HELP! Netflix via Blu-Ray player problem.

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David W. Richardson

Chapelgrove Films
Here's the deal...

I've had Netflix working through my Blu-Ray player for a good while now, using a wired (not wireless) connection that runs through a Netgear wireless router (one of the wired ports), then to my cable modem.

All has been well for months.

But I've been bothered that I didn't have any security enabled on my wireless router. I think my neighbors may be piggybacking on me. So I was getting ready to setup an access list. To do that, I needed to logon to my router -- only it wouldn't let me. Said my password was invalid.

First thought I had was that my neighbor may have logged onto the wireless router and changed the admin password. So I pressed the reset button on the router. I was then able to logon with the default password, and change it. Got everything back up and running --

-- my PC, which connects to one of the 4 wired ports on the router. It connects to the Internet just fine.
-- all of the various wireless devices -- Nook Color, Netbooks, and laptops -- connect to the Internet.

But my Blu-Ray player won't connect for some reason. Wait....that's not entirely correct. It will connect using the WIRELESS, but not the WIRED connection. Which makes it very odd.

No cables were changed.

I considered the possibility that the wired port the blu-ray is using on the router might have gone bad, so I tested it. My PC connected to the same port works fine. The blu-ray connected to the port my PC was connected to still doesn't work.

So that seems to narrow things down considerably. I've tried re-setting up the blu-ray player's network connections. It tests the network and passes. But it doesn't seem to see the Internet, except via the wireless connection.

I don't want to use the wireless because of the distance between the blu-ray player and the router -- the connection is unreliable for this use. That's why I ran a cable the length of the house.

I've tried using automatic settings on the blu-ray. And I've tried manually setting it, using the IP address, default gateway, etc. that Windows IPCONFIG and the router settings software both show me. Nothing seems to work.

I've powered everything off, pulled the battery out of the cable modem, then powered everything back up in the appropriate order -- cable modem, then router, then device. But it still only works via the wireless connection.

Just yesterday I got the Netflix app installed on my Nook Color. For a brief moment I thought that might be part of the problem -- since supposedly Netflix limits the total number of devices it can be used on. But if that were the case, then it wouldn't work wirelessly through the blu-ray player either.

I've run out of ideas. Anybody else got some?
 
Might seem stupid but did you try out different cables?...Also, might want to try resetting the router again. Then plugging in the blu-ray player first. Make sure it's working, then start setting up all your wireless security settings.
 
I hate replies that head toward "I seem to remember", but...I have a Sony Blu Ray player hard wired to my Fios router with netflix and I seem to remember having to set up a pass word through Sony. That's where I would head next. Get on the phone with Sony (or whoever the manufacturer is) support. I also seem to remember having a heck of a time with encryption. There's pk something and then there's wep. I had to settle for wep...couldn't get the tighter security to work with the Blu Ray.
 
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Thanks for the reply, Al.

Thing is, I would think if it were a password-type problem, then the Blu-Ray player wouldn't access Netflix via wireless connection either. That's what has me stumped.
 
Batutta said:
Might seem stupid but did you try out different cables?...Also, might want to try resetting the router again. Then plugging in the blu-ray player first. Make sure it's working, then start setting up all your wireless security settings.
Click to expand...

Thanks Batutta...

It would seem that the cable might be the problem. But that would be extremely coincidental. Not that coincidences don't happen, of course.

Once everyone is asleep tonight, I think I'll run the cable from the Blu-Ray straight into the cable modem, and see if that works. I may also try connecting my laptop to the end of the cable that's currently in the Blu-Ray player, and see if the laptop can get on the Internet.

It's all very strange.

Thanks for the suggestions!
 
Turn off the wireless NIC in the Blu-Ray player.
Ping the wired NIC address of the player from your computer to see if it is on the network at all. If not try resetting the player with a new address and ping again.
Take the player to the network switch and try it with a short known good cable to see if it might be a cable problem. Ping it again.
If it shows up on your network, get you service provider involved to see if they can see it thru the modem on their network.
If your computer can't see it the network port may have died. Happened to my Panasonic player.
Wireless security settings shouldn't affect the wired network access.
 
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Razz16mm said:
Turn off the wireless NIC in the Blu-Ray player.
Ping the wired NIC address of the player from your computer to see if it is on the network at all. If not try resetting the player with a new address and ping again.
Take the player to the network switch and try it with a short known good cable to see if it might be a cable problem. Ping it again.
If it shows up on your network, get you service provider involved to see if they can see it thru the modem on their network.
If your computer can't see it the network port may have died. Happened to my Panasonic player.
Wireless security settings shouldn't affect the wired network access.
Click to expand...

There's not an option to turn off the wireless NIC per se. You choose what to turn ON. Turning on the wired turns off the wireless, and vice versa.

I'm going to try the cable troubleshooting options as soon as I can.

It seems odd to me that, when configured for a wired connection, the player tests the connection and says it passed. It even displays IP information -- which doesn't seem to be correct info. It's almost like it sees the router just fine, but doesn't see the Internet beyond the router -- except via the wireless connection. It's very strange.
 
I just had a thought. When I connect the laptop to the cable that is currently being used by the Blu-Ray player, I can run IPCONFIG and see what values it shows for the router. That could be interesting.
 
Well I plugged the cable into the laptop, and it got to the Internet just fine. So I plugged it back into the Blu-Ray player, and lo and behold -- it works!

Must be magic.
 
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