Atlast my apartment situation is confirmed.

 

I have a router downstairs. My HTPC is upstairs.

 

I have three options as I can see:

 

1) Place the unraid server downstairs next to the router

problem: flatmate doesn't want it in the lounge looking out of place.

the usb stick can easily get fucked with by visitors.

 

2) Ethernet Cable from router to server upstairs

problem: wires, drilling since its rented accomadation. a lot of effort.

 

3) Repeater/Secondary Router

problems: well, more just the lack of knowledge where i'm hoping i can get some guidance. will a repeater/router provide the same strength? I stream 720p mkvs seem to be a bit intensive/harder to stream at home but its all dandy so far.

 

its an open apartment so the secondary router would be i'd say about 10-20 metres away from the real router.

 

If so... what type of router/repeater shall I buy? Would any do? I see second-hand ones going on ebay etc. I don't mind buying new and having warantee if its fairly reasonable £0-50 range.

 

 

Thanks guys, I need help ASAP cos I'm moving in soon so want to get everything ordered today/tommorow.

I suppose it isn't possible to move the router upstairs?

 

Josh

Nope, sadly only one place to put it.

Atlast my apartment situation is confirmed.

 

2) Ethernet Cable from router to server upstairs

problem: wires, drilling since its rented accomadation. a lot of effort.

 

3) Repeater/Secondary Router

problems: well, more just the lack of knowledge where i'm hoping i can get some guidance. will a repeater/router provide the same strength? I stream 720p mkvs seem to be a bit intensive/harder to stream at home but its all dandy so far.

 

If #1 is not an option, I would definitely go for #2. However, if you are not willing to run cat5-cables and if you have coax (tv-antenna) in place, you could use an Ethernet to Coax adapter between your router and NAS located upstairs. Check this: http://www.missingremote.com/review/actiontec-ethernet-over-coax-moca-network-adapter. Particulary the Netgear brand is tested (cons = expensive) and does the job since it has 70/140Mbps passthrough, ie = http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanwan/lanwan-reviews/30743-ethernet-from-your-tv-outlet-netgear-moca-coax-ethernet-adapter-kit-reviewed

 

#3 will cut the bandwidth by 50%. Depending on your starting bandwidth it may not be sufficient (g) or it may be (n) - you need to try it yourself and see. Read these for a start:

Part 1 http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-howto/31191-everything-you-need-to-know-about-wireless-bridging-and-repeating-part-1-wds?start=4

 

Part 2 http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-howto/31201-everything-you-need-to-know-about-wireless-bridging-and-repeating-part-2-no-wds-required?start=2

You can also "go wired" with powerline adapters instead of Cat5/5e/6 cabling. Current generation of products are plenty fast enough to stream HD video.

Get a router with bridge capabilites and use it to cable connect the HTPC and the unRAID server, putting the wireless into bridge mode and then connecting to the other router to give you internet access. I don't see why streaming files would be an issue because the streaming path would be hard wired.

 

Peter

 

+1 for powerline adapters!

 

The new 500 mbps rated units perform quite well (NETGEAR's XAVB5001 reviewed). Nowhere near 500mbps, but generally at least  as fast as  10/100 wired networks (unless you have some crazy internal electrical wiring). If possible, I would get the powerline ethernet product from somewhere with an easy return policy, just in case you're unlucky enough to have a messed up power setup...

 

As far as the usb stick, why not get an internal usb header-to-female usb adapter? Stick is inside the case, away from prying hands

 

Something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812200294

Atlast my apartment situation is confirmed.

 

2) Ethernet Cable from router to server upstairs

problem: wires, drilling since its rented accomadation. a lot of effort.

 

3) Repeater/Secondary Router

problems: well, more just the lack of knowledge where i'm hoping i can get some guidance. will a repeater/router provide the same strength? I stream 720p mkvs seem to be a bit intensive/harder to stream at home but its all dandy so far.

 

If #1 is not an option, I would definitely go for #2. However, if you are not willing to run cat5-cables and if you have coax (tv-antenna) in place, you could use an Ethernet to Coax adapter between your router and NAS located upstairs. Check this: http://www.missingremote.com/review/actiontec-ethernet-over-coax-moca-network-adapter. Particulary the Netgear brand is tested (cons = expensive) and does the job since it has 70/140Mbps passthrough, ie = http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanwan/lanwan-reviews/30743-ethernet-from-your-tv-outlet-netgear-moca-coax-ethernet-adapter-kit-reviewed

 

#3 will cut the bandwidth by 50%. Depending on your starting bandwidth it may not be sufficient (g) or it may be (n) - you need to try it yourself and see. Read these for a start:

Part 1 http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-howto/31191-everything-you-need-to-know-about-wireless-bridging-and-repeating-part-1-wds?start=4

 

Part 2 http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-howto/31201-everything-you-need-to-know-about-wireless-bridging-and-repeating-part-2-no-wds-required?start=2

 

After reading the article on ethernet over coax, I'm quite impressed! No experience with it personally, but if you have a coax jack available, it sounds like it might be better then Powerline.

 

Also, NewEgg has it on sale right now for $120 for a kit!

 

EDIT: Amazon even cheaper! And free shipping: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001N85NMI?linkCode=xm2&tag=invihand-20

I would just get a network bridge. they are inexpensive and will do exactly what you need.

 

Another solution:

if you have a second router laying around, I would see if there is dd-wrt firmware available for it and set it up as a bridge.

expense = free with what you own.

In my personal experience, wireless g or n is fine for regular networking, but streaming HD video from a server to a client just doesn't work reliably (even side by side). 720p was barely doable, and any ff or rw on my media player, and I would get jerky play and random pauses. Too much annoyance, as far as I'm concerned. Not to mention you're much more at the mercy of external influences (neighbours' over-powered transmitters interrupting, SO microwaving some popcorn etc etc ). 1080p (25+ mbps) was not even an option over wireless-n... Not to mention the halving of bandwidth from the repeating process, unless the repeater has 2 transmitters (which means a more expensive router)...

 

Perhaps others have had more success, but personally, I like a simple reliable solution, and if ethernet is not an option, 500 mbps Powerline ethernet, or Coax ethernet (as of this morning, this is what I would lean towards) is what I would implement.

 

The closing thoughts of smallNetBuilder's review of the Netgear 500 series of powerline ethernet sums it up well.

 

Again, this is my personal experience combined with some internet reviews. I'm sure there is bound to be some people out there who are streaming 1080p flawlessly over Wireless N, I just have never seen it or know anyone who has been able to do it reliably .

I don't get the problem. The way I read the question it says the HTPC is upstairs and the main router/internet is downstairs. The question seems to be how to connect the HTPC and the unRAID server so media can be watched.

 

So, just put a router and the unRAID server upstairs with the HTPC and hardwire them all together. Then, the wireless bridge is only for the internet, which should easily be fine on wireless. This is the easiest and cheapest solution to me.

 

Peter

 

I don't get the problem. The way I read the question it says the HTPC is upstairs and the main router/internet is downstairs. The question seems to be how to connect the HTPC and the unRAID server so media can be watched.

 

So, just put a router and the unRAID server upstairs with the HTPC and hardwire them all together. Then, the wireless bridge is only for the internet, which should easily be fine on wireless. This is the easiest and cheapest solution to me.

 

Peter

 

 

+1! Simple and elegant . Did not even consider this! Way to under-complicate things! Sheesh! .

 

EDIT: The only downside (Small but potentially irritating) would be transferring of data onto the server from a 3rd machine would be a bit poky (over w-G or w-N), unless the HTPC is serving dual-purpose and ripping/capturing content as well as playing it...

So, just put a router and the unRAID server upstairs with the HTPC and hardwire them all together. Then, the wireless bridge is only for the internet, which should easily be fine on wireless. This is the easiest and cheapest solution to me.

 

Yep, although this does require some slight knowledge of bridging wirelessly (not terribly difficult, but not plug and play-does require some knowledge of IP's and gateways etc.)

 

If you're looking for a decent bridge without custom firmware, I've used and like the D-Link DAP-1522.  Stay away from trying to stream over the air, it sucks.

I bought 2x powerline adaptors with 2x ethernet cables... problem solved?

 

thank you all for advice and suggestions.

If you want to ethernet cable conect both the unRAID server and the HTPC into the network via that powerline adapter then you will need a ethernet switch as well.

 

Peter

I'm using my laptop for now as an HTPC so its enough effort just hooking up charger+adaptor. once i buy a dedicated HTPC (prob gonna be an apple TV2 at this rate, i'll get it).

Geeze, we should really get a full description of what people want when asking stuff like this....

 

For this question, a laptop streaming via wireless is completely different than a ethernet cable connected HTPC.

Geeze, we should really get a full description of what people want when asking stuff like this....

 

For this question, a laptop streaming via wireless is completely different than a ethernet cable connected HTPC.

+1