My Humax Forum » Freesat HD » HDR 1000, 1010, 1100S

Wireless issues, and no customer service!!

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    Sykes

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    I've only recently purchased a 1000S.
    Having bought a big Panasonic TV, and a Panasonic Blu-ray player at the same time - (both of which connected to my home WiFi instantly), I'm very disappointed to learn that the Humax doesn't come with WiFi built-in, despite being a simple and cheap thing to achieve at the design phase.
    I also feel slightly conned, that this issue wasn't flagged up in any of the advertising blurb. Had it been, I wouldn't have purchased this Humax product.
    With the necessity to connect to the internet being such an important part of so many the box's features, and WiFi being so widely used in the home now days, I don't think it's unreasonable to have assumed that built-in WiFi would have come as standard.

    However, I'm stuck with it now.

    I wish to use a wireless dongle to connect, and have purchased an Edimax EW-7711UMn. I can't get the 1000S to see my network, though.
    I notice that other forum members have successfully used Edimax products, but most seem to be the EW-7711UAn (not the "Mn").

    I've spoken to Edimax (yes! spoke live, to a manufacturer!), who say they need to know which chipset the 1000S uses, in order to tell me which of their dongle's will work. I've sent 4 emails to Humax support, and have had no replies whatsoever - not even an acknowledgement, which is poor, so say the least.
    I've also written to Humax, and once again, have had no reply.

    Can anyone tell me if they've had success with the same dongle as me, and if so, what they did to make it work?
    Also, can anyone tell me the chipset, or (administrators perhaps?)please find out from a company who won't let their customers talk directly to them, which chipset is fitted to the 1000S.
    Even those with the EW-7711UAn - did you just plug it in, or did you have to configure it before it worked?

    I do not wish to use homeplug adaptors.

    ANY help much appreciated.

    Thank you, in anticipation.

    Sykes.

    | Mon 26 Nov 2012 8:40:00 #1 |
  2. REPASSAC

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    Advice see in other posts on this forum include - SSID needs to be broadcast, is case dependeant and change encryption type.

    | Mon 26 Nov 2012 8:58:50 #2 |
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    souporjuice

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    Hi, as REPASSAC says, check that your SSID (network name) is being broadcast by your router. It's a pain, but the box's software won't show hidden networks (it really should, IMO).

    Re. Whether you have the correct chipset, I can't comment on that particular model (I'm using the uan model successfully), but during my research I managed to google a list of Edimax dongles that were compatible with older Humax boxes, such as the Foxsat. Can't find that link now, I'll keep looking.

    Can you confirm that you can see the network options in the Humax box's settings with the dongle plugged in? And will it scan, and does it show other nearby wifi networks? Or do you get an error? If you can see your neighbour's wifi, for instance, then your dongle is working & the chipset is fine, but you need to reconfigure your wireless router to broadcast your SSID...

    Hope this helps!

    | Mon 26 Nov 2012 10:25:36 #3 |
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    souporjuice

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    Here we are:

    http://hummy.tv/forum/threads/hdr-fox-t2-wireless-dongle.127/

    Looks like the umn model should work.

    | Mon 26 Nov 2012 10:27:50 #4 |
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    souporjuice

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    Just to clarify my thoughts on compatible chipsets for dongles:

    The original Humax dongle (£30) still works with the HDR1000S, therefore the compatible chipset is unchanged. So, if a dongle worked with older Humax boxes it should still work with this new one.

    So for anyone interested, you can either go for the Humax dongle to be certain of compatibility, or check that link in my previous post for compatible (& much, much cheaper) Edimax devices. I can confirm the UAN model, which has an attached antenna (useful if your wifi signal is a bit weaker in the room with your tv), works for me.

    And for the record, I also think they missed a step not including built-in wifi, and I imagine they're kicking themselves right now - I think this will cause consumers a lot of confusion & difficulty. Despite that, I like this box, don't regret buying it one bit.

    | Mon 26 Nov 2012 11:35:29 #5 |
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    Martin Liddle

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    souporjuice - 1 hour ago  » 
    I managed to google a list of Edimax dongles that were compatible with older Humax boxes, such as the Foxsat. Can't find that link now, I'll keep looking.

    Careful, as far as I know no dongle is compatible with the FOXSAT. The list you have posted later is for the Freeview HDR product.

    | Mon 26 Nov 2012 11:59:56 #6 |
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    souporjuice

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    Oops, thanks for the correction! I guess we need to compile a definitive list of compatible dongles for the hdr1000s.

    | Mon 26 Nov 2012 15:14:19 #7 |
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    Sykes

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    Folks

    Thank you all very much for the replies.
    REPASSAC
    I had a look at many of the other posts before I bothered you all with my post, and saw that broadcasting the SSID was important. I can confirm that my router is broadcasting it.
    Case sensitivity is also correct.
    I tried different levels of encryption as well - rebooting the box each time, but got nowhere.
    I even went through all 13 available WiFi channels (by setting the router to manual channel selection) and rebooted the HDR1000S each time, but to no avail.
    souporjuice
    Edimax confirm that the Edimax EW-7711UMn has the RT3070 chipset, which is the same as mentioned in the link you posted, so I should be OK there.
    When I plug the dongle in, the box recognises that one's been plugged in, with a brief on-screen message which says "WiFi dongle is loading", so presumably the box recognises the USB device as a wireless receiver. I go to "Settings", then select the "Network Connection" section.
    The screen says "network disconnected" and the only selectable option is "Connect automatically" (I rather hoped that there would be a manual option here, as well, but there isn't).
    I select this, the screen momentarily says "searching" then displays a message "Wi-Fi network does not detected." (not my poor typing incidentally, the English in the message is just poor).
    No networks are displayed - and yes - I can normally see at least one neighbour's network on my other wireless devices.

    I've just tried moving my router into the same room as the box, but get the same results.

    Out of interest, does anyone else get any other network options other than "Connect automatically?"

    Thanks again for all your help and advice, folks.

    Please keep it coming.
    For my part, if I find a solution, I'll post it here, like all good forum folk should (but often don't!!)

    All the best

    Sykes.

    | Tue 27 Nov 2012 8:06:40 #8 |
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    souporjuice

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    Hi there, only few last things I can think of:

    1. do you have a laptop you can plug the dongle into? Temporarily disable any built-in wifi on the laptop and attempt to connect to your network via the dongle. This is just to rule out a faulty dongle really.

    2. The other thing is, is the Humax box in an enclosed space that might be blocking signal?

    3. And finally, are you using MAC address filtering with your router? The MAC address of the dongle should be printed in tiny font on the metal part of the USB connector, assuming you're using this extra level of security on your router, you'd need to add the dongle's address to your router...

    | Tue 27 Nov 2012 10:58:08 #9 |
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    Sykes

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    Hi souporjuice

    Thanks again for the reply.

    1. I've already "proved" the dongle on a workstation, and it connects to the network with no trouble.
    2. The Humax box is on the same rack as the TV and my Panasonic Blu-ray player, both of which are working fine with the network (wirelessly).
    3. I'm not using MAC address filtering.

    As I said though, thanks again for replying, and coming up with possibilities.

    Any idea how I might escalate this with Humax, and actually get to speak to them? Can't see the point of advertising a customer support system which doesn't respond to the customer.

    Sykes

    | Tue 27 Nov 2012 18:41:52 #10 |

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