RCA RIR205 Infinite Radio Tabletop Internet Radio with Wi-Fi Enabler (Black)

• Wi-fi Enabler creates a wireless internet link to the RCA Internet Radio providing a quick and easy wireless setup option
• Built-in Wi-fi connectivity and Ethernet
• Slacker Personal Radio features
• 6 Preset stations per audio source
• 512MB of built in memory, record approximately 10 hours music

The RIR205 looks good and seems to be well made. It can pickup most internet radio stations from around the world. That includes real radio stations if they are broadcasting live on the internet and also amateur stations being broadcast by individuals. Of course you can do the same thing with a PC but it's harder to do and you have to install different audio player programs, codecs and all sorts of things while the radio just works. It will even play BBC stations that I can't play on the PC because it says I'm not in the U.K. It has stereo speakers that provide good fidelity but they are small and not as loud as some other radios having just one big speaker. The radio will play Slacker Radio which isn't a real radio station but has almost any kind of music sort of like like XM or AOL radio. Slacker will usually work when other internet stations won't. They may have less bandwidth requirements or less overhead to play, I'm not sure. The radio has an alarm clock function but since it gets it's time from the internet I found that although the time is usually accurate it's not always reliable because it won't work if the internet out of service like mine frequently is.

Originally I purchased an RIR200 from J&R through Amazon but when I got it couldn't get it to work at all so I only gave it 1 star. I sent it back and it was replaced with an RIR205. Audiovox was good about replacing it and are more helpful than most other companies. The two radios seem to be identical except the 205 comes with it's own wireless router but I never got that. The new RIR205 wouldn't work at first either and even though I already had 3 older routers I had to buy a new WRT54G then the radio worked just fine. A lot of owners report having wifi connectivity problems with the RIR200 and that must be the reason why. The radio uses vtuner.com and rcainfiniteradio.com to get it's list of stations, not Reciva like a lot of other radios use. Vtuner doesn't quite have all the stations that Reciva does but generally works well and new stations can be added. You can go to Vtuner.com and try it out for free if you want to see if it gets your favorite stations or the kinds of music you like. You can also store Favorites that you listen to frequently but they go to the RCA website so the radio depends on being able to access a third party website everytime it does anything unlike some other models that store favorites locally in the radio's memory. This generally works well but can be a problem if the RCA or Vtuner websites are down for maintenance or unreachable. Also, since RCA sees everything you listen to they could possibly spy on you and keep a list of your radio listening habits. That could be a problem for owners who live in areas where the government considers some stations to be subversive.

This radio is made by Audiovox and sold as the Audiovox in Europe and as the Acoustic Research ARIRC200 in Canada. There is a Google Group for the Canadian version called "Acoustic Research ARIRC200 Internet Radio" that has discussions of that version. There are a lot more reviews of the RIR200 on Amazon listed as product B0016OK5O0. If you search for B0016OK5O0 you can find them.

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The RIR205-A installed fine. I picked desired stations on website and many work over radio. I placed the radio 22 feet and one wall from the WiFi enabler. Sometimes it will work...but more often than not it loses signal and kicks out. It may come back in 20 seconds....or 5-10 minutes. Re-buffering or `lost connection` indicated on radio display. I installed a homemade parabolic antenna signal direction strengthener (aluminium foil as indicated on freeantennas.com) and it seems to help a bit, but still many signal losses. Antenna on WiFi enabler does not seem replaceable. So overall, very disappointing. I tried it 2 meters from WiFi enabler and seems to work OK however if it will not work in my remote location, what is the point in having it...I might as well listen to internet radio over my computer which is more flexible and has more stations. Metal mesh is loose on bottom of unit. I wish I had not bought this. Not sure if there is any better out there after reading reviews. Again..technology does not deliver.

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I bought the RCA RIR205 Infinite Radio from J&R, and it was worth every cent (I paid $86 which includes shipping). The features are impressive it has an AM and FM radio that works very well, Slacker Radio, can play MP3 tunes from a USB device like an MP3 player, an alarm clock, Weatherbug local temperature and forecasts. But I am most impressed with its ability to receive radio stations that stream over the internet. It has such a large variety of stations that you can choose according to format and location that it provides nonstop entertainment, whether you listen to radio stations broadcasting any type of music, talk, news, sports, and many other formats. You can preset radio stations and add stations from the internet, all with crystal clear audio. The radio allows you to record up to 20 hours of programming with its 1Mb of built in memory, with its audio output jack you can connect it to headphones and a home speaker system. You can use the radio wirelessly with its wifi enabler connections for CAT 5 network wire, or plug in the CAT 5 wire directly in the back of the radio to use a wired connection. It's a great bargain overall!

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WARNING! Do not buy this radio! It was a half decent radio but the radio is discontinued and the worst thing is that the company no longer supports it. You will not be able to set up this radio if you get one. It would be virtually worthless to you. Internet radio stations were added to the radio via an internet portal. The portal currently shows the following statement:

"From its inception, the Personal Portal for Acoustic Research Infinite Radio Systems was managed by a 3rd Party Partner.

Unfortunately the Personal Portal has experienced problems that are beyond our ability to repair.

We understand and want to assist you in fixing any issues you are experiencing."

Obviously, the statement neither is true nor does it make sense broken and can't be fixed?

Note: The reference to Acoustic Research is due to the fact that this radio has been sold under the brand name RCA and Acoustic Research. The radios are identical.

In September 2011, I purchased a Mutant MIG-PIR-5 M-Wavio Portable Pocket-Sized WiFi Internet Radio so I could listen to talk radio and music Internet streams while away from my computer. Press its power button and you're listening to your favorite Internet streams in less than 10 seconds. PERFECT. I immediately got hooked on the wi-fi radio concept. But the Mutant has one shortfall: I wanted to go to sleep while listening to it, but the rechargeable battery-powered Mutant (a battery charge lasts a bit over 10 hours) does not have a SLEEP shut-off feature and I didn't want the radio playing at my bedside all night.

So I solved that problem two weeks later by buying this AC-powered RCA RIR205 which DOES have an adjustable sleep timer shut-off (15 minute increments up to 90 minutes). It was very easy to set up, and it works great. It's the BEST bedside clock radio I ever had. It displays day, date and time, and it knows my zip code and displays my outdoor temperature (from the National Weather Service) so I know how cold it is outside before I get out of bed.

By the way, I do NOT use the extra "wi-fi enabler" gadget, because my RIR205 easily picks up my wi-fi router without it. My wi-fi router is located in a different room, about 30 feet away from the RIR205.

I really love this radio and I use it every day.