Wireless Streaming HD Content.

[rgill90]

Hi All

I've got a number of mkv's with HD content on an external USB portable harddrive - I usually plug this into my macbook pro and using plex I play them through my panasonic plasma. Trouble is the disk is getting rather full so i'm in the market for some new storage. I thought about getting a NAS to plug into my Wireless G router then stream content via the router. Is this possible? Does anyone else have a similar setup to what i'm trying to achieve? If so what equipment should I look into and are there any inherent pitfalls to doing this?

Any help / advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

 

[scene]

The biggest issue you'll have is actually streaming over a 54Mbps Wireless G link. If your router is a significant distance away from your player (the Mac), you're unlikely to get much more than 11Mbps. In which case, HD streaming may be a dream. You would be better to consider hardwiring your PC to the network, or using homeplugs. You might fair better with Wireless N, but that has quite a high dropoff rate with distance.

 

[rgill90]

Thanks a lot for that reply - the distance is not too far away but since i want to 'future proof' the solution, homeplugs would be a good idea. Definitley something i'll consider.

So say i went with homeplugs, do you think it'll be a relativley hassle free operation playing back the mkvs from the NAS to the macbook? (Provided i setup the NAS correctly, etc) Its mainly temporamental stuttering / drop outs I'm afriad of!

 

[scene]

Does your macbook pro and plex need to come into the equation? If you're going to play the movies back on your Panny plasma anyway, why not use a dedicated media streamer, something like a WD TV Live (which should support .mkv) and hardwire that to your router (or even NAS). Save on the expense of the homeplugs and use straight CAT5e / CAT6 cable...

 

[rgill90]

that would be a good solution but cat 5 cabling at the mo isn;t an option where I am which is why i'm wanting to go down the wireless / homeplug route....a wired solution as u suggest will be the ideal solution if i move tho.