How good is your home media setup/network?

I recently started using PLEX instead of PS3 Media Server to stream videos from my PC to my PS3 (hooked up to the big TV in my bedroom) and, while not perfect, it does the job. I've been looking into getting a cheap PC to use as a PLEX server that I can leave on permanently, and then just stream stuff straight to my ipad at work or even my phone. A couple of people suggested a mac mini for this, but even a pre-owned mac mini is going to rack up a somewhat hefty bill, one that I'd rather avoid even if it means the somewhat tedious task of transferring files over manually. Ideally I'd like to be able to download videos straight onto an always-on server that I can then stream to various televisions through PLEX, or a PLEX-like alternative. A friend at work just started using Chromecast for exactly this and he says it's working out pretty well for him as that also works directly with PLEX, though I have a feeling that I'd just constantly forget it and lose it.

Anyone else have an easy and affordable way of moving and streaming media around home networks/to other devices?

Obligatory mod comment: Discussion of illegal activities is forbidden, so don't start posting about how you're streaming all those great movies that you illegally downloaded. I have seen enough spambots in my time to know all those sites already. So keep it clean, folks.

I read your entire post and I'm fascinated that I have no idea what you're talking about. Servers? Streaming? Man, watching videos has become serious business!

I... have a computer that I watch things on, and listen to music on. If I want those things on my mobile phone, I connect it with a USB cord and move those things onto it.

My mobile phone does the trick for watching/listening in the bathroom, in the gym, in my car, on the bus, and at work. My computer is for entertainment at home.

Am I a peasant?

I stream about 99% of my media from online services like Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu for video and Google Play Music Unlimited for music. I absolutely hate having any dvd's around, and now I don't even want to bother managing digital media files (the only ones I have are some workout videos).

As for my setup, I have my PC hooked up to my living room TV as well as a chromecast connected to it when I don't want to turn the computer on. And I have my PS3 in my bedroom.

I've gone through several iterations of Plex server setups over the last couple of years. Currently I'm using a MacBook Air with everything on an external hard drive and noSleep as my server, and a couple of Roku as clients. I have the Mac hooked up to an N router with a Thunderbolt ethernet adapter, but beyond that all my streaming is wireless. It works, but if I turn the quality settings on the clients up too high it leads to some pretty bad network congestion. In the past I tried using an old Toshiba laptop as a Plex server and it worked fine as long as nothing I was playing required transcoding. That was a huge pain though and very time consuming.

I don't have a great way of moving large files around, though. Most of the Blu-Rays I rip end up in the 5gb range, I usually just use VNC to manage files on the server and then the Plex web interface from whatever computer I'm using to work with my collection once the files are in place. I've thought about using applescript to monitor folders and then automatically move and rename files, but it only takes a few seconds to do it manually so I never set it up. Maybe one day.

@sweep:

I've gone through several iterations of Plex server setups over the last couple of years. Currently I'm using a MacBook Air with everything on an external hard drive and noSleep as my server, and a couple of Roku as clients. I have the Mac hooked up to an N router with a Thunderbolt ethernet adapter, but beyond that all my streaming is wireless. It works, but if I turn the quality settings on the clients up too high it leads to some pretty bad network congestion. In the past I tried using an old Toshiba laptop as a Plex server and it worked fine as long as nothing I was playing required transcoding. That was a huge pain though and very time consuming.

I don't have a great way of moving large files around, though. Most of the Blu-Rays I rip end up in the 5gb range, I usually just use VNC to manage files on the server and then the Plex web interface from whatever computer I'm using to work with my collection once the files are in place. I've thought about using applescript to monitor folders and then automatically move and rename files, but it only takes a few seconds to do it manually so I never set it up. Maybe one day.

uhmmm... I have an hdmi cord from my pc to my tv and I use xbmc. So... yeah...

All I have to say that I have a TV aerial balanced upon a tower consisting of an empty PS3 box, a tub I semi-regularly throw up in and expensive, hardly used textbooks.

Oh, I guess I have a Roku box on constant Giant Bomb duty.

I have my PC and PS3 hooked up to the same HDCP compliant 21" PC monitor, audio is patched through three different sets of stereo speakers, I mostly use the internal speakers in my tape deck, which is right behind the monitor, but also have some beefier speakers hooked up to an 70's JVC receiver for the time of day when I don't have to care about my neighbors, and a couple of 90's desktop speakers by the bed I use when I want to listen to stuff at night.

I'm fine with the setup, though I've been holding off on getting a PS4 since it doesn't support analog audio.

I dicked around with this just to see if I could do it and I just used my PS3 to stream over wifi from my PC by setting up a sharing network and it did the job well enough for me. Only downside I ran into is that it listed all of my movies and TV shows in one giant list that was hard to sort through, and not everything showed up because of file type/codec problems. I believe that could be fixed if I had stuff sorted better, but it's kind of just saved on my PC in a couple big folders.

I usually just use my HDMI output to my TV for anything my PS3 can't stream on its own. Biggest thing recently is Youtube, Giant Bomb and Funimation's anime streaming service - since for whatever reason they haven't followed Crunchyroll and produced a console app. Audio is mostly just my headset. As an apartment dweller I don't feel that purchasing a real sound system is a good use of my money.

@fisk0 nice old school setup there :)

@fisk0 said:

Meh, grab a TOSLINK to RCA adapter and you're good.

My "home media setup" consists of a Chromecast on each TV. Everything I watch anymore is streamed from the internet, either through native Google Cast-compatible apps, or Chrome tab-casting as a last resort.