[SlimDevices: Beginners] need help on what to buy / setup

[peterw]

bspooky;274170 Wrote: 
> 
> 1) I obviously need 3 receivers, but do I buy 1 duet and then get 2
> additional receivers or can I get two duets and one additional receiver
> and then use either duet handheld controller to control all three
> receivers? I hope the latter.

You can buy 2 Duet and one Receiver, sure. Each Controller can control
any Squeezebox, SliMP3, or Transporter. You can even have two
Controllers controlling the same player.

> 2) Internet radio, pandora, etc. from the computer is free? But for pay
> if you want to get music from slacker/pandora without a computer?

It depends on the service provider (Slacker, Pandora, etc.) as to what
they offer. I believe Pandora's only official Squeezebox offering
(whether through SqueezeCenter or SqueezeNetwork) costs money, even
though they have a free web-based offering. You may be able to use
something like the Wav Input Plugin to have the music from the free
web-based offerings like Pandora play on your Squeezeboxes -- though in
Pandora's case, you then wouldn't be able to skip songs, give thumbs up
or thumbs down ratings, etc.

> 3) One room has a Bose radio that I will hook the receiver into, the
> other has a modest stereo, but the third doesn't have any music playing
> device. So I would need amplified speakers of some sort? Any suggestion
> for non-obtrusive ones?

Search on these forums for "active speakers", "powered speakers", etc.
You might also look at small amps: lots of folks here have paired amps
that cost as little as $30-$40 USD (honest!) with small bookshelf
speakers to make systems they're happy with.

> 4) Do all the receivers connect to each other, and to my computer, on my
> existing wifi network, or is there another wireless network set up?

Yes, they all use the same wifi network. The Squeezeboxes can even act
as "wireless bridges" -- if they connect to your network via wifi, you
can use their ethernet port to provide a network connection to a device
that only has an ethernet connection, like a DVR, desktop computer, or
game console. I have often used my Squeezeboxes to give visiting
friends Internet access with their laptops without the hassle of
configuring WPA for them.


-- 
peterw

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