Philips SLA5520 Wireless Music receiver

I got my Streamium over Christmas and as I write this (Jan 6th), it is finally working - streaming Classic FM from the web and my CDs from my desktop.

OK. Here's the basic stuff. If you want to listen to internet radio, you can do it from your PC or laptop. If you have a wireless network, however, the Streamium lets you 'stream' the radio (or your own CD collection) through your network. It also looks cool (though it needs to be put on a very stable surface because it is tall, narrow and very lightweight). This model works with 811.1b and 811.1g standards and so is (currently) up-to-date. If your network uses WEP encryption, then you're fine, as is WPA-PSK, but the device doesn't support WPA2.

After plugging in the device and loading the software on my laptop - you should immediately update it, but restart your system first or the update will fail, I tried to key in my WPA key. Only problem is, if your WPA/WEP key has any 'special' characters in it (you know the sort - %&=+ - and so on), then you might have trouble entering them. Because the manual is a .pdf file, the answer is hard to find, but you use the 'up' and 'down' arrows on any character already entered... Anyhow, having done that, the connection was instant. All you do is run the supplied Philips software which catalogues your music files and the Streamium can 'see' them straightaway and play them. Then you MUST register at [...]. Do that by clicking the button in the Philips PC software (Media Manager that comes with it - after you have updated it). If you read www.streamiumcafe.com you can see forum postings from people who have not registered at this point and found things went wrong...

The best thing to do next is a streamium-unit software update. You do that in the main menu. Nothing on the unit tells you to do one, but it really makes a difference, as without it most of the internet radio is missing.

After doing the stremium-unit software update (it updates over the web so you need to have connected first), you need to re-start the unit and re-enter your WEP/WPA key again (cumbersome, I know). Then you can connect through Philips Media Manager to [...] and you go to [...]. There you enable the various internet radio services at that website and your unit is updated for you. The streamium unit is compatible with [...]. Between them these offer a LOT of free radio of varying quality - some CD quality some very much NOT CD quality. You'll have to resister with some sites, though. I tried it and haven't received any spam from them yet, but I read on McAfee SiteAdviser that [...] may be a bit spammy if you sign up to the advertising on it (more fool you!)... Nonetheless the choice of stations is wide (by genre and by date) and you'll find stations there that are absorbing if not excellent! If you encounter a 'server not available' message, persevere, it took a day or so for me to achieve success and postings at [...] indicate that others found the system was down at times of great demand.

Now that all seems like a lot of hassle, so let me re-state the benefits. For less than £[...], I have 1000's of free redio stations - many in CD quality - available to my HiFi. I have just the Streamium on my desk that allows me to store the HiFi behind closed doors which looks WAY cool. I can play all my music collection (including WMA MP3 and DRM purchased tracks) by streaming it from my desktop, and the unit gets a good signal (at least as good as a Centrino laptop in the same location).

The downsides: the set-up was fiddly (see above); the display looks cool but is too small to read at a 2m distce; the remote control looks a bit cheap.

Overall - now it's set up, it's great!

I appreciate the hint from the previous review. Please do not bother loading Philips Media Manager, that comes with the product, onto your PC, it is buggy and slow. Use Windows Media Player 11 which has built in media sharing and is far easier to manage your music and play lists.

I have been using the SLA5520 for about a week. It was easy to set up, even for a relatively secure wireless network (MAC address filtering, static IPs, no SSID broadcast, WPA encryption). It appears to be compatible with the my D-Link 624+ wireless router. I use it to play mp3s off my laptop. This way I don't need any dongles or adapters for my laptop and I can move from one place to another without interupting the music.

It works pretty much perfectly although the software for the computer is a little clunky. It also plays a wide selection of internet radio stations even when your computer is off. Pretty cool! And its relatively inexpensive compared to say the Roku soundbridge.