What Media Extender / Centre Set up should I use?

Posted by Bryn Hird on Super User See other posts from Super User or by Bryn Hird
Published on 2012-08-24T07:58:49Z Indexed on 2012/12/04 17:10 UTC
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I have installed cat6 throughout the house which I use for telephony and network. In my cellar I have a NAS Server, gigabit switch and I want to install a Media Centre to stream my video's, music, photo's and live TV (coax from the aerial to the cellar) over the cat6. Yeah I know I can get stuff on the internet but shared experience of watching TV as a family as it happens is a big plus for live TV.

I'm aiming for 1080p. I want different users to be able to watch different channels. Max users = 4.

I've played a little with Windows Media Centre, works fine with live TV. Likewise I have XBMC up and running with live TV. The issue I have is what do I put near the TV. I'd like a consistent user interface (grandma and the the other technophobes in the house are continually pestering me on how to use different TVs, change channel, inputs etc.) so a key part of this for me is to make the user experience the same and simple i.e. no keyboards / PCs hanging around the TV.

I've just bought a Linksys DMA 2200 to test the Windows Media Centre, but obviously off eBay as they're a dying breed. And with Windows Media Centre removed from Microsoft plans such devices will get rarer. And as for 1080p, think I can forget it with that set up. I have tested XBOX 360, also works but ditto on Microsoft plans for WMC.

I was thinking of a WD Live TV to test the XMBC setup. Now to the question.

Any advice on Media Centre / Extender setups that will do the job as above and have some degree of futureproofing (building my own with my Raspberry PI is a last resort). I'd like to understand the standards involved in the futureproofing if anyone knows (DNLA, RVU etc.).

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