I know that manufacturers create CostCo only models, probably to avoid lowest available price claims from those like Best Buy or Frys. But I thought that the firmware could be upgraded to the latest one available to WNDR4500 model. I was wrong, many users were complaining about that on Netgear Forums. (see: http://forum1.netgear.com/showthread.php?t=77623 )
I am glad I found the posting below (Thank you Arthur and Melissa!) that helped me find out a solution, turning the Netgear N900 N4500 model into the WNDR4500 model. I did not try it yet, since I did not purchase it yet but need to do it soon since CostCo has a US$20 off until Dec. 2nd.
Clipped from "Arthur's and Melissa's Notes on Everything - Blog": http://arthurandmelissa.com/blog/blog/2012/09/28/netgear-n900-r4500-knockoff-edition/
Netgear N900 R4500 – Knockoff Edition
So you were strolling through your local Costco and picked up a Netgear N900 for a reasonable deal. You hooked it up, and things mostly worked, but a few things advertised on the box and mentioned in reviews aren’t working right. “No problem,” you say, “I’ll go update the firmware to get the latest bug fixes.” So you click the check for updates button and … nothing. Being an Internet savvy person, you already know that there absolutely is newer firmware for the N900 — you can see it right there on the Netgear website. You try updating the router manually — no good, the router says the file is invalid. Then it hits you: you bought the Costco knockoff edition with its own model number — R4500. The real N900 is the WNDR4500, which has firmware updates. The knockoff R4500? Not so much. Apparently, Costco customers must have missed the fine print somewhere that said “This product has bugs which will never be fixed. Shame on you for shopping at a discount retailer.”
Argh!
But wait! Netgear’s routers are Linux-based and are usually supported by open-source firmware, like Tomato. Well, almost. The open firmware guys haven’t worked out the kinks on the N900 or its siblings. What they have done is given you enough information to fix your R4500 by rewiring its brain to believe it is a real WNDR4500. After all, they should be the same hardware, right? There’s a discussion thread where one NetGear phone rep said they were identical, yet another said no, they aren’t at all the same product. (but they have the same marketing model number…)
Here’s what you do. This may void your warranty. This is where Costco’s return policy makes up for selling knockoff routers.
- Download the latest WNDR4500 firmware from NetGear’s support site.
- Grab the telnet console enabler here. I did this from a Linux box using the Python version.
- From here on, use a wired connection to the router.
- Use the telnet enabler to switch on remote access. Using the Python program, it works like this, substituting your router’s MAC address (and IP if you changed it):
python telnetenable.py 192.168.1.1 84xxxxxxxxxx Gearguy Geardog - Log in to the router:
telnet 192.168.1.1 - You’re in! Now we change the router’s “board id” that sets which product it is, and therefore which firmware it will accept.
burnboardid U12H189T00_NETGEAR - Restart the router (you can hit the button in the web interface or power cycle it).
- After it is running again, upload the WNDR4500 firmware. Wait for the router to update and reboot itself.
- Presto, the router should now identify itself as a WNDR4500.
If you want to undo this change, repeat this process using the original R4500 firmware and the old board id: U12H189T90_NETGEAR
Enjoy your new WNDR4500!
or
These are 'accessed' from any of our computers (both mac and windows) for personal use. To watch a movie our iPads also serve to 'navigate' our media library (using the AirVideo iPad app, and the free AirVideo 'server' app, yes running on the MacMini). Within AirVideo we chose which TV in our home we want to watch this on (each of our LCD/LED TVs at home is setup with an AppleTV, which also works great as a stand-alone media device for also watching Netflix or any of he other various built-in sources). Did I mention we can watch all of our home media while we're away from home? (via AirVideo).
I would suggest an AppleTV as your first option (low-cost media device), and for the gamers out there as was suggested earlier either an Xbox of PS3 (we have Xboxes however the kids use them strictly for gaming ;-)
I guess it would depend on your media needs and where your 'media' sources will be coming from (if you don't have a media server like I do then the many online services like Netflix will work fine and all you'll ever need is a $99 AppleTV). Because I have years of personal media stored and collected (music, photos, tv and movies) a 'Server' is a must and the MacMini provides a perfect combination of this. Management of this server can be done using ssh, or my preferred Apple Remote Desktop. As for watching TV? we haven't watched 'live tv' in years (cant's stand to watch mindless commercials and ads and I would prefer to watch television shows on my schedule, not some networks - which is why the shows that I do watch are 'pre-recorded' by the online community and made available commercial-free in HD ;-)
ps. I access (listen) to my music from the iPad/iPhone/iPod app 'iSub' (or free 'Subsonic' app on my Android phone), and as for photos it's viewable from the iPad app 'ImageBank' (which you can AirPlay to any TV). These apps have their associated 'server' components which run on the MacMini.