My question is rather broad, and I had a hard time deciding which forum to post in. But let me just start with what, in the best of all possible worlds, I'd like to accomplish:
- I'd like to have one central storage device (say, an NAS, or HDD attached to router) on which to store media.
- It would be great if I could stream that media to any device in the house. That's any of 4 TVs. I'd also like to get some kind of wireless speaker, such as the Logitech Z515 or the Creative D100, or something along those lines, for music playback at any location in the house or yard.
I haven't done a lot of streaming in the past, but my home network and proliferation of devices is getting awfully complex. I probably have more than 25 devices considering computers, laptops, 2 game systems, a wi-fi TV, 2 Roku boxes, Internet phone (Ooma), wireless printer, an AT&T MicroCell for cell phone signal, plus various cell phone and iPods. I've just ordered an Asus RT-N56u router to beef up my network. I'm getting Amazon Prime at Christmastime, and I'm thinking of ordering a higher level of bandwidth from Time Warner after Christmas (getting 10 Mb/s now, with 15, 50, and even 50 Mb/s packages available).
I guess my question (regarding streaming) boils down to: On which device does the decoding of the file take place? Is a video, for instance, decoded on the local machine and then streamed to the receiving device? Or is the file itself streamed and then decoded at the viewing/listening device?
Can my Roku boxes, for instance, stream media from a network device? Please forgive my ignorance on this question as my 2 Roku devices are actually still boxed up for Xmas so I haven't had a chance to experiment with them.
I'd also like to know more about DLNA - is this just basic Bluetooth technology? Are there NASs available that are equipped with DLNA?
I hope I've accomplished a bit more than rambling here. Anyway, all advice is appreciated.
-abs
- I'd like to have one central storage device (say, an NAS, or HDD attached to router) on which to store media.
- It would be great if I could stream that media to any device in the house. That's any of 4 TVs. I'd also like to get some kind of wireless speaker, such as the Logitech Z515 or the Creative D100, or something along those lines, for music playback at any location in the house or yard.
I haven't done a lot of streaming in the past, but my home network and proliferation of devices is getting awfully complex. I probably have more than 25 devices considering computers, laptops, 2 game systems, a wi-fi TV, 2 Roku boxes, Internet phone (Ooma), wireless printer, an AT&T MicroCell for cell phone signal, plus various cell phone and iPods. I've just ordered an Asus RT-N56u router to beef up my network. I'm getting Amazon Prime at Christmastime, and I'm thinking of ordering a higher level of bandwidth from Time Warner after Christmas (getting 10 Mb/s now, with 15, 50, and even 50 Mb/s packages available).
I guess my question (regarding streaming) boils down to: On which device does the decoding of the file take place? Is a video, for instance, decoded on the local machine and then streamed to the receiving device? Or is the file itself streamed and then decoded at the viewing/listening device?
Can my Roku boxes, for instance, stream media from a network device? Please forgive my ignorance on this question as my 2 Roku devices are actually still boxed up for Xmas so I haven't had a chance to experiment with them.
I'd also like to know more about DLNA - is this just basic Bluetooth technology? Are there NASs available that are equipped with DLNA?
I hope I've accomplished a bit more than rambling here. Anyway, all advice is appreciated.
-abs