Support NeoGAF

[Myke Greywolf]

I do not have a wireless router, nor do I plan to buy one anytime soon. I'm not the biggest supporter of wireless technology, and I appreciate the comfort of being able to actually see the physical path taken by data while traveling back and forth. I do not want my bits and bytes flying around going through walls, into the neighbor's apartment, escaping my control. Just give me plain good old cables for my network connections, and I'll be happy.

I never liked having to use the Nintendo WiFi USB Connector to bring my Wii to the Internet. Besides the reasons mentioned above, I had to deal with only being able to connect while the PC is on, and that can be an hassle. Since Nintendo sure are taking their time to put their Ethernet solution on shop's shelves, I just had to put my hands on one of these:



I bought it, I tried it. Let me assure those of you who are wary of third-party accessories: it works well. So far.

Installation is simple: just connect it to one of the available USB ports on your Wii, use an Ethernet cable (one is included in the package, but it's a short one) to reach your local router or cable/ADSL modem (which should be configured as a DHCP server, but most come like that out of the box), create a new wired connection configuration on the Wii, and you're set.

I tried the Internet Channel, Wii Shop Channel and Mario Strikers Charged. Everything worked without a glitch. I only had time to play a ranked match on MSC, so I can't say for sure if the infamous error 86070 still occurs or not. The signs so far are favorable, however.

I'll post again later to tell you if my Wii still heats up while on standby mode with WiiConnect24 on, as that has been a constant concern for wireless connection users.

 

[Sage00]

The official Nintendo LAN adapter works pretty well too, but I just went back to using WiFi after I didn't notice much of a latency difference.

 

[Larsen B]

Yeah, the official Nintendo version is good, though I bought a wifi router the week after, so it was a bit of a needless buy.

 

[Myke Greywolf]

I don't think the official adapter is an option for european users, unless you're willing to import it. Nintendo Europe's site still tells us that it will be "available soon". Therefore, the Datel accessory might be the best answer for european Wii owners.

 

[Sage00]

I don't think the official adapter is an option for european users, unless you're willing to import it. Nintendo Europe's site still tells us that it will be "available soon". Therefore, the Datel accessory might be the best answer for european Wii owners.

It has been available in the UK for a while. eg here and here.

 

[Myke Greywolf]

D'oh! -_-;

Well, it works well anyway. But it seems as I was a little dumb getting it instead of the official one.

 

[Thomper]

I just want Datel to make a Freeloader for Wii. The LAN-adapter's nice, but I could just buy the official one, while the Freeloader would be an insta-buy.

 

[Xisiqomelir]

Damn, some of this stuff is really expensive for what it is. I'd say the better value would be to pick up one of the cheap DD-WRT flashable wireless routers Buffalo or some other Broadcom licensee makes.

 

[clav]

Don't have a wireless router?

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?pfp=cat3&product_code=344149

TADA! Free Wireless router after mail in rebate!

Use coupon code: oncampus for free shipping!

I've been using Trendnet products for about three to four years, and I haven't had any problems with it.

 

[Dr. Zoidberg]

I have wireless available and it's working fine now, but I would prefer to use wired due to speed and stability issues. All my other consoles are wired and they are all right next to each other. It would just be more consistent.

Myke, please report back with your standby results. I am very interested to hear if using the wired connection for WiiConnect24 results in less heat than the wireless option. If it does then I think I'll order one from Nintendo. My Wii gets far hotter than I'd like when on standby with WC24 active.

 

[Myke Greywolf]

I regret to report that, despite using the LAN adapter instead of a wireless connection for WiiConnect24, the console still heats up a lot.

I have my Wii on a horizontal position, and the underside was hot to the touch when I turned it on this morning.

I guess what Nintendo says is true... When you use WiiConnect24, you can expect a new surprise on your Wii each morning... such as a fried GPU.

 

[Lord Helmet]

Damn. I was wondering if it still heated up. I ordered the official Nintendo lan adapter a couple of days ago. Like others, all my stuff is together and I'd rather have stability.