Is there a dedicated stick/plug for my model of TV ?
According to you after you spoke to Panasonic, they told you that the dedicated stick has been discontinued; so haven't you answered your own question?
"
Are there other ways to connect this TV to the internet?"
Yes. Starting with the simplest and lowest cost first...
1)
an Ethernet cable. Obviously this works best if the router and TV are in close proximity, but it's simple plug-n-play as there's usually no set-up involved. You'll also get the fastest wired speed that the sockets on the router and TV allow, which is 100mb. This is probably way faster than your Internet connection from the service provider unless you're wired up for ultra-high-end fibre or a corporate line subscriber.
2)
a Wi-Fi Ethernet Bridge (A.K.A. wireless range extender) This is a mains powered device that picks up the wireless signal from your router and then provides an Ethernet port from which you can then use a cable to connect to the TV's Ethernet socket.
This does a very similar job to Panasonic's now-discontinued wireless USB dongle, but with three distinct differences. It's mains-powered rather than taking power from a USB socket; the connection to the TV is via Ethernet cable rather than USB; depending on the model and spec of the Bridge you choose, it could well be a lot faster than Panasonic was ever able to achieve.
The speed of these devices is dictated in part by the Wi-Fi standards they support, and whether they live up to the manufacturer claims for speed at whatever distance you're using it from the router. The other big factor is the quality of your home Wi-Fi router. The ones that come as part of the ISP package from your broadband supplier tend to be quite basic or - in the case of BT's HomeHub - locked in to working certain ways that might not always be the most useful for you.
For very basic Wi-Fi routers, your in-home Wi-Fi service will be on 2.4GHz- and 5Ghz- b/g/n standards. You can save a little money if you buy a Wi-Fi bridge limited to the same standards. e.g.
Netgear EX2700
Where the wireless router is either a better spec, or you've bought your own, then you could be running on a faster wireless standard known as 'ac'. This uses mainly the 5GHz channel which means it is less prone to wireless interference. The ac standard also has the advantage of supporting faster speeds.
Some of the wireless bridges only support the ac and n standard at 5GHz. Others offer a more rounded package that includes both 2.4 and 5GHz support as well as legacy support for wireless g standard. They're similar money to the ac+n only devices, but a better option for someone with an older wireless router now but wants a
best-of-both-worlds solution should their router be upgraded in the future. The
Netgear EX6120 is a good example of this.
3)
Powerline adapters. Here we have the ring mains of your domestic house mains wiring acting as a data cable. A plug-in device connected to a mains socket and wired up with some Ethernet cable to the router then converts that signal in so something that can be piped through three-core mains cable. A similar box somewhere near the TV picks up that mains signal and then converts it back to an Ethernet-type connection.
These come at various speeds, the performance improving with price, but there are two issues. The first is practical: both the router-end box and the TV-end box need to be connected to the same ring main loop. If the signal has to travel through the fuse board then there's a chance that it won't work, so anyone with a router in a part of the house that's on a different mains circuit to the TV could well be out of luck.
The second issue is to do with concerns about sending a high-frequency data signal over cables that weren't designed for that purpose. The worry is that the signal radiates from the mains cable in a way that doesn't happen with Ethernet cable, and those radiated signals then bleed over other parts of the radio spectrum causing interference for users of AM radio and wireless two-way radios. These were very valid concerns when the tech first launched as it was largely unregulated. Newer versions of the tech doesn't appear to be causing the same issues, or at least all the video evidence I've personally seen about interference is centred on early generation gear from 10-15 years ago.
Summary
I'd recommend that
Netgear EX6120. It's a versatile unit that can be configured in several ways, so it has applications beyond just the specific use you require right now. That might become useful if you upgrade the TV to one that has wireless built in as seems to be the trend now. This is why it is called a wireless extender rather than being called simply a wireless bridge.
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