Customer Reviews

SMC SMCWMR-AG EZ-Stream Universal Wireless Multimedia Receiver

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Ok, so I know it sounds harsh... but please read first and then you can decide for yourself.

I bought the unit (new) about a year ago.... searched the web, researched the company ("supposedly" good routers), and concluded based on the hardware options that it seemed like the best choice.

Being a bit of a gearhead, I figured that I could work out any bugs (I assume that a new product that has software will have a few bugs...see Microsoft =). I get home, try to install it....no dice. Looked at SMC's web site...downloaded the updates...and got Internet Radio. No mp3s, no Video, and parts of small jpg's.

Phoned SMC's "tech support" ... I use quotes on purpose.... 1-800-India ... had to phone back 3 times to get someone who spoke English... to whick they followed their canned troubleshooting script. I was a little offended by the "just buy another computer and install it there" comment. (My PC was 2 mths old at that point, and near-bleeding-edge).

So the re-calls to "Tech" support goes on and on for months... SMC ended up exchanging the product (which did absolutely nothing) ... and was about to throw it off my balcony (being that pissed off and frustrated)....when I came across some 3rd party software that allowed me to at least get the thing to work (most of the time (TVersity) ... now, it's only the firmware that's buggy....hangs, restarts on it's own, menu overlay issues, etc etc.

The issues with this piece of crap are well-known out on the Net... so if I were to be buying knowing what I know now, I would have to decide between the Hauppage and the D-Link 320... there are a lot of D-Link folks that hate the Server Software (and are using TVersity BETA software as it's so bad)... but at least the hardware is good.

To those out there who say / review this as a good product, my simple response (as an IT guy) is that SMC/Vendor Sales Reps should not be writing deceptive reviews for an unsuspecting public. Companies should not be trying to sell a product where the software/firmware is not even up to "Beta" standards (think how angry you would be to get Microsoft XP Beta, when you think you are getting their buggy ver 1?)

If you do decide to buy it....you have been warned.

I was looking for a networked media receiver that supported 802.11G which I've been using for my home network. When I discovered this SMC Multimedia Receiver I was very excited to make it the solution to converging the entertainment center with the breadth of content (photos, music, and videos) available on our PCs.

The SMCWMR-AG was reasonably easy to configure (although 802.11* can be tricky for any technophobe). Once I installed the content server software on my PC, and pointed it at my mp3, jpg, and mpg content everything was ready to go. The first disappointment came when I wanted to start a slideshow from the hundreds of pictures of our infant. The pictures are separated into folders based on events and dates, but I couldn't get a slideshow to work across folders (without rearranging the files or copying to a new directory). Also, the slideshow function froze intermittently (not sure what the issue was here).

MP3's seemed to play fine (along with viewing pictures simultaneously), with the same limitation of playing across folders. I didn't get a chance to setup new playlist to see if this solved these problems. I was also disappointed in the limited types of Internet radio streams supported, but I'm sure that could be improved through software in the future.

The clincher for me returning the device to the store was playing video. Home movies encoded in anything but the lowest bitrates played fine for a few seconds then did an unwatchable jerky dance. The wireless network reported an excellent link and 54Mbit and occasionally 36Mbit connection speeds.

Finally, the user interface seems a bit crude and slow to respond. Again, this may be upgradable in the future so there is the potential for significant improvement. It just didn't meet my expectations at this time.

So, I'm considering trying competitive devices such as the Prismiq or Play@TV products. If they don't do the trick it is time to build that media-center PC in an entertainment center-friendly case and be done with it. That still leaves the challenge of sharing content throughout the house unsolved. :-(

So I am geeky enough...but my wife wouldn't be, or my parents or anyone else who expects the appliances in their home to just work when turned on. Yeh, I know this is supposedly leading edge but if it's going in the home next to the TV it needs to be a hell of a lot more reliable. I'm not talking about the network knowledge you need to set it up, I guess if you have a Wireless Access router you are already geek enough to set this up, actually that part of it is pretty easy. It's reliability, stupid. My VCR never "hung" nor should this. I shouldn't have to run upstairs to reboot the PC every hour to restart the server software. The remote control's functions should actually work, not hang the unit needing a power cycle to free it up again. It's temperamental, buggy, and prone to hangs & crashes at both the receiver and PC Mediaserver software end. As another reviewer said, "not yet ready for primetime". The market of geeks like me willing to persist in spite of the bugs is not big enough to support these products, the sooner these businesses realize that and get to the same level of easy-for-the-average-Joe and reliability of something like a Tivo the better. Better still; just build this functionality into something already existing like the Tivo, now that would be a product. Summary: Buggy as hell but cool when it works.

Have had the unit for about 2 weeks and find the user interface to be slow, difficult to use and interfering with audio output when the receiver box needs to get another page of content data (directory information, tag content) from the media server (the software that runs on the PC). Set up was not very difficult for the wireless configuration, although I have been somehow unable to get the wired ethernet connection on the receiver to see a media server (PC) that is running on a wireless PC...or even on a wired PC, so far. Wireless to wireless 802.11b is working for me.

I was under the impression that I was going to be able to send an audio stream from the media server (PC) to the receiver that was controlled by juke box software on the PC. Instead, what you can do is use a very primitive TV user interface (UI) to browse and use a (bad) search UI to get through your pre-organized and shared media files (audio, photo, video) and playlists which are accessible in the PC file system. Yes, networked drives work on the PC running the media server software. Same for photos and videos. You can, however, make a playlist with an IP address in it for an Internet radio channel and shoot that stream to the receiver from the PC...go figure why you can't shoot a stream at it from Winamp or your favorite juke. I have a radio channel that repeatedly takes over 4 minutes to buffer and start playing, though it jumps on the PC in about a quarter of a minute. Although the media receiver is UPnP (Universal Plug & Play) compatible, the receiver will not "see" the UPnP server that MusicMatch Juke Box (8.1) has available in it. Also, I have been unable to get large playlists (70-80 tracks) to be received when selected. "Transport Errors" which I think must mean not enough memory at the receiver end. Photos in a directory can be "played" at 10 or 15 seconds per slide...not configurable, only 10 or 15 seconds...not 3, not 20...but you can manually change photos with the remote control device, go back and forward. I sent my disappointments and a request for help to figure out why I cannot get the wired configuration to work to SMC support with no response. For this much $$$, I'd say you need to be really forgiving and/or be willing to patiently hope new software will get this to where you will be happy. The receiver box checks for new software automagically when it boots up and finds it is on a net that can get to the Internet. What say you guys at SMC??

I've had this unit for almost a year, and it hasn't worked at all most of the time. There are rare days when it works without a hitch and the music streams from our server just fine, accompanied by a slide show, but those days are the exceptions. Most days are like today, when the EZ-Stream informs us that there was a "browsing error" and that it was "unable to connect to the PC." Now, the odd thing about this is that the PC is able to connect to the EZ-Stream just fine. The unit has an HTTP server, allowing you to connect through a browser and change the settings. You'd think that if the PC can see the receiver, the receiver would be able to see the PC.

If you're planning to connect to the unit via ethernet cable, you might have better luck, but I can't recommend this for wireless operation. Configuring the receiver from the remote is an awkward and time-consuming process, since you have to use the up and down buttons to scroll through the ASCII character set -- something you have to do if your system is encrypted -- and when something goes wrong with the setup, it takes a long time to check everything.

The firmware on the EZ-Stream is upgradable, but SMC hasn't offered a new version since late last year. Unless SMC addresses the problems with this unit, you'd do well to consider any of the other products in this area.

OK, let's get this straight. You can use this like a jukebox to play all your songs, but you have to set up your songs as a playlist in Musicmatch, which is VERY easy. Musicmatch 9.0 is a free download and works very well. Make sure you then add the Musicmatch file on your computer to the shared files on the media stream interface. All your playlists will then be accessible. Your songs will play without having to enter each one. You can then play them sequentially or randomly. Set up multiple playlists and easily access them...there's no limit to how many songs you can have on a playlist, so you can stream music for a few days if you want!!! Everyone in your family can have their own playlists.
Setup is relatively painless...download the software or install the cd and follow the directions, then connect the unit and configure it to work with your network on the TV interface. There is a very comprehensive user's guide that is available as a download, so you can check it out before you buy it.
If you want to stream pictures, then share your picture files through the computer interface, ditto for videos.
You can listen to music while you look through pictures, although sometimes this may cause a stutter in the sound when the pictures are changing.
The software has 3 radio programs pre-installed, and I am having a little bit of difficulty adding more free stations, but I will figure it out eventually.
The interface is very simple...the unit plays only mp3's for now, but there will probably be firmware updates that address this in the future. Speaking of firmware, you can program the unit to automatically check for updates when it powers on.
The unit itself is a lot smaller than I thought it would be. It's slightly cheesy, but not horribly so. It's silver and blue and has an electric blue light. It comes with a very simple remote, and yes, you do have to point it directly at the unit for it to work. I have it over 150' away from an 802.11g Netgear router that is on another floor, and I get a great link quality.
Pros- small, easy to install and configure, firmware updates, remote, plays pics, mp3's, and internet radio, upgradable with firmware, solid reputable company, music sounds great.
Cons-Internet radio not that easy to figure out, remote must be pointed directly at unit, only RCA jacks, no s-video or optical inputs (sound quality was great, though, with most of my songs encoded at 128 kbps), can't see what song is playing when going through playlist, however, hopefully this will be addressed by firmware and you can always print out your playlists).
Summary- Great little unit...one of the first of its kind...does what I need it to do...shows pictures and plays music...say hello to my little friend :)

8/05 Update--There has been a firmware update since my last review. It addressed the remote situation...now it doesn't have to be pointed directly at the unit. It also added tons of radio stations.
Please be aware that Zone Alarm must be disabled for EZ Stream to work. Also, make sure you have a strong signal when initially installing wirelessly. If the signal is weak you will have a horrible time with installation and spend many frustrated hours!

After spending months burning all our CDs to MP3s, I was excited to get get the SMC multimedia streamer so that we could listen to our entire music collection on the stereo. However, when I went to install the SMC Media Server software that is needed to operate the device, it would not run, and SMC technical support provided zero help!

After hours of effort, here is what I discovered... My McAfee virus software was conflicting with Media Server. But simply disabling the virus software did not remove the conflict. In fact, I had to completely uninstall the McAfee software from my system to get the SMC device to work.

So BEWARE - if you have McAfee antivirus software, this product will NOT WORK on your wireless network!

Great concept. SMC products have provided great customer service & GUIs & stability for me in the past... DO NOT BUY THIS VERSION OF THIS PRODUCT!!! (Feb 6, 2004)

The installation software worked fine, but when I launched the SMC Media Server program, only Apache Server worked... Without the SMC GUI, you cannot specify which directories or files will be served to your home theater.

Customer Service does not have record of the product in their database. Second-Tier customer support suggested the problem was that I had too many media files :P

Try Neoware for a thin client or PrismIQ for a low priced media server or Roku for a robust media server.

I bought this unit about 4 months ago and was only able to use it for 1 week. I have TrendMicro software for internet security, wireless firewall, etc. At about the time I downloaded Windows XP SP2, my wireless receiver would not work anymore. I attempted to change some router and Security settings, but couldn't get it to work. On the client status of my router the wireless receiver showed up, but I could not get the receiver to find the server software. I spoke with a few different CSRs from SMC, but did not get anyone that could help fix my problem. I am purchasing another unit to replace this but I am going to try something other than SMC.

As mentioned by others, the interface on the TV is rather clunky and reminiscent of an old video game unit or something; lacks in response, and the remote had to be pointing very, very directly at the unit. I had to reconnect it a second time, and couldn't get it to recognize my home wireless network... which works just fine. Anyway, I just wanted to have my album collection available for play on my home stereo. Be warned! You cannot select an album for play in its entirety... you must go through and play each song manually, in order, if you want to do this. I called tech support and they confirmed that you cannot select play at the album level. You also cannot select mp3's for play, jukebox style, and put them in que... in by book, that sucks. Who wants such a dumb unit that you have to babysit constantly to hear your music?
The only alternative I suppose, would be to create a playlist on your computer for EACH album... but who wants to go to that much trouble?