We recently purchased an inexpensive Blu-ray player, the Panasonic DMP-BD75P-K to be exact. The main selling point, other than the price, was built-in Netflix support. There's been a lot of negativity around Netflix lately which I don't get because it's a way better deal than cable.

Anyway, one of the reasons this model was so incredibly cheap is because it doesn't have wifi. So to use Netflix you need to either a) run a cable from your router or b) hook-up a wireless ethernet bridge.

I figured "golly gee, I have a masters in computer science so it should take me 30 seconds to do the bridge thing", I was way off on that estimate. I decided to write this hasty tutorial for anyone else that wants to attempt something as seemingly simple as this.

For the wireless ethernet bridge I went with the Linksys WET54G which goes for $20 on ebay. Here's a really bad picture of it:

Although these instructions were written based on a specific device combination, other setups probably work roughly the same.

Step #1: Throw the installation CD in the garbage:

I promise you this CD is totally useless. I tried it on both Windows 7 and XP, with the bridge connected to the router and directly to the PC. In all four configurations the setup program failed to find the bridge. I bought it used and the original owner even wrote in the manual "Setup on disk does not work" for their own future reference.

Step #2: Plug-in the bridge and reset it to factory defaults. This is done by pressing and holding the reset button on the back for ~10 seconds, until all the lights stop blinking.

Step #3: Connect the ethernet port on the bridge to an open ethernet port on your router. The instructions claim you can connect it directly to your PC. I tried Windows 7, XP, & Ubuntu 11.10 and none of them found a network connection when the bridge was connected directly. This might be a good time to put the instruction manual in the trash too.

Step #4: Open the ethernet bridge setup by browsing to http://192.168.1.226/. That address may vary based on the device you purchased. The default userid and password for the Linksys WET54G are both "admin". That leads us to...

Step #5: Change the password:

Hopefully you didn't need me to tell you to do this.

Step #6: Enter your wireless network information. I highlighted the parts you'll need to change on the setup screen:

Step #7 (optional): Find your wireless network on the site survey page.

If for some reason it can't connect to your network from the main setup page, turn on SSID broadcast on your wireless router and try the site survey button. You should now see your network and also any of your neighbors' networks.

Step #8: Enter your WEP key on the wireless security page:

Step #9: Check if the ethernet bridge is connected to your wireless network. If the wireless light is on then chances are it's working. To make sure it actually is, disconnect it from the router and try browsing to http://192.168.1.226/ again.

Step #10: Connect the bridge to the Blu-ray player. This should be the last step. However, this is when you find out that nothing works as expected. Let's run down all the annoying things that will get in your way...

Step #11 (optional): Update your MAC address filter with the ID of the Blu-ray player. If you were wondering why we didn't update the MAC address filter to include the ID of the bridge it's because that turns out to be pointless. The bridge sends the MAC address of the Blu-ray player which you can see in the DHCP client table of your wireless router:

If you don't use a MAC address filter on your router then of course this step is optional.

Step #12: Write down, or memorize, the DNS settings from your router setup page:

Yes, I'm aware that this sounds like complete madness but you have to trust me on this one. When you first try to connect the Blu-ray player to the internet you'll get a lovely message that says "Error code B019". According to Panasonic's support page, B019 means "'Primary DNS' and 'Secondary DNS' settings of 'IP Address/DNS Settings'" On a related note, phrases like "settings of" make me chuckle.

Alright, let's move on...

Step #13: Hard code every single network setting on your Blu-ray player:

I spent over an hour trying to not do this but gave up after repeated failures. I don't know what their definition of "Auto Configuration" is but it doesn't work for beans. Perhaps it works perfectly when connected directly to the router instead of going through a bridge, I find that unlikely though.

Step #14: Activate Netflix on the Blu-ray player:

The first activation code it generated didn't work so after some swearing I generated a second that was fine.

Disclaimer: Publishing this guide does not obligate me to answer emails about your Blu-ray/wireless network/Netflix problems. Good luck.

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