New Tool for our AS! Apple TV

[2airishuman]

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

Since the CG router broadcasts and the computer broadcasts, which do you mean, or both?...

the reference is to the cg router and wifi broadcast issues.

there are booster/relays for the broadcast side (the campground wifi/router) that are NOT simply antenna.

most must be setup and configured BY the host at their router (in this example the 'campground')...

however there are a FEW examples of wifi signal boosters that can be used by us (campers) to boost the actual wifi signal...

again these aren't antenna but actual signal boosters/relays ...

here's an example...

Amazon.com: Cisco-Linksys Wireless-G Range Expander WRE54G: Electronics

the distinction is booster antenna for catching the signal (your linked product)...

vs real signal boosters or relays or access points...

here's a company that makes the RANGE of products from broadcast side to receiver side, relays antenna and so on...

Hawking Technologies

google the terms it's all explained far clearer than i plan 2 do....

or find an older thread...

the questions started out somewhat simple

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f451...ion-28521.html

then became more complicated...

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f451...ifi-66694.html

partly because newer gizmos exist and CLAIMS for what gizmos can do are exaggerated,

but mostly because folks don't understand the basics or terminology (me included)

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

...The second sentence quoted is incomprehensible to me—do you mean only a few of the antennas are worth it, or something else?

Gene

yes and yes.

-yes only a few of the external antenna ARE worth having and some are targeted for OLDER puters...

so a new puter may actually have a BETTER built in antenna than the add on...

-and yes something else, specifically a signal booster/relay/access point may be a better option than an antenna...


cheers
2air'

[newroswell]

OK, so we just returned from one of our favorite campgrounds, and they have changed their free-wifi. They have changed from the browser login to real wifi WPAv2 security. I didn't even have the Apple TV! We'll be back in about 6 weeks. I'll try the streaming then. I had the laptop, and it was limited to about 20kps download which is not so fast...

[Gene]

Originally Posted by newroswell

OK, so we just returned from one of our favorite campgrounds, and they have changed their free-wifi. They have changed from the browser login to real wifi WPAv2 security.I had the laptop, and it was limited to about 20kps download which is not so fast...

What is WPAv2 security? Did they do away with wifi? Sounds like dial up. What CG was this?

Gene

[DKB_SATX]

WPA2 is an encryption protocol that's part of wifi. It requires a little configuration to get running, but once it's running it's hard for someone who's NOT on the same wireless network to sniff your traffic (anyone on the same network can theoretically sniff your traffic if you're not using SSL or VPN, though) and it's a way to keep unauthorized people from using your access point. Pretty much any G or N router should offer WPA2, but some older equipment is only capable of WEP which is fairly weak encryption.

[Gene]

Thanks DKB. My laptop is old now and only has WEP so far as I know.

Gene

[newroswell]

Yeah, Gene, what DKB said. It means you can just configure your computer/appletv by selecting the wireless access point from a list and entering the password/passphrase from the menus without browser based authentication (which is hard to do without a browser on some of these movie playing boxes). The CG was Pismo Coast Village in Pismo Beach, CA.

I had to download a few large files from work and it appears they are throttling sessions to about 20kbps. So that's going to be another problem with streaming in real time on the free stuff.

[RichHog]

Anybody jump in on the Apple TV now that it's shipping? Just bought a 06 Safari FB with the Sony 15" Flat panel. looks like I'll be upgrading that as it only has an analog TV tuner in it.

[DKB_SATX]

Originally Posted by RichHog

Anybody jump in on the Apple TV now that it's shipping? Just bought a 06 Safari FB with the Sony 15" Flat panel. looks like I'll be upgrading that as it only has an analog TV tuner in it.

'06 is pretty late in the game for a 1st-tier manufacturer to put out a flat panel without an ATSC tuner, though I guess it was the transition period so they might have continued an older model that didn't have it.

One thing to try before scrapping or repurposing the Sony is to cycle through the antenna settings... it may have one but lock out the ATSC tuner in certain antenna modes (cable vs. antenna, e.g.) This is just a guess, I don't have any special knowledge of small flat-panel sets... it may be that Thor bought the cheapest thing they could find that looks good, but that would be completely out of character right? Right?

[EvelynDickinson]

Hey there,

This thread brings up a good point... it is trivial to break WEP encryption.

But generally speaking it's a good idea not to do any thing you wish to keep private on the internet (on-line banking, shopping, exchanging message with your fellow spies, etc.) unless the site you are communicating with provides SSL encryption on pages where you are transmitting sensitive data (look for the little lock on your browser).

A determined/sophisticated hacker can still snoop your traffic, using the man-in-the-middle technique, but that's pretty darn uncommon. I actually caught a guy doing this once in a StarBucks in the Financial District in London. But I doubt you'll run into it in a your typical camp ground.


Dave

[RichHog]

One way to bypass the analog tuner problem on the Sony 15" flat panels is to use a Digital convertor box. Anybody tried this? I'm not sure how Airstream wires signal to the TV or how to pull another wire say a HDMI cable to a more modern set. An Apple TV stick on the back of the flat panel would bypass that need.

[Westfalia]

The problem with the cheaper $50 converter boxes is that they only output down rez'd video over component. This looks fine on an old tube TV but looks horrid on just about any flat panel. Plus you need power to and storage of the convertor box. With all of that hassle, I'd just find a good black Friday deal on a 23" panel with a ATSC tuner and use the 15 somewhere is the house.

[DKB_SATX]

The converter in the link I posted below is an HD tuner, with both HDMI and component video out, $119. I haven't used one or seen one in person, just found it with a targeted search, that was the best price I found for an HD digital tuner.

Electronic Master DTV-5000HD Digital ATSC Converter Box QAM HDTV Tuner HDMI Output NTSC High Definition Decoder Terrestrial True HD Signal Quality for HD Ready Home Antenna Signal Aerial Reception, Part # DTV5000HD: Oak Entertainment Centers and Home

There are quite a few 19" LCD flat-panels on Amazon under $200, so Westfalia's advice is probably the best. It would be easier to get a replacement TV and use the analog-only Sony on a cable or satellite box at home, or sell it to someone who uses cable or satellite if you don't.

Then you can get over-the-air broadcasts (and still use an AppleTV of course) without having to have another powered device and multiple remotes, etc.

Oh, and if you plan to put your AppleTV on the back of the TV (as you indicated) you'll either need to use an iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad to control it, or get a repeater or even a mirror for it, since the Apple Remote is infrared.

[RichHog]

Good points on the convertor vs. new TV. Want to check out the 23" Vizio Razor LED at Costco for $200. The thin light weight unit looks pretty good. May then move the Sony to the bedroom for DVD action. Use an Apple TV in the house and will buy one of the new ones and try the streaming thing in the trailer.

[RichHog]

So I ordered a 23" Vizio 1080P LCE from Costco for $200. Great deal.
Bought an Apple TV last week for $99 and have played with it on a home set. I'm a huge fan of the original model with a hard drive. But the ability to stream the video and audio from my laptop or iPad to the TV is cool. Netflix on the road with an internet connection or 3G will keep us from looking for a local Redbox. From what I can tell it works as advertised. The video stream looks pretty good coming from my laptop. It was a no-brainer to plug in and setup. Will give an update when I actually test it in the trailer.

[RichHog]

Might add that I have 2 Apple TVs in the house, one original and a new $99 lite version. I can stream music from my laptop to two rooms in the house. If they were both the ATV2 $99 then I could stream video to both rooms. it's a cheap way to distribute music, photos and video to multiple locations without wires.

Hopefully the trailer applications will make sence for Netflix or Apple's movie rentals or streaming from the Mac.

[Hansom-Man]

I picked up the apple TV unit last weekend. So far we've been pleased with the performance on the home set.

Not sure that the wifi in the parks will support streaming. However, you can load up a notebook with quite a bit of material for a long trip. Plan is to use the notebook and Ipad w/airplay as a central media server.

I think the Apple TV unit could be adhesive mounted to the back of the TV and connected with a 12" hdmi cable. Then both video and MP3 could be played back through the speakers using the TV's video out. Only bummer is that the TV would have to be on (major drain on batteries when boon docking).

I think Airplay could be a boon, since it would really cut down on the number of cables.

[RichHog]

I'm thinking the same thing. Should be able to stream from the iPad's 3G signal soon to the Apple TV and that would be cool. Would like to find a way to pull a HDMI cable from the overhead bin by the DVD player to the TV, but that's probably a challenge to do. Would like to get the audio into the trailer's sound system and that may mean pulling a cable or two. What TV can=me with your 2009- one of the new Samsungs?

[Westfalia]

Rich, there is no easy way to use both the 3G and the wifi on the iPad, which I think is what you are proposing when you mentioned streaming. Of course if they are both on wifi, then it's easy. It may be necessary to get a small wifi router that can be use as a wifi repeater for use in the trailer to help run all of this technology.

[Hansom-Man]

Not sure how netflix would do over the 3G, since it's likely to suck up the data pretty fast. I also noticed that there were a lot of times that we were often restricted to EDGE coverage quite often while traveling. That would be way too slow for video streaming.

I intend to mostly rent off of I tunes for travel and use the laptop or iPad as the server for streaming to the Apple TV box. I have amassed about 2TB of movies & TV shows that I have converted to iTunes over the last 4yrs, so there's lots to choose from.

I'll look and see what the actual model # the TV is next time I'm out at her storage spot. It's a fairly run of the mill samsung LCD. The DVD player does not connect through the HDMI, it is only standard def. The TV tuner is digital and grabs an HD signal pretty well I'd say we got HD about 50% of the time.

[ncbambi]

Is there a way to hook up the ATV to the surround sound system rather than the TV. I would much rather listen to surround than the flat tv sound.