Media Center Extenders

ViDuchie

Hi,

I'm new to this HTPC thing, but have been researching it for a good while now trying to figure out a few things.

My main concern foremost was how to have the Media Centre experience in a multiroom environment without the need to plonk an expensive PC in each room. Then I came across the idea of Media Centre extenders.

I see Linksys and D-Link are releasing v2 ones in the near future that will be compatible with vista.

Has anyone any experience of these, excluding the Xbox 360. Any issues with Codec's etc.

I want to use these with a wireless system. I'm guessing Draft N 802.11 is a min spec for HD streaming from the media centre. Anyone tried this?

Anyone have any better solutions for multiroom?

I'll be sticking with Vista Ultimate as the main computer. I'll hopefully be using this computer for some games too (maybe). If i'm using it for games will this effect the performance of the extenders as they try to connect to the server?


Cheers,

V

SouperComputer

Ill start off with my usual comment that if you can avoid wireless, please do. That includes N. The real-world throughput is not really suitable for multiple streams of time-sensitive data and its nowhere near the 77Mb/s that is promised. If you are running just one extender, then it might be worth a whirl, but honestly, try and go Cat 5/6 if you can.

My main concern foremost was how to have the Media Centre experience in a multiroom environment without the need to plonk an expensive PC in each room. Then I came across the idea of Media Centre extenders.

The short answer to this is that you dont have to place an expensive PCs in each room. But if you want HD in each room it is going to cost a bit more alright. What exactly do you want to have access to on these client machines.

Codec issues only really arise when you try to view your own stored content which may be in Xvid/Divx etc. In that case you can use transcode360 to take care of this on the fly.

Based on personal experience, if you are set on using Windows Media Centre, you should run with XB360's as extenders.

You should also look into Mediaportal with the TV engine plugin.

Games wont affect the extenders per say, its not particularly resource intensive, unless you are trasncoding. Best to go with a dual core system or above if you can.

pablo21

Any links for where to source extenders at a reasonable price? I've kitted my whole house with CAT6 for just the same purpose! I plan to use a media PC centrally and Extenders in the other rooms. All suggestions greatly appreciated!

Quote: "You should also look into Mediaportal with the TV engine plugin."


Whats that then??

SouperComputer

Mediaportal is a free alternative to media centre. The TVEngine allow you to distribute your live live TV across a network, like an MCE extnder. but its to PC's.

The PC's dont have to be big and ugly though, an intel-based Mac mini would do the trick as well as offerings from mini-itx.com

FrankGrimes

Hi Souper,

My brother-in-law wants to go for a similar setup and some of the niggling issues with MCE mean I think he should consider alternatives before committing.

Is Media Portal Windows compatible and would this mini-itx thin client be the man for the job? It seems only way of connecting to a TV is via VGA though, so that would rule out high-def playback, possibly not a deal breaker though.

SouperComputer

Is Media Portal Windows compatible

If by that you mean run on windows, the answer is yes. Beit 2000, Xp or Vista. In fact it only runs on windows.

in retrospect, the C-3 based MiniITX's arent really suitable for mediaportal. Its fairly resource intensive. Mac mini with windows, honestly is the way to go. Looks great and runs well.

VGA is fully capable of carrying a HD signal with acceptable quality. But DVI/HDMI is better.

To be honest its REALLY hard to pick which software to use as none of them generally meet all one your needs.

Anyway, download mediaportal, play with it and see what you think.

Whats niggling you/your brother with MCE?