nearly all cable and DSL services are delivered to residential customers over copper wires. I guess WiFi APs are so trouble free that most people who have had them for more than a month or two forget that they are even there. If that's true, it's reassuring.

 

[Holland Cooke]

RE Kind of makes me want to take the "con" out of "consultant"...

It's so refreshing to read of Holland Cooke's enthusiasm for this technology. I hope he and his clients are making a fortune thanks to his experience, ideas, and foresight.

BE CAREFUL!
Be very, VERY careful!
Praising consultants here will get you shunned quicker than an Amish guy with an iPhone...

Speaking-of-which...
Good morning from Seattle, where the Saux got-back-on-the-good-foot last night.
SO many Red Sox fans here, you'd've thought Safeco Field was Fenway Park.
When Varitek belted that 2-run homer, the crowd begged for a curtain call.
Cheers of "YOUUUUUUUUUUUK" more-than-drowned-out "YOUUUUUUUUU SUCK!"
I was expecting "Dirty Water" after the last out.
No "Sweet Caroline" either, OTHER THAN the crowd's spontaneous a capella.

Throughout the game, the huge TV screen displayed cameraphone self-portraits that fans Emailed.
And you can text-in your food order.
INSTANTLY, the crew at Thai Ginger is whipping up your Cashew Chicken/Garlic Beef combo in a huge wok up on the concourse.

And radio competes for its place in fans' media/tech routine:
Over the exits, signs invite "LISTEN ON THE WAY HOME" to the Mariners' station KOMO1000.

Tonight, Dice-K and Ichiro stare-each-other down...

 

[jeffryan]

Dan, for the thousandth time:

If you have wireless internet and nothing more, you're WiFi rado is all set.

Anyone else feel like they're talking to a brick wall?

 

[Tom Wells]

Dan's not the only one having a problem here....will the wifi radio log onto the really weak wifi from the university?

What if I have one in my car and park at a rest stop or a truck stop?

A ****bucks coffee shop?

Can you use it at hotels with wifi?

Will it log onto any neighbor's unlocked wifi?

Will changes or security issues render it useless in 18 months?
How upgradable is it? Does the manufacturer make any claims about how long they'll support this model?

It's only radio if the signal is free. If it requires a subscription it is some kind of media delivery, but not radio.
The distinction for me has nothing to do with the technology.
It has to do with using RF modulation and use of the public airwaves.

 

[Holland Cooke]

Remember the Seinfeld when Kramer re-assembled the Merv Griffin set?

Kramer and Newwwwwwwwwwwwman were sitting alone on the set, and Kramer yanked the plug and said, "We've bottomed-out..."

 

[jeffryan]

Dan's not the only one having a problem here....will the wifi radio log onto the really weak wifi from the university?

What if I have one in my car and park at a rest stop or a truck stop?

A ****bucks coffee shop?

Can you use it at hotels with wifi?

Will it log onto any neighbor's unlocked wifi?

Will changes or security issues render it useless in 18 months?
How upgradable is it? Does the manufacturer make any claims about how long they'll support this model?

It's only radio if the signal is free. If it requires a subscription it is some kind of media delivery, but not radio.
The distinction for me has nothing to do with the technology.
It has to do with using RF modulation and use of the public airwaves.

To answer your questions in order:
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No subscription required

George's post summed it up beautifully. I'd suggest re-reading it.

 

[DanStrassberg]

Dan, for the thousandth time:

If you have wireless internet and nothing more, you're WiFi rado is all set.

Anyone else feel like they're talking to a brick wall?

Well, I've accomplished SOMETHING! I've finally gotten you to say succinctly that you have to have WIRELESS Internet--though even that is not QUITE right; you mean WIRELESS BROADBAND Internet. Not everyone who has a broadband Internet connection has a WIRELESS broadband connection. And most of those who DO have wireless broadband connections have them because, besides buying broadband, they bought and installed a wireless access point as well as the broadband connection. Why did it take this long to get through your YOUR thick skull?