[jdiddy3175]

Hello All,


I am looking to get some advice/feedback on a proposed setup for Content Streaming I am about to embark upon. I have rarely posted on this forum but always find the threads informative and helpful.


I just bought a condo in Chicago and I am getting ready to tackle a few big projects --- Home Automation and Full Home Media Streaming among them. For the purposes of this thread, I'll focus on the Media Server/Content Streaming...

Let me start out with my objective: Be able to stream the media from my main computer in my office (i7, 4770k, 16gb 1833 DDR3 ram, Radeon 280x GPU, SSD for my OS, 2 TB 7200 RPM HDD for media) to my living room and master bedroom.


I have a Mohu Leaf HD Antenna I am planning on connecting to my computer for OTA High Defnition content and recording (sidenote: could I theoretically pay for one "cable box" and with a tv tuner added to my pc record and stream that to multiple rooms simultaneously for the price of one box?)... and would like one HUB that could stream that content to the other rooms if possible. (I am not sure if I am explaining that correctly, but essentially have one place where my OTA antenna is coming in -- my computer -- and be able to direct that media out to the other televisions in my home).

Components:

Already Own


-Media Server (my computer) I have Win 7 Ultimate 64 Bit installed

-Mohu Leaf HD OTA Antenna

-PS3

-Two SMART TVs

-Docsis 3.0 Surfboard Modem (w/ 50 mbps service)

Planning to Purchase


-NETGEAR Powerline 500 Mbps 4-port Network Adapter

-Trying to decide between getting 2 Ceton Echos or 2 4GB XBox 360s (you can get them for $60-$100 on various deal sites now)...I guess I could get one of each. I am assuming there is no way to make my PS3 work in this capacity...any other suggestions?


Only other thing to consider is I am planning on paying for MLB.tv and the ability to use that in my living room is important.


I have seen a few comments on WME not being able to play certain types of files...is this true and are there ways around it? I still want to be able to play mp4, mkv, etc.


Thanks so much for your advice. I'll be checking back quite frequently to answer any questions that I may not have thought of in advance.



(Edit: I am open to buying/trying different components than the ones listed above...please suggest away)

 

[Alx330]

windows media center is a dead end so I think thats a bad idea to be jumping on at this point in time, it may still work but there is no development any more.


An alternate option is go buy Roku 3 set top boxes, then install two things on the PC, NextPVR (for TV) and Plex media server .


The Roku have a Plex client so by installing Plex media server on the PC you will get a nice GUI for all your streaming media, Plex on the PC will convert everything on the fly (if not compatible) so no need to worry about files types, Roku play h.264 mkv/mp4 natively.


For TV there is a NextPVR plugin for Plex that plays back your recordings at least in Plex and the developer has live TV working in latest version.


Roku also have a mlb.tv channel.