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| Thread ID: 89004 | 2008-04-17 04:23:00 | Do I really need to stream movies on my local network? | NZMacka (11756) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 659691 | 2008-04-17 04:23:00 | Another rainy day Wellington question..... My house is wired in Cat6 cable (around about 30 outlets in various configurations). All the cabling runs back to a central comms rack and has been tested and certified Cat 6 compliant and the internal cabled LAN runs realy well. I know this is a little bit of overkill, as all of my PC's only have 100MB NIC's and my Linksys Switch is only 100MB as well..... anyway, I use VLC on my new laptop and also on my EEE and workshop PC to play movies that are stored on my Media Server located in the comms rack. My question is, do I really need to bother getting VLC to stream movies on the network when I can just remotely open the movie file and play it in VLC on the local machine? Is streaming better? If so, why? I have tried both methods, and have to admit, I think it playback of the movies actually works better when the local PC can just opens the remote file and plays the movie.... I'd be interested in others thoughts as to what is the best thing to do... |
NZMacka (11756) | ||
| 659692 | 2008-04-21 05:48:00 | Hey dude, To be honest, I wouldn't bother streaming. I think streaming only helps if your viewing computer is underpowered (as it puts the strain on the sending computer, rather than the receiving computer). If your PCs can just open the files by themselves - do that. I have a Network Accessible Storage device (basically just an external hard drive that can plug into a network) hooked up to a router/modem/wireless router and can happily access files directly over the wireless connection. (Admitedly, the gap is only about 10 meters). Using Cat 6 cabling you should be sweet. |
Adge (6807) | ||
| 659693 | 2008-04-21 07:52:00 | I wouldnt bother streaming, what a pain that would be to do! In fact, drop VLC altogether, go with MediaPortal :) You *may* need something like ffmpeg installed to playback the vidz though... |
Chilling_Silence (9) | ||
| 659694 | 2008-04-21 09:38:00 | Thanks for the thoughts guys...much appreciated..... I have been experimenting with streamed video vs cabled video today. My Media Server has 2 x 500GB internal HDD's with various ripped (legally) DVD movies on it. If I don't use VLC's streaming wizard, and just open the remote movie folder from the laptop, there is occasionally some lag in the video stream which is noticeable. If I do use the wizard, and setup a network stream and turn on the caching, this seems to prevent the lag from occuring.... If I use a straight cabled connection, there is never an issue.:clap I know its not particularly scientific testing, but I did compare the same movies and kept the laptop in the same position. It has a 54MB connection to the WAP. So, some food for thought anyway.... |
NZMacka (11756) | ||
| 659695 | 2008-04-21 11:51:00 | I have the same problem on my mum & brothers vista laptops. My sisters laptop (identical) which runs either Ubuntu or XP is *fine*, no issues, not sure if its the same for you.. and this is with my Wireless AP in the same room too (so its not a connection strength issue or whatever). If we're using my Mum or Brothers Vista laptops, we plug them into the wired LAN (Ran a cable under the house so its by the TV). Everything else works fine via wireless, even with MediaPortal :D |
Chilling_Silence (9) | ||
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