welcome to my blog. This blog will be a place where I share all of my knowledge on how to connect your audio video receiver to the internet for access to streaming music services. I will explain how to connect your receiver, go through the setup process, and provide some information on the most popular streaming services available today.
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The most common option for connecting your AV receiver to the internet is by using a wired connection. Most new receivers have an Ethernet port on the back. If not, you can use a compatible network adapter such as the Sony UWA-BR100 (which we sell).
Connecting your receiver to the internet allows you to stream music from services such as Pandora, Rhapsody, Napster, Slacker and SiriusXM Internet Radio. Many of these services offer you the ability to create custom stations based on your favorite artists. This is a great way to enjoy all of your old favorites in addition to discovering new ones!
To utilize the many internet music services that are currently available, most receivers require a wired connection from your home router to your receiver. The exception to this rule is that some 2011 and all 2012 receivers feature built in wifi.
If you have an older receiver (2010 or older) that does not have built-in wifi, you can add it by purchasing a Yamaha YWA-10 WiFi Adapter which plugs into the back of any 2010 and later model AV receiver.
Once you have either a wired Ethernet connection or built-in wifi on your receiver, follow these steps to connect to the internet:
1. From the Home Menu select Setup, press ENTER
2. Select Network Setup and press ENTER
3. Select Wireless Setup and press ENTER
(note: if your receiver is wired to your router, select Wired Setup)
4. Follow the instructions on screen to get connected!
As you may have heard, there is a world of music beyond your iPod. It’s a world where you can listen to just about any song ever recorded, at any time, without paying for it. The music lives on the internet, and all you need to access it is a computer or mobile device and an internet connection.
The problem is that computers and mobile devices don’t always sound as good as expensive stereo components like amplifiers, speakers and turntables. And if you’re an audiophile who has spent thousands of dollars building a dream sound system, you probably want to use it to listen to that free internet music.
Unfortunately most people don’t know how to connect their existing audio gear to the internet. So in many cases they have no option but to play their music through small speakers or cheap headphones, even though they own a great sound system that’s capable of delivering much better performance.
So what do you do? Well, with some relatively inexpensive hardware you can access streaming services like Pandora and Spotify via your receiver and enjoy high-quality audio through your home theatre system. You can also access free internet radio stations and listen to your own digital music collection.
Configuring your audio-video receiver for network connectivity can be a daunting task, but I’m going to walk you through it.
First, using the included remote, turn on the receiver and press “Menu” then “System Settings” and then “Network Settings.”
On some models you may need to press “Device Select” and then select “AV Receiver.”
The rest of the steps will be the same no matter which model you own, so don’t worry if I don’t mention your specific model again.
Press the blue button on your remote and scroll down to “Network Setup” and select that option.
Now press the blue button on your remote and scroll down to “IP Address Setting” and change that to manual.
If you already have a static IP address for your receiver, enter those numbers now; if not, just make one up by choosing three numbers in the 200 range for the first three fields (for example, my receiver has 192.168.0.200), then choose a number between 1-255 for the last field (I chose 10). If you don’t know what this means, just do it anyway; it won’t break anything.
Now
First, you need a receiver that is capable of connecting to the internet. Most of the higher end receivers available today have this capability and are designed to be used with a wired connection (using either a LAN cable or Ethernet Cable). If this is not possible, then you may need to invest in a separate Ethernet-to-Wireless bridge, which would connect to your network through the LAN port on your receiver.
You also need an Internet Service Provider (ISP) who has a high speed connection, such as DSL or Cable. The ISP you choose should be able to provide you with at least 1Mbps of bandwidth for streaming music. Some ISPs are better than others at providing high quality service for streaming audio.
Today’s high-end Audio / Video Receivers offer an incredible array of features, but the thing they lack is built in internet streaming services. For that you need a separate device like an Apple TV or Roku. But there is another way – using your receiver’s networking capabilities to connect to your computer and stream directly from there. We’ll be using iTunes on a Mac as the example, but any application that can stream music to AirPlay will work with this setup.
We will assume you have already connected your receiver to your network via Ethernet cable. If not, refer to your manual for instructions on how to do so.
Open System Preferences and click “Sharing”
In the Services tab check “Screen Sharing” and “Remote Management”. It is important that these two options be enabled because we need your computer’s Bonjour name in order to connect it to iTunes (more about Bonjour later).