Streaming from PC to MacBook

Trojan Horse · 22 Jan 2016 at 09:33

Hi,

I want to be able to browse through my computer remotely using my macbook pro to watch videos I have downloaded.

I use a VPN when I am at work / public so I am not exactly sure what my IP will be. What is the best way to go about streaming from my pc to my mac?

Should I look at RemoteVNC connections, or do they lag? Ideally I want to put my home pc in power saver mode. The Home PC has about 40mb down and 10mb upload, whilst at public I get 100mb down with 70mb up so I don't think connection is an issue.

neil_g · 22 Jan 2016 at 09:35

better off installing something like plex rather than remote desktop software, that'd be laggy as hell.

Trojan Horse · 22 Jan 2016 at 09:39

neil_g said:
better off installing something like plex rather than remote desktop software, that'd be laggy as hell.

I see, I'll have a look into this - but would it be able to change directory of video remotely or is this not possible?

Also - for best security, should I use a VPN on both my PC and Mac, or just use a vpn on the OS thats connecting to the streamer?

neil_g · 22 Jan 2016 at 09:41

Trojan Horse said:
I see, I'll have a look into this - but would it be able to change directory of video remotely or is this not possible?

Also - for best security, should I use a VPN on both my PC and Mac, or just use a vpn on the OS thats connecting to the streamer?

you select your media folder from the plex set up and it adds everything to the library, you browse to the library on the remote machine and it shows the collection of videos. no need to switch.

no need for VPN. maybe just a dynamic DNS service to give you a fixed name to browse to.

Trojan Horse · 22 Jan 2016 at 09:43

neil_g said:
you select your media folder from the plex set up and it adds everything to the library, you browse to the library on the remote machine and it shows the collection of videos. no need to switch.

no need for VPN. maybe just a dynamic DNS service to give you a fixed name to browse to.

OK great. Know any good free Dyn DNS services I should use for this, with like a Client auto updater to automatically update my IP should it change?

EDIT: Let me take this a step further - say I want to setup Plex Media Server on a seperate device, so that I don't waste the power on my desktop. What's a good machine to purchase for this? Will a Pi 2 do or is it best to get an actual PC, e.g. Intel NUC? Ideally want something small so I can hide it

Gigabyte Brix BXBT-2807 or get a NAS? Preferably <£100

Puzzled · 22 Jan 2016 at 09:57

Trojan Horse said:
OK great. Know any good free Dyn DNS services I should use for this, with like a Client auto updater to automatically update my IP should it change?

EDIT: Let me take this a step further - say I want to setup Plex Media Server on a seperate device, so that I don't waste the power on my desktop. What's a good machine to purchase for this? Will a Pi 2 do or is it best to get an actual PC, e.g. Intel NUC? Ideally want something small so I can hide it

Gigabyte Brix BXBT-2807 or get a NAS? Preferably <£100

Depends on the device that will be playing the video.

I run my plex server from a celeron based mini-pc which is fine for anything that can play directly but struggles when Plex has to start transcoding for say a chromecast.

Also depends on the quality, if you are trying to stream a ultra high quality 15 - 20gb file then your server needs to transcode to reduce it to a manageable stream.

Plex also supports https encryption now on most devices to keep your activities a bit more private.

Trojan Horse · 22 Jan 2016 at 10:04

MonkeyMan said:
Depends on the device that will be playing the video.

I run my plex server from a celeron based mini-pc which is fine for anything that can play directly but struggles when Plex has to start transcoding for say a chromecast.

Also depends on the quality, if you are trying to stream a ultra high quality 15 - 20gb file then your server needs to transcode to reduce it to a manageable stream.

Plex also supports https encryption now on most devices to keep your activities a bit more private.

I have an Apple TV and need to use plex purely for direct play. I guess i will go down Mini PC route. Quality is about 1080p, so roughly 2-3gb per file.