OnMedic Posted August 10, 2006 Share Posted August 10, 2006 Is this the right place to post? I am looking for info and direction on Whole Home AV Distribution. Ideas, suggestions or case studies would be great. I would love to have DVR (or two) that can be accessed from any place in the house, plus whole home audio and video w/HD. Your feedback and direction is appreciated! Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted August 12, 2006 Share Posted August 12, 2006 You were doing good, til you hit HD. There are various products that can extend a media center PC anywhere in the house. The solution requires a wireless router. Linksys makes one. They have info on their site. The medai center PC functions like a DVR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScorpsFan Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 OnMedic, Are you looking to do a server for your CD's and DVD's or are you just looking for a tivo-like device? Are you wanting to go wired (better for video distribution) or wireless and are you including any other computer traits in your system (access to word processing, internet and games). Once you have a list of things you want your system to do it should be easier to come up with a solution. I originally went wireless and am now seriously considering wiring the house with cat5e and coax in each room and switching from a wireless router to a mains system with antenna, cable, satellite and phones all begining at one location and routing to each room. Then I'll put a thin client or similar set top box for PVR (tivo) duty at each set and run the music and video off of a server in a central room (my office) wireless will still be available for the laptops to surf or save work files, but the server will be firewalled from the internet and backed up to avoid losing any CD or DVD's on its hard drives. Here's one thought: http://interact-tv.com/ they use a Linux software which is smaller than MS Media Center so they can use a smaller and cheaper processor and memory. Best of Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 I too would recommend a "hard-wire" approach and also the use of a computer as the "server" for the entire setup. There are packages out there for whole-home audio/video that have some cool features but also come with a price tag. You can save a lot of money by going a bit more custom, but sometimes you lose out on the features. So first you need to decide what you want the system to be capable of. Once you figure that out it's just a matter of finding the product that does what you want within your price range. I have a few links, but they're all on my computer back home and I'm up visiting the parents for the weekend. What kind of timeframe are you working on? And will this be going into an exhisting house or a new house still in the design/building process? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyKlipschFan Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 buy the BIGGEST I mean BIGGEST box you can find to put stuff into for now and later... DO NOT SKIMP HERE>>> I agree with doc who.. cat 5e... I did it to every room...from a centralised location too.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 or you can just use an array of external harddrives [] Expect to pay under $1 per GB. If you want a little extra security you can move to a RAID setup, but that's overkill and more expensive. You should have all the original media stored away somewhere anyway and the ripping process isn't too painful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScorpsFan Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 Here is a link which will walk you through the DIY http://www.swhowto.com/Structured.htm and here's a link to Leviton products which may be helpful. There are many companies with similar products, but this pamphlet is pretty comprehensive for ideas and equipment. http://www.leviton.com/lin/pdf/productcat/structured_media_systems.pdf Indy: Did you do your own setup, and whose products did you choose to use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmiles Posted August 16, 2006 Share Posted August 16, 2006 Control 4. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.