Having got my head round streaming devices can I ask some questions:

As far as I can see they are all Wi Fi - is that fast enough to keep up
with streaming a high definition film?

Is anybody aware of a wired streaming device?

Does anybody here use a Roku Express 4K, if so what do you think of it?

Would a Roku Express 4K replace my WD TV Live in being able to stream
media from my NAS?

Any other recommendations for a device, I don't really want to pay Apple
prices and many of them will stream Apple TV anyway by the looks of it.

Many thanks.

--
Jeff Gaines Wiltshire UK
There is absolutely no substitute for a genuine lack of preparation

Jeff Gaines wrote:

> Having got my head round streaming devices can I ask some questions:
> As far as I can see they are all Wi Fi - is that fast enough to keep up with
> streaming a high definition film?

plenty

> Is anybody aware of a wired streaming device?

you can get a combined wired-ethernet/usb-psu for the chromecast dongles, but
it's not really for speed reasons, it's if your tv is in a dodgy place for wifi
signal

In article <ireh8nFrbf4U1@mid.individual.net>,
Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:

> you can get a combined wired-ethernet/usb-psu for the chromecast
> dongles, but it's not really for speed reasons, it's if your tv is
> in a dodgy place for wifi signal

Or because you don't particularly wish to tell Google what you wi-fi
password is. :-)

Bob.

On 27/09/2021 in message <ireh8nFrbf4U1@mid.individual.net> Andy Burns
wrote:

>Jeff Gaines wrote:
>
>>Having got my head round streaming devices can I ask some questions:
>>As far as I can see they are all Wi Fi - is that fast enough to keep up
>>with streaming a high definition film?
>
>plenty
>
>>Is anybody aware of a wired streaming device?
>
>you can get a combined wired-ethernet/usb-psu for the chromecast dongles,
>but it's not really for speed reasons, it's if your tv is in a dodgy
>place for wifi signal

Many thanks Andy :-)

I have ordered one, will arrive at Davy Jones' Locker tomorrow. I will
cancel my Sky subscription tomorrow as well, one month of Sky pays for the
Roku with some change over for Neflix and Apple TV, I can watch the news
on Freeview.

--
Jeff Gaines Wiltshire UK
Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his friends for his
life.
(Jeremy Thorpe, 1962)

"Jeff Gaines" <jgaines_newsid@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:xn0n3e0uifjn8ro01h@news.individual.net...
>
> Having got my head round streaming devices can I ask some questions:
>
> As far as I can see they are all Wi Fi - is that fast enough to keep up
> with streaming a high definition film?
>
> Is anybody aware of a wired streaming device?
>
> Does anybody here use a Roku Express 4K, if so what do you think of it?
>
> Would a Roku Express 4K replace my WD TV Live in being able to stream
> media from my NAS?
>
> Any other recommendations for a device, I don't really want to pay Apple
> prices and many of them will stream Apple TV anyway by the looks of it.

Are there any streaming devices that can decode all normal file formats and
compressions (DVR-MS, WTV, TS, MPG, and MPEG-2/H264) and have a built-in
Samba client which can read from a Windows share? When we were looking a few
years ago, dedicated devices such as the Plex client in a Roku require Plex
software to run on your "file server" and it must transcode the file
on-the-fly into whatever esoteric format Plex client wants. This is not a
problem until you try to play a file that is held on a PC that has a very
noisy CPU fan which goes from its normal "silent" mode to "jet aircraft
taking off mode" when the CPU has to do processor-intensive operations like
transcoding.

Something akin to a Raspberry Pi running VLC (with a suitable 10-foot
interface for controlling it from a TV remote) would be so much better.
However I've found that most non-Windows computers (Rasperry PiOS, Ubuntu,
Linux Mint) cannot connect to a Windows share because of permissions
problems - it's a up-front problem with establishing the SMB connection
rather than a permissions problem with the share, the file or the folder.

You ask about a *wired* streaming device. Our Roku box has both Ethernet
socket and wifi adaptor, so you can use either.

My Samsung will stream through a network port if you want to, but from
experience thus far, most of the issues are not with local wifi, but with
the internet congestion causing buffering.
Brian

--

This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...
briang1@blueyonder.co.uk
Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
"Jeff Gaines" <jgaines_newsid@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:xn0n3e0uifjn8ro01h@news.individual.net...
>
> Having got my head round streaming devices can I ask some questions:
>
> As far as I can see they are all Wi Fi - is that fast enough to keep up
> with streaming a high definition film?
>
> Is anybody aware of a wired streaming device?
>
> Does anybody here use a Roku Express 4K, if so what do you think of it?
>
> Would a Roku Express 4K replace my WD TV Live in being able to stream
> media from my NAS?
>
> Any other recommendations for a device, I don't really want to pay Apple
> prices and many of them will stream Apple TV anyway by the looks of it.
>
> Many thanks.
>
> --
> Jeff Gaines Wiltshire UK
> There is absolutely no substitute for a genuine lack of preparation

"Brian Gaff (Sofa)" <briang1@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:sium3p$n4e$1@dont-email.me...
> My Samsung will stream through a network port if you want to, but from
> experience thus far, most of the issues are not with local wifi, but with
> the internet congestion causing buffering.

I'm talking about streaming from a local copy, recorded by Freeview or
Freesat to a "server" on my LAN. Streaming over the internet has problems
such as WAN (internet) congestion and time limit on how long after first
broadcast you can still watch the programme. Plus a subscription fee to the
service which AIUI is *in addition* to the TV licence - unless you denature
your TV and recorder so they are physically incapable of ever receiving
off-air broadcasts.

On 27 Sep 2021 18:22:27 GMT, "Jeff Gaines"
<jgaines_newsid@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

>
>Having got my head round streaming devices can I ask some questions:
>
>As far as I can see they are all Wi Fi - is that fast enough to keep up
>with streaming a high definition film?
>
>Is anybody aware of a wired streaming device?
>
>Does anybody here use a Roku Express 4K, if so what do you think of it?
>
>Would a Roku Express 4K replace my WD TV Live in being able to stream
>media from my NAS?
>
>Any other recommendations for a device, I don't really want to pay Apple
>prices and many of them will stream Apple TV anyway by the looks of it.
>
>Many thanks.

The Nvidia Shield has an ethernet port, and Amazon sell an adaptor for
their newer Fire TV devices which don't have ethernet built in. There
are several file manager apps available for the Shield (and probably
the Amazon too, though I haven't investigated this) which I can use to
look at pictures and videos that I have stored on my main PC.

The Shield is expensive but very good. It does a good job of upscaling
material of a lower resolution than the display. The only
disappointment for me is that there isn't (yet?) a specific app for
All4 which is the only reason I keep the Amazon box.

Rod.

On 27/09/2021 20:30, Bob Latham wrote:
> Or because you don't particularly wish to tell Google what you wi-fi
> password is.:-)

If you use an OpenWRT router, you can create a separate SSID for your
internet of things.

In article <siusge$4qn$1@dont-email.me>,
David Woolley <david@ex.djwhome.demon.invalid> wrote:
> On 27/09/2021 20:30, Bob Latham wrote:

> > Or because you don't particularly wish to tell Google what you
> > wi-fi password is.:-)

> If you use an OpenWRT router, you can create a separate SSID for
> your internet of things.

I don't know if that is better than what I have at the moment. You
can have several SSIDs on it and you can decide if they have access
to the LAN of not. The trouble is, generally you need to be able to
talk to them from a LAN connected item like an iPad etc. so that
means they have to have access to the LAN and the internet.

Am I missing something?

Bob.

David Woolley <david@ex.djwhome.demon.invalid> wrote:
> On 27/09/2021 20:30, Bob Latham wrote:
> > Or because you don't particularly wish to tell Google what you wi-fi
> > password is.:-)
>
> If you use an OpenWRT router, you can create a separate SSID for your
> internet of things.

Almost any half decent router will let you set up separate SSIDs and
assign them as required to different (and separate) subnets. My
Drayteks certainly will. Even a TP-Link router I use now as a WiFi
relay allows a separate 'guest' network with a separate SSID.

It doesn't need OpenWrt to do this! :-)

--
Chris Green
·

Chris Green" <cl@isbd.net> wrote in message
news:e6ab2i-luof.ln1@esprimo.zbmc.eu...
> David Woolley <david@ex.djwhome.demon.invalid> wrote:
>> On 27/09/2021 20:30, Bob Latham wrote:
>> > Or because you don't particularly wish to tell Google what you wi-fi
>> > password is.:-)
>>
>> If you use an OpenWRT router, you can create a separate SSID for your
>> internet of things.
>
> Almost any half decent router will let you set up separate SSIDs and
> assign them as required to different (and separate) subnets. My
> Drayteks certainly will. Even a TP-Link router I use now as a WiFi
> relay allows a separate 'guest' network with a separate SSID.

Guest SSIDs are fine as long as your devices *only* need to access the
internet and don't need to access other devices on the non-guest part of the
LAN. The word "guest" usually carries with it an unspoken implication that
the router's firewall will block access from guest SSID devices to non-guest
devices - and therefore it is safe to use for people who you don't want to
access your devices. That's my understanding of "guest network", anyway.

On 28/09/2021 in message <siukhk$br9$1@dont-email.me> NY wrote:

>Are there any streaming devices that can decode all normal file formats
>and compressions (DVR-MS, WTV, TS, MPG, and MPEG-2/H264) and have a
>built-in Samba client which can read from a Windows share? When we were
>looking a few years ago, dedicated devices such as the Plex client in a
>Roku require Plex software to run on your "file server" and it must
>transcode the file on-the-fly into whatever esoteric format Plex client
>wants. This is not a problem until you try to play a file that is held on
>a PC that has a very noisy CPU fan which goes from its normal "silent"
>mode to "jet aircraft taking off mode" when the CPU has to do
>processor-intensive operations like transcoding.

It arrived well on time. Took ages to set up because I had to enter this,
enter that, enrol here, enrol there, get a confirmation etc. etc.

Anyway so far so excellent. Wi Fi perfectly fast enough and it reads
everything from my QNAP 451 using the QNAP media streaming app, Plex not
needed. It plays my VOB files fine, I had to change the extension to mp4
to get something else to play them and the Roku just played them as well.

Can watch episode 3 of Foundation on the big screen tonight :-)

--
Jeff Gaines Wiltshire UK
Remember, the Flat Earth Society has members all around the globe.

On 27/09/2021 21:19, Jeff Gaines wrote:
> On 27/09/2021 in message <ireh8nFrbf4U1@mid.individual.net> Andy Burns
> wrote:
>
>> Jeff Gaines wrote:
>>
>>> Having got my head round streaming devices can I ask some questions:
>>> As far as I can see they are all Wi Fi - is that fast enough to keep
>>> up with  streaming a high definition film?
>>
>> plenty
>>
>>> Is anybody aware of a wired streaming device?
>>
>> you can get a combined wired-ethernet/usb-psu for the chromecast
>> dongles, but it's not  really for speed reasons, it's if your tv is in
>> a dodgy place for wifi signal
>
> Many thanks Andy :-)
>
> I have ordered one, will arrive at Davy Jones' Locker tomorrow. I will
> cancel my Sky subscription tomorrow as well, one month of Sky pays for
> the Roku with some change over for Neflix and Apple TV, I can watch the
> news on Freeview.
>

I have several Rokus here....

Before I got them, I saw this paper:

https://www.princeton.edu/~pmittal/publications/tv-tracking-ccs19.pdf

I ordered a Raspberry pi, installed Pi Hole and then installed the Rokus.

Even when the Rokus are not actually being used to watch anything, they
are constantly trying to snd out DNS requests.

Already in the past 24 hours, around 1000 DNS requests have been blocked
by Pi Hole from each Roku.

On 28/09/2021 in message <xn0n3fcf8gv1dak01o@news.individual.net> Jeff
Gaines wrote:

>Can watch episode 3 of Foundation on the big screen tonight :-)

Bugger, it's not on until Friday:-(

--
Jeff Gaines Wiltshire UK
George Washington was a British subject until well after his 40th birthday.
(Margaret Thatcher, speech at the White House 17 December 1979)