Does "Home Sharing" have to be at home?

[Dirk Gently]

Hi all, just bought a new iPad for the family - any already loving it btw!
I have managed to get all of my iTunes music and video networked from my PC and external HD to the iPad and iPhone using "Home Sharing". As stupid a question as this sounds, do I have to be on the same home network to share the files, or could I be connected to another WiFi spot somewhere else and access the music?
Also I am having difficulty sharing photos, what is the easiest way to copy a large number of photos to the iPad and is there a way to share the photos over a network in the same way as I share the music and video?

Thanks in advance.

 

[AQ_OC]

Yes, everything needs to be on the same network
for home sharing.

I like to use photostream. Take a photo on one device and it will land on any device where you have iCloud/photostream enabled, including PCs and Macs.

 

[Dirk Gently]

Ok, that makes sense. I now have access to all of my music and some of my movies through iTunes on my PC streaming directly to my iPad and iPhone. The limitation seems to be that the movies must be in .mp4 format. Is there any way to stream .avi, .mkv, etc movies in the same way. I understand that I can copy the files to my iPad and then use software to play it, but I'd rather stream it from my PC if that is possible.

Thanks

 

[KevinJS]

Use VLC streamer to do this. You need VLC helper on the computer. There is a free version with minimal advertising.

Once you have these you can stream all movies regardless of filetype.

 

[AQ_OC]

Ok, that makes sense. I now have access to all of my music and some of my movies through iTunes on my PC streaming directly to my iPad and iPhone. The limitation seems to be that the movies must be in .mp4 format. Is there any way to stream .avi, .mkv, etc movies in the same way. I understand that I can copy the files to my iPad and then use software to play it, but I'd rather stream it from my PC if that is possible.

Thanks

AirVideo does this. You put a server version on your PC and then run the app on your iPad. It will convert on the fly, so the base pc will get a workout, but it works great.

Also, if you rip your stuff to mp4 or m4v, then you can setup a personal cloud on a hard drive. This will let you stream over the Internet. It works great but you need decent uploads speeds from your ISP. Works for music too. I use pogoplug series 4 for mine, but there are other personal cloud options.

 

[dhewson777]

I stream directly to OplayerHD from my NAS running Twonky server (it's a WD NAS). Stream avi, mkv, etc. straight to my iPad. No conversions, no middle-man PC.

 

[Dirk Gently]

Thanks all for the info - I went for the VLC option (purely because that was the first one I saw!) and that is working just fine for me. I went for the "pro" version since £1.49 seems very reasonable considering what I actually get out of it. I take it that it is a lot more awkward for me to stream the movies to my iPad if I am not in the same home network (at the in-laws for example)?

 

[scifan57]

Thanks all for the info - I went for the VLC option (purely because that was the first one I saw!) and that is working just fine for me. I went for the "pro" version since £1.49 seems very reasonable considering what I actually get out of it. I take it that it is a lot more awkward for me to stream the movies to my iPad if I am not in the same home network (at the in-laws for example)?

Correct, you will need lots of bandwidth to stream live over the Internet from your home computer.

 

[Dirk Gently]

Okay, using VLC streamer pro now on both my iPad and iPhone and finding that it works amazingly well. Although slightly off-topic, is there a similar solution to stream my PC content to my HDTV? It is a Samsung UE32B6000VW if that helps at all!

 

[KevinJS]

Okay, using VLC streamer pro now on both my iPad and iPhone and finding that it works amazingly well. Although slightly off-topic, is there a similar solution to stream my PC content to my HDTV? It is a Samsung UE32B6000VW if that helps at all!

I use my BluRay player to achieve this. It's an LG BD570C. It has built-in wifi.

 

[AQ_OC]

Okay, using VLC streamer pro now on both my iPad and iPhone and finding that it works amazingly well. Although slightly off-topic, is there a similar solution to stream my PC content to my HDTV? It is a Samsung UE32B6000VW if that helps at all!

Is your TV smart (built in ability to play media files over the network?)? If not, then you need to connect something to it that can play your content over your network. In my case, I have an HTPC connected to my TV and it plays my content over a giga-bit network. My blu-ray players are collecting dust now.

 

[Dirk Gently]

It would appear that the TV is not smart. I have the Samsung Blu Ray player that may possibly be smart - I'll look into it - thanks.

 

[dvdcatalyst]

It would appear that the TV is not smart. I have the Samsung Blu Ray player that may possibly be smart - I'll look into it - thanks.

A tv-out option from your computer to your TV would work great, or you could look into something like a WDTV Live

WD TV Live

which lets you connect an external harddrive or stream from your PC all kinds of video files (MKV, AVI, ISO etc) to your TV. It comes with a remote, making it pretty easy to navigate.

For your remote-needs, maybe look into Splashtop:

Splashtop 2 - Remote Desktop for iPad on the iTunes App Store

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