Gizmo Lovers Blog » wifi

And the Winner Is…

MegaZone — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 06:19:24 +0000

I was waiting to hear back from the winners of the three giveaways before announcing them publicly, just in case there was some issue. Now that I have heard from all three, the winners, as chosen by Perl’s random number generator, are:

TiVo Wireless G USB Network Adapter – Brad Chasenore
D-Link DSM-330 DivX Connected HD Media Player – Richard Wicentowski
Slingbox PRO & HD Connect – Michael Campanella

Sorry for those who didn’t win this time around, but there is more to come – stay tuned. I’ll get the stuff out to the winners soon.

Win MegaZone’s Old Stuff – Last Chance To Enter

MegaZone — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 21:25:15 +0000

This is your last chance to enter to win some of my old gear. There are just under eight hours left, the deadline is midnight Eastern Time tonight. Any entries after that time will not be eligible. The winner will be determined by random drawing from the eligible entries. And entering is simple – just leave a comment on the respective giveaway post before the deadline and you’re entered. Note, comment on the giveaway post(s) not this post. And the comment needs to be on the original blog post – not on LJ, Facebook, Google+, Twitter, etc.

There are three giveaways running:

Don’t worry, I have some other, new, stuff to giveaway as well. That’s coming.

Win MegaZone’s Old Stuff – Enter Now

MegaZone — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 07:50:19 +0000

I know it is used gear, but I thought there’d be a little more interest in it. It is free after all. Remember, you have until Sunday night to leave a comment on the respective giveaway post as an entry. There are three giveaways running:

Don’t worry, I have some other, new, stuff to giveaway as well. That’s coming.

Win MegaZone’s Old Stuff Giveaway 1 of 3 – TiVo Wireless G USB Network Adapter

MegaZone — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 05:29:29 +0000

Perhaps unsurprisingly I’m a bit of a tech pack rat. I tend not to get rid of old gear once I stop using it, unless perhaps it died. Even then sometimes I have trouble letting go. But whenever I have something that’s still working, but I just don’t need it anymore, I tend to file it away ‘just in case’. Well, since my fiancee moved in a year ago I’ve been cleaning out a lot of the old stuff to de-clutter a bit. I donated or freecycled some of it, but I put some items aside thinking they might make for decent giveaway items when I finally relaunched the blog. And so here we are.

This first round has three giveaways. First up is a TiVo Wireless G USB Network Adapter. I used this for a long time but eventually I ran wired Ethernet and ‘retired’ this adapter. I kept it ‘just in case’ I needed it again. But I don’t see that happening so I figure I should give it away to someone who could use it. This is TiVo’s official 802.11g USB adapter for Series2 and later models.

So how do you win? Leave a comment on this post. You have one week. Comments made before 00:00 EST Monday 11/14 will count as entries. Please, one comment per person. I’ll contact the winner based on the email address used on the comment, so make sure you use a valid address.

Woot! – Cisco Valet 300Mbps 802.11n USB Network Adapter Just $6.99!

MegaZone — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 06:21:50 +0000

Today’s Woot! deal is useful if you have an old computer using 802.11g and you want to bump your network to pure 802.11n and dump 11g compatibility for the increased performance. The Cisco Valet 300Mbps 802.11n USB Network Adapter supports 802.11b/g/n, and speeds up to 300Mbps on 11n, with WEP, WPA, & WPA2 encryption. And it is only $6.99 + $5 S&H.

Somewhat unbelievably, it looks like MSRP when this launched was $135.98, and Amazon is selling them for $24.99.

Save at least 50% on Buffalo Technology AirStation High Power 802.11n WiFi Routers

MegaZone — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 07:47:57 +0000

If you’ve been putting off upgrading your WiFi network from 802.11g (or a or b) to 802.11n, maybe now is the time. Amazon is offering four models of Buffalo Technology 802.11n WiFi routers for at least 50% off. And for the geeks out there, one of the appealing aspects of Buffalo’s routers is that they run DD-WRT out of the box. No need to flash them with after market firmware to get DD-WRT’s tweaks, it comes standard. And if you’re not a geek and you have no idea what DD-WRT is, don’t worry about it. It is a very popular and respected router software load, that’s all you need to know.

Starting at the high end of the four units on sale is the AirStation High Power N600 Gigabit Dual Band Wireless Router, model WZR-HP-AG300H. It is dual band (5GHz & 2.4GHz) 2×2 MIMO router with up to 300Mbps in each band, for 600Mbps throughput total. It supports 802.11a/b/g/n and has Gigabit Ethernet, and a two year warranty. Amazon is offering it for $89.99, 50% off the $179.99 MSRP.

Next is the AirStation High Power N450 Gigabit Wireless Router, model WZR-HP-G450H. This is a single-band (2.4GHz) 3×3 MIMO router with up to 450Mbps throughput. It supports 802.11b/g/n and has Gigabit Ethernet and a two year warranty. Amazon is offering it for $79.99, 56% off the $179.99 MSRP.

Third on the list is the AirStation High Power N300 Gigabit Wireless Router, model WZR-HP-G300NH. This is a single-band (2.4GHz) 2×2 MIMO router with up to 300Mbps throughput. It supports 802.11b/g/n and has Gigabit Ethernet and a two year warranty. Amazon is offering it for $64.99, 50% off the $129.99 MSRP.

These first three units also support attaching a USB drive to act as a central network storage server.

And finally we have the AirStation High Power N300 Wireless Router, model WHR-HP-G300N. This is a single-band (2.4GHz) 2×2 MIMO router with up to 300Mbps throughput. It supports 802.11b/g/n and has 100Mbps Fast Ethernet and a two year warranty. Amazon is offering it for $42.99, 52% off the $89.99 MSRP.

All four of these routers are solid products. Buffalo Technology has a comparison chart to break down the features and differences between the units. These four units are the four rightmost columns in the chart.

I’ve long been putting off upgrading my 802.11g network to 802.11n, so I just ordered myself two of the N600 dual-band units to replace my old Linksys WRT54GL, which is still running HyperWRT+Thibor from many years back. It isn’t as bad as it sounds, most of my gear is connected via wired Fast Ethernet, only a couple of laptops and Droids are using the WiFi. But I’m also changing the layout of my home it means moving the router to the opposite corner of the house, which will mean the existing (kludged) Cat5 run to the second floor will no longer be feasible. So I’m going to switch to using the second N600 as a bridge to feed the network up there. I went with the N600 since it is dual-band, my neighborhood is getting crowded with 2.4GHz networks, so being able to use the relatively vacant 5GHz range should ensure good performance.

Maybe I’ll give away my old router to a reader once I’ve upgraded.

Holiday Loot To Spend? There Are Still Lifetime Deals On TiVo

MegaZone — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 20:34:49 +0000

Didn’t get that TiVo you asked for? Trying to decide what to spend your holiday loot on? Remember, there are still a few TiVo deals available to get product lifetime service. If you currently have a TiVo with product lifetime service, purchase before October, 2003, you can transfer that service to a new TiVo HD for $199, but only through February 3, 2008.

Ending sooner, through January 7, 2008 existing TiVo subscribers can purchase a new TiVo HD with product lifetime for $698.99, direct from TiVo.

Also, through February 2, 2008, existing TiVo subscribers can purchase product lifetime for $399 when activating any new TiVo. (Something to keep in mind if you just received a new TiVo and haven’t activated it yet.) Also, the current special holiday promotional service pricing is only good through February 2, 2008.

While you need to be a current TiVo subscriber to take advantage of the product lifetime deals, if you’re a (pending) new subscriber you could probably find a friend who is a subscriber to make the purchase for you.

Amazon is selling the TiVo HD for $270.64, the TiVo Series3 for $392.91 (after $200 rebate), and the 80-hour Series2DT for $65.99 (after $150 rebate).

The TiVo HD plus lifetime is $669.64, even less than TiVo’s $698.99 direct offer. But don’t wait too long – you need to have the TiVo activated by the deadline, so don’t forget to allow for shipping time.

And if you’re buying a new TiVo, or you just received one, and you need to use it on your WiFi network, remember to pick up the TiVo 802.11g USB WiFi adapter for $39.58.

And here’s something odd – a couple of $100 TiVo Gift cards being sold for less than $100 after shipping. *shrug*