Plex Media Server- Buffering All the time.

[Coswar]

Using a dedicated Windows 7(Core 2 quad, 4gb ram) PC to run Plex Media server and using an internal 2 TB HDD for storage of media. I'm using High quality videos , 1080p with average file size of about 8GB each. Trying to stream to another PC attached to my TV downstairs , but I can't get it to play without buffering every 2 minutes or so. The PC attached to the TV is a 3.2GHz Phenom II x4 with 4gb ram, so I don't think decoding is the problem. Tested the speed between the server and the media PC and I'm getting  47Mbps write and 30Mbps read. Is this good enough? Btw I'm using 500mbps Powerline adapters rather than WiFi. Could anyone one please help me to figure where I'm going wrong? Thanks

[LIGISTX]

I have never had a problem like that with plex, so that is strange. What you might want to try instead (what I do and much prefer over plex) is to try XBMC and point XBMC at your servers harddrive to pull the media from. That is what I do with my HTPC and my nas. I think it works A LOT better, although I don't know if this will fix your issue. Make sure plex is set up to stream 1080p at like just put it on highest setting. That way there will be no decoding happening on the server side either (I have seen that cause a pretty huge CPU hit before)

[Coswar]

Thanks , I'll look into setting that up tomorrow, so do I install that on the HTPC ? And just use windows file sharing to get the files? Or is it installed on the server?
 

[thunder9231]

I don't use any media server program for my setup. I just set up the share on the computer that you want to serve the data to clients and then have the client computer map that share drive, so it becomes a network drive. Be sure you set those pesky permissions!

Then use XBMC or what have you point to the network drive. Works flawlessly on a 100 mbps connection at 1080p for me. I could get 2 streams going at the same resolution on the same connection if I wanted to

[Coswar]

Would it be fine just to use Windows Media player or VLC , or does XBMC have any extra functionality that I need?

[Coswar]

So I looked into XBMC and it is perfect for watching movies my HTPC , but do you guys know any good software to stream the movies to android phones or even over the web?

I saw that XBMC has Upnp , but in my experience DLNA / Upnp aren't very reliable. Thanks for the help.

[LIGISTX]

For streaming to phone locally or over the web, I still use Plex. But I am glad XBMC worked out for you for your HTPC needs. I honestly LOVE the way xbmc works, and they layout of it is GREAT! Also, if you have an andoird, look into the app Yatse, it is a free pretty awesome XBMC remote, if you have an iphone, there should be an official XBMC remote as far as I remember.

[dramabeats]

Plex has a few extra features but honestly it just organizes your movies so you can find them easier, you can use VLC and access the shared folder.

[hAxx]

For streaming to phone locally or over the web, I still use Plex. But I am glad XBMC worked out for you for your HTPC needs. I honestly LOVE the way xbmc works, and they layout of it is GREAT! Also, if you have an andoird, look into the app Yatse, it is a free pretty awesome XBMC remote, if you have an iphone, there should be an official XBMC remote as far as I remember.

 

Yatse is great. With the paid version you can stream your content to your android and IOS equipment.

[Coswar]

Thanks Guys , decided to use XBMC for the HTPC and laptops, and I found out that I could map my movie drive on android using ES file Explorer , and get access to all my files which is perfect! Plus there is now a XBMC made remote for android which is great, no need to use the stupid mouse and keyboard on the couch anymore! It can even throw trailers of movies i have up, which is awesome. Thanks for your help

[LIGISTX]

Thanks Guys , decided to use XBMC for the HTPC and laptops, and I found out that I could map my movie drive on android using ES file Explorer , and get access to all my files which is perfect! Plus there is now a XBMC made remote for android which is great, no need to use the stupid mouse and keyboard on the couch anymore! It can even throw trailers of movies i have up, which is awesome. Thanks for your help

I tried the official XBMC remote on android, but honestly liked Yatse better. I say give it a shot, maybe you will as well . 

 

Glad it all worked out! 

[LAwLz]

Here is what I use for streaming from my NAS:

 

Windows computers - MPC-HC with the Kawaii Codec Pack (not really optimal for a HTPC since the interface isn't designed for it, but if you were considering VLC then I recommend this instead).

 

Android devices - ES File Explorer and MX Player. You can actually go to the files via ES, tap them and then open them in MX Player, and they will stream to your device (instead of having to transfer the files first) since MX Player can do network streaming.

 

Please note that both of those requires you to have the file shared on the server, and it will not compress the video at all (your network seems fast enough so this is a good thing).