Panasonic TY-WL20U Wireless Adapter for Panasonic 2012 Internet Ready TVs

• USB Base Station to Ensure Best Radio Coverage
• High Seed Dual Band Wireless
• Wi-Fi Adapter for 2012 Wi-Fi Ready Viera TV's

I could not find it locally in any store. Found it through Amazon at a very good price. Plugged it into my new TV and established a wireless connection. Its original placement at the back of the set and within a wooden cabinet did not allow for signal reception. Used the dock that came with the product and placed it unobtrusively in front of cabinet and TV and had instant reception.

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I got this to go along with my TCL42E50. It would have been nice if it had been built in, but if one wants it is available in a higher priced TV. This review will not rate it on that basis.

I installed directly into the USB port, did not use the stand. In my configuration that works best, though I noted that it partially blocks the other USB port and can also interfere with the SD card slot. Signal strength is 4 bars.

In order to get it to recognize and connect to the wireless network, I had to permanently disable two security settings...

Originally they were:

1.) SSID broadcast DISabled.

2.) MAC filtering ENabled.

Now,

1.) SSID broadcast is ENabled.

2.) MAC filtering is DISabled.

This is unfortunate as I prefer the added security of the previous settings.

My other gadgets worked fine without SSID broadcast and with MAC filtering, but not this.

Installing the WiFi adapter allowed me to use the IOS 'VIERA remote' app (kinda cool), do a software update, and run some of the included apps. No issues with any of them.

Performance is adequate within the limits of my Internet connection speed.

If you elect to not purchase this but do have an Internet connection available, I suggest connecting via the Ethernet port and doing a software update. My set was mfg in Feb, 2012 with software rev 1.06. By the time I purchased in early May, 2012, the software revision was 1.17.

The need to reduce the security of my network is enough for me to knock it down a bit. 3 stars.

[begin update 6/17/2012]

There was another software update (1.19), again tried to disable SSID broadcast and enable MAC filtering again, still no luck getting a connection with those settings. Note that one person has reported success with SSID broadcast disabled; maybe it doesn't like my router (2Wire wireless DSL modem/gateway from AT&T)?

FWIW, I do think this is pricey, though the price of the TV has dropped over $100 since I bought it, so it's a wash for anyone buying it now.

[end update]

[begin update 1/6/2013]

A few months ago there was another update... Version 1.23. As of this date it is still current. Still unable to configure WiFi as I would prefer.

[end update 1/6/2013]

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I bought the Panasonic VIERA TC-L47E50 47" LED HDTV and after using it for about a week I decided to pickup this wireless network adapter. I had been a wired ethernet connection to the TV using ICS (Internet Connection Sharing) via my PC Desktop. While that method worked well, it was limited in that I had to have my PC on in order to use ICS.

This wireless USB network adapter was easy to setup, just plug it into one of the spare USB ports on the TV, go into the Network Settings option in the Menu of the TV, search for your wireless network and then use the TV's remote to enter in your network's password.

I have the TV maybe 50 feet away from my router down a hallway and through two doors and I get a FULL 5 bars on the connection. It was easy to setup and the TV access the Internet fast and easy.

While the price is more than generic network adapters, I had $24 in store credit to offset the higher cost. You also have to factor in the cost of the tv and I bought the tv when it was on sale for $749, plus I'm getting at least $22 from my Amazon CC on that purchase alone. I don't even know if you can even use any other kind of network adapter with these tv's, probably not.

The device includes a wired USB extension cable with a base so that you can put the adapter in a better position if you are having network issues with reception, depending on your tv and router placement. I didn't bother with this as I am getting a FULL 5 bars when plugged directly into the TV.

Highly recommended.

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This adapter works fine with the TC-L42E50. For me, it was a matter of plugging it into the USB slot and entering the key for my router. Check the other reviews, though, for a list of challenges that other users have had. The streaming quality from Netflix, Pandora, etc. has been great.

This adapter is overpriced, at least at the time I write this. If you want wifi functionality on a TC-L##E50 series TV (possibly other 2012 models, I don't know since I haven't tried them), search for Panasonic part number N5HBZ0000055. It is identical in every way to this adapter (except the part number ends in "5" instead of "6"), but it was bundled with some of the 2011 models rather than sold as a stand-alone product. I was able to get one for about $20 (for my TC-L42E50) but you may be able to do even better than that. This part works perfectly, as you would expect since it is identical to the TY-WL20U sold here.

I still wish they would have just built wifi into the TV.

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Item arrived today. Plugged in and it worked right "out of the box" Thank you for a fine product. It's something that Panasonic should include with the TV.