My Home Network and Multimedia Setup

I would like to share a little bit about my home network and multimedia setup. It’s probably not the most sophisticated one, just a straight forward configuration. Below are the requirements I would like to have:

1. Internet and Shared Storage (video, picture, audio) from all corners of my home (I have a two-storey home)

2. Internet and Shared Storage access from multiple devices (PC, laptop, smart phones, media player, dongle)

3. Play any type/format of movie, with .srt subtitle support

4. Configurable schedule access control for some devices

5. 24/7, throttled download support (for downloading torrents and premium account download)

6. Screen-cast of my Android smart phones to any of my TVs

This is my setup

D-link DIR636L Router

• The main router, connected with broadband router
• Gigabit support (although it’s useless. None of my devices nor the broadband router require Gigabit connectivity)
• Support for configurable access control and it’s schedule, but not easy enough to configure
• Price for value (replacing my original my router, Linksys EA2700)

WD MyBookLive 2 TB

• The main shared storage, storing all multimedia files (video, picture, audio)
• Linux-based. SSH support can be enabled
• miniDLNA installed, to support access from DLNA devices (my Samsung SmartTV). I tried several others (including the built-in Twonky), but had no luck displaying .srt subtitles. miniDLNA worked well.

HP 6530b

• Old laptop (formerly office allowance). Battery not functioning
• Acts as a server (hah!?). Installed with Ubuntu 13, Transmission Torrent Client, JDownloader 2
• Remote shutdown and power-on (using wake-up LAN)
• Current Raspberry Pi specification is not good enough for server use, so I still stick with this ‘old laptop’ for now.

Raspberry Pi Model A+

• Absolutely superb device!
• Installed with Openelec OS, built-in XBMC
• Wireless or Wired (ethernet) connectivity
• Play 1080p movies flawlessly using wireless connection

LG LED TV 32 (forgot the series)

• 1 HDMI port (workaround by having cheap HDMI switcher
• HDMI-CEC control support, to control my Raspberry Pi XBMC by using TV remote control

Patriot Box Office (PBO)

• Play all types of videos, support for .srt subtitle
• Ugly user interface
• Wireless or Wired (ethernet) connectivity

Samsung Smart TV UE32EH5300

• Full HD, 3 HDMI Ports, Ethernet Port and WIFI dongle (provided)
• Built-in DLNA support, although not all types of video can be played
• Useless Smart TV applications. Only youtube is usable (due to pairing with smartphone capability)

Chromecast

• Tiny little device, but very powerful
• Support screen casting from Android devices
• Can act as DLNA player (by using other application, such as Bubble UPNP)
• Effecient playback

EZCast HDMI Dongle

• Support Miracast, Airplay and DLNA
• Weird user interface, performance not as good as Chromecast