Wireless

Are you worried about what might be going on in your home when you are not there? The Piper can offer to help.

This unit is the size of a 13amp three way adapter. It does have a 13amp plug but few things can be plugged into it. The main task is as a Wi-Fi extender it can also be used to play music via its one connection a 3.5mm socket.

It’s been a while since I have looked at speakers from TDK. Here a small unit called Trek and then a larger unit designed to give 360degree sound. Both give good sound and the decision on which to buy could be made on size alone.

Like skimming stones on water, Wi-Fi Range Extender technology can expand the reach of your local Wi-Fi network.

This is a DAB, FM, CD, SD, USB and Bluetooth sound system. There are many other systems that can do some of the things mentioned, but very few can record to SD or USB this system gives you the option to record to both.

Instead of music while you work (more relevant to older readers), this next product lets you have music while you shower or have a bath.

It is relatively straightforward to stream and share your media content over various devices when you have access to your home wireless network but away from this environment matters may not be so cut and dried.

Continuing the MiniDrones are coming theme, this next product has more of a tank feel as it travels around and over obstacles.

Following on from the NBS8, recently reviewed on Gadgetspeak.com, Nakamichi has launched the next product in its range of portable Bluetooth speakers. Not surprisingly this next model has been named the NBS9.

This looks like a conventional DAB/FM radio and indeed it has both those functions, it is also able to be an Auxiliary output, play anything from a Media server and is also the best – and easiest to use – Internet Radio I have seen.

This is marketed as a quick and easy way to transfer data via your own secure Wi-Fi network. If your first use is via an Android (or I assume an ‘i’ device) this may be so but it may be far harder if you start from a PC with only the supplied five point guide.

Like big red buses that tend to turn up in pairs, no sooner do I complete my review of a wireless extender product than a similar product turns up.

WiFi's become an almost indispensable adjunct to our computing and home entertainment, but it has its quirks. It passes easily through interior stud walls - unless they happen to be foil-insulated - but can grind to a halt when confronted with brick. UK regulations limit transmission power, and hence the range, and dead spots are not uncommon in traditionally-constructed British homes. Sod's law dictates that these will exactly coincide with the location of your Net-connected set-top box, or you

Sometimes due to the layout of the environment and traffic demands, a wireless network can struggle to deliver. This next product offers to help.

As we move increasingly towards FTTC (fibre to the cabinet) for higher performance internet, there is an increasing requirement to separate the router from the modem. D-Link’s DIR-880L Wireless AC1900 Dual Band Gigabit Cloud Router is a high performance unit which ticks all the right boxes for those who are also moving to file sharing and media streaming.

In the past I have looked at a number of products from the HMDX range of Jam audio devices. Up till now these devices have been Bluetooth speakers but this next offering, while supporting Bluetooth and providing audio output, belongs to a different category of product. It is the Jam Transit. This is a set of wireless stereo headphones.

Once as rare as “hen’s teeth”, wireless headsets are now appearing regularly including this offering from the BOOMPOD’s range of products.

With a brand name that suggests an explosive device and an appearance that reminds me of a slightly squashed sweet I enjoyed when I was younger, the subject of this next review is a Bluetooth portable speaker unit.

With the amount of available content, either free or subscription based, you might need help to access it. This next product could help.

This time last year I checked out the Kingston MobileLite Wireless product. This device allowed you to stream content wirelessly to various mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets. The content being streamed was stored on SD memory cards and USB flash sticks. Since my original review Kingston has been busy developing the next generation of this product which, appropriately enough, is entitled MobileLite Wireless G2.

Adding to the already large number of Bluetooth speakers in the marketplace is the latest offering from Edifier.

Having recently looked at a Freeview device from Humax it seems only fair to offer the same for those who use a Satellite to receive their signal. So what if anything can this method offer to persuade those with a decent aerial signal to switch.

It is described as Retro with a leather over the top grab handle to allow movement. This offering from View Quest is up to date in that it has Dab, FM, iPod and Auxiliary Input. The sound is also up to date in that it is Stereo.

The TP-Link 300Mbps Universal Wireless N Range Extender model TL-WA850RE provides the means of improving the coverage of your 2.4GHzWi-Fi network. It is a stepping stone to extend the reach of the network, or fill in dead-spots where there isn’t a really useful signal as well as improving existing data throughput where signal strength is weak.

It has been a while since I last took a look at a Wacom device but a visit to a distributor’s trade show brought that period to an end.

Relish is the name for a pilot 4G fixed network initially covering the central London area just launched by UK Broadband. It is being offered as an alternative to fibre.

A tool to do a single job, link to various web sites such as YouTube and relay whatever you have on your phone or Tablet and via some electronics in the supplied HDMI dongle and show it on your TV with sound, so any non ‘Connected’ TV is updated.

A regular source of products that I feature in reviews is the Denmark based Sandberg company. The latest offering to arrive from Sandberg is the Bluetooth Stereo Headset Pro product priced at £53.99.

This is one of those occasions when I found it easier to source a product from a retailer rather than the manufacturer. Thanks to Gizoo for supplying this Oregon Scientific speaker.

My collection of favourite music has its origins in the vinyl era of recordings. I mention this merely as a lead in to a recent visit I paid to a location known as the Vinyl Factory in the Soho area of central London.