Content everywhere

Ways to stream media all around the house

Sure, data backup is important. But everybody knows the killer app for network storage is home entertainment.

Microsoft’s Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 finally supports multiple TV tuners, high-definition video and DVD burning. At least 30 vendors offer digital media receivers or Media Center Extenders that stream digital content between PCs and TVs and stereos. DirecTV plans to unveil its Home Media Center this year, and Comcast recently partnered with TiVo to offer its software and service on Comcast digital video recorders (DVR).

But before you start advising friends and colleagues to turn in their old cable boxes or sell their satellite receivers on eBay, take a hard look at the cost, complexity and stability of today’s home media options.

The Media Center PC is a compelling concept and in practice would make excellent use of network storage. Too bad it’s not ready for prime time. Aside from the high cost – between $800 and $2,000 for a new Media Center PC, plus $200 to $500 for each extender necessary to connect a TV or stereo system – the technology is still immature. Your users won’t tolerate glitches such as lag time in channel changing or an HBO movie blocked from streaming by copy protection.

If your users simply want to stream MP3 or WMA music to multiple rooms in the house, there are several digital media adapters ($150 to more than $500) that are easy to set up and work well even on older, relatively slow 802.11b networks. The $249 Roku SoundBridge M1000, Slim Devices’ Squeezebox ($249 for wired, $299 for wireless), Creative’s $200 Sound Blaster Wireless Music adapter and the $149 Netgear MP101 are good choices. At the high end, the Sonos Digital Music System ($1,200 for a two-room setup) is a dream come true.

Your Apple iPod fans need to know the only way to stream music purchased from Apple’s popular iTunes service is to buy Apple’s own digital media adapter. The $150 AirPort Express includes a wireless router (but no firewall), a USB print server and both 802.11g and wired Ethernet connections. Many media receivers will play AAC music files streamed from iTunes, but the protected AAC files bought and downloaded from iTunes will only play on the AirPort.

If you want to hear FM radio or if you have rooms not already equipped with stereo speakers, the $250 HomePod MP 100 from MacSense has built-in speakers, an FM radio tuner and Internet radio features. If radio isn’t important, an inexpensive wireless boombox, such as the $130 Linksys WMLS11B , can add streaming music to any room.

Options for photo files

To stream photo files stored on a PC, consider the Linksys Wireless-B ($130) and Wireless-G ($230) Media Adapters, the Philips Streamium SL300i ($299), the Pinnacle ShowCenter ($300), Gateway’s Wireless Connected ADC-320 ($200) or Prismiq’s MediaPlayer ($200). These all stream JPEG files and also may support GIF, BMP, TIFF and other common photo formats. All except the Linksys Wireless-B model can also stream MPEG video files stored on a PC or NAS box, but bandwidth limitations will affect performance.

One of the best ways to stream music and share photos is with a stand-alone TiVo DVR (not the combination DirecTV satellite receiver with TiVo). The TiVo Series2 box (as low as $99) connects to the network via USB (through a wired or wireless USB adapter) and lets you stream MP3 files and photos from a PC running the TiVo Desktop software (a free download). Multiple TiVo systems can stream recorded movies and TV shows among them, although the limitations of its USB 1.1 driver makes transferring programs for viewing later more practical than streaming shows in real time.

All these applications perform well on wired Ethernet and 802.11g wireless networks. Only streaming video struggles with the lower-speed 802.11b networks, although with optimum signal strength some streaming video works fine. Unfortunately, high-definition TV is the one datastream today’s home networks can’t handle.

Only a handful of DVRs can record and store broadcast HD signals, and none let you stream or copy those huge files.

Garretson is a freelance writer in Gaithersburg, Md. He can be reached at rgarretson@starpower.net.