Dect phones, bluetooth devices like bluetooth headphones, computer mouse, wireless routers, cordless phones, Wi-Fi compatible printers, PDAs. These devices can interfere with the Wi-Fi link . The severity of interference varies depending on the extent of radiation from the device and the strength of Wi-Fi signals in the position.
Frequently Asked Questions of Acoustic Energy Wifi RadioQ: What equipment do I need to use the WiFi Radio?
A: To use the AE WiFi Radio you will require 2 items for it to work. The first is broadband the other is wireless.
- Broadband (ADSL) is high speed internet access (512k, 1mb, 2mb etc) this is provided by a number of companies such as BT, Wanadoo, AOL, NTL etc and works through your normal telephone line.
- Wireless is a way of connecting computers/ equipment around the house without cables. The AE WiFi radio requires a standard Wireless router (802.11b or 802.11g) to work. Products from Belkin, 3Com, Netgear, Apple Airport etc should be a good starting point.
- The AE Wifi radio has its own wireless technology built in and does not require a PC to work but needs to connect to the radio stations through the Wireless Router and broadband.
Q: I live abroad and I am having trouble listening to BBC Radio 5 Live.
A: BBC Radio 5 live has two streams on the radio.
- BBC Radio 5 Live - UK only WiFi Radio listeners
- Radio 5 Live (International) - International WiFi Radio listeners
The UK stream will not work on IP addresses outside the UK, additionally the BBC only holds the rights to broadcast live commentary locally to the area covered by their radio transmitters so will block these transmissions on the internet.
Q: Can the media adapter on the WiFi radio be used with Playlists?
A: If you want to play media files on the radio, you can bulk-add files to the queue by selecting add 'By Album' or 'By Artist'. If you have many media files all with different artists or from different albums, then the easiest and simplest way would be to create a playlist for the media files - using Windows Media Player or Winamp - then place the playlist in the PC's shared directory. The playlist file needs to be in .m3u or .pls format for the radio to use it.
Q: I am having problems playing back media files on my WiFi Radio?
A: Please check the following:
- Permissions: The radio (possibly logged in as Guest) doesn't have read permission to all the files
- File Extensions: The radio will only recognise .mp3, .wma and .aac files (case insensitive).
- DRM Protection: The radio will not play DRM / copy protected media (though it should include it in the albums list).
Q: How do I access presets 6 to 10?
A: Press the shift key on the radio and an arrow will appear on the screen. This means shift is on for the next key press and preset 1 to 5 will now be 6 to 10.
Q: How do I add stations?
A: We currently have over 4,000 (Feb '06) radio streams, this total is growing every day. Any station can be added to the radio by going online to the Reciva website and registering.
Link to add a station:
RecivaReciva will then check the station and add it to the list. When your radio is next turned on the updated list will be downloaded and the station will be available to listen too on all the radios.
Q: I am having problems connecting my WiFi Radio?
A: If problems occur when connecting the radio to the wireless network, these steps may help to resolve them:
- Confirm that a Wi-Fi connected PC can access the Internet (i.e. can browse the web) using the same network.
- Check that a DHCP server is available, or that a static IP address is configured on the radio.
- Check that a firewall is not blocking any outgoing ports. As a minimum the radio needs access to UDP and TCP ports 80, 554, 1755, 5000 and 7070.
- Check the access point does not restrict connections to particular MAC addresses. The radio’s MAC address can be viewed using the menu item Configure -> Network Config -> View Config -> MAC address.
- If the network is encrypted check that the correct password has been entered into the radio. Remember that the password is case sensitive.
- If the radio connects to the network successfully, but is unable to play a particular station (or stations), this may be due to one or more of the following:
- The station is not broadcasting (remember it may be located in a different time zone).
- The station has reached the maximum allowed number of simultaneous listeners.
- The station is not broadcasting anymore.
- The link held by the radio to the station is out of date.
- The Internet connection between the server and the radio is too slow.
- Check the radio is in range, wireless will have a range of 100m unobstructed but this will be less inside a house/ flat as the walls/ doors reduce the signal strength.
Q: Is the AE Wifi radio Stereo?
A: Yes, the WiFi Radio uses two special AE drivers to give a stereo output.
Q: Does it support WPA encryption?
A: WPA-PSK/TKIP, which is the most commonly-used variant of WPA, is supported.
Q: Will it work with audio files held on Mac OS X
A: The radio uses Windows file sharing protocols to retrieve the audio files. Mac OS X supports Windows sharing, so this should work fine.
Q: Will the radio work with the Apple Airport Extreme etc
A: Yes. The radio will work with any IEEE 802.11b/g access point.
Q: Will it support multicast broadcast
A: Not at the moment. Only unicast connections are supported.
Q: Will it support Shoutcast streams
A: Yes, Shoutcast should be fine.
Q: Will it support Ogg-Vorbis files
A: We don't have support for Vorbis today, but we plan to introduce this as a (free) software upgrade in the future.
Q: Will it support AAC/ iTunes files
A: ACC support will be available from launch. However, music purchased online from the iTunes store is digitally encrypted by Apple and will not be playable on the AE WiFi radio.
Q: Will it be able to utilize Slimeserver software
A: We don't support that at present, but we are investigating that possibility.
Q: Will it be able to get Live365 stations?
A: Yes, Live365 should be fine.
Q: How will this affect usage limits on broadband? ie 1gb limits on downloads etc.
A: This would depend on the particular ISP. As far as the network is concerned, using the radio is just the same as listening to Internet radio from a PC.
Q: Will it support WMA V9.1
A: Yes, WMA 9.1 will be supported.
Q: Can I have a brief description on how the radio picks up the new stations and software.
A: Whenever the radio starts up, it downloads the latest station information from our gateway servers.
Q: If subscribed to a streaming audio service that provides programs on line but is not a radio broadcaster per se. Will it be able to add them to the list of stations it can get on the radio.
A: We don't currently have any support for subscription services, although we are investigating that right now.
Q: Will the radio work on my broadband connection I am with etc etc
A: The radio will work with any Wireless broadband connection.
Q: Can I link the radio to my HiFi system.
A: The AE Wifi radio will have a standard 3.5mm jack on the rear that can be connected to a hifi or a pair of headphones.
Q: Does the LCD Light up.
A: Yes the LCD with be backlit in Blue.
Q: Does the Radio have presets.
A: Yes the radio will have 10 presets for your favourite stations.
Q: Does the radio have an FM or DAB tuner built in.
A: No, as the radio can pick up more stations than either FM or DAM and do a lot more there is no need for one.
Q: Does the product run on batteries?
A: The radio runs on the mains only.
Q: Does the radio have an ethernet connection on it?
A: The radio is a wireless only product.
Q: What are the dimensions of the WiFi Radio?
A: Width = 125mm, Depth = 125mm, Height = 180mm
Q: How does the Alarm feature work on Acoustic energy wifi radio?
A: You can set the alarm like any other radio clock. The radio will switch on at the set time. It will play the last station that you listened to. In case the station is not broadcasting, a buzzer will sound as an alarm.
