Series part 3: multimedia for the home network with FRITZ!WLAN Repeaters

The FRITZ!Box is happily installed as your home’s central communications unit, the desktop is connected by Ethernet cable and the laptop gets online via WLAN. In other words, the basis for your home network is up and running. Devices that were never previously integrated into home networks are now becoming part of them. A prime example is the TV.

No need for a mass of cables

Large flat-screen TVs in living rooms are ideal for watching videos and admiring digital photos together, as the media are reproduced in outstanding quality. But it’s precisely these kinds of files which are often found on laptops and smartphones. Even if today’s TVs are network-enabled and boast an Ethernet port, they are generally not WLAN-enabled. The new FRITZ!WLAN Repeater 300E features a gigabit Ethernet connection that enables you to seamlessly integrate these kinds of TVs into the home network.

Network-enabled?

But how do I find out if the device being integrated is network-enabled? An unmistakable sign is an Ethernet port. Otherwise, you can find out by looking at the manufacturer information under the heading “Digital Living Network Alliance” – a standard set up by an alliance of various manufacturers. As soon as the devices are interconnected, digital photos and music libraries, for example, can be accessed across the entire home network, whether they’re stored on a computer or smartphone. How about watching a full slide show of smartphone photos on your large flat-screen TV or playing laptop music on your stereo system?

Radio and music everywhere

The FRITZ!WLAN Repeater N/G also features an analog and digital audio output, enabling every radio with audio output to become part of the network. You radio doesn’t have an audio output? No problem: thanks to the integrated mini VHF transmitter, all standard FM radios can be transformed into an Internet radio. The music collection – regardless of whether it’s stored on the laptop, tablet PC or smartphone – can then be sent to the stereo system using the repeater. There’s nothing stopping you expanding your home network for an all-encompassing command of multimedia.

Overview: all articles of the series

Part 1: Incorporating a printer into the home network with the remote USB port
Part 2: More home networking with FRITZ!WLAN Repeaters
Part 3: Multimedia for the home network with FRITZ!WLAN Repeaters