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I want to stream my movies to xbmc ATV2 with the pc off

C

Che Castro

macrumors 603
Original poster
May 21, 2009
6,009
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Im assuming the ATV3 wont have usb port either

Ok so all my movies are on a external hardrive

I dont want to use iTunes or have the computer on to watch movies that are on my external hardrive

So my apple tv is already jailbroken with xbmc

I have this wifi router
D-Link DIR-655 Extreme-N Gigabit Wireless Router http://amzn.com/B000LIFB7S

It has a usb port, but it only works with the computer on


I want to stream my extarnal hardrive movies to my apple tv with the computer off

Do i need another wifi router with usb port that works with pc off

Or do i need a nas external hardrive

Or both ?

Im new to this

I want the cheapest possible way to do this


I want to get rid of my wd tv live & ps3 & just use ATV2/3 for movies
 
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All you need is a router with a built-in UPnP AV media server, something like the Cisco E3000 ($80 on Newegg), I don't think the Dlink you got have one. (there are many routers with UPnP server, you pick the one that you want)

With the built-in UPnP AV media server, XMBC (on the ATV) will see the External HD and you can watch all your content.
 
If you want to stream movies with a computer off you will need one of two things. You will either need a NAS drive or a router that can turn a hard drive into a NAS.

I have an external attached to my airport extreme and can stream movies from the hard drive to the appletv 2 without computers on. XMBC is pretty easy to setup as far as finding shared drives, but you will need a NAS or router that supports external hard drives.

Hope that helps.
 
That cisco e3000 is that the cheapest router with USB ?

My main products are hardwire ,i only need wifi for my iphone/ipad
 
And for performance is it better to get a nas drive or the router ?

Doe it matter
 
Che Castro said:
That cisco e3000 is that the cheapest router with USB ?

My main products are hardwire ,i only need wifi for my iphone/ipad
Click to expand...

I don't know, I just gave one that i know of the top of my head, you need to look for the one that fit your budget/needs, look for local retailers, open boxes, coupons, whatever, as longs as it had a USB + UPnP server you are good.

You can look into something call NAS Adapter (that will add an uPnP server to your router)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812174007

Or you can also look into getting a hacked firmare into your router and enable NAS on that USB port, you need to research this, I am not sure if there is a hacked firmware available for that router.

EDIT: *****************************

Quick search on google and it seen like your router should do it, make sure you are running the "LATEST" firmware on it and go the advanced Tab and enable UPnP server.

http://www.avforums.com/forums/netw...do-you-enable-upnp-d-link-dir-655-router.html
 
So my router can do this already with the pc off ?

I tried it a few months back and i had to install a program on my pc & that program had to be running in order for it to work

But ill try it again when i get home
 
Che Castro said:
So my router can do this already with the pc off ?

I tried it a few months back and i had to install a program on my pc & that program had to be running in order for it to work

But ill try it again when i get home
Click to expand...

I don;t have one, but it looks to me like it does.

Dlink-655-upnp.gif
 
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Would the cisco e3000 be able to handle multiple external hard drives if you use an USB hub?
 
you may want to choose a NAS over a USB router connected HDD based on what your needs are.

i went for a NAS because I wanted to watch movies/tv on my aptv2 with the pc off. however I wanted to listen to music on my Sonos, backup my really important music/movies and access the content from any device (tv,iphone,ipad,pc,laptop,remotely).

remember usb isnt all that fast when compared to a wired connection so you may have trouble watching HD content over the usb option.

good luck with your choices!
 
ssgrif said:
you may want to choose a NAS over a USB router connected HDD based on what your needs are.

i went for a NAS because I wanted to watch movies/tv on my aptv2 with the pc off. however I wanted to listen to music on my Sonos, backup my really important music/movies and access the content from any device (tv,iphone,ipad,pc,laptop,remotely).

remember usb isnt all that fast when compared to a wired connection so you may have trouble watching HD content over the usb option.

good luck with your choices!
Click to expand...
Ok. I'm thinking e3000 with hub, and a couple externals. Then in the future pick up a NAS. The internet at my house taps out at 1.5 so being able to access this content "anywhere" isn't much of an option, and I don't have very much HD content.
 
ok i tried to hook up an external drive to my dlink 655 , i had upnp already checked in the router settings

but i still get nothing


it doesnt work unless you have a program called shareport running on your computer

im just going to buy that cisco 3000 router

and sell the dlink 655

----------
ssgrif said:
you may want to choose a NAS over a USB router connected HDD based on what your needs are.

i went for a NAS because I wanted to watch movies/tv on my aptv2 with the pc off. however I wanted to listen to music on my Sonos, backup my really important music/movies and access the content from any device (tv,iphone,ipad,pc,laptop,remotely).

remember usb isnt all that fast when compared to a wired connection so you may have trouble watching HD content over the usb option.

good luck with your choices!
Click to expand...

so if i get a nas like this
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digit...GMJ2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1331072958&sr=8-2

and hook it up to my d`link 655 via ethernet, it would be better than buying the cisco 3000 router?

i want to be able to stream 720p


and with the wd nas i could access the videos from my iphone ?
 
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you want DLNA, not UPnP. UPnP in most routers is just used so that computers on the network can set up port forwarding etc automatically. Nothing to do with media streaming
 
mrklaw said:
you want DLNA, not UPnP. UPnP in most routers is just used so that computers on the network can set up port forwarding etc automatically. Nothing to do with media streaming
Click to expand...

Don't know much about upnp or dlna, but I know that xbmc supports upnp and at least one free app in the app store supports it as well.
 
maturola said:
Don't make it more complicated that it should be, get your router on craiglist get some mula from it, and get yourself the E3000, that will work 100% guarantee. ;)
Click to expand...

Yes.

I will guarantee you that E3000 will make everything work easy and smoothly.

Not sure why anyone would want to make it more complicated than it is.

Cisco E3000 + external HD + Apple TV 2 = simple wifi streaming media center.

And if you're ever on the road and have access to wifi, you can just bring your ATV2 along, turn on the FTP server feature in E3000, and stream files in your external HD at home anywhere you go.
 
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