We've cut the cable (1 Viewer)

[Zasada]

If you're at all technically-inclined, running XBMC on a Raspberry Pi is a pretty sweet option. It's not as easy to set up, but the interface and library management (can run off a MySQL database) is pretty slick. Cheap, too.

I have two OpenELEC HTPCs at home and one Raspberry Pi. All running XBMC and networked to the same home server and database. Can pause/resume among devices, track watched, use apps, etc. Pretty happy.

Still trying to find a good OTA antenna solution, though. About 20 miles from downtown Chicago, but plenty of walls/trees in the line-of-sight.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

If you're at all technically-inclined, running XBMC on a Raspberry Pi is a pretty sweet option. It's not as easy to set up, but the interface and library management (can run off a MySQL database) is pretty slick. Cheap, too.

I have two OpenELEC HTPCs at home and one Raspberry Pi. All running XBMC and networked to the same home server and database. Can pause/resume among devices, track watched, use apps, etc. Pretty happy.

Still trying to find a good OTA antenna solution, though. About 20 miles from downtown Chicago, but plenty of walls/trees in the line-of-sight.

The Leaf

 

[MCguidance]

The reason I built an HTPC was simple. I can run Plex/Media Browser/etc on it AND have a fully functional computer should I need it. I will only use the computer portion when I want live content via a stream. Now that I won't have NFLN or ESPN I will have a work around for that, as well.

Get the Leaf, worked great right out of the box.

 

[Random]

For those looking for a Time Warner isp alternative, check out earthlink.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Easier time for football fans to do this in the off season or even January where at this point all games are either over or on free TV. The NFL is smart to not allow anything beyond MNF/TNF to be shown on cable.

 

[Tick]

If you're at all technically-inclined, running XBMC on a Raspberry Pi is a pretty sweet option. It's not as easy to set up, but the interface and library management (can run off a MySQL database) is pretty slick. Cheap, too.

I have two OpenELEC HTPCs at home and one Raspberry Pi. All running XBMC and networked to the same home server and database. Can pause/resume among devices, track watched, use apps, etc. Pretty happy.

Still trying to find a good OTA antenna solution, though. About 20 miles from downtown Chicago, but plenty of walls/trees in the line-of-sight.

Can you link to a tutorial on setting this up?

 

[seahawk 17]

Easier time for football fans to do this in the off season or even January where at this point all games are either over or on free TV. The NFL is smart to not allow anything beyond MNF/TNF to be shown on cable.

I got into it with Comcast today and canceled. The only thing holding me up was football. Then I remembered that the rest of the games are on locals, and that they are offering free streaming of all NFL games. See you...

So I will go over this thread tonight, but this Roku thing looks like a good deal?

 

[Osaurus]

Still loving the XBMC. Ever since DropBox killed AudioGalaxy, I use it on my iPhone to stream music from home plus everything else

 

[MCguidance]

Easier time for football fans to do this in the off season or even January where at this point all games are either over or on free TV. The NFL is smart to not allow anything beyond MNF/TNF to be shown on cable.

I got into it with Comcast today and canceled. The only thing holding me up was football. Then I remembered that the rest of the games are on locals, and that they are offering free streaming of all NFL games. See you...

So I will go over this thread tonight, but this Roku thing looks like a good deal?

Where are the free streams? I have a place for most sports but it is a bit convoluted.

Rokus are great. Set my parents and brother up very easily. They access my Plex server from their Roku, as well.

 

[Zasada]

If you're at all technically-inclined, running XBMC on a Raspberry Pi is a pretty sweet option. It's not as easy to set up, but the interface and library management (can run off a MySQL database) is pretty slick. Cheap, too.

I have two OpenELEC HTPCs at home and one Raspberry Pi. All running XBMC and networked to the same home server and database. Can pause/resume among devices, track watched, use apps, etc. Pretty happy.

Still trying to find a good OTA antenna solution, though. About 20 miles from downtown Chicago, but plenty of walls/trees in the line-of-sight.

Can you link to a tutorial on setting this up?

The best setup will be dictated by your needs. Are you primarily watching Netflix or Amazon Prime? Stored content on your home network? Live TV?

Basically, the most robust and flexible setups have a home server networked to clients around the house. That home server can stream local content to the clients, and the clients can still pull content from the internet as well if they're configured for it. This is the setup I use.

Don't let "server" scare you. It can mean a Linux-based dedicated NAS with a RAID-5 array, but it can also simply mean a home PC with sufficient storage. In my case, it's the latter. I have a Win8 PC with five hard drives (one 512GB SSD, 1x4TB + 2x3TB + 1x2TB) that sits in my office and looks like anyone else's home PC. It just has lots of storage capacity and is always on.

The benefit of a home server is that not only does it stream my content locally, but I can also use Plex to stream when I'm on the road. My home server also acts as my personal cloud server. I can use TeamViewer to remote into it and use it as though I were at my desk at home. My in-laws need their boarding passes printed before leaving for the airport and I'm not home to help? No problem. I need my passport number and I don't have it -- it's scanned on my home server and I can look it up. Want to show a friend a photo you took of a recent vacation but you don't have it with you? Pull it up on the home server. It's like a cloud service with storage limited only by what you install in it, no ongoing fees (other than internet), and under your full control. It is limited by the bandwidth of your home internet service though, so sometimes it's worth it to bump-up a tier if you find things are too slow.

Anyways, that's my pitch for why a home server is good.

As far as clients, you can choose many different options.

HTPC: The most flexible. The Assassin HTPC blog has some fantastic guides for building these (lots of stuff on servers too). I'm running one Intel-based and one AMD-based. I originally fought for months and months to get them stable and wife-friendly (e.g. working without having to screw with settings every time you turned it on) using Windows 7/8 but finally gave up and installed OpenELEC. What a dream. While this limits the functionality of the PCs to home-theatre duties (can't use them as regular Windows PCs), they're stable and my wife will finally use them. And not roll her eyes every time I fire them up.

Off-the-shelf clients: A wide variety here, but less flexible. The Roku is great for streaming media from the internet. Not so great at streaming local media (DLNA required, no ISO support, etc). The Western Digital Live series of devices are great at both. There are many more that I won't go into detail about. Just as a note, my mom and my in-laws both have WD Live Hubs, and use them for their stored/streaming media needs.

Raspberry Pi: A bit of a hybrid of the first two. Here's a guide about putting RaspBMC on one. I have one in a spare bedroom that works great. My TV is even CEC-compliant so it passes through the remote commands to the Pi and I don't need a custom remote or receiver (the Flirc he mentions). The Flirc is a great device though and I have one on each of my other two HTPCs.

I have made a few posts in other threads about my setup but they're getting to be a bit stale. Check this one out for the basics on my home network and how I have things set up. Many of the devices on the network have been retired but you'll get the idea.

If you're running multiple XBMC clients and you want to share the same library (which then permits pause/resume across devices and shared watched/unwatched flags), then installing a mySQL database on your home server is in order. Here's a guide regarding that.

This all seems pretty daunting at first, but think of it as modular. You only build the pieces you want and can start small. I started with a single box that acted as both a server and a client. Now I'm running three clients. I installed Plex on the server so that I can stream to my devices on the road. This weekend I plan to put a HDHomeRun on my network so that I can get live OTA TV in XBMC. I have also put IP cameras on my Network, devices that can stream my DirecTV over the web (Belkin @TV), etc, etc.

 

[glock]

If you're at all technically-inclined, running XBMC on a Raspberry Pi is a pretty sweet option. It's not as easy to set up, but the interface and library management (can run off a MySQL database) is pretty slick. Cheap, too.

I have two OpenELEC HTPCs at home and one Raspberry Pi. All running XBMC and networked to the same home server and database. Can pause/resume among devices, track watched, use apps, etc. Pretty happy.

Still trying to find a good OTA antenna solution, though. About 20 miles from downtown Chicago, but plenty of walls/trees in the line-of-sight.

Can you link to a tutorial on setting this up?

The best setup will be dictated by your needs. Are you primarily watching Netflix or Amazon Prime? Stored content on your home network? Live TV?

Basically, the most robust and flexible setups have a home server networked to clients around the house. That home server can stream local content to the clients, and the clients can still pull content from the internet as well if they're configured for it. This is the setup I use.

Don't let "server" scare you. It can mean a Linux-based dedicated NAS with a RAID-5 array, but it can also simply mean a home PC with sufficient storage. In my case, it's the latter. I have a Win8 PC with five hard drives (one 512GB SSD, 1x4TB + 2x3TB + 1x2TB) that sits in my office and looks like anyone else's home PC. It just has lots of storage capacity and is always on.

The benefit of a home server is that not only does it stream my content locally, but I can also use Plex to stream when I'm on the road. My home server also acts as my personal cloud server. I can use TeamViewer to remote into it and use it as though I were at my desk at home. My in-laws need their boarding passes printed before leaving for the airport and I'm not home to help? No problem. I need my passport number and I don't have it -- it's scanned on my home server and I can look it up. Want to show a friend a photo you took of a recent vacation but you don't have it with you? Pull it up on the home server. It's like a cloud service with storage limited only by what you install in it, no ongoing fees (other than internet), and under your full control. It is limited by the bandwidth of your home internet service though, so sometimes it's worth it to bump-up a tier if you find things are too slow.

Anyways, that's my pitch for why a home server is good.

As far as clients, you can choose many different options.

HTPC: The most flexible. The Assassin HTPC blog has some fantastic guides for building these (lots of stuff on servers too). I'm running one Intel-based and one AMD-based. I originally fought for months and months to get them stable and wife-friendly (e.g. working without having to screw with settings every time you turned it on) using Windows 7/8 but finally gave up and installed OpenELEC. What a dream. While this limits the functionality of the PCs to home-theatre duties (can't use them as regular Windows PCs), they're stable and my wife will finally use them. And not roll her eyes every time I fire them up.

Off-the-shelf clients: A wide variety here, but less flexible. The Roku is great for streaming media from the internet. Not so great at streaming local media (DLNA required, no ISO support, etc). The Western Digital Live series of devices are great at both. There are many more that I won't go into detail about. Just as a note, my mom and my in-laws both have WD Live Hubs, and use them for their stored/streaming media needs.

Raspberry Pi: A bit of a hybrid of the first two. Here's a guide about putting RaspBMC on one. I have one in a spare bedroom that works great. My TV is even CEC-compliant so it passes through the remote commands to the Pi and I don't need a custom remote or receiver (the Flirc he mentions). The Flirc is a great device though and I have one on each of my other two HTPCs.

I have made a few posts in other threads about my setup but they're getting to be a bit stale. Check this one out for the basics on my home network and how I have things set up. Many of the devices on the network have been retired but you'll get the idea.

If you're running multiple XBMC clients and you want to share the same library (which then permits pause/resume across devices and shared watched/unwatched flags), then installing a mySQL database on your home server is in order. Here's a guide regarding that.

This all seems pretty daunting at first, but think of it as modular. You only build the pieces you want and can start small. I started with a single box that acted as both a server and a client. Now I'm running three clients. I installed Plex on the server so that I can stream to my devices on the road. This weekend I plan to put a HDHomeRun on my network so that I can get live OTA TV in XBMC. I have also put IP cameras on my Network, devices that can stream my DirecTV over the web (Belkin @TV), etc, etc.

Could you repeat that? Just a little slower...

 

[MCguidance]

Great posting above.

If anyone wants to build an HTPC - I can help. I can link you to a build thread on avsforums and what exactly I used and the price it cost.

 

[glock]

With The Leaf getting so much up in here, why is it not on this list of Top 10 HDTV antennas?

 

[MCguidance]

With The Leaf getting so much up in here, why is it not on this list of Top 10 HDTV antennas?

I'm sure a lot of them work well. I went with it and really like it.

 

[MCguidance]

Anyone running Media Browser 3? If they could integrate live tv, I'd be all in.

 

[culdeus]

With The Leaf getting so much up in here, why is it not on this list of Top 10 HDTV antennas?

I'm sure a lot of them work well. I went with it and really like it.

Honestly, a 2x4 with holes and a bunch of coathangers sticking out will perform just as well as any store bought antenna. The biggest factor is proximity to towers and line of sight to them.

In Dallas for some stupid reason the ABC tower is not close to the rest of the towers so some people actually run TWO antennas. One pointing towards the ABC tower and one pointing to the others then merge them in an amp. This is obviously a unique case. There are a zillion websites out there telling you how to set all this stuff up. Once it's up and running you wonder why it took you so long.

 

[Random]

MCguidance, on 09 Jan 2014 - 08:18 AM, said:


Rokus are great. Set my parents and brother up very easily. They access my Plex server from their Roku, as well.

Can you expand on this a little? If I have a friend that has a server with shows on it that I want to watch, are you saying the Roku can connect to it? Is there a tutorial on how to do this somewhere? Thanks.

 

[TommyKramer]

Has anyone on here tried freedom pop for cheap isp?

 

[MCguidance]

MCguidance, on 09 Jan 2014 - 08:18 AM, said:


Rokus are great. Set my parents and brother up very easily. They access my Plex server from their Roku, as well.

Can you expand on this a little? If I have a friend that has a server with shows on it that I want to watch, are you saying the Roku can connect to it? Is there a tutorial on how to do this somewhere? Thanks.

Sure. If you run a Plex server at home, anyone with a Roku and the Plex Channel can access your shows if you share your media with them.

This may help I think: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuvpsTZJN9U

I think that I also have just logged into my account from their Roku on one occasion and that will give them access.

This may also help: https://forums.plex.tv/index.php/topic/56287-how-to-share-my-media-library-with-my-friends/

FYI: If your bandwidth and computer is slower, it will slow you down. My build hasn't been slowed and I have had 3/4 people streaming from my server at once.

 

[culdeus]

I have some basic plex questions.

It appears you need to have a x86 architecture running the server. It can pull from a NAS, but currently there aren't any x86 NAS out there with the exception of the synology ones which are spendy?

The roku on the other end handles all the encoding. So if you put up a mkv container you are doing all the encoding traffic on the backend?

I already have seen some collision issues running chavera (spelling) on my roku looking at mkv on my NAS. Apparently this is common. How frequent are collisions on Plex?

I'm assuming if I do run a plex server I can isolate my adult content behind a wall, correct?

I haven't googled a lot of this stuff yet, but plan to. I think most of this stuff is relevant to many users here so it may be worthwhile to see it answered here. As I find out some of the answers I'll try to fill in the gaps here.

 

[Sinn Fein]

So we are going on 4 weeks now since canceling DirecTv. We haven't missed a beat. About the only thing we have noticed is a lack of DVR, but while we have great reception for "live" tv, most everything we watch has been via streaming, so its not really a problem.

We have netflix and hulu so we have a good mix of old shows and new shows to watch. Kids (7 & 9) have adapted very well, and can navigate though netflix with ease, and probably found more to watch than they did when we had a billion channels on directv.

It will be interesting to see how quickly cable/Satellite subscribers fall over the next 5 or so years. Certainly content providers should be rethinking their distribution plans. At least when newspapers were dying, they had the option to move to the internet - not sure where cable companies go - if content providers move toward other distribution channels.

 

[Bogart]

With The Leaf getting so much up in here, why is it not on this list of Top 10 HDTV antennas?

I'm sure a lot of them work well. I went with it and really like it.

Honestly, a 2x4 with holes and a bunch of coathangers sticking out will perform just as well as any store bought antenna. The biggest factor is proximity to towers and line of sight to them.

In Dallas for some stupid reason the ABC tower is not close to the rest of the towers so some people actually run TWO antennas. One pointing towards the ABC tower and one pointing to the others then merge them in an amp. This is obviously a unique case. There are a zillion websites out there telling you how to set all this stuff up. Once it's up and running you wonder why it took you so long.

The one local I have a hard time getting is CBS, and I'm less than a mile from that tower. Go figure.

 

[MCguidance]

I have some basic plex questions.

It appears you need to have a x86 architecture running the server. It can pull from a NAS, but currently there aren't any x86 NAS out there with the exception of the synology ones which are spendy?

The roku on the other end handles all the encoding. So if you put up a mkv container you are doing all the encoding traffic on the backend?

I already have seen some collision issues running chavera (spelling) on my roku looking at mkv on my NAS. Apparently this is common. How frequent are collisions on Plex?

I'm assuming if I do run a plex server I can isolate my adult content behind a wall, correct?

I haven't googled a lot of this stuff yet, but plan to. I think most of this stuff is relevant to many users here so it may be worthwhile to see it answered here. As I find out some of the answers I'll try to fill in the gaps here.

You seem way more technical than me. I will try and answer.

I was under the assumption that Plex does everything on the fly, regardless of the type of file it is. I have all sorts of containers and they run without issue - mkv's included. The only issue I have with Plex is when I run my VPN, it sometimes disconnects the server. It hasn't been a huge problem, so I deal with it when it pops up.

I run it off a SSD where the OS is located and store all of my media on separate drives. I'm using a server/client all in one box at this point and there are no issues.

You can have your adult films in a separate folder and not accessible by Plex. I also believe that you can have those files within Plex at home on your machine/clients, but then share everything but those folders to friends/family. I personally would not have those in Plex if I was worried, but that's me and probably less convenient.

 

[seahawk 17]

Easier time for football fans to do this in the off season or even January where at this point all games are either over or on free TV. The NFL is smart to not allow anything beyond MNF/TNF to be shown on cable.

I got into it with Comcast today and canceled. The only thing holding me up was football. Then I remembered that the rest of the games are on locals, and that they are offering free streaming of all NFL games. See you...

So I will go over this thread tonight, but this Roku thing looks like a good deal?

Where are the free streams? I have a place for most sports but it is a bit convoluted.

Rokus are great. Set my parents and brother up very easily. They access my Plex server from their Roku, as well.

Playoffs, and Super Bowl. Article doesn't mention Fox?

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57616505-93/nfl-playoffs-get-free-streaming-on-cbs-nbc/#!

 

[joker]

I want to cut cable, and my wife is tentatively onboard, but I have 3 stepdaughters w/TVs as well as my bedroom and the downstairs TV. All five TV's have either a Roku box or WiFi Blu-Ray DVD player connected to them (I believe all of the DVD players have the Netflix app and most have the Hulu or Hulu Plus app as well). We currently have Netflix & Amazon Prime and will add Hulu Plus if necessary. Do I need to get Leaf antennas for each TV? I have one already that draws in channels quite well in my garage (I bought it in anticipation of cutting the cord), and am fine with buying the others as they'd be a cheaper one-time purchase than the $200+ I pay each month for cable.

My plan is to go down to just Internet w/Comcast at around $40/month, plus Netflix & Hulu or Hulu Plus (I get Prime for free through work). Since I was already paying for Netflix, my cost would drop to around $55-60/month with tax. The kids mostly watch Netflix already, my wife mostly wants cooking shows (like Restaurant Impossible and D, D, and D w/Guy), and all I need are some sports and HGTV/DIY shows.

Can I start with just my equipment above (plus the antennas) and then work on creating an HTPC or standard server as needed?

 

[Zasada]

Could you repeat that? Just a little slower...

Read the Assassin HTPC blog I linked in my post. It's a pretty good primer on home theatre PCs. The only thing I would change from his recommendation is to run OpenELEC instead of a W7/8-based setup. The former is easy to set up now and much more stable (IMHO) than the latter. I could never get the latter to work perfectly every time I fired it up, and got tired of the eye-rolling and guffaws from my wife.

 

[Zasada]

I have some basic plex questions.

It appears you need to have a x86 architecture running the server. It can pull from a NAS, but currently there aren't any x86 NAS out there with the exception of the synology ones which are spendy?

The roku on the other end handles all the encoding. So if you put up a mkv container you are doing all the encoding traffic on the backend?

I already have seen some collision issues running chavera (spelling) on my roku looking at mkv on my NAS. Apparently this is common. How frequent are collisions on Plex?

I'm assuming if I do run a plex server I can isolate my adult content behind a wall, correct?

I haven't googled a lot of this stuff yet, but plan to. I think most of this stuff is relevant to many users here so it may be worthwhile to see it answered here. As I find out some of the answers I'll try to fill in the gaps here.

You seem way more technical than me. I will try and answer.

I was under the assumption that Plex does everything on the fly, regardless of the type of file it is. I have all sorts of containers and they run without issue - mkv's included. The only issue I have with Plex is when I run my VPN, it sometimes disconnects the server. It hasn't been a huge problem, so I deal with it when it pops up.

I run it off a SSD where the OS is located and store all of my media on separate drives. I'm using a server/client all in one box at this point and there are no issues.

You can have your adult films in a separate folder and not accessible by Plex. I also believe that you can have those files within Plex at home on your machine/clients, but then share everything but those folders to friends/family. I personally would not have those in Plex if I was worried, but that's me and probably less convenient.

Just wanted to point-out that Plex is great at transcoding/streaming almost every format except ISOs. If you have many of the latter (like me), it won't be a complete solution. I still use it for streaming on the road, knowing that 2/3 of my movies are inaccessible. But it's pretty rare that I stream on the road. 98% of my viewing is done at home, where XBMC plays everything swimmingly.

To respond to the original question, a NAS doesn't have to be x86-based to work with Plex. Only the PC that Plex is running-on.

 

[MCguidance]

Could you repeat that? Just a little slower...

Read the Assassin HTPC blog I linked in my post. It's a pretty good primer on home theatre PCs. The only thing I would change from his recommendation is to run OpenELEC instead of a W7/8-based setup. The former is easy to set up now and much more stable (IMHO) than the latter. I could never get the latter to work perfectly every time I fired it up, and got tired of the eye-rolling and guffaws from my wife.

Assassin blog is great.

 

[Buddy Ball 2K3]

So we are going on 4 weeks now since canceling DirecTv. We haven't missed a beat. About the only thing we have noticed is a lack of DVR, but while we have great reception for "live" tv, most everything we watch has been via streaming, so its not really a problem.

We have netflix and hulu so we have a good mix of old shows and new shows to watch. Kids (7 & 9) have adapted very well, and can navigate though netflix with ease, and probably found more to watch than they did when we had a billion channels on directv.

It will be interesting to see how quickly cable/Satellite subscribers fall over the next 5 or so years. Certainly content providers should be rethinking their distribution plans. At least when newspapers were dying, they had the option to move to the internet - not sure where cable companies go - if content providers move toward other distribution channels.

We were just like you well over a year ago. Got a cheap pc, tossed int a dual tunver video card (we have a roof top antenna) and with MSFT media center we now have dvr. We purchase a few cable shows on Amazon and I share some account passwords with friends and family for other "media".

 

[seahawk 17]

I am looking for something simple. Anyone have an opinion on Roku vs Chromecast?

 

[Zasada]

I am looking for something simple. Anyone have an opinion on Roku vs Chromecast?

Roku is definitely better as it stands right now (in terms of services offered). The Chromecast is gaining ground but still has a ways to go.

Besides, the Chromecast is so cheap that you can get one in addition to the Roku. My wife/in-laws love the youtube cast function.

 

[MCguidance]

So we are going on 4 weeks now since canceling DirecTv. We haven't missed a beat. About the only thing we have noticed is a lack of DVR, but while we have great reception for "live" tv, most everything we watch has been via streaming, so its not really a problem.

We have netflix and hulu so we have a good mix of old shows and new shows to watch. Kids (7 & 9) have adapted very well, and can navigate though netflix with ease, and probably found more to watch than they did when we had a billion channels on directv.

It will be interesting to see how quickly cable/Satellite subscribers fall over the next 5 or so years. Certainly content providers should be rethinking their distribution plans. At least when newspapers were dying, they had the option to move to the internet - not sure where cable companies go - if content providers move toward other distribution channels.

We were just like you well over a year ago. Got a cheap pc, tossed int a dual tunver video card (we have a roof top antenna) and with MSFT media center we now have dvr. We purchase a few cable shows on Amazon and I share some account passwords with friends and family for other "media".

Problem is, WMC is going to stop receiving support at some point.

I'm hopeful Media Browser 3 will be the answer.

 

[Buddy Ball 2K3]

So we are going on 4 weeks now since canceling DirecTv. We haven't missed a beat. About the only thing we have noticed is a lack of DVR, but while we have great reception for "live" tv, most everything we watch has been via streaming, so its not really a problem.

We have netflix and hulu so we have a good mix of old shows and new shows to watch. Kids (7 & 9) have adapted very well, and can navigate though netflix with ease, and probably found more to watch than they did when we had a billion channels on directv.

It will be interesting to see how quickly cable/Satellite subscribers fall over the next 5 or so years. Certainly content providers should be rethinking their distribution plans. At least when newspapers were dying, they had the option to move to the internet - not sure where cable companies go - if content providers move toward other distribution channels.

We were just like you well over a year ago. Got a cheap pc, tossed int a dual tunver video card (we have a roof top antenna) and with MSFT media center we now have dvr. We purchase a few cable shows on Amazon and I share some account passwords with friends and family for other "media".

Problem is, WMC is going to stop receiving support at some point.

I'm hopeful Media Browser 3 will be the answer.

I dont update my HTPC EVER

 

[culdeus]

I have some basic plex questions.

It appears you need to have a x86 architecture running the server. It can pull from a NAS, but currently there aren't any x86 NAS out there with the exception of the synology ones which are spendy?

The roku on the other end handles all the encoding. So if you put up a mkv container you are doing all the encoding traffic on the backend?

I already have seen some collision issues running chavera (spelling) on my roku looking at mkv on my NAS. Apparently this is common. How frequent are collisions on Plex?

I'm assuming if I do run a plex server I can isolate my adult content behind a wall, correct?

I haven't googled a lot of this stuff yet, but plan to. I think most of this stuff is relevant to many users here so it may be worthwhile to see it answered here. As I find out some of the answers I'll try to fill in the gaps here.

You seem way more technical than me. I will try and answer.

I was under the assumption that Plex does everything on the fly, regardless of the type of file it is. I have all sorts of containers and they run without issue - mkv's included. The only issue I have with Plex is when I run my VPN, it sometimes disconnects the server. It hasn't been a huge problem, so I deal with it when it pops up.

I run it off a SSD where the OS is located and store all of my media on separate drives. I'm using a server/client all in one box at this point and there are no issues.

You can have your adult films in a separate folder and not accessible by Plex. I also believe that you can have those files within Plex at home on your machine/clients, but then share everything but those folders to friends/family. I personally would not have those in Plex if I was worried, but that's me and probably less convenient.

Just wanted to point-out that Plex is great at transcoding/streaming almost every format except ISOs. If you have many of the latter (like me), it won't be a complete solution. I still use it for streaming on the road, knowing that 2/3 of my movies are inaccessible. But it's pretty rare that I stream on the road. 98% of my viewing is done at home, where XBMC plays everything swimmingly.

To respond to the original question, a NAS doesn't have to be x86-based to work with Plex. Only the PC that Plex is running-on.

I'm not sure how valid it is, but I did see in a few places that if you are going to start converting or ripping DVDs that the forward looking container for a plex setup is m4v. I can't say I've done anything but mkv in what? 4 years now? Apparently plexing to a tablet just works better on m4v as it causes less overhead on the backend.

Again, I'm still in the early phases of seeing how I can make this work given my current hardware, or by adding some limited addl. hardware.

 

[Zasada]

So we are going on 4 weeks now since canceling DirecTv. We haven't missed a beat. About the only thing we have noticed is a lack of DVR, but while we have great reception for "live" tv, most everything we watch has been via streaming, so its not really a problem.

We have netflix and hulu so we have a good mix of old shows and new shows to watch. Kids (7 & 9) have adapted very well, and can navigate though netflix with ease, and probably found more to watch than they did when we had a billion channels on directv.

It will be interesting to see how quickly cable/Satellite subscribers fall over the next 5 or so years. Certainly content providers should be rethinking their distribution plans. At least when newspapers were dying, they had the option to move to the internet - not sure where cable companies go - if content providers move toward other distribution channels.

We were just like you well over a year ago. Got a cheap pc, tossed int a dual tunver video card (we have a roof top antenna) and with MSFT media center we now have dvr. We purchase a few cable shows on Amazon and I share some account passwords with friends and family for other "media".

Problem is, WMC is going to stop receiving support at some point.

I'm hopeful Media Browser 3 will be the answer.

I'm pretty sure that XBMC can do live tv. Going to try it this weekend as my HDHomerun is being delivered tomorrow.

 

[MCguidance]

So we are going on 4 weeks now since canceling DirecTv. We haven't missed a beat. About the only thing we have noticed is a lack of DVR, but while we have great reception for "live" tv, most everything we watch has been via streaming, so its not really a problem.

We have netflix and hulu so we have a good mix of old shows and new shows to watch. Kids (7 & 9) have adapted very well, and can navigate though netflix with ease, and probably found more to watch than they did when we had a billion channels on directv.

It will be interesting to see how quickly cable/Satellite subscribers fall over the next 5 or so years. Certainly content providers should be rethinking their distribution plans. At least when newspapers were dying, they had the option to move to the internet - not sure where cable companies go - if content providers move toward other distribution channels.

We were just like you well over a year ago. Got a cheap pc, tossed int a dual tunver video card (we have a roof top antenna) and with MSFT media center we now have dvr. We purchase a few cable shows on Amazon and I share some account passwords with friends and family for other "media".

Problem is, WMC is going to stop receiving support at some point. I'm hopeful Media Browser 3 will be the answer.

I'm pretty sure that XBMC can do live tv. Going to try it this weekend as my HDHomerun is being delivered tomorrow.

Are you using cable or just an hd antenna?

 

[Zasada]

I'm pretty sure that XBMC can do live tv. Going to try it this weekend as my HDHomerun is being delivered tomorrow.

Are you using cable or just an hd antenna?

I'm using an antenna but HDHomeruns come in both the ATSC (antenna) and CableCard variety.

 

[MCguidance]

I'm pretty sure that XBMC can do live tv. Going to try it this weekend as my HDHomerun is being delivered tomorrow.

Are you using cable or just an hd antenna?

I'm using an antenna but HDHomeruns come in both the ATSC (antenna) and CableCard variety.

The only thing I did incorrectly when I built my HTPC was install a Hauppauge Colossus (which is the only one that works with a DirecTV) instead of a traditional card. Now that I've cut cable I need to pull apart the unit and do that part over. Shouldn't take long, but it's annoying.

 

[culdeus]

Did some more reading yesterday. I ran across several articles discussing Intel NUC Mini PC systems. This concept intrigues me to an extent. Anyone use this?

 

[MCguidance]

Did some more reading yesterday. I ran across several articles discussing Intel NUC Mini PC systems. This concept intrigues me to an extent. Anyone use this?

What are you trying to do with it?

You seem pretty astute - why not build your own?

 

[culdeus]

Did some more reading yesterday. I ran across several articles discussing Intel NUC Mini PC systems. This concept intrigues me to an extent. Anyone use this?

What are you trying to do with it?

You seem pretty astute - why not build your own?

Thing is I need to come up with something that justifies being a traffic cop at a reasonable price. I'd like to serve content outside my home network, but it's not a requirement.

So far exactly what I want isn't quite there yet. I realize I could get it with a built probably 1k rig, but then you have to look at what that 1k get you vs. a series of set tops.

 

[MCguidance]

Did some more reading yesterday. I ran across several articles discussing Intel NUC Mini PC systems. This concept intrigues me to an extent. Anyone use this?

What are you trying to do with it?

You seem pretty astute - why not build your own?

Thing is I need to come up with something that justifies being a traffic cop at a reasonable price. I'd like to serve content outside my home network, but it's not a requirement.

So far exactly what I want isn't quite there yet. I realize I could get it with a built probably 1k rig, but then you have to look at what that 1k get you vs. a series of set tops.

I built my rig for for under 1k and it's WAY better than anything you can buy. I also have a Roku and a GoogleTV (don't ask) that work great.

 

[Zasada]

Installed my HDHomerun. Watching the Seahawks beat on the Saints live in XBMC.

I'm still no authority on this but from this experience simple streaming is really easy in XBMC from the HDHR. PVR functions look more tricky (need PC to act as a backend for that functionality, as far as I can tell). But live TV is cake.

The quality of the OTA picture is quite good. Appears even better than DirecTV.

 

[Politician Spock]

The quality of the OTA picture is quite good. Appears even better than DirecTV.

Satellite and cable companies have to compress the HD signal. Over The Air (OTA) signal is NOT compressed. OTA signal produces a better high definition picture than satellite and cable can.

Yes, by paying for satellite/cable you've been paying to view FREE stations in your area with less quality.

 

[Zasada]

Yes, by paying for satellite/cable you've been paying to view FREE stations in your area with less quality.

My wife is totally unwilling to give up DirecTV, unfortunately. So I just mess around with OTA for fun. And to have TV in one room where we don't have DirecTV.

 

[MCguidance]

Anyone have a good recommendation on a good dual tuner tv card? I am going to integrate live TV into WMC, but want PVR function. I'm only using OTA.

 

[matttyl]

Anyone have a good recommendation on a good dual tuner tv card? I am going to integrate live TV into WMC, but want PVR function. I'm only using OTA.

Anything made by Happalauge who however it is you spell it. I've had one for 5+ years in my HTPC with no real issues to speak of (aside from C-cast switching the channel lineup for their clear QAM stations). I haven't used one with OTA, though.

 

[Zasada]

Anyone have a good recommendation on a good dual tuner tv card? I am going to integrate live TV into WMC, but want PVR function. I'm only using OTA.

The HDHomeRun I just got functions like a tuner card but sits on your home network. Integrates with WMC. And it gives you access to the tuner across all your networked devices. I'm liking mine. Worth a look.

 

[BlueDredSo]

I'm usually pretty good when it comes to TV and computers, but reading through a few pages of this thread I've seen abbreviations I've never heard of before. Seems it can be pretty complicated or pretty easy. I'd rather go easy right now and if need be get into the dirty stuff later.

I was thinking of ditching FiOS TV, keeping the internet, and just buying a couple Roku players and a nice digital antenna to go in the attic. The only thing I'm really going to miss is the DVR. Maybe that's when this starts to get complicated? I really don't want to read through pages and pages of this thread to figure that out. What's the best way to get DVR capability with Roku and antenna hookup?

 

[MCguidance]

Anyone have a good recommendation on a good dual tuner tv card? I am going to integrate live TV into WMC, but want PVR function. I'm only using OTA.

The HDHomeRun I just got functions like a tuner card but sits on your home network. Integrates with WMC. And it gives you access to the tuner across all your networked devices. I'm liking mine. Worth a look.

Is it as simple as running the antenna to the HDHomeRun and then connecting the HDHomeRun to the router?