i-Mate Momento and Dlink DIR-655 co-existence
Posted by sharpstyle on October 26, 2007
It was my birthday and I had another chance to pick a gift for myself on behalf of my relatives. I decided that it is unlikely that I will ever have the time to build my own DIY Digital Picture Frame, and after some research I decided to purchase i-Mate Momento.
What I liked about it:
- Standard card/usb drive/flash drive support
- Wi-Fi support
- Vista Sideshow support
- i-Mate’s own Live service that allows RSS type updates
What I was cautious about:
- Relatively low resolution (not a big problem when looking from a few feet away)
- Issues with setup from Engadget post
I’ve read a few reviews and ignoring the warnings about setup issues on Engadget ordered it from Amazon.
It arrived and I had the hardest time connecting it to my wireless network. I have Dlink DIR-655 with two laptops connecting to it without any issues. Momento just didn’t see my SSID, while seeing neighbors’ networks. It seems to detect Netgear networks the best. I tried a lot of different things without success: loading settings through USB, changing settings on Dlink router, etc.
Here is what worked for me:
- Install latest firmware (1.10 as of 2007/10/26) — do not believe status page that says you are running the latest
- Backup settings before installing this one — it resets everything to default
- Turn off “Wireless Protected Setup” – that allowed Momento to see my network ssid, but it wasn’t enough
- Change WPA Mode to "WPA Only"
- Change Cipher Type from AES to TKIP – that allowed Momento to connect.
Here are my settings:
A few words about customer support: horrible, horrible, horrible… Gadget that costs $300 should come with phone support. i-Mate only offers email support that responded with the same generic troubleshooting steps that are available on their website. I am still waiting (3 days) for the answer to my follow up email.
Now that I got it to work, a few first impressions:
- low resolution is kinda annoying if you are trying to examine the picture closer than few feet
- Didn’t see a way to setup a schedule for it (turn on at 9AM, turn off at 11PM)
- Remote control is ok
- Feels a little sluggish
- UI is pleasant
More details to come.
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000J6E2WW/ref=noref/102-6992261-9696926?ie=UTF8&s=photo
http://www.engadget.com/2007/02/25/hands-on-with-the-i-mate-momento-70/
Mike Grushin
Horsetod.Com » i-Mate Momento and Dlink DIR-655 co-existence said
[...] wrote an interesting post today on i-Mate Momento and Dlink DIR-655 co-existenceHere’s a quick [...]
Andy Norman said
Don’t think my impression of the Momento was as favourable as yours…
http://blog.norman.cx/?p=19
Mine is going back to the shop, too many little things wrong with it.
Nathan A Miller said
Thank you. I spent a few hours working on this until I came across your post.
sharpstyle said
Glad it was helpful.
Mike
Steven said
Can I just tell you how much YOU ARE AMAZING! I have spent HOURS upon hours trying to get this F***ING thing to connect to my network. I have even gone so far as to turning OFF all security, but it still wouldn’t connect. I have the exact same router as you mentioned, I did what you recommended with the settings, and to my extreme amazement, IT WORKED! Thanks Man!
Sean said
I have the exact same router and it’s supposedly running on 1.11 firmware. My settings page looks just like yours, but my momento still can’t see my network. You mentioned turning of “wireless protected setup”. I can’t find that option anywhere. How do I do that part?
Sean said
I found the wi-fi protected setup page and disabled it. We’ll see if it’ll pick up my network now.
sharpstyle said
>Steven
Thank you for your kind words. Based on my google search at the time it looked like I was one of the first people to run that setup (not surprised as I like to get all the “new” toys. Many times I suffer the consequences — this is one of the examples). Glad this helped a few people
>Sean
A few things:
+ do not believe your status page — reinstall the firmware on the router.
+ “wireless protected setup” is under Advanced, 2nd item from the bottom.
Mike
Sean said
That did it. Sorry for all the comments, but hopefully it will help others just like it did me. Thanks!
John-Hans Melcher said
Wow! You saved me time and $$$$. I’ll pass on this 10″ unit sold for $150 at Buy.com. I was going to rush and click and buy. Not now. Maybe in a year when support and bugs get worked out. Web 2 lives & Rocks!!!!
Michael said
Worst purchase mistake I’ve ever made. I thought, at the very least its a good frame, boy was I wrong. The wifi on here is terrible.
I have a question. I have the exact same router you have. However, if I switch to WPA, I guarantee that my laptops will pick up 54g instead of 300g. Am I wrong in thinking that the only way to get this thing to work is to lock yourself into a 54g environment