[Jim]

Due to the impending arrival of the new TV, I want to set up some sort of home network media type thing.
I've got my main computer, which I want to keep separate as a computer on its own (ie not in the lounge) and the laptop on WLAN. I have also got another slave machine or 2 which I could use but would rather not.

Ideally it needs to be as minimal and cost as little as possible. I want to be able to download the stuff I want to watch/listen to on the main computer and then be able to control and watch the content on either the bedroom or lounge TV and on the laptop. Bearing in mind I know very little about networking, whats the best way to go about this?

Cheers yo

would be handy if you could link to any hardware I will be needing on either
www.aria.co.uk
www.microdirect.co.uk

[slackline]

I'm pretty sure your going to have to rule out doing things wirelessly unless you have the super-dooper new-fangled 802.11n spec on your wireless router, laptop and any network cards as the bandwidth just won't be there for the amount of data required for decent quality video.

I have networked file-systems setup and trying to watch video on the laptop from the server even when I'm sat in the same room as the router (which is 802.11b/g and supposedly 54Mbps) it just doesn't cut it.

Whilst your not after a PVR you might find some of the hardware advice and specs for MythTV useful for pointers, as you want your media center to do all of the video and music(?) stuff, just not record TV.

[Falling Down]

I ended buying a mac Mini, wireless keyboard and mouse to run through the telly - its brilliant.

[Jim]

Yeah, I think I'm going to have to set up a slave machine in the front room.
I've got a 2 gig P4 on a microatx board knocking about, I'll just get a small case for it and that should do it.
How should I go about setting up the network, do I need some sort of network hub?

[andy_e]

i've got a shuttle case knocking around if you want it which should fit your motherfuckerboard

[nik at work]

Not really what you're after as you seem to want video but I heartily reccomend Roku/Soundbridge music players. I think there brilliant and look ace and work well wirelessly. Obviously they only do music and web radio so not actually what you want but hey-ho.

Oooo, actually thinking about it I've set up mine wirelessly so I might be able get my WEP key off that...

[underground]

Not really what you're after as you seem to want video but I heartily reccomend Roku/Soundbridge music players. I think there brilliant and look ace and work well wirelessly. Obviously they only do music and web radio so not actually what you want but hey-ho.

Oooo, actually thinking about it I've set up mine wirelessly so I might be able get my WEP key off that...

Absolutely! I got one not long ago and it's the best bit of kit I ever bought. The Pinnacle Homemusic (like the old Roku M400 apparently) was only about £40 from play.com. No criticisms really, apart from the small display taking a bit of time to scroll and hence display all the info. And it can't be attached to a wired network, wireless only - but it hasn't caused any issues and my signal isn't the strongest.

The Slim Devices Squeezebox is the dog's, apparently, but a lot dearer.

[Jim]

has anyone used anything like this:
http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Electronics/Media+Players/Hauppauge+MediaMVP+-+Network+Media+TV+Center+?productId=28351

[fatdoc]

I ended buying a mac Mini, wireless keyboard and mouse to run through the telly - its brilliant.

I've done the same.... works brill!

[Falling Down]

I ended buying a mac Mini, wireless keyboard and mouse to run through the telly - its brilliant.

I've done the same.... works brill!

We've never had a 'home' computer before and always had to use our work PC's for personal use.  I'm surprised what a different and more relaxing experience going on line or editing photo's it is when (a) not sat at a desk in my home office (b)  not using a PC that has work stuff all over the desktop and (c) using a Mac... I wish I'd done this years ago.

[Bubba]

I have an old Xbox i keep meaning to convert to a media center

[dobbin]

I have a hacked Xbox running Xbox media center and its brilliant. As Jim proposes, I download stuff on my real computer and walk leisurely downstairs (in my smoking jacket) where I can browse the computer from xbox media centre. Whatever codec the film has been encoded with, it just works - brilliant, and, its on the telly.

Jim, slack__line is right, 802.11G is not up to video. It will cause the stream to stutter at best. 802.11n has still to be ratified, so consider that you would have to buy into a proprietary technology which has a greater chance of short term obsolescence. Wired is the way where video streaming is concerned. Even 10Mbps works better than 802.11G. I would explain, but those of you still reading would probably drop dead. 

Consider one of these if you are allergic to cabling.

[Jim]

I don't mind the cabling at all, infact I prefer it.
Just seen these over on AV forums
http://popcornhour.com/
looks to be ideal for what I want

[Bubba]

I have a hacked Xbox running Xbox media center and its brilliant.

Dobbin, did you mod it yourself?

If so, could i borrow your action replay and game save assuming you did it that way?

[underground]

I don't mind the cabling at all, infact I prefer it.
Just seen these over on AV forums
http://popcornhour.com/
looks to be ideal for what I want

At 40 quid that Hauppage thing has got to be worth a bash - I may well try one actually, even if just to save the aggro of burning a DVD from upstairs only to find it won't play.

The Popcornhour thing looks rather like a thing that Snazio do: http://www.snazio.com/ The Net DVD Cinema jobby looks ace, as it can playback existing DVDs aswell. In fact with one of those and a surround system I'd consider having it as the only gadget in the lounge.

It's no good suggesting if you don't have BT Broadband, but mine came with a pair of these

[Jim]

Yeah, that network through the plug sockets looks well good but quite expensive, I'll probably just run some cables.

I think its going to have to be a HTPC for me. Being reading lots of threads on avforums and my brain is about to explode.

This looks very good tho
http://www.projecthtpc.co.uk/

My next concern is what wireless keyboard to get and can you get them with built in mouse pads?

[Jim]

This is another option.
Damn it, too much stuff to choice from

[Jim]

How do I go about setting up a network?
Do I need a hub as I will have more than 1 input on the main computer (network & router LAN)
I have no idea how these things work.
What sort of cables will I need, normal or crossover?

[dobbin]

Get a switch not a hub. A hub is a repeater - it asks every connected station whether it is the destination of the data, whilst a switch knows what is connected to its ports, and switches the traffic direct to the right one.

if you have more than two networked devices you will need a switch. Your network will form a star, with the switch as the center point. You will need normal cables - crossovers are for connecting two stations together directly - a switch performs this function.

[Jim]

Turns out my router has an intergrated switch in it, sweet.
Just a shame I only just discovered this after I bought a switch. Hope they take it back

HTPC will be up and running tonight 

[dobbin]

Good work. Am intrigued to find out how you get on. Am contemplating buying a PS3. The reason being - you can run linux on it, and it has BluRay. This could be my media center.... Slack__line, did you know this? sounds fab.

Bubs, whats mine is yours, what is it you want? (yes, its all my own work. My soldering is so bad its only held down with masking tape)

[slackline]

This could be my media center.... Slack__line, did you know this? sounds fab.

Yeah, I'd seen a few threads in the forums for the distro I use (Gentoo) about installing and running on the PS3.  Does sound interesting, and probably a smart way of getting MythTV onto a funky box.

There seems to be a couple of customised distros out there specifically for it.  More pointers at the Wikipedia : Linux for PS 3 article.

[Jim]

that myth tv looks pretty sweet. I presume its only for linux.
Was thinking about wether its worth getting a tv card for the HTPC and running everything through that instead of using the tv for DTV.
Probably start looking into it as my machine develops.
The main thing I have noticed is when building a custom pc as small as possible is thats all the components aren't really designed to be so close together and its been a bit of a fiddle getting them all in.
I would probably look at buying a pre built small box in the future or a dedicated media center rather than a pc.
Quality looks good despite running it through rgb, I plan to upgrade the motherboard with an onboard dvi out so I can put it through the hdmi port and a digital out sound card to run through my DAC.
Just sorting out my network and re-installing windows on all the machines to clean everything up, hopefully be fully operational later tonight.
Still need to buy a remote and wireless keyboard with touchpad although I was thinking of getting a wireless game controler or similar and using that instead of the remote

[slackline]

that myth tv looks pretty sweet. I presume its only for linux.

Not in a strict sense as it works under Mac OS X as well, but not windows.

Although OS X is based on BSD, an implementation of UNIX, as is GNU/Linux so in essence they're highly similar.  In a loose sense its only for *NIX-based systems.  Apologies for the pednatry

If you've a "spare" box that you want to play around with you could try the KnoppMyth distro which runs the front end on the fly from CD and can install the backend "in a few minutes" according to the wikipedia.  Another alternative is Mythbuntu which is based on the popular Ubuntu distro and apparently has good community support.

[Jim]

If it turns out to be the best solution for me then I don't see any reason not to instal linux on the HTPC.
will there be any problems being networked and running stuff from a windows pc?