2014 Big Country 3650RL - Installed Entertainment System is not WIFIi Compatible

lkaczmar

Member
The 2014 Big Country 3650 has a Samsung HT-H4500 Blu-Ray player that advertises streaming video compatibility (ie: Netflix, Pandora) but come to find out the unit is not wifi compatible. So for you campers that want to enjoy streaming video and audio through your TV, I guess you need to find a campground that has hard wired internet. (good luck with that).

Here is my letter to Heartland Corporate HQ along with the companies impersonal and brief response.

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Dear Heartland Corporate Representative,

I am writing to your office as my attempts to resolve my issue through your customer service department has been unacceptable. My initial two calls took place with --- in customer service and then with his team lead --- however both were unable to resolve my complaint. ---, the service manager has not returned my call since last Thursday.
My complaint is with the Blu-ray system installed in my new 2014 Big Country 3650RL, This blue-ray unit is clearly marked as offering streaming video and audio through the internet with companies such as Netflix and Pandora. The issue I have is that the unit only works with wired internet, not wifi. My argument is that when camping you would never have wired internet available. This is a huge oversight in applicable technology and misleading to buyers who think they will have streaming video/audio services available to them while camping.
I expressed my concern to both services representatives that I spoke with and was told flat out that Heartland can not do anything to resolve the issue. They didn't even offer to escalate my complaint to a supervisor, hence my request to escalate the issue to the customer service manager.
I could resolve this issue myself by purchasing a $60 Roku and bypassing the Blu-Ray player entirely however I would then lose the surround sound capability available through the Blu-Ray player.

I will also add that the Blu-Ray player was not even attached to the TV. I had to personally purchase an HDMI cable to hook it up.

As a purchaser of a $xxxxx fifth wheel I have a hard time believing that this oversight can not be rectified by your company by swapping out the player with a wifi enabled device.
I look forward to your reply.

__

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Last edited by a moderator:

danemayer

Well-known member
Hi ikaczmar,

I think you've missed some very important considerations.

First of all, there are almost no RV Parks that allow or have sufficient WiFi bandwidth to permit video streaming. I've been investigating this for the resort where we stay and I can tell you it's difficult and expensive to support video streaming over WiFi.

Also, had Heartland selected a BluRay player that had WiFi function, at every RV Park you would have to go through a clumsy login procedure using either the remote control, or a virtual keyboard. The most commonly used WiFi system is from Tengo Internet and I wouldn't want to go through their login process with a virtual keyboard on a BluRay menu. It's hard enough on a PC.

Maybe you happen to spend all your time at a park that has exceptional WiFi and none of this would apply to your situation. But surely you can recognize that for 99% of Heartland's customers, streaming over WiFi would be of no value because the real-world limitations at 99.9% of RV Parks.

If you do have the exceptional location that supports streaming video over WiFi, you can easily solve the problem with a device like the Peplink Pepwave Surf for less than $100. It not only gives you a single login for all of your devices, but it also lets you share files and printers inside your private network. And it has an ethernet port for your BluRay. If you need more than 1 ethernet port, 10/100 switches can be had for less than $10.

Btw, Heartland doesn't allow their private correspondence to be posted to the forum, so I've deleted that part of your note. I've also taken the "beware" out of the subject line as there's really nothing to be wary of.
 

lkaczmar

Member
Hi danemayer, I was actually thinking more along the lines of using a mobile hotspot. The problem I have is that the blu-ray player has Netflix, Pandora and Hulu stickers pasted to the top of it so I was under the impression I would be able to actually use those services without having to purchase additional hardware. I am familiar with Pepwave which is a good solution. Thank you for your reply.
 
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