Blu ray with fancy connection abilities

November 26, 2015 4:55 PM

I use my blu ray player to connect to Netflix and hulu and this is primarily the way I watch TV. What blu ray player will connect to a secure network.....

Recently my apartment internet was force changed to be uniform and not under my control. There is low sleep guest connection which my blu ray player WiFi can connect to but which it says has no internet connection. The same no internet connection appear when my computer is wirelessly connected and I try to stream Netflix from the guest network but not the main one. So I want to buy a blu ray player that can wirelessly connect to the main network. My computer says it's wpa2 but I think there's another encryption name a blu ray player spec may reference that I don't know. What blu ray player should I get?

posted by Kalmya to Computers & Internet (11 answers total)

The much better solution to this issue is just to get a HDMI connecting device that streams for you. Some of the options are Chromecast, Fire TV, or Apple TV. They are cheaper than a new BluRay player.
posted by ssg at 5:00 PM on November 26, 2015

I am hoping for answers that directly address internet connection types.
posted by Kalmya at 5:25 PM on November 26, 2015

Any currently manufactured BluRay player should able to connect with WPA2 encryption. This isn't fancy at all, it is bog standard.
posted by ssg at 5:41 PM on November 26, 2015

Yes, WPA2 encryption is the type used by almost every current wifi network, and any model that supports wifi will support WPA2. A Roku or Apple TV also definitely will, and will give you a better interface for streaming content than any Blu-ray player on the market.
posted by contraption at 7:55 PM on November 26, 2015

Ok I've figured it out. It's wpa2 enterprise which my and all the recommended devices cannot connect to.
posted by Kalmya at 8:32 PM on November 26, 2015

You could get a wifi->Ethernet bridge, use any router/AP running DDWRT as such a bridge, or use something like a WNDR3400 (again, loading DDWRT on it) that does simultaneous dual band WiFi to create your own WiFi network secured with WPA2-Personal using one of its network interfaces and connect to the provided WiFi using the other if you have a strong preference for an all-wireless solution.

I mention the 3400 specifically because certain hardware versions (but not v4, which has one dual band and one 5Ghz-only radio; I believe it is v2 that has two dual band radios) support both bands on both wireless interfaces, whereas most either have two single-band interfaces or one dual band and one single band interface. That can be a problem if you need to connect to a network on the same band you want to create a new network on.
posted by wierdo at 10:20 PM on November 26, 2015

What's the model of your current Blu-Ray? Are you sure your main network is WPA2 Enterprise? That would be a little strange for a personal network, since it requires an additional authentication server (usually RADIUS).
posted by hanov3r at 10:22 PM on November 26, 2015

I should note that in the US, FCC rules prohibit your apartment complex from using technical means to prevent you from creating your own wireless network. Some convention centers and hotels were making it impossible to use portable hotspots within range of their networks and got fined big time for it.

Point being that if you want to rebroadcast using WPA2 Personal so that your devices will work and they have a problem with it (or try to break your network because they don't like it), you can tell them to go pound sand. And get the FCC involved, if necessary.
posted by wierdo at 10:26 PM on November 26, 2015

Yes this lovely 3400 is available even in my town. I will be attempting to implement this solution, although the multi page instructions on loading DDWRT are somewhat intimidating.
posted by Kalmya at 3:50 AM on November 27, 2015

There exists somewhere on the Internet a batch file that pretty much automates the process of installing DDWRT. My laptop is broken at the moment so I don't have a bookmark handy, but basically you plug the router into the Ethernet port on your computer, run the batch file, then power up the router.
posted by wierdo at 10:39 AM on November 27, 2015

You can also use an AirPort Express from Apple as a wifi bridge without any need to install special firmware on it, you just have to configure it right. The AirPort is probably the smallest and easiest but lots of other consumer wifi access point/routers will also support this function, you just need to be careful to turn off the router functionality (basically disable the DHCP server and just leave the WAN port disconnected, and set an IP that isn't the same as the one your main router is already using.)
posted by contraption at 11:37 AM on November 29, 2015