1080p mkv streaming from nas to PC, iPad... etc

[Dave9292]

Hello! 

 

I´m planning to spend christmas money on a NAS solution. My goal is to be able to put all my movies and series in it and stream it to my PC or my iPad and watch them when I´m at house or outside without downloading. I haven´t found anything cheap until I came across this NAS 

 

http://www.amazon.de/Cloud-Pers%C3%B6nlicher-Cloud-Speicher-Zoll-wei%C3%9F/dp/B00FOKN7B0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419767251&sr=8-1&keywords=wd+my

 

I´ve read that streaming mkv content in HD requires transcoding and that NAS need high computing capabities. 

 

I want to know if it would be possible to stream to my iPad and watch content using 3rd party app like VLC or else without the need of transcoding in the nas.

 

BTW would be a Raspberry Pi an alternate solution for a NAS?

 

Thank you very much and Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year!

[chrisking]

Since MKV is not an ideal format for streaming via NAS, and few media server and media player can do a particularly good job on HD MKVs, a quick workaround is to convert MKV to a more compatible format like MP4, AVI before transferring to NAS. Here is a simple guide on how to stream and play MKV from NAS.

[Captain_WD]

Hello! 

 

I´m planning to spend christmas money on a NAS solution. My goal is to be able to put all my movies and series in it and stream it to my PC or my iPad and watch them when I´m at house or outside without downloading. I haven´t found anything cheap until I came across this NAS 

 

http://www.amazon.de/Cloud-Pers%C3%B6nlicher-Cloud-Speicher-Zoll-wei%C3%9F/dp/B00FOKN7B0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419767251&sr=8-1&keywords=wd+my

 

I´ve read that streaming mkv content in HD requires transcoding and that NAS need high computing capabities. 

 

I want to know if it would be possible to stream to my iPad and watch content using 3rd party app like VLC or else without the need of transcoding in the nas.

 

BTW would be a Raspberry Pi an alternate solution for a NAS?

 

Thank you very much and Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year!

 

 

Hey Dave9292,

 

The WD My Cloud is a great NAS device capable of meeting your requirements. I should be fast enough for what you need it for. It also has its own app for file access and streaming. You can check more info here: http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=1140#Tab8&Tabwdmc_afa_advancedfeatures.

 

Do have in mind that streaming depends largely on your network speed. This means that WD My Cloud and all other NAS devices depend on your upload/download speed both at your home and on your device to which you are streaming (if you are doing it through internet). If you are doing this in a local wireless network, the speed will depend on your router's upload/download speed capabilities. 

E.g. if you are streaming a movie from your NAS to your phone over the internet, the speed will be limited to the slower speed between the upload of your home network (there your NAS is) and the download speed of your phone (provided by your phone network company or the WiFi network that you are connected to.

 

Hope this helps

 

Captain_WD.