NAS/ WD mycloud or other options.

[Deleted member 38504]

Hi everybody,

I have a regular HD LED tv and WiFi at home. Currently I play my movie's etc through a philips blu ray player that has a USB for my HDD,connected to my AVR denon 520 BT.

I'm not really familiar was NAS or WD mycloud or ibox media center.

What I basically want to do is store all my music and movies "somewhere" and have it connected to my TV (which is not a smart tv mind u) and have it played there. That will help me get rid of the philips player I currently use. The more the GB space the better.

What do I need in order to do the same?

Thanks. Please be as non technical as u can, I'm really hopeless with this

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[sam9s]

Hi ...

Well just to access movies and music from a central location, I would say a simple file server like WD My Cloud would do. Easy to set up and will act as a very good basic storage location as well.

How ever if you want more control over the data you are storing, with more "typical" NAS features like data security, redundancy, backup, etc a Synology or QNAP NAS is recommended. With Synology, you will also have dedicated apps for accessing your media like Photostation, videostation and a comprehensive solution for all downloads needs with download station. You will also gain more technical features like VPN, Directory Services (for creating users and providing them rights) ... etc etc .....
There are truck many more features with synology, but this gives a basic Idea.
You can have a look at my Synology NAS thread for a better insight of the same

http://www.hifivision.com/home-thea...next-nas-project-powered-synology-ds413j.html

Eventually it will all boil down to what exactly you need and ofcouse your budget.

 

[hydra]

Celester340, I have a TPLink Router (TL-WR1043ND) that allows me to attach a single hard drive (2TB or less) via USB to it. I use it to share Movies and Music on my network.

I can share individual folders or the entire drive, and I can also add multiple users with folder limitations (I've not done this yet, but I see that this facility exists) across the network.

All I needed was to have music and movies accessible via network (ethernet and wi-fi). For that, this works perfectly.

This was the first time I set up anything like this and I was able to do it myself quite easily.

If you already have a Router at home, you might be better off looking for a WD Cloud Drive, but if you're looking to upgrade your router, this is a fairly solid option.

 

[Deleted member 38504]

Thanks sam9 basically that's all I need....what u wrote in the 2nd paragraph completely went over my head

Basically what I want to know also is how the media will be seen on my tv? I mean ok so I put some movies on the wd mycloud HDD, how does it stream to the tv because my tv does not have wifi.

Thanks again.

 

[Deleted member 38504]

Thanks hydra,

Same question I asked in my previous post.... how does the content come to my tv? Sorry if I sound dumb....I probably am!

 

[sam9s]

Thanks sam9 basically that's all I need....what u wrote in the 2nd paragraph completely went over my head

Basically what I want to know also is how the media will be seen on my tv? I mean ok so I put some movies on the wd mycloud HDD, how does it stream to the tv because my tv does not have wifi.

Thanks again.

Then I would suggest WD My Cloud, it will nicely serve all your purpose, without getting too technical. If your TV does not have wifi or LAN then the only way to make it access content stored on WD Cloud will be via some kind of media player connected to your home network. So basically your media player is connected to your TV via HDMI and also connected to your home lan via wifi or lan cable. Your WD Cloud will also be connected to your home lan via lan cable. So you can play all you media stored on your wd cloud via media player connected to your TV.
Hope that made things clear ...

 

[Deleted member 38504]

I have chrome cast connected to my AVR directly through which I watch Netflix etc. That won't do right? I need a player like a wd live tv? Or roku? Something like that?

Btw have a look at this please

iBox | The complete personal media ecosystem

It's developed by a friend of mine. Looks pretty awesome,any thoughts?

 

[sam9s]

I have chrome cast connected to my AVR directly through which I watch Netflix etc. That won't do right? I need a player like a wd live tv? Or roku? Something like that?

Btw have a look at this please

iBox | The complete personal media ecosystem

It's developed by a friend of mine. Looks pretty awesome,any thoughts?

chromecast would do if you want to stream content from your phone or computer via chrome plugin, so if you want chromcast to work with WD Cloud, you need to access media stored on it from your PC, and then use extensions to "stream" the same to your chromecast. Technically possible but a very crude way of doing it. Getting a media player is much better approach, specially when the prices are not that huge.

Coming to iBox, I have seen it, my friend has it, and I was not impressed by it at all (No offense), its basically an i3/i5 system enclosed in a nice chassis, with only a Kodi fork running.(I think openELEC), Comes with a Rii i8 kinda of a remote. The entire package is too expensive and does not perform up to standards.(IMHO ofcourse).
I have been building these kind of HTPCs since ages, hence I know in and out of these so called media boxes.

YOU are better off with an Celeron NUC for 10-12K. Or better something like Mi Box just for 70 USD, that should play most of your content off your WD cloud. If you want something powerful, then you can go for Himedia Q5, which will have Kodi plus all the usual Android advantages, but its around 150USD.

Advantage with Mi Box is that it is the only Box running, full Android TV OS after original Nexus player and Shield TV. I have shield TV and I can vouch, Android TV OS is something to look forward to. SInce Mi is running Android TV OS it also has chromecast inbuilt. So you can use your CC to another display.

 

[Deleted member 38504]

Thanks again Sam, ok so is this mi box available in India now? I thinks that's a good option for me.

 

[shibashis]

Does your bluray player have an ethernet port or wifi connectivity? If it does then get a NAS like the ones suggested above or one by Netgear. Setting up a NAS these days is pretty straight forward, especially if you go with something like WD Live. Assuming the NAS is connected to your home router, connect the bluray player to the router either with a cable or over the wireless network. You should now be able to access all your media stored in the NAS. Moreover the NAS will serve as a centralized storage for all your other devices as well, access the media from your Android or iOS devices/PC/Mac and play.

This is a fantastic solution if you have more than one device to access and play your collection, works great for you and the wife as well with user accounts and access permissions. You will not be bothered if she wants to watch something other than you or listen to something different....well yes you will be bothered because you signed up for that but you get my point.

 

[sam9s]

Thanks again Sam, ok so is this mi box available in India now? I thinks that's a good option for me.

Its available on Amazon.in but unfortunately very hiked price, you would be better off getting it exported from DX.com or geekbuying.

[Official International Version] XIAOMI Mi Box 4K H.265 Android Box

But do mail them first and clear all your doubts.

OR is someone is coming from US you get get it ordered from walmart.

 

[Deleted member 38504]

Thanks shibashis! My bluray has a Ethernet port but no wireless connectivity which is sad cause my router is 20 feet away and there is no way I can use the wire for wifi :-(

Another doh question.... do I have to connect the bluray to the wd live by wire? And in turn the wd live is connected to my home wifi through wireless?

Btw your last line made me fall down in splits lol

 

[sam9s]

Another doh question.... do I have to connect the bluray to the wd live by wire? And in turn the wd live is connected to my home wifi through wireless?

Btw your last line made me fall down in splits lol

You wont connect your BD player to WD My Cloud directly!, (I think thats what you mean by saying WD Live, as WD Live is a media player not file server), You would connect WD Cloud to your router and your Bluray player also to your router, either via wifi or LAN does not make a difference. Everything goes to your router to be able to talk each other and be a part of your home lan

 

[Deleted member 38504]

Yes sorry I meant wd cloud guess I'm back to square one cause I can't really connect my blu ray to my home router.....doesn't have built in wireless,just a wired port,and running a wire from the blu ray to my home router is not physically possible :-(

 

[grunthos]

Yes sorry I meant wd cloud guess I'm back to square one cause I can't really connect my blu ray to my home router.....doesn't have built in wireless,just a wired port,and running a wire from the blu ray to my home router is not physically possible :-(

I had the same issue with my old Xbox 360 which had only a LAN port and no WiFi

You can use something like this TP-Link TL-WA850RE 300Mbps Universal WiFi Range Extender (White) - Buy TP-Link TL-WA850RE 300Mbps Universal WiFi Range Extender (White) Online at Low Price in India - Amazon.in
(I bought this one personally, it works perfectly fine)

This gives you a LAN out to connect to non-WiFi devices (like your bluray player). So you can now play content off any network resource - a WD Cloud, your laptop, anything

However I think the interface for playing network content on a bluray player might be clunky (not nice looking), so you may want to consider a streamer like WD Live (which comes with WiFi)

 

[grunthos]

YOU are better off with an Celeron NUC for 10-12K. Or better something like Mi Box just for 70 USD, that should play most of your content off your WD cloud. If you want something powerful, then you can go for Himedia Q5, which will have Kodi plus all the usual Android advantages, but its around 150USD.

Advantage with Mi Box is that it is the only Box running, full Android TV OS after original Nexus player and Shield TV. I have shield TV and I can vouch, Android TV OS is something to look forward to. SInce Mi is running Android TV OS it also has chromecast inbuilt. So you can use your CC to another display.

I am curious about the Mi Box
From the reviews I read and the product page itself, it seems an "internet-only" box, that too linked to Google universe mostly
I did not see any mention or screenshots of playing content off the local LAN

 

[grunthos]

I have chrome cast connected to my AVR directly through which I watch Netflix etc. That won't do right? I need a player like a wd live tv? Or roku? Something like that?

On a pinch, you could manage with the Chromecast and WD Cloud
Once you have all your media stored on WD Cloud and default DLNA server is up and running
You can use the BubbleUPnP app on your phone to play content from your WD Cloud and cast it to your TV

However I am not sure what kind of audio this mode supports
So it might not be suitable for DTS HDMA type codecs (not sure, but logically there would be some restrictions)

Plus you would always need to use a phone/tablet to start and control playback, and I fear it would consume battery rather fast

So BubbleUPnP + Chromecast can be used as a temporary/backup solution, not a primary one

 

[Deleted member 38504]

OK so my main option is to get WD live and WD cloud?

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[grunthos]

OK so my main option is to get WD live and WD cloud?

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If you want to move to a centralized storage system, then yes you should buy
1) the My Cloud server (or something similar)
2) and a modem media player (WD Live or something similar)

I have been using a separate computer for my central storage for years and it is super convenient.
(it isn't a custom NAS, just a regular computer with large drives running Win10)
Apart from media, we keep all photos and other common stuff on it
It is accessible to all computers around the house - both our laptops, HTPC and even phones using DLNA (though don't use phones much)

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[sam9s]

Yes sorry I meant wd cloud guess I'm back to square one cause I can't really connect my blu ray to my home router.....doesn't have built in wireless,just a wired port,and running a wire from the blu ray to my home router is not physically possible :-(

Get a media player like Mi Box then, its the best all time solution and its not that expensive as well.