NAS? Media Player? Help?

Cavallino

Cavallino

Cavallino

Soldato
Joined
8 Dec 2004
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Location
Hampshire
Hello folks,

So recently I tried to hook up my PC in my study (connected to the router next to it), to my 55" Sony Bravia Smart TV in my lounge, to share some photos, music, videos etc.

Now since the router is in the study, Ive had to connect my Smart TV via Home plugs to it and running Plex on the PC.

Now everything displays fine on the Smart TV, except some of videos, where there is what is most likely caching etc.

So Im guessing that the most likely bottleneck are the homeplugs.

As such Im thinking of getting a NAS or media player of some kind, but in all honesty, Ive never used or purchased such a device in my life. As such I would appreciate your advice/input on a suitable NAS which I would like to keep right next to my TV and in turn will connect the NAS up to my router via homeplugs.

Thanks for your input in advance folks.
 
Can I ask why? Are you trying to rule out the router? It's a superhub btw.

Problem is the router is one side of the house and the TV the other side :/

Perhaps get some long cat5 and run a temporary line between them?
 
Ok.

Personally, I'd just run a network cable, even if it means pulling carpet up and floorboards, so much better :)

I use a Synology NAS, the DS414, great piece of kit
 
I have a buffalo linkstation 4tb nas,on the tv side i have a 50" plasma and a western digital live media player,plays everything i want and is very very quiet aswell,the nas and western digital cost me about £220 all in,it's everything i want and need and im very happy with the purchasers.
 
bledd. said:
Ok.

Personally, I'd just run a network cable, even if it means pulling carpet up and floorboards, so much better :)

I use a Synology NAS, the DS414, great piece of kit
Click to expand...

Bit difficult as we just put down brand new carpet which I dont want to lift up :) I could run the cat 5 from outside but to be honest I dont want to start drilling holes.

I may just run a cat 5 internally just to rule out that there is no bottleneck in terms of the hardware.

Concerning the Synology, does this have HDMI and which I plug into the TV and control viewing of content via some kind of remote to the synology?

Or could I connect it up to the TV via ethernet and play the media from my TV (my TV has a media player of some kind which seems to work).

deuse said:
Don't forget to look at the HP N54L nas\server. It's the best bang for buck out there.
Click to expand...

How does this compare to the Synology?

schizo said:
I have a buffalo linkstation 4tb nas,on the tv side i have a 50" plasma and a western digital live media player,plays everything i want and is very very quiet aswell,the nas and western digital cost me about £220 all in,it's everything i want and need and im very happy with the purchasers.
Click to expand...

Thanks, again how does this linkstation compare to the Synology?
Also can I ask why you got a media player? is it because the linkstation cant act as a media player? And your tv doesnt have any media playing facility?
 
Not sure about the Synogy route to be honest,I wanted something that was whisper quiet,can store a lot of media files and went for the linkstation.

My tv dosent have any media player options as far as I know,the western digital has a small footprint and does everything so well,it's wireless as well which is a added bonus but I do have it hard wired,I'm going to get a smaller tv for the bedroom and get another western digital and use it wirelessly as they are very very good at what they do.

I used to use my pc to stream films ect but it was using to much electric and to noisy,I wanted a cheap and quiet solution and I got just that.
 
Any idea what speed those homeplugs connect at? I run a share on my machine to my LG branded bluray 2.1 kit. Connects at 100mbps. Plays everything 1080p, JUST.

Connecting your tv to ethernet cable would be the best plan. If you are not ok to install yourself most electricians will do it. Last link I had put in was £25, covered labour, socket both ends, cable. Job done. External grade cat5 cable the guy had spare. Just neater having it socket-ed both ends.
 
Thanks Shizo, does the WD have a media player facility or something?
Presumably you output from the NAS to the Mediaplayer via... ethernet?
And then mediaplayer to tv via hdmi?
 
darknite said:
Any idea what speed those homeplugs connect at? I run a share on my machine to my LG branded bluray 2.1 kit. Connects at 100mbps. Plays everything 1080p, JUST.

Connecting your tv to ethernet cable would be the best plan. If you are not ok to install yourself most electricians will do it. Last link I had put in was £25, covered labour, socket both ends, cable. Job done. External grade cat5 cable the guy had spare. Just neater having it socket-ed both ends.
Click to expand...

No idea what they connect at Im afraid. I know theyre at least 200 or even 500mbit affairs?

How do you know your plugs are JUST ok btw? Is there some kind of utilitiy?

Yes hardline ethernet would be the best. But tbh Im thinking about getting a dedicated NAS since that way I dont hog any of my office PCs system resources....
 
Depending on the file I play, HD MKV files. Everyone plays fine straight though HDMI cable to the TV. But when I play over the 100mbps link I sometimes get a tiny bit of stutter. Nothing major, could very well just be my kit. My LG system is old. But I wish it had 1gbit link to confirm its not that.

Oh as for hogging resources, its just enough power to copy data to your TV. Not much cpu etc. Just network bandwidth.
 
Cavallino said:
Thanks Shizo, does the WD have a media player facility or something?
Presumably you output from the NAS to the Mediaplayer via... ethernet?
And then mediaplayer to tv via hdmi?
Click to expand...

The western digital is a stand alone media player with some more stuff on it like YouTube BBC iPlayer ect.

Correct to your second question.
 
I may have my Asustor 302T + 2TB WD Red up for sale soon :D

Has a dedicated HDMI port on the back, so you can play right off the NAS without going around the network. Comes with the official remote control as well :P
 
Nymins said:
I may have my Asustor 302T + 2TB WD Red up for sale soon :D

Has a dedicated HDMI port on the back, so you can play right off the NAS without going around the network. Comes with the official remote control as well :P
Click to expand...

Stick it up on MM! Pics would be good too.
 
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