NAS Mind melt - Want to be able to download/transfer quick
Discussion
Hi,
I am a newbie to NAS.
I want to have the ability to download / stream direct onto/from the NAS and use it to play various mediums on my new 4K TV. I am thinking if the NAS is on my network i could have the phone point to where the file needs to be sent/saved/downloaded via a URL address to the NAS it would save directly onto the NAS?
Literally point my phone at the thing and have it start downloads etc.
Is a budget of £50 -£150 enough?
I am a newbie to NAS.
I want to have the ability to download / stream direct onto/from the NAS and use it to play various mediums on my new 4K TV. I am thinking if the NAS is on my network i could have the phone point to where the file needs to be sent/saved/downloaded via a URL address to the NAS it would save directly onto the NAS?
Literally point my phone at the thing and have it start downloads etc.
Is a budget of £50 -£150 enough?
Your language sort of points to two things you'd like to solve here.
The first is to play media off the NAS on your new TV. Most new TVs will be able to play media natively off something that runs as a DLNA server. Most NAS will have the ability to also act as a DLNA server. A better experience can be had through your NAS running a Plex server (most have the ability) and your Smart TV is likely to have a Plex client for it. If not one can be easily added to something like a Fire Stick for £20.
Your next issue about pointing the phone at a URL and downloading media to your NAS is a bit harder and depends on exactly what you are trying to achieve. The simplest answer to a question that will help advise is where do you get this media from? Are we talking youtube/netflix online streaming sites or are we talking about things like newsgroups and torrents (for legitimate purposes only of course)? If the latter then you'll want to explore a NAS that supports apps like Sonarr/Radarr etc. which are automated download type tools. If the former I don't know if that's possible.
The first is to play media off the NAS on your new TV. Most new TVs will be able to play media natively off something that runs as a DLNA server. Most NAS will have the ability to also act as a DLNA server. A better experience can be had through your NAS running a Plex server (most have the ability) and your Smart TV is likely to have a Plex client for it. If not one can be easily added to something like a Fire Stick for £20.
Your next issue about pointing the phone at a URL and downloading media to your NAS is a bit harder and depends on exactly what you are trying to achieve. The simplest answer to a question that will help advise is where do you get this media from? Are we talking youtube/netflix online streaming sites or are we talking about things like newsgroups and torrents (for legitimate purposes only of course)? If the latter then you'll want to explore a NAS that supports apps like Sonarr/Radarr etc. which are automated download type tools. If the former I don't know if that's possible.
Not sure I get what the OP is trying to achieve here.
Why save something to a NAS that is available to stream? The stream comes from the net onto a TV. No NAS required.
I use my NAS to store music and a collection of ripped films and TV box sets. I watch Netflix/AppleTV/Amazon Prime content by streaming it.
ISTR that there are bits of software that enable you to save a stream to a hard disc, but I've never looked into them.
Why save something to a NAS that is available to stream? The stream comes from the net onto a TV. No NAS required.
I use my NAS to store music and a collection of ripped films and TV box sets. I watch Netflix/AppleTV/Amazon Prime content by streaming it.
ISTR that there are bits of software that enable you to save a stream to a hard disc, but I've never looked into them.
It's my ripped movies and boxsets which I am on about.
Currently all are saved on my phone and other mediums. Some of my PCs have huge GB files. I simply can't transfer these to my phone and cast. The phone won't be able to handle it
If you cast something from your phone the quality suffers no? Whereas if it is running direct off a Hard drive plugged into the TV then there is no drop on the quality depending on the file.
Other than casting, streaming how else are you guys playing 4K content?
Currently all are saved on my phone and other mediums. Some of my PCs have huge GB files. I simply can't transfer these to my phone and cast. The phone won't be able to handle it
If you cast something from your phone the quality suffers no? Whereas if it is running direct off a Hard drive plugged into the TV then there is no drop on the quality depending on the file.
Other than casting, streaming how else are you guys playing 4K content?
Its not clear what hardware you have currently...
- do you have a NAS already? if so, what make/model?
- What is you new 4k TV? make/model
- What is your home network set-up - wifi, or wired ethernet network?
I have a fairly old QNAP TS-412 with a pathetic processor, hardly any RAM , but running Twonky Media server.
For the last few years I streamed from the NAS to my Playstation3, and then via HDMI to my old Sony TV (good for 1080p content)
A week ago I joined the modern age with an LG OLED55C9PLA and I can still stream NAS-PS3-TV, but to my surprise my TV picks up the NAS media server itself, and I can stream 4K content directly (18GB+ MKV files on the NAS) without going through the PS3.
It helps that everything is on a gigabit wired network - might not work over wifi.
- do you have a NAS already? if so, what make/model?
- What is you new 4k TV? make/model
- What is your home network set-up - wifi, or wired ethernet network?
I have a fairly old QNAP TS-412 with a pathetic processor, hardly any RAM , but running Twonky Media server.
For the last few years I streamed from the NAS to my Playstation3, and then via HDMI to my old Sony TV (good for 1080p content)
A week ago I joined the modern age with an LG OLED55C9PLA and I can still stream NAS-PS3-TV, but to my surprise my TV picks up the NAS media server itself, and I can stream 4K content directly (18GB+ MKV files on the NAS) without going through the PS3.
It helps that everything is on a gigabit wired network - might not work over wifi.
Have a look at UnRaid. If you setup Radarr, Sonarr, Lidarr, Jackett, Deluge and Plex you can have an app on your phone that searches for TV, Music or Films, pings the service with the details on your server, the service then uses Jackett to convert the request into a torrent search which is passed to Deluge, which downloads the file and sticks it in the right folder. Plex then picks up the new stuff and makes it available on your TV.
Radarr, Sonarr and Lidarr monitor your library and fill in any missing episodes etc and will pick up on new albums or episodes and get them for you, so you only really need the app search thing for adding new artists, shows or films.
It's a bit of a faff getting it all up and running, but it's pretty sweet when it's all working.
Price depends on what you put it on and how much storage you want, your budget might be a bit too low.
Radarr, Sonarr and Lidarr monitor your library and fill in any missing episodes etc and will pick up on new albums or episodes and get them for you, so you only really need the app search thing for adding new artists, shows or films.
It's a bit of a faff getting it all up and running, but it's pretty sweet when it's all working.
Price depends on what you put it on and how much storage you want, your budget might be a bit too low.
daddy cool said:
Its not clear what hardware you have currently...
- do you have a NAS already? if so, what make/model?
- What is you new 4k TV? make/model
- What is your home network set-up - wifi, or wired ethernet network?
I have a fairly old QNAP TS-412 with a pathetic processor, hardly any RAM , but running Twonky Media server.
For the last few years I streamed from the NAS to my Playstation3, and then via HDMI to my old Sony TV (good for 1080p content)
A week ago I joined the modern age with an LG OLED55C9PLA and I can still stream NAS-PS3-TV, but to my surprise my TV picks up the NAS media server itself, and I can stream 4K content directly (18GB+ MKV files on the NAS) without going through the PS3.
It helps that everything is on a gigabit wired network - might not work over wifi.
I don't have a NAS yet- do you have a NAS already? if so, what make/model?
- What is you new 4k TV? make/model
- What is your home network set-up - wifi, or wired ethernet network?
I have a fairly old QNAP TS-412 with a pathetic processor, hardly any RAM , but running Twonky Media server.
For the last few years I streamed from the NAS to my Playstation3, and then via HDMI to my old Sony TV (good for 1080p content)
A week ago I joined the modern age with an LG OLED55C9PLA and I can still stream NAS-PS3-TV, but to my surprise my TV picks up the NAS media server itself, and I can stream 4K content directly (18GB+ MKV files on the NAS) without going through the PS3.
It helps that everything is on a gigabit wired network - might not work over wifi.
TV I purchased is a 2019 Samsung Q70R QLED
Home setup is a combination of WiFi, wired and power line adaptors.
I was hoping to have the NAS next to the router and Television in the main room provided its quiet. Both the TV and NAS would be plugged directly into the router.
I’ve just reread your budget. If that has to include disks then unless you have old PC hardware and don’t mind getting your hands dirty with something like Unraid then you’ll be limited to something like this:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/WD-Cloud-EX2-Ultra-Black/...
Out of the box you can copy all your media to it and it’ll play on your TV with no configuration via DLNA. No need to use your phone or anything - the TV will just see the media. If you want a Netflix like experience then it also has a Plex server, which is pretty easy to setup too.
You’d need £300+ for a better QNAP or Synology NAS with similar capacity.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/WD-Cloud-EX2-Ultra-Black/...
Out of the box you can copy all your media to it and it’ll play on your TV with no configuration via DLNA. No need to use your phone or anything - the TV will just see the media. If you want a Netflix like experience then it also has a Plex server, which is pretty easy to setup too.
You’d need £300+ for a better QNAP or Synology NAS with similar capacity.
Plex server on PC works great. If you go that route I've had a lot of success running Plex Home Theatre on a Raspberry Pi, so you get a remote control and a normal TV experience, but using Chromecast and your phone as the means of selection works well too.
It does rely on your PC being turned on, so you might want to look at power settings or whether you can use Wake on LAN to let your TV wake up the PC.
You could also look at the TV Apps section and see if it'll run Plex as you might find that you can just plug a hard drive into the TV and play directly, though I don't know how easy it is to get stuff onto the hard drive from your PC.
There are lots of ways to do this, generally the more you spend, then better the experience, but you can get it working for very little if you want.
It does rely on your PC being turned on, so you might want to look at power settings or whether you can use Wake on LAN to let your TV wake up the PC.
You could also look at the TV Apps section and see if it'll run Plex as you might find that you can just plug a hard drive into the TV and play directly, though I don't know how easy it is to get stuff onto the hard drive from your PC.
There are lots of ways to do this, generally the more you spend, then better the experience, but you can get it working for very little if you want.
HannsG said:
Hi,
I am a newbie to NAS.
I want to have the ability to download / stream direct onto/from the NAS and use it to play various mediums on my new 4K TV. I am thinking if the NAS is on my network i could have the phone point to where the file needs to be sent/saved/downloaded via a URL address to the NAS it would save directly onto the NAS?
Literally point my phone at the thing and have it start downloads etc.
Is a budget of £50 -£150 enough?
I have a Synology NAS (8TB) and Plex and use that - try eBay for a used NAS and get some NAS compatible HDD as an extra, it will be more than 150 however.I am a newbie to NAS.
I want to have the ability to download / stream direct onto/from the NAS and use it to play various mediums on my new 4K TV. I am thinking if the NAS is on my network i could have the phone point to where the file needs to be sent/saved/downloaded via a URL address to the NAS it would save directly onto the NAS?
Literally point my phone at the thing and have it start downloads etc.
Is a budget of £50 -£150 enough?
You can get Plex for smart TVs so access it that way, or with a mobile app, laptop etc...
ericmcn said:
I have a Synology NAS (8TB) and Plex and use that - try eBay for a used NAS and get some NAS compatible HDD as an extra, it will be more than 150 however.
You can get Plex for smart TVs so access it that way, or with a mobile app, laptop etc...
Whats the transcoding like on the Synology? If you have a 4K TV has everything you thrown at it worked? MKV files and so onYou can get Plex for smart TVs so access it that way, or with a mobile app, laptop etc...
HannsG said:
ericmcn said:
I have a Synology NAS (8TB) and Plex and use that - try eBay for a used NAS and get some NAS compatible HDD as an extra, it will be more than 150 however.
You can get Plex for smart TVs so access it that way, or with a mobile app, laptop etc...
Whats the transcoding like on the Synology? If you have a 4K TV has everything you thrown at it worked? MKV files and so onYou can get Plex for smart TVs so access it that way, or with a mobile app, laptop etc...
However, since I got the new TV with a built-in media server app (not Plex - LG's own) I stream MKV's direct from the NAS to the TV! So I guess its the TV doing the processing, because the NAS certainly isn't...
I think the more modern QNAPs can transcode everything on the fly, but you're looking at 400-600 for the NAS, then as many HD's as you need (4TB WD Reds are about £100 each at the mo).
If your tv can't stream from a dnla source, get a Firestick and stick the Plex app on it, and pair with a NAS which supports plex.
Alternatively I have a Pi with a 1TB PiDrive running OSMC controlled by the Kore app on my phone. A bit more fiddly to set up but very cheap and does work well, although transferring files to it isn't particularly speedy.
Alternatively I have a Pi with a 1TB PiDrive running OSMC controlled by the Kore app on my phone. A bit more fiddly to set up but very cheap and does work well, although transferring files to it isn't particularly speedy.
I find Plex on the Fire Stick a pain, the Fire Stick is slow when you turn the TV on as it's desperate to do all sorts of stuff with Amazon to get random lists of things you're not interested in watching. When it finally lets you use the menu to select Plex it takes a bit to load up and is then slow anyway.
I ended up using my phone to then Cast to the Firestick just so you could quickly get to what you wanted to watch, but being Amazon the casting is really flaky too as they're still doing the whole boring hate Google thing. You usually lose the ability to pause etc what's playing, then the stream cuts out and it forgets where it was when you restart.
If you want to root the device and install only Plex on it, then there are far better hardware options for less money.
I ended up using my phone to then Cast to the Firestick just so you could quickly get to what you wanted to watch, but being Amazon the casting is really flaky too as they're still doing the whole boring hate Google thing. You usually lose the ability to pause etc what's playing, then the stream cuts out and it forgets where it was when you restart.
If you want to root the device and install only Plex on it, then there are far better hardware options for less money.
paulrockliffe said:
I find Plex on the Fire Stick a pain, the Fire Stick is slow when you turn the TV on as it's desperate to do all sorts of stuff with Amazon to get random lists of things you're not interested in watching. When it finally lets you use the menu to select Plex it takes a bit to load up and is then slow anyway.
I ended up using my phone to then Cast to the Firestick just so you could quickly get to what you wanted to watch, but being Amazon the casting is really flaky too as they're still doing the whole boring hate Google thing. You usually lose the ability to pause etc what's playing, then the stream cuts out and it forgets where it was when you restart.
If you want to root the device and install only Plex on it, then there are far better hardware options for less money.
I've just got a 4k Firestick recently in Black Friday for £30 and it's anything but slow with everything I've tried so far. There's been a few versions of the Firestick so I wonder if yours is relatively old and underpowered compared to the latest ones.I ended up using my phone to then Cast to the Firestick just so you could quickly get to what you wanted to watch, but being Amazon the casting is really flaky too as they're still doing the whole boring hate Google thing. You usually lose the ability to pause etc what's playing, then the stream cuts out and it forgets where it was when you restart.
If you want to root the device and install only Plex on it, then there are far better hardware options for less money.
I find if I power the firestick from the TV USB port it's very slow to start up as it only boots up when you turn the TV on, if it's on it's own power supply its ready to go as soon as the TV's on. However I do find it can sometimes be unresponsive to the remote for a few seconds which is annoying. That's on a 2nd generation non-4k one, the 4k is supposed to be better.
HannsG said:
Whats the transcoding like on the Synology? If you have a 4K TV has everything you thrown at it worked? MKV files and so on
it depends on the processor, 4k is demanding so dont expect much for 150quid - see here, the Synology is a great NAS solution, I need a new one actually.https://www.synology.com/en-us/knowledgebase/DSM/t...
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