hubs

I'm not sure what the reviewer from England was reading as the datasheet on Netgear's website makes clear that a subscription to Rhapsody is required for the internet radio functionality -- in fact that's the main reason I purchased it since I already can stream MP3s via Tivo but got sick of stringing cable around to get internet radio to the stereo. (Additionally, keeping the TV on all the time when streaming music can get tiresome.)

One advantage to this product is that it wirelessly streams MP3s (and WMAS) at up to 320 rather than the standard 128 rate that some of the prior competing products knocked down MP3s to (so you don't lose the quality difference if you've encoded MP3s at a higher rate).

It can take some time to get through the playlist but not unreasonably so. And the price is relatively cheap compared to other wireless streaming solutions.

PS. Make sure you upgrade the firmware and software -- it addresss a number of the complaints of the other reviewers (dropped connections, lack of Internet radio etc.) I also found that its very sensitive to interference from other wireless networks -- and worked much better when I shifted my entire network up to a higher channel.)

I purchased this product to use with Rhapsody, as it is recommended by the service. It's very simple to set up for a wireless network - I simply entered my WEP settings and rebooted the device. Unfortunately, it loses wireless connectivity way too often to be practical. One "feature" of the player is that it reboots whenever it loses its wireless connection. As each reboot takes a couple of minutes, I got very frustrated getting dropped from the network multiple times in a row while simply browsing my playlists. I don't know if there was some sort of conflict between the player and my Access Point (a Linksys WAP11), but this sort of wireless performance is simply unacceptable. None of my other wireless devices have any connectivity issues. I didn't try the wired network connection, so I don't know how it performs. Hopefully, it doesn't have the same connectivity issues as the wireless mode.

The included software is functional, but limited. It functions as a server applet to which the MP101 connects. It allows you to catalog all of the MP3 or WMA files on your local drive, but it does not have a way to catalog files on network drives from what I could tell. For a networking product, I found this odd. I was also disappointed that you could not control the unit via software. I have a multi-room audio setup and was hoping to be able to play my Rhapsody playlists through it using this product. Unfortunately, you can only control the unit through the supplied remote control.

With firmware improvements, this could be a much better product. Hopefully, NETGEAR will address the problems in the near future. As for me, I'm going to purchase a Slim Devices Squeezebox like the reviewer below did - it has much more robust software, digital outputs and support for Rhapsody (via plugin) as well.

The only problem I encountered was with my software firewall (Zone Alarm). After I disabled it, the MA101 is flawless! Looking for a fix now. It streams my 300+ cd collection from my pc to my stereo with virtually no lag time. Also installed the free 30-day Rhapsody software. Again, hardly any lag time between songs...even when using the shuffle feature. I'm very pleased!!

FYI: Athlon XP 2500+
1GB Ram
2-160GB Hard Drives
3Mb Broadband Connection