Networking.

Slade2 · 28 Apr 2011 at 10:21

Hi all.

I am after some advice.

Currently i have a pc with an external 1gig hard drive that i will be upgrading to a new system within the next few weeks.

What I would like to do now is use the old PC with the hard drive as a kind of media server and put that in my loft out of the way. The idea being that whatever happens to my PC I still have the data in the loft.

So, currently I have a basic cable modem on virgin connect via ethernet staight to the PC no wireless network or anything.

how do I know about setting this up. I would ideally like wireless so I can attach my freeview tuner and phone to be able to access the network but am unsure if wireless would be suitable to stream movies from the loft onto my TV?

I am fairly new to networking in general and need to know what equipment I would need to purchase to enable me to do this.

Any help gratefully recieved.

SupermotoMX · 28 Apr 2011 at 12:34

you would need:
wireless router
wireless USB / pci card for the loft PC

an external 1gig hard drive? if it truly is a 1gig hard drive i would recommend getting a 2gig usb stick for about £5 which is much less than the cost of the above items

Ryan-3 · 28 Apr 2011 at 13:30

I'm guessing its not just 1gb?, just a spelling mistake? If not, the USB stick idea is the one to use.

Slade2 · 28 Apr 2011 at 13:31

Sorry that was a bad typo its a 1 terabyte drive hence the use for media storage and streaming.

SupermotoMX · 28 Apr 2011 at 14:05

if you are streaming video i wouldn't recommend wireless, instead i would maybe say the homeplug option, or cat 5e

PistolPete · 28 Apr 2011 at 15:25

You'd be better off several ways buying a cheap NAS case and popping the 1TB drive inside it.

1) You can connect it directly to the router and get half decent speeds
2) Less power usage than a PC
3) Easy to get to as it wont be in the loft.
4) It's not running a full blown OS so less likely to go wrong.