If you were going to set up media streaming through the house...

tombruton87

Right for the best experience its the whole package that's important. 1st off

network

a wired network is ideal with a gigabit switch. however if not go with the latest ac standard, got a theoretical speed of 1.3 gig so will stream ur 1080 stuff, if money is abit tighter find a n900 router

server

this all really depends on how much work you want to do and how much money u want to spend. cheapest option is stick another hard drive in ur pc leave it on all the time to stream media, however windows is not an ideal environment to share content. next is a network hard drive about 150 for a tb will have a setup thingy and away you go. or u can build a server either using an old pc or buying a new one.with that u can pretty much do anything unraid is good for beginners or go ubuntu server got excellent documentation. don't go windows server its a joke of a product I get it for free and don't use it.

The front end

again this comes down to work and money. 1st option boxee plug it in



and boom. then there is xbmc my fave personally I have this amazing system. if ur going to build a htpcpop over to the xbmc site I'd recommend building a mini itx system. mine works flawlessly I can post specs

kingcreech

tombruton87 wrote: »

Right for the best experience its the whole package that's important. 1st off

network

a wired network is ideal with a gigabit switch. however if not go with the latest ac standard, got a theoretical speed of 1.3 gig so will stream ur 1080 stuff, if money is abit tighter find a n900 router

I would start at this point if your looking to stream over a network.

Do you currently have your property networked?

WIFI is ok but wired would be my route. I would not destroy my walls trying to route cable though I would use homeplugs. These use the internal wiring to send information, one homeplug at the router and then add more around the home to computers or media devices which will be doing the streaming.

I would get the newer homeplugs which have gigabit ports, I think the 500mbs plugs are around £60 for 2.

(Please be aware if your internal wiring isn't great this may effect how homeplugs work)

I would also recommend a Network Drive (NAS) to store all your files, this would allow multiple devices to access your network files.

I'm not to up on the end devices which stream or play the media but AVForums is a great place to learn.

Pinkypants

If you do go down the media player route, double check that the player plays the same format as you have on your PC.As they are lots of different file types of video, not all media players will play them all.

R34GTT

Personally I just use my PS3 to stream downloaded Film and TV shows from my PC using PS3MediaServer which is free to download. This will support just about any format under the sun, including Full HD (1080p) films. If you do plan on streaming HD media then I'd advise having it all wired into a Gigabit Switch to avoid any stuttering videos. Over the years I've had to buy larger Hard Drives on my PC to support my ever growing hoard of media, 7TB and counting! I now have 4 Hard Drives in my PC and have no room left inside it so the next upgrade will be a NAS box of some kind.

If I didn't already have the PS3 I'd buy a Boxee Box Media Player.

hareng

kingcreech wrote: »

WIFI is ok but wired would be my route. I would not destroy my walls trying to route cable though I would use homeplugs.

Its become easy to do the last couple of years, however i etherneted CAT5/6 throughout 7 years ago. Quite cheap to do and look ok if hard wired into brick walls. ie channelling out brick and plaster.
Router outputs plugged in to a master and distributed. External hard drive plugged in to router much like NAS.
Downside is a pc needed for each tv to retrieve and play back anything over the network.

Ethernets far quick connection than any wifi or homeplug, at best halve what they state then struggle to stream HD.

The latest thing to come up lately is IPTV, i am already configured for it and wont need a pc for each tv. It comes distributed straight from the router/NAS and internet.
Just buy a tv with ethernet connection, even easier.

VoucherMan

clarabella23 wrote: »

we're on MSE, I want to do it for about £3.50

Buy a pair of headphones for your portable MP3 / MP4 player.

Music wherever you go.

tombruton87

it all depends on the OP, does he want it, as he likes home projects and wants to have a play, or does he just want somthing as hassle free as possible. I am more than happy to pull apart the walls then put them back together, best done wen renovating a house. However my mum would be horrified at the idea. Wired is going to give you the best network, I don't think anybody here is doubting that.

if the op could give us more detail on budget, his computer knowledge, what sort of time he would like to spend on this, plus any other relevant details, people could give a better solution for him.

As for everybody posting here we all have our own idea of what the best solution for us is, thats why in my 1st post a gave a few options for each component.

clarabella23

VoucherMan wrote: »

Buy a pair of headphones for your portable MP3 / MP4 player.

Music wherever you go.

This is what I currently have! I'm hoping to get a bit more hi-tech than my current method of carrying my laptop into the kitchen with me to watch my programs

Currently, my house is not wired. I have 2 telephone sockets, one living room, one my bedroom. I have a Thomsons wireless router upstairs, and home network consists of my laptop and a printer Extensive, eh?! I do have a desktop PC, but it is a slightly older model, Windows XP compared to the Laptop Windows 7, and it is currently in my daughter's room, not connected to the internet. It works fine, is a bit slow, and I would need to buy a wireless dongle for it to get it joined. My internet at the moment is a decent speed, with a 30gb download limit. I would love to be bigger and faster, but live in Hull so limited by what KC has to offer.

I must seem daft, being interested in this when it's not something I'm set up at all for, but although I've been aware of it, I've never really paid attention before. My brother has WDtv set up, and a few other gadgets, and I was having a nosy at his. I realised just how handy it is, and how interesting. So, although I know naff all, and am a bit 'huh?' at some of the stuff I'm being told, I like researching and am interested in knowing it all. So please excuse the stupid questions!

clarabella23

tombruton87 wrote: »

it all depends on the OP, does he want it, as he likes home projects and wants to have a play, or does he just want somthing as hassle free as possible. I am more than happy to pull apart the walls then put them back together, best done wen renovating a house. However my mum would be horrified at the idea. Wired is going to give you the best network, I don't think anybody here is doubting that.

She!

I don't have a budget in mind, this is literally something that came up at the weekend, and I thought here would be a place to ask- clever people, who know what they are talking about, yet still MSE-ers! I've been reading the AVforum also, theres so much knowledge on there- but they all seem to have a lot of money to play with! I'm more looking for the best things to start with, things I can gradually grow, and ideas as to how others have made it work for them, what they find work the best and what's not worth doing.

Oh, and not planning on chipping into my walls anytime soon, sorry!

Thank you all for your help so far!

tombruton87

clarabella23 wrote: »

She!

I don't have a budget in mind, this is literally something that came up at the weekend, and I thought here would be a place to ask- clever people, who know what they are talking about, yet still MSE-ers! I've been reading the AVforum also, theres so much knowledge on there- but they all seem to have a lot of money to play with! I'm more looking for the best things to start with, things I can gradually grow, and ideas as to how others have made it work for them, what they find work the best and what's not worth doing.

Oh, and not planning on chipping into my walls anytime soon, sorry!

Thank you all for your help so far!

I think before recommending something you really need to come up with a ballpark figure, also look at how much media you have got and potentially will have. also do you want to plug it in and work or would you like to play a bit, in doing so getting something that is better long term. it is somthing you can slowly build up also