The Sony UWA-BR100 is an easy to use wireless LAN adaptor to enable you to enjoy online content on your Sony BDP-S380 Blu-ray player, or compatible television or home cinema system, without the hassle of having to run a cable to the device.
As we saw with Panasonic’s wireless dongle, Sony have put quite a bit of effort into designing what is a normally unseen bit of kit. This does instil some confidence as it shows that the brand have not just rebadged any old USB dongle, they have designed and made the Sony UWA-BR100 especially for their own devices, and to ensure the set up is as simple and painless as possible. Indications appear to confirm this as well with plenty of people reporting that it was easy to use and get started with, and we certainly had no problems using it.
The dongle comes supplied with an extension lead and heavy base if you need/want to position it a little further away from the television or Blu-ray player. The image above shows the dongle in its base. A quick word of warning – the instruction booklet that comes with the adapter is quite thick, but it has very little information about actually connecting and setting up the device. Instead it refers you to your television, Blu-ray player, or home cinema systems instructions, so you might want to make sure you have them handy. Although, Sony’s XrossMediaBar menu system it’s quite intuitive anyway so you may not even need them.
Wire free online content… at a price
Like any branded accessory, the UWA-BR100 does come at a price though. At around £70 it is not a cheap piece of kit by any means, but when it come to accessories, and especially wireless networking dongles, the compatibility of the device is very important. If you own a compatible Sony Blu-ray player, home cinema system or television you are almost guaranteed that the UWABR100 will work with it.
The main reason though to invest in the Sony UWA-BR100 though is of course to start enjoying all that lovely online content that is now available on Blu-ray discs, and with the Bravia Internet Video service.
What to consider before you buy the Sony UWABR100 Wireless LAN Adaptor
A costly accessory which because of its popularity, we don’t expect to come down in price any time soon… The instructions are also very brief, so make sure you have the instructions that came with the television or Blu-ray player handy.
Why you should buy the Sony UWA-BR100 Wifi Dongle
A well designed and constructed wireless dongle that is very easy to set up and use. It is also the only officially supplied option so if you want to go wireless this is the only real choice – luckily it’s a good one! Rating: /5
Sony UWA-BR100 Compare Prices
Unboxing Video and more photos
Video Transcript:
“This is the Sony UWA-BR100 wireless LAN adapter. If you’ve got a Sony television or a more recent Sony television or Blu-ray player such as the BDP-S370 or 470 and you want to access services such as BBC iPlayer or YouTube or any other multitude of online services that the Sony Bravia internet service has got, this is the thing you need.
As people find it harder to run cables on their routers to televisions or Blu-ray players, this kind of accessory is becoming more and more important, and this is becoming an essential piece of kit. So I’m just going to show you what comes with it because you don’t get to know that much about it from the Sony website.
This is the cable and the little stand. Now you don’t have to use this, but it’s there and I think it’s another kind of installation option. In the box here we’ve got the actual dongle itself. Now as you’ve probably gathered if you’ve looked online, this is not the cheapest dongle you’re ever going to buy. In fact, it’s probably two to three times the price of a non-branded dongle, but this is the only one that’s guaranteed to work with Sony televisions so unfortunately you’re pretty much restricted. There may be one unbranded one that works with it, but I don’t know of it. The reason for that is if you buy a wireless dongle for your Mac or PC, you can download drivers for it to make it work, but on a television or Blu-ray player you obviously can’t download drivers so you’re stuck with the drivers that are built into the machine, the TV or the player.
So that’s it, pretty basic really. Like I said, if you need an alternative installation option, it obviously plugs into there and you can use that end to plug into your television or Blu-ray player, and there you have it. There are some instructions, but they are incredibly brief. For English you get the normal kind of legal stuff and that’s it. You’ve get more instructions with your television that will show you how to set up your wireless. “
I hope Sony should include this wireless dongle in the bundle package whether its HTS or BD player or TV to please its customers, otherwise this is very expensive when compare to other wifi dongles available in the market.
Like Kiron I find this very expesive after buying the TV as against other makes of wireless dongle.
I think it wrong for Sony to make such a fuss about having all these features like BBC I player & Internet video when you can’t actually get it without spending even more money!
You can use them without it, you just need to be able to wire it to your router which is difficult for most people.
Does it work with other brands like SAMSUNG ?
No, this is compatible with certain Sony products only.
Forgive the lame question but, how does the USB allow us access to the Internet features? Does it pick up our own home Wi-Fi router and stream the internet via that way?
In a nuthsell, yes. You may need to enter a few settings on your compatible television, Blu-ray player or home cinema system, but that’s pretty much all you need to do.
you can also set up ps3 media server on your macintosh and browse it using your bravia connected to the dongle
I have just tried using my Sony usb dongle to watch a programme on demand 5 but could not see it listed on the Iplayer! How can one search a programme?
can we use any other wifi dongle instead of UWA-BR100 for a sony LED KDL26EX420
My tv model is 46EX520 so is UWA-BR100 box is worked to our tv nd what is the cost in india ,bangalore.where i get it in bangalore
My home TV Model : Sony Bravia KDL-40EX653, I Want WiFi dangle. Which place availability. I already also all place searched but not availability. Pls inform this model WiFi dongle.
Sony UWA-BR100 Wireless LAN Adaptor