Internet Radio -- Without The Computer

[Ccook]

Anyone can listen to radio stations on the Internet through their streams. Just go to their website, click the "listen here" button, wait for the stream to buffer and presto. But how many can listen without the computer on?

I recently bought a device from C. Crane Radio out of California that does just that. It's from a company called A.E. and it's called a Wi-Fi radio.

What it does is it picks up the broadband signal from your computer if you're using broadband (it will also pick up router signals if using dial-up or DSL). You simply select the genre of station you want and it will load all streaming stations in that genre. Select it, wait for it buffer, and presto!
It comes with preset select buttons so you can sort out your favorites.

Since it goes from the cable modem to the radio (or DSL modem to router to radio), the Internet remains on, so you can listen with the computer not on at all. It measures 4 inches tall by 3 inches wide, but don't let the size fool you. The sound is incredibly full and rich.

I already set mine for places as close as our own WQXI/790 "The Zone" (which powers down at night--as such, we can't hear it on a plain radio) to 2CH in Sydney, Australia. I plunked down $300 for it, but considering it's a radio/computer hybrid, it's worth it.

[Alex]

I had no idea you could listen to the radio on the PC AND not even have a radio plugged in! How utterly amazing for someone like me ... who knows how to use the PC when she wants to but doesn't really understand HOW it all works!!!! Soooo glad I'm not still in school ... I'd be so far behind! :giggle:

[Ccook]

Oh, you can hear radio on the Internet through your PC anytime. Many radio stations' sites have a button to click so you can hear their broadcasts, which are "streamed" through the Internet (usually on a seven-second delay). This device lets you hear the stream without the computer even being on.

If you want to know radio stations in your area that stream, go to Radio Station World. Just select what part of the world you're in, your country, then your state, your city/market, then the radio tabs (it has sub-tabs for areas in exceptionally large markets). The stations with a speaker next to them stream on the Internet.

[Alex]

Thanks for the advice Ccook ... I'll look into the whole radio via PC thing tomorrow morning ... or should I re-phrase that and say LATER today seeing as it's now past midnight!!!! :) Time for bed I think!

[Ccook]

In the three months I've had the AE Internet Radio, it's had its share of bugs here and there--most notably periods where nothing connects or if it does, it stops the stream two minutes into it and buffers, doing it over and over again. Usually this is rectified by reconfiguring the router.

Sometimes a station that comes in over the computer doesn't come in on the AE. That's because the URL of the stream doesn't match the radio's database. Reciva, the outfit that furnishes the database, usually sends updates on those URLs, but they have such a long request list that they're not always updated.