Discover how to access your media on tablets
and smartphones, wherever you are
If you own an Android tablet, you already
have everything necessary to enjoy a world of media and entertainment on the
move. However, if your movies and media are stored on a PC or NAS drive at
home, you can stream them to your Android tablet, so you can lie in bed and
watch the latest blockbusters with the minimum of fuss. What’s more, with one
app purchase, you can watch those movies anywhere in the world! Setting this
content up doesn’t have to be hard, so let us walk you through everything you
need to know.
Let’s try to break this down so that
troubleshooting is easier. This may be a little basic, but we have to cover
everything so it’s clear. Every device on your home network is given a 32-dit
IP address. This is written as four numbers going up to 255 as xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.
Internal networks often use 192.168.x.xxx.10.0.x.xxx or 176.16.x.xxx. On top of
this, Windows runs its File Sharing services, its new Homegroup sharing service
and any UPnP or sharing services.
Plex
is a great way to share media with all your Androd mobile devices
Understanding ports
IP addresses tend not to be an issue –
they’re provided automatically from your router using its DCHP server, which
everything supports. More troublesome are ports, used to identify incoming
services, such as a specific streaming media service, for example. Ideally, the
UPnP aspect of a router and Windows should detect the correct service on each
device but this isn’t always the case. If not, you can configure port
forwarding or app/game services within your router. This means any external
device trying to make contact on that port is forwarded to the correct internal
IP address. The program documentation should say what the port number is – for
example, Plex, the app we’re using, is port 32400 – and this should be pointed
to the server running the service.
If you’re planning a trip away and fancy
testing the streaming, then a mobile phone is an excellent test bed, because
the mobile network is going to connect externally from your home network.
That’s beside the fact you could be using it as a Wi-Fi hotspot or tether
option. Many of the more advanced streaming apps provide systems that don’t
require you to know the broadband IP address. For example,iOS Air Video
provides you with a unique PIN, Plex maintains a dedicated account system, and
SplashTop uses you Google credentials. If you still need your broadband IP
address, it’s easy to find it out – simply type what’s my IP into Google and
the search results will tell you.
For access inside a home network, shared
access on a ‘dumb’ NAS drive capable of running a DLNA/UPnP server should be
adequate, since all the processing can be done on either the remote PC or the
device accessing it. If you’re dealing with chunky HD files or a fancy
streaming service, however, a local server is required. His could be just a
laptop or an old PC box left running that can access the NAS or is directly
sharing the files. Nothing more than the base broadband router is really
necessary, but wireless capabilities obviously help a lot. You’ll need to be
able to configure the router, usually using a web browser and its base IP
address.
Windows and nas sharing
1. Windows Homegroup
Microsoft introduced Homegroup to Windows
7, but it doesn’t play along that well with other operating systems, so for
complete control, you’ll want to use old-school Windows file sharing. This
enables you to share individual folders wherever you want to, with as many
people as you want, and with or without passwords.
2. Configure Windows File Sharing
Click ‘Start’, type Manage Advanced Sharing
and click the top link. Under ‘Home and Work’, make sure ‘Discovery’ and ‘File
Sharing’ are both on. If you want password-free access, enable ‘Public Folder
Sharing’. To disable Homegroups, choose the ‘Use user accounts’ option and
select ‘Turn off password protected sharing’.
3. Folder sharing and per missions
To share, right-click the folder, select
‘Properties >Sharing> Advanced Sharing... ‘then tick ‘Share this folder’. To enable
password access, click ‘Permissions>Add>Advanced>Find now’.
Locate your user account, then click ‘OK’. Make sure ‘Everyone’ has been
removed, provide Full Control permissions and click ‘OK>OK>Close’.
4. Create a specific user
Right-click on ‘My Computer > Manage > Local Users > User’,
right-click a blank space in the snap-in area, then select ‘New User...’ Choose
a log-in name and password for the user, then adjust the extra password
settings. Right-click the shared folder, select ‘Share with > Specific
People’, enter the name of the new user and then click ‘Share’.
5. Create a permanent network share
If you want remote network shares available
at all times, the easiest option is to add a mounted network location. This
used to be called mapping, but under Windows 7 and Windows Vista you just add a
network location to the My Computer window. Right-click a blank area of the My
Computer windows and choose ‘Add a network location’.
6. NAS configuration/service
If you’re using a NAS drive to share files,
its configuration is usually done via a web browser using its IP address. NAS
features vary from device to device, but you’ll be able to create a ‘folder’ on
the NAS with a shared name and log-in credentials. This will then appear and be
accessible on your network just like any other Windows shared folder.
Stream to an android device
1.
Install the Plex Sever
We’ve used Plex as our streaming server.
It’s available for Android, iOS, LG Smart devices and Windows and Mac OS X
desktops. Go to www.plexapp.com.grab
a copy of the software for your version of Windows and install it on the system
that’s going to be the server. You’ll need o point it to your media folders and
let it scan them.
2.
Install Plex on a device
We’re looking at Plex on the Android
platform, since that covers the widest range of available phones and tablets.
The app itself costs just $3.22 and it’s also available on iOS for around the
same price, so there’s no reason to miss out. Fire up the Wi-Fi on the device,
connect it to the network and allow it to detect the server and connect.
3.
Configure Plex
On the server, Plex lives in the
Notification Area. Double-click its icon and the browser-based interface
appears. Click ‘Preferences’ in the top-right and then select ‘myPlex’. There’s
an option to create a Plex account so servers can be automatically allocated.
Do this before you start streaming your media to make things easier.
4.
Ports forward
If you have a terrible router (one that
says it supports UPnP, but actually doesn’t), you’ll need to forward ports on
it yourself. You need to access your broadband router, which is usually done by
entering its IP address in a web browser. The website http://portforward.comprovides specific
instructions for accessing a range of models.
5.
Hotspot testing
We’re going to assume you know how to
stream content on your local server. If you’re not sure, the Plex site has lots
of documentation. The system is designed to auto detect and play nicely. If you
have a phone with data allocation, test it by firing it up and either running
Plex directly on it it’s an Android device, or using it as a Wi-Fi hotspot.
6.
Bandwidth testing
Now try streaming video to your device. If
you’re testing HD media, you’ll run into bandwidth and decoding issues. The
Plex server provides transcoding to reduce bandwidth usage, and on the device
you can specify rates for 3G transfer, along side Wi-Fi, but anything external
to the network shouldn’t exceed the upload speeds.
