How do you connect to a PC wirelessley?

[Duckss]

Hi there, now before anyone comes back and tells me to use the search, because this has been posted before, I did. I spent hours scrolling through posts trying to find something relevant, and couldn't. Now maybe I am not good at defining my search, but that's another issue. I did try.
So here's my question.

Can I connect to my Wii to my desktop PC, and is there any point in doing so?
What other benefits/options could it provide?
(maybe play MP3's from the PC through the TV surround Sound etc, etc??)
I have a Motorola SBG900 Wireless Surfboard, the PC connects to the modem via a Netgear WG111 USB adapter (802.11g)
The Wii connects to the modem (although Nintendo says it's one of the modems that may not work, I did have to change it to channel 1)
My Wii is setup perfectly, I can play, surf, email etc.
Also, the Netgear software now takes care of the Network Connections, so the Windows XP's connection wizard is disabled. The Netgear does not find the Wii's signal when I asked it to search for nearby wireless networks.

If anyone has played with this sort of connection, I would love to hear from them.
Just be careful, I am very good at making it sound like I know a a bit more than I do !

Cheers.

Quack!

 

[6ix]

I'm not sure if this is exactly what you're looking for, but Orb is a program which you run on your computer and choose which files or folders it should host. And then you can go on your Wii or another computer or w/e and go to www.orb.com, log in, and you'll be able to access whatever you are hosting. It works fairly well with music files, and I think you can view images and stream movies too but I'm not sure about the movies part.

 

[Duckss]

Thanks 6ix, it's not exactly what I was looking for, but it looks interesting. I will check it out.

Quack!

 

[callme.nasty]

are you sure orb isn't what you're looking for?

 

[Duckss]

Firstly for 6ix and callme.nasty, Thanks very much for the links to Orb, I will use it quite a bit while traveling ! But is not what specifically what I was looking for for the Wii (although it does work really well, I have just set it up) because the media content (or whatever) is going over the net, not directly from PC to Wii (at least that's the way I see it??) It also looks like it would effectively be doubling my download usage (one lot up, one lot down again)

What I was hoping to do was connect the Wii directly to the PC.

Thanks,

Quack!

 

[vagrant]

Firstly for 6ix and callme.nasty, Thanks very much for the links to Orb, I will use it quite a bit while traveling ! But is not what specifically what I was looking for for the Wii (although it does work really well, I have just set it up) because the media content (or whatever) is going over the net, not directly from PC to Wii (at least that's the way I see it??) It also looks like it would effectively be doubling my download usage (one lot up, one lot down again)
What I was hoping to do was connect the Wii directly to the PC.


Thanks,

Quack!

If you use orb and port forward on a router it isn't going out to the internet. It is just going across the network.

 

[Duckss]

Why would I need to access Orb via the internet channel (by typing on a web address mind you!) if the connection wasn't going over the net? I think you are confused by the fact that if you port forward on a router, then the info doesn't need to be uploaded to Orb's server, before being downloaded to the receiving device (PC, phone or game console)

By the way, if anyone has anything constructive to add (like maybe a thread that deals with this question that I have been unable to find) please feel free to drop a note.

Warm and fuzzies...
Quack.

 

[ciper]

Duckss: Orb is poorly designed. Although Vagrant was wrong I back him up in his normally correct assumption that an internet connection is not needed.
You should be able to run a cross over cable between the PC and the Wii ad access the shared files with no router or internet connection involved.

I know the other streaming media server for the Wii works this way.

 

[vagrant]

Duckss: Orb is poorly designed. Although Vagrant was wrong I back him up in his normally correct assumption that an internet connection is not needed.
You should be able to run a cross over cable between the PC and the Wii ad access the shared files with no router or internet connection involved.

I know the other streaming media server for the Wii works this way.

Actually, if you go to the Orb site and I believe in the FAQ section they talk about port fowarding.

And if you are on a router and you port foward why would you need to go out to the WAN link to reach a device within the LAN? The ORB server is running on a machine locally. Having to use a browser means nothing because you don't use the standard HTTP port when streaming.


*EDIT* I found it.



"In this case, you can enjoy direct streaming by setting up port forwarding on your router. Simply put, port forwarding basically consists in by-passing Orb servers by establishing a direct stream communication between your Orb PC and your Orb client device, thus enabling the utilization of your full bandwidth when streaming Orb media."

http://support.orb.com/support/solution.jsp?sol=178

 

[ciper]

Either way ORB sucks and you should use wiicr http://wiicr.org/wiki/index.php/WiiCR

 

[Duckss]

Thanks for the idea cipher, but a cable isn't wireless (if i read your suggestion right)


Also, I still don't believe that Orb is not going over the net, I doubt It would work if I didn't have net access.
I like the idea of Orb because apart from being able to access my music from any net enabled device (hhhhmmmm....net...internet ?) my Dad can download vids & photo's of his grandkids straight off my PC as he see's fit, & upload stuff too, all from 1200km away.

Quack

 

[ciper]

Here is the truth from the horses mouth that proves ORB is a bad design and that some of the data does have to go through the internet. It works similar to the Sling Box.

http://forums.orb.com/viewtopic.php?t=8105
The person that replied works for the company.

 

[Duckss]

I didn't even know about Orb (or any other media server type applications) until it was mentioned as a possible solution to my original question. It isn't even what I was looking for, but on the surface it looks like it could serve a purpose for me (I'll check out ciper's link later to decide if it is crap or not)


Lets assume I didn't have an ISP (that is, no internet connection)
I could still use my Wii for gameplay....(that's a given)
My PC has a Netgear WG111 USB adapter that uses 802.11g, and relevant software installed (still don't need an ISP.......)
Now I want to get my Wii (which also uses 802.11g) to connect to my PC.

Can it be done ?
Would there be any benefit (maybe to backup/download/upload channels, view photo's/video's on the Wii that are on the PC etc, etc)

Quack.

 

[ciper]

Can it be done ?
Would there be any benefit (maybe to backup/download/upload channels, view photo's/video's on the Wii that are on the PC etc, etc)

Yes just not with Orb. The advantage would be to stream media from your PC (videos, audio) onto your TV.

I don't know the current state of affairs but WiiCR seems to be the best so far.

 

[Duckss]

Ciper, I think WiiCR suffers from a similar affliction......

http://wmc.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/FAQ#Does_WiiCR_run_on_the_Wii.3F

It says.....

Does WiiCR run on the Wii?
A> No, it runs from a PC, the Wii access's it through a webpage.

So I don't understand?