![[H]ard|Forum](/styles/hardforum/xenforo/logo_dark.png){kind=logo}
DigitalEmperor
Gawd
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2004
- Messages
- 760
Ok, I this thread is basically an advice seeking thread. I am also going to try and share my actual experiences as I take action as result of advice. Over the course of the last 5+ years I have tried to get my media collection streaming to various places in my home, for little cost, and relative ease.
It's not been easy.
The trick is buying the right gadgets to do the right job. I have failed miserably on that front. I tried to take shortcuts and I am left almost at square one.
*skip over this section if you don't need a background story*
Where I've been: For awhile I was happily content with sub-HD rips I made from my DVD collection into an AVI container. These would typically be called xvid or divx depending I suppose. I have them all on my PC in a folder that I shared from Windows. The PC has a 802.11g wireless card, so all media was being put out over the network to the router.
I was using an Xbox 1 running XBMC plugged directly into my router to playback this content. This worked surprisingly well, until I wanted to stream media into my bedroom. I bought a Roku 2 XD after everyone was singing its praises. Turns out there isn't a lot of streaming support for the Roku. It's more of a "hook into services" box than a Network Media Tank/Streamer.
Then my DVD collection turned into a BluRay collection and my whole system felt really dated and useless. It didn't work well other than for non-HD content, and it required my PC to be on all time time. Not to mention the Xbox is huge and not exactly something I wanted to rely on for carrying the weight of all the streaming I want to do.
*which brings me to the part of the thread that I would love some feedback on*
Where I want to be: I've gotten the BluRay ripping method down, and I have been creating 720p MKV files for most of my personal collection. The reasons I choose to do 720p are as follows; smaller file sizes, lower processing requirements, closer to native resolution of my portable devices. The quality looks fatastic (even on my 60" living room television at normal viewing distance).
My problem is serving this content up on my network. I don't want to rewire the whole house for cat5e, and this wouldn't work for my portable devices (tablets/phones/laptops).
I want to be able to access these MKVs at various locations around my house wirelessly. This seems to be a great challenge. I am not sure of the bandwidth requirements of streaming a 720p MKV, but I would imagine a very good Wireless N router (300mbps) would be able to handle the load.
I want to be able to share my media WITHOUT having my PC do the serving. In other words I want to be doing this with some sort of NAS.
Finally, I want to possibly use some of the devices I already have.
1) PS3 (currently running custom firmware allowing me to use Showtime Media Player ... a sort of "xbmc" for PS3).
2) Roku2 XD
3) Wii U (I will have one tomorrow night. We will see what (if any) media features it might have)
I am looking at a few different "high end" routers that have USB ports to allow an external drive to be hooked up. This seems to be the easiest way to get content out on my network without a PC. The Asus RT-N66U is leading the charge for my experiment. It has 2 USB ports, does Samba, UPnP, and DLNA. Also, if need be, it can be flashed with custom firmware.
So that leaves me with content being pushed over my network, but then of course I need a client to view that content.
I believe the PS3 only has a 802.11g wifi card, which means it's pretty much crap. I think the solution to that is to get a 802.11n bridge to convert the wireless signal back into ethernet. That is if Showtime Media Player even ends up being able to see the shared media and play it back correctly. (This will require some experimenting).
The Roku2 XD does have a wireless n card, so I think I'd be ok to view media on that device ... but of course, I don't really know if it's capable of getting media from the network. I know there is a Plex channel, but that would put me back at hosting the content on my PC instead of just using the NAS feature of a high end router.
Ugh. I really could use any and all advice on how to make this happen easily. I am willing to go out and buy whats needed, but I just need a direction to take. HELP!
It's not been easy.
The trick is buying the right gadgets to do the right job. I have failed miserably on that front. I tried to take shortcuts and I am left almost at square one.
*skip over this section if you don't need a background story*
Where I've been: For awhile I was happily content with sub-HD rips I made from my DVD collection into an AVI container. These would typically be called xvid or divx depending I suppose. I have them all on my PC in a folder that I shared from Windows. The PC has a 802.11g wireless card, so all media was being put out over the network to the router.
I was using an Xbox 1 running XBMC plugged directly into my router to playback this content. This worked surprisingly well, until I wanted to stream media into my bedroom. I bought a Roku 2 XD after everyone was singing its praises. Turns out there isn't a lot of streaming support for the Roku. It's more of a "hook into services" box than a Network Media Tank/Streamer.
Then my DVD collection turned into a BluRay collection and my whole system felt really dated and useless. It didn't work well other than for non-HD content, and it required my PC to be on all time time. Not to mention the Xbox is huge and not exactly something I wanted to rely on for carrying the weight of all the streaming I want to do.
*which brings me to the part of the thread that I would love some feedback on*
Where I want to be: I've gotten the BluRay ripping method down, and I have been creating 720p MKV files for most of my personal collection. The reasons I choose to do 720p are as follows; smaller file sizes, lower processing requirements, closer to native resolution of my portable devices. The quality looks fatastic (even on my 60" living room television at normal viewing distance).
My problem is serving this content up on my network. I don't want to rewire the whole house for cat5e, and this wouldn't work for my portable devices (tablets/phones/laptops).
I want to be able to access these MKVs at various locations around my house wirelessly. This seems to be a great challenge. I am not sure of the bandwidth requirements of streaming a 720p MKV, but I would imagine a very good Wireless N router (300mbps) would be able to handle the load.
I want to be able to share my media WITHOUT having my PC do the serving. In other words I want to be doing this with some sort of NAS.
Finally, I want to possibly use some of the devices I already have.
1) PS3 (currently running custom firmware allowing me to use Showtime Media Player ... a sort of "xbmc" for PS3).
2) Roku2 XD
3) Wii U (I will have one tomorrow night. We will see what (if any) media features it might have)
I am looking at a few different "high end" routers that have USB ports to allow an external drive to be hooked up. This seems to be the easiest way to get content out on my network without a PC. The Asus RT-N66U is leading the charge for my experiment. It has 2 USB ports, does Samba, UPnP, and DLNA. Also, if need be, it can be flashed with custom firmware.
So that leaves me with content being pushed over my network, but then of course I need a client to view that content.
I believe the PS3 only has a 802.11g wifi card, which means it's pretty much crap. I think the solution to that is to get a 802.11n bridge to convert the wireless signal back into ethernet. That is if Showtime Media Player even ends up being able to see the shared media and play it back correctly. (This will require some experimenting).
The Roku2 XD does have a wireless n card, so I think I'd be ok to view media on that device ... but of course, I don't really know if it's capable of getting media from the network. I know there is a Plex channel, but that would put me back at hosting the content on my PC instead of just using the NAS feature of a high end router.
Ugh. I really could use any and all advice on how to make this happen easily. I am willing to go out and buy whats needed, but I just need a direction to take. HELP!