Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 Absolutely useless -- does not work as advertised December 29, 2008
N. Leeds (NYC)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Useless, does not connect to the internet, I get BBC radio 1 and it does not connect. Instructions are completely misleading. Works fine as FM radio but I can get the same sound from a pair of BOSE speakers.
 Great product once connected December 27, 2008
David A. Burch (Los Altos, CA)
This is a solid product in a beautiful case, well built and does everything it's supposed to, however the manual is among the worst I have ever seen. You basically have to figure everything out yourself. The most glaring fault is it's inability to accept a 28 character WEP key without first connecting by ethernet cable and updating the firmware.
The user interface is clunky, but that's because they have to fit everything in such a small window. Once you figure out their methodology it's fairly simple, too bad the manual doesn't fully explain this, and their website is of no help at all. No FAQs, no info on updating, no nothing!
All that aside the features and sound make this a good addition to anyone who lives in a reception dead zone.
Once you get it up and running and figure out it's idiosincracies I think you will be very happy with it, we are.
Sangean WFR-1 Internet Radio December 26, 2008
Christopher A. Squier (Iowa USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
An internet radio opens up an almost overwhelming number of broadcast streams and for someone like me, who enjoys classical music, there is a wonderful choice of commercial free stations worldwide. I own (or have owned) a number of internet radios;a Slim Devices Squeezebox(!), a Roku Soundbridge R1000, a Revo Pico portable, a Receiva AE and a Sangean WFR-20, but the new Sangean WFR-20 is almost the best of the bunch (I will explain why it is not unequivocally the best in a minute!).
The Sangean WFR-1 is beautifully finished with a polished wooden case, an array of controls on the front panel, including on/off, volume and equalizer (tone control). They are not particularly intuitive but better than the single knob on the WFR-20. There is also a substantial and full function remote control, resembling that of the Roku, rather than the credit-card sized devices that come with Pico and the WFR-20. The amber display is larger than those found on any other set but the Roku (more about this later).
Set-up was very easy (I use an ethernet wired connection to my router but it works with my wi-fi network) and it was playing within a few minutes of unpacking. There is also an FM tuner with a separate antenna. Sound is excellent and far superior to any of the other sets I have owned except Roku, which is almost as good. For this unit, Sangean has gone to Frontier Silicon rather than to Receiva for their streams. Nevertheless, there is an abundance of stations, including Real format so I can get all the BBC channels (a big negative with Roku). There is little delay in receiving streams after switching on and Frontier has a good website where you can set up favorites and add new stations. Playing stored music from my computer via Windows Media Player has been easy and more consistent than with the WFR-20 or AE.
Now for the downside. Despite a larger display that claims to offer four lines of text, there is no control for format (as Roku provides) or for brightness (which the WFR-20 offers). Most frustrating is that Frontier do not stream program information with the station! There is plenty of room for this on the display and such information on content is invaluable because some stations do not provide this audibly; the WFR-20 does this well because it uses the Receiva streams but it would require reprogramming of software by Frontier to have this on the WFR-1. Frontier tell me it is being discussed but they have no plans for implementation! Surprisingly, Sangean, although the 800lb gorilla here, do not seem inclined to pressure Frontier. I have had several conversations with the amiable Selwyn, whom you reach quite easily when you call up technical support at Sangean, and he agrees totally with me and suggests that I contact Frontier (which I did) or write a review to make this point - which I am doing!
So in summary, this is an excellent product with great acoustic performance but marred by small, but irritating, shortcomings in the display. As a result, I gave it 3 stars rather than 5.
 Top radio runs smoothly after upgrade - but has one SERIOUS issue... December 15, 2008
Paradise Lost
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
(After update the rate should read 3 instead of 5 !)
Just got this radio - and it runs great (wireless internet & FM - haven't been able to establish the media player connection so far, though this is most certainly an issue linked to the router). The sound is amazing, once you toggled around a bit to find the right equaliser settings.
Do keep in mind however that, more likely than not, you will have to upgrade the WFR1 first before being able to establish an internet connection through your router. The upgrading seems to be a bit of an issue, so I thought it might be useful to write a little resume;
So, how do you listen to the WFR1 with a WEP protected router?
First, download the installer from the Sangean website (http://www.sangean.com/upgrades.php)
The logical way to go from here is upgrading through your computer (USB cable connection).
However, do NOT follow ALL of Sangean's on-line instructions.
Here is how it works;
1. "Download the Installer" -> OK
2. "Remove AC" -> OK
3. "Press and hold the "forward" and "back" buttons on the radio while plugging in the ac cord." -> OK
4. "Release buttons after display shows "USB Upgrade"" -> OK
(5. "Connect USB cable between radio and PC") -> NO! DO NOT CONNECT YET!
6. "Run correct executable file depending on model" -> UNZIP & RUN the installer on your PC
7. "Follow Upgrade Wizard to completion". -> at one point the program will ask you to connect the USB cable & give you information on what to do on the radio menu. ONLY CONNECT THE USB CABLE (you already set up your radio in step 3 & 4). After this, the program runs the upgrade.
Your radio will now accept the WEP code.
(For those who run a DHCP server on their router, don't forget to check/update the DCHP reservations list, otherwise your newly connected dynamic DHCP client might expire after a certain number of hours!)
Hope this will be of some help!
UPDATE : (or; "how to ridiculously loose 2 stars")
Contrary to the WFR-20, this radio (well, Frontier actually) does NOT give you any information on the artist, songs, etc! This means I have to continue using the (free) software on my computer to get any information - in which case I could as well have linked the computer to my amplifier... Quite unacceptable, and even more so since the WFR-20 (Reciva powered) works fine in this field...
My advice: stick to a Reciva powered radio for the time being !!
Cool - although a little expensive November 23, 2008
Jeffrey Hitchman
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Works well connected easily, My wife loves some of the jazz stations that come through, sound quality is good.
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