connecting Blu-ray to the net...

[E.J.W.]

I'm awaiting the arrival of my Panny DMP BD80 player on Monday.
I'd like to get any necessary cables on order to hook it up to the net for updates and the on-line features. I downloaded a copy of the manual and it shows a LAN cable needs to be run when hooking up to a modem.
The book specifies a network capable of 6Mbps minimum.(no problem there)
But I want to make sure I get a cable that will not restrict any speed. All the cable listings are rated as "mhz" with 500 mhz being the fastest listed, will that be enough? I don't know anything about this part of connecting.
What effect does distance have if any? (I'm looking at a 50 foot plus run from the family room to my modem in the den)
Last question...The unit has a USB port, can I use that with a Wi-fi dongle instead of running the LAN cable?
The manual does not cover anything about Wi-fi.
Thanks
E.

 

[j_garcia]

50ft run should not be a problem. Unless the player has wifi built in, it probably doesn't support it. You would need a wireless bridge that would allow you to have a hard wire from the bridge to the player. That's what I will probably have to do for my Oppo, but if I really want BD Live capability, I will just pop the disc in the PS3. For updates, a 50ft wire

 

[jeffsg4mac]

I have a 100ft run of ethernet for my players and I'm an ex IT person if that means anything to you. In other words, get whatever has the best price and don't worry about.

 

[jliedeka]

I have a wireless bridge on my rack for my BD player and Xbox360. I thought that would be easier than running cable. Most of them have 4-6 ports so I have plenty of room to add a media PC or whatever down the road.

Jim

 

[E.J.W.]

Thanks for all the replies. Running the cable would not be a big deal as I have a full basement. I'll also look into a wireless bridge just to see what it entails before I run cable.
Thanks
E.

 

[jliedeka]

Using a wireless bridge presumes you already have Wi-Fi in your house. My DSL modem has a built in wireless router so it was easy to set up a bridge. I just had to configure it to get a dynamic address on my local subnet from the router.

There's some information my setup in the review forum. Here is my review of the Linksys WET200 wireless bridge.

Jim

 

[j_garcia]

My DSL modem is a wireless router also, so I would just need to add a bridge. I can't easily run wires to the front room because the floor is concrete and the ceiling is vaulted. PS3 has its own wi-fi so no worries there. I most likely would only need to connect the Oppo for updates though; I really haven't found many discs that have useful BD Live content yet.

I saw a couple of players that are coming out this year that have wi-fi built in as well.