Setting up a Wireless Home Network for music & dvds

15peter20

Hi,

Could someone pls give me some advice on a framework for a wireless home network. Here's what I would like:

- To be able to store music digitally on a seperate hard drive or laptop
- To be able to access this music easily on via a familiar UI such as iTunes or Windows Media Player
- To use a device (Squeezbox?) that can utilise DAB radio and Spotify
- To stream wirelessly to speakers in my basement, lounge and kitchen
- Possibly use the storage device to also store films to play on my TV

Basically, I just need to unify what I have currently, simplify and be able to access digital media whenever I want. I also use an iPod so would like some portability so would maybe need to Sync my music library with a portable device.

I currently have a hotch-potch of hardware:

- An old laptop running Windows XP SP2 with 40Gb hard drive - could wipe and use for Storage/Server purposes, maybe replacing Windows with Linux??
- A current laptop running XP SP3 with a Dual Core and 40GB - my main laptop
- An ageing seperates system (Cambridge Audio entry level Amplifier)
- A Playstation 3 (slim)
- An iPod Nano

My budget to upgrade - approx £350-400

I have a vague idea I might buy the following: Squeebox (which?), a standalone hard drive (say 500GB), an HTC Desire HD as a portable music player.

Sorry for such a long winded post. Hopefully someone can give me some ideas as to what I can do - basically I use Spotify a lot and would like an easy way of playing my existing Mp3 library easily and streaming it to other devices (TV, Speakers etc...) while using my existing Amplifier.



Thanks

nicklouse

by a NAS ( which will depend on your playback device). and stream from that.

I would Netgear ready NAS with Squeezebox server on it. A Squeezebox Touch for the main room. a Squeeze box radio for tunes elsewhere. ( stand alone or pluged in to some amp/speakers).

I run a ready nas, a touch (main system) and a old SB3 conected to some powered speakers. and the iPhone with iPeng installed to control it all.

15peter20

OK thanks. So, if I've got this right i'd need:

- ReadyNas to store the data
- Squeezbox Touch to stream the data - does this plug into my Amp?
- Squeezbox Radio to stream DAB Radio or my own music files from the NAS for another room (standalone or through another Amp.

I'm almost certainly going for an HTC so I assume Android also has apps that can control the system?

My reckoning then:
ReadyNAS - approx £150
Squeezbox Touch - £180
Squeezebox Radio - £100

Maybe a little over budget but there's always Ebay I guess

nicklouse

the touch can connect to amp or dac or..... powered speakers

the Squeezebox radio does not do DAB or FM. but will do just the same as the touch. music on the NAS or any net radio. (it hs a speaker and can be battery powered that makes it a "radio").

nubenotforlong

Hi,

Not sure about the squeeze box, but just never used it. I do some similar but use iTunes/windows media centre on the computer with the db/files on my NAS. I have used a thecus NAS from scan.co.uk. Very cheap and reliable.

My advice however, is hardwire some of the kit. Wifi is great, but I have kids and when streaming movies from a wifi NAS through a wifi player connected to my tv it gets choppy. And very choppy when the kids are on YouTube!

Hardwire the NAS and the problems have gone. Hardwire the player and the buffeting is 5 seconds not 2 mins.

And I have wireless N, but walls and crazy stuff like that.

Tony

Warwickshire Whizzer

As a quick (and free) start, install PS3 media server on which ever machine you will use as a server. You can than access video and music files through the xmb of the PS3. Tversity is nicer looking slicker interface on the omputer and gives you access to online tv and radio stations but the latest beta of PS3 media server has iTunes playlist support...

markmod

I use hd av gigabit quality speed plugs to run my network through my household electricity mains... The same as a high speed hardwired network and completely unaffected by kids, family surfing the net etc.

I use an old G4 mac as a media server and run Twonky to serve my media files to various devices around the home... Hd tv, iPad, iPod, iPhone, network enabled DVD player etc. Works a treat!

Dunkindiver

Check out the Apple Airport Express, really good for streaming wirelessly from iTunes to your Amp (works with windows)
You can also use your iphone as a remote control to control iTunes on your PC!

http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/fea ... rplay.html

davis

If you're looking to use Spotify from a Squeezebox, the Spotify plugin only works on PC architecture; this means that the ReadyNAS probably isn't an option. I also suspect Squeezebox Server would be a little bit slow from a ReadyNAS (but I've never tried it, so I could well be wrong).
Only Spotify premium is available, but it works brilliantly.

I use an Ubuntu box with a big disk for serving audio via multiple Squeezeboxen (rip everything to FLAC!) and also for storing video.
Watching video isn't yet ideal, as I've yet to find anything that allows e.g. my PS3 to play my DVD rips (deCSS-ed VOBs) at all, let alone with the funky DVD upscaling. I usually use a Popcorn Hour for playing video, and it works with just about everything, struggling only with some of the DVD .iso rips or similar...
I'd probably use a PC running Geexbox were I to do the video frontend again.

iainf72

Get a black Apple TV (99 quid) - Jail break it with Greenpois0n, install XBMC. And then spend some cash on a NAS device.