WiFi and WiDi Questions and, Do You Use WiDi? (Wireless Display)

I considered posting this in bballsfun “Wireless Display” thread, but I have a somewhat different issue. Besides, this is a “wordy” post, so if you don’t care about WiDi, you can hit your back button now. I know “why” I’m going to go to WiDi; I just don’t know some of the technical ramifications about how it will affect my network.

I’ve decided to cut the cord, from my laptop, to my HD TV. I currently use a VGA to VGA video cable for the picture, and a RCA cable for the audio. I used to have a HDMI cable connection between the two, but then Thor blew out both ports (PC/TV) with a lightning strike on my neighbor’s tree. I could hear the harmonic static charge, as it resonated through the HDMI cable, during the strike. The BOOM was louder than a 105mm Howitzer shell landing outside my window. I lost a router, and a few other unprotected components that day. Even though I had most of my gear shut down, due to the storm, I forgot to disconnect the HDMI cable. It’s a good thing my Panasonic HD has another 2 HDMI inputs, and the VGA PC connection. But I digress.

Last night I did my usual driver check at the Intel Driver Update Utility, and they had 3 updates for me:

Video Card – Intel HD Graphics 3000 Version 9.17.10.2875, 10-17-2012
PROSet/Wireless WiFi Software Version 15.03.1000.1637
WiDi Version 3.5.40.0

This got me thinking about the Wireless Display (WiDi) once again. Originally, I held off because of the brouhaha over playing DVDs over the WiDi. But according to this Intel site, that limitation has been fixed in version 2.1 or greater:

Intel® Wireless Display — Intel® WiDi support for Intel® Insider, Blu-Ray and DVD playback, surround sound

My Panasonic doesn’t have a built in WiDi, so I put this Belkin Screen Cast Adapter in my Amazon wish list:

Amazon.com: Belkin ScreenCast TV Adapter for Intel Wireless Display: Electronics

I’d like to point out that my Lenovo Y470 system meets all the requirements to make this work. My TV is not more than 12’ away from my laptop. I have a Linksys E3200 router, although I rarely turn on its radio. The router sits right next to the laptop, and I connect to it via a 1GB hard wire. Likewise I don’t have the Wireless on the laptop turned on either, only the Bluetooth that I use for a Wireless mouse.

Here are my questions:

1. I realize that I will need to turn on my laptop’s Wireless radio, so it will connect to the Belkin WiDi adapter when I want to stream. The problem is my Lenovo Wireless card only has the 2.4 band. Still, the inSSIDer program reports my Max Rate is 156 using the ”N Only” mode, when I connect to my router. Is this enough bandwidth to handle playing my DVDs, or streaming TV, using the WiDi, without stuttering, or dropping frames? I’m not a gamer, so a little delay between screens will be OK.
2. I don’t quite know what happens to my 1GB wired connection, when I turn the laptop radio on. Both connections appear in my Network map. Is there some sort of “sharing” going on between the Wireless, and the wired connection? Can I set the protocol to input my internet stream over the wire, and only use the wireless to connect to the Belkin Screencast Adapter? I guess the answer is, only turn on the laptop radio, and keep the router’s radio turned off. Will that work?
3. Is anyone here using the WiDi on the laptop? Do you like it? Are there any issues?
4. If you are, and you don’t have a TV with a built in capability, what adapter do you employ?

Oh, and by the way, I also am assuming that the Intel WiDi fix in the link above is not region specific. That is to say, I should be able to play any DVD, just like its “Region Free”. My media player is VLC, and that’s region Zero.:laugh:

Any insight into your experience will be greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading, and sorry for the long post.

Cheers

 

Update:

Well I bought the Belkin adapter. It arrived on the 22nd. I only needed to plug it in, attached the HDMI cable to my Panasonic, and launch my updated WiDi software on the Y470. I synced the laptop to the TV, then auto applied the Belkin firmware updates, and I was good to go. It couldn't have been easier.

In my network map, the connection appears as an SSID: Intel Wireless PAN (DIRECT-hk-LAPTOP), Speed 65.0 Mbps.

As I suspected, I didn't need to turn on my router's radio, only the laptop's. In the last two days, I've thoroughly tested all the video streams that I could throw at it, and they all turned out beautiful on the HD. No stuttering, dropped frames, or lag. The 5.1 surround sound is just as good, if not better, than my old RCA connected motif.

All in all, I give the WiDi two thumbs up! :thumbsup::thumbsup: