WDTV Live question

trasver

Hi all

I've searched a good bit but can't find an answer online to my problem so no better place to ask than here!

I've currently got standard NTL broadband which I've made wireless using an apple airport express.

The NTL comes in in the sitting room and my "media centre" a mac mini is upstairs in a bedroom and connects to the internet via the airport wireless. All my media is on an external harddrive connected to this computer.

I have a WDTV live (brilliant!) connected to the TV downstairs. I know I can access my harddrive upstairs if I purchase a USB dongle for the WDTV which will allow me to see it through the wireless network.

Is there anyway I could access this harddrive by connecting the WDTV to the NTL router via an ethernet cable as opposed to wirelessly or is the only option going wireless?

Thanks for any advice, my understanding of networks doesn't extend this far!!

Simon

Voodu Child

trasver wrote: »

Hi all

I've searched a good bit but can't find an answer online to my problem so no better place to ask than here!

I've currently got standard NTL broadband which I've made wireless using an apple airport express.

The NTL comes in in the sitting room and my "media centre" a mac mini is upstairs in a bedroom and connects to the internet via the airport wireless. All my media is on an external harddrive connected to this computer.

I have a WDTV live (brilliant!) connected to the TV downstairs. I know I can access my harddrive upstairs if I purchase a USB dongle for the WDTV which will allow me to see it through the wireless network.

Is there anyway I could access this harddrive by connecting the WDTV to the NTL router via an ethernet cable as opposed to wirelessly or is the only option going wireless?

Thanks for any advice, my understanding of networks doesn't extend this far!!

Simon

Yeah, you can connect the WD TV Live to your router via an ethernet cable. That would be the way a lot of people use it since wireless isn't built in.

Then you just have to set up network sharing for your media on the Mac Mini upstairs. Not sure how easy that is as im not a mac user, but should be easy enough.

The only other thing is to make sure the whole shebang is fast enough to stream your media. ie check your routers wireless speed, and also the wireless speed of your Mac Mini.

trasver

Cheers for that Voodu, makes sense.

I've just checked and unfortunately my modem only has one ethernet port. I presume I could connect via a small router with at lest two ports (one for airport express and one for WDTV)?

So just to make sure I understand you correct...even though the computer is connected to the wireless network the fact that the wireless network is connected to the "wired" modem then once the WDTV is somehow connected to this "wired" network then once I fiddle around with my sharing on the mac/external HD all should work fine?!

thanks for your help

Simon

Voodu Child

trasver wrote: »

I've just checked and unfortunately my modem only has one ethernet port. I presume I could connect via a small router with at lest two ports (one for airport express and one for WDTV)?

Ah. I assumed you had at least a router with 4-port switch. What is your setup exactly?

trasver

So did I! It was only when I checked it I realised that it had a single point.

So there's the NTL cable which comes out of the wall and into the modem. I've run the ethernet cable from the modem into the airport express which hosts the wireless network around the house and is "boosted" by other airport expresses for a wireless music network.

The "media centre" upstairs isn't wired into the network but connects wirelessly via the airport express network. It's to this computer that the external hd is connected.

While the modem has only one port I do have a 4-port switch that I could use so I'm thinking taking a cable from the modem into the switch and then one into the WDTV and one into the airport express should fix the problem of not having extra ports on the modem?

Thanks!