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Can I stream media to my iPad?

M

malfromcessnock

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 20, 2012
46
0
The subject says it all.

I want to buy an iPad if I can stream media from my network HDs.

Can this be done?

Cheers, Mal
 
What kind of drives to you have?

Seagate and WD have apps so you can connect to those drives to stream content. Seagate also sells a witless harddrive that streams content from a 500gb portable drive to your iPad from anywhere, no wifi hotspot needed.
 
Andrew K - I have Seagate and WD My Books.

What are these apps and where can you download them?

Thanks for your help.

------------------------

iMarvin, thanks for your heads up. Is File Browser an iPad app?

Thanks for your help.

Mal from AU
 
When you say "network HDs" are you referring to dedicated NAS drives or drives shared over a network whilst attached to a computer?

if its the latter, there are numerous apps which do this in the app store. You can install a server application on your computer and a client one on the mac and you stream them that way. There are also numerous Airplay and DNLA based apps which are also quite good.
 
Paulywauly - I mean HDs that are connected to my network.

Currently they are connected on my iMac, but I want to stream video to my MBP and iPad (if I buy one). I have found that going to them using Finder and double clicking gives me a very poor result - they buffer constantly.

So I am toying with the idea of
1 - Buying ethernet drives and connecting them to my modem
2 - Buying an Apple AirPort Extreme and connecting my USB HDs to that thereby making them Network Drives accessible by any device currently on my Network.

You got any ideas as to how you'd tackle this little problem?

Cheers, Mal AU
 
iMarvin - I have searched for File Browser at the App Store and can't find anything with that name.

Can you please clarify the name of this app?

Cheers, Mal AU
 
I add ripped mpeg4 files directly to my iTunes on my pc and then I can stream them to my phone, Apple TV, and ipad. Works very well.
 
chdwil said:
I add ripped mpeg4 files directly to my iTunes on my pc and then I can stream them to my phone, Apple TV, and ipad. Works very well.
Click to expand...

The thing with that is the pc must be on. Not very good if you're in bed and want to watch a movie, but not leave your pc on all night. :)
 
I would recommend putting your HD onto the network, then use various app's for streaming.
I have a NAS connected to the router, and then I can access it without the need for PC or MAC to be constantly on.
You don't need to convert the files to a certain format, some app's can play multiple formats. i have 2 Samsung TV which can access the NAS as well using the DNLA set up.

Basic set up below
 

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malfromcessnock said:
The subject says it all.

I want to buy an iPad if I can stream media from my network HDs.

Can this be done?

Cheers, Mal
Click to expand...

If you have the time, you want to check out the network streaming-specific section in my Multimedia bible chart: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/81986513/092012/iMediaPlayer/201204-mm-chart.ods

Basically, if your movies are

- iDevice-native (mov / mp4 / m4v) AND
- they don't contain AC-3 track (but AAC ones) (AC-3 support has just been removed, as has also been pointed out in my latest, dedicated article) AND
- you plan to access them via SMB or FTP,

use exPlayer HD.

In other cases (for example, streaming through UPnP, WebDAV or even plain HTTP), some other players can (also) fit the bill. Just make sure you pick a player with hardware acceleration support. (These are all marked in the chart.)
 
ianrip said:
I would recommend putting your HD onto the network, then use various app's for streaming.
I have a NAS connected to the router, and then I can access it without the need for PC or MAC to be constantly on.
You don't need to convert the files to a certain format, some app's can play multiple formats. i have 2 Samsung TV which can access the NAS as well using the DNLA set up.

Basic set up below
Click to expand...

Thanks ianrip - trying to get my head around your great diagram. What is the count column for? You have a Mac Mini - where is your AirPort Extreme shown - is it your router? And is your Cat 6 Cable a regular Lan Cable?

Thanks so much for your effort. I don't want to use TV though - I want to view output on MBP or iPad only. I live alone and enjoy the small screens - even a 700MB one hour file renders great quality. Most of my files however are either ripped at the highest iSkySoft DVD Ripper provides and are about 1.5GB or are downloaded from the internet. Fabulous vivid colours with the iSkySoft files.

Can you tell me what apps and where you get them. BTW I usually use GOM or VLC to view.

Thanks to you and everyone for all your help.

Cheers, Mal AU

----------

Thanks Menneisyys2 - I'll check out your url

All the best, Mal AU
 
I use the Air Video app.

I install the air video server on my computer and allow access to certain folders. Then from there my ipad/iphone can access them and play the videos. There is a live conversion that happens, but my 2011 27" base Imac can handle it all pretty easily.
 
Air Video - doesn't have to be mp4 it can be any file and streams it over. It's not the only one but its the one I use an love. There is at least one other big competitor to Airvideo for sure
 
malfromcessnock said:
Thanks ianrip - trying to get my head around your great diagram. What is the count column for? ( count column was just for Ref nothing important really) You have a Mac Mini - where is your AirPort Extreme shown - is it your router (YES but I didn't get the apple router just using the one supplied for now )? And is your Cat 6 Cable a regular Lan Cable YES ?

Thanks so much for your effort. I don't want to use TV though - I want to view output on MBP or iPad only. I live alone and enjoy the small screens - even a 700MB one hour file renders great quality. Most of my files however are either ripped at the highest iSkySoft DVD Ripper provides and are about 1.5GB or are downloaded from the internet. Fabulous vivid colours with the iSkySoft files.

Can you tell me what apps and where you get them. BTW I usually use GOM or VLC to view.
I think i bought X player for ipad, I got an Buffalo app with the NAS, but that only streams about 2% of the files, so i was mucking around and found Xplayer, I've got VLC but haven't tried it
Thanks to you and everyone for all your help.

Cheers, Mal AU

----------

Thanks Menneisyys2 - I'll check out your url

All the best, Mal AU
Click to expand...

PM me if you need more info
 
Wolfmore said:
Air Video - doesn't have to be mp4 it can be any file and streams it over. It's not the only one but its the one I use an love. There is at least one other big competitor to Airvideo for sure
Click to expand...

Another vote for Air Video. Unfortunately, I have the infamous double NAT issue that prevents 3g streaming. For some reason Orb works fine over 3g without configuring.
 
In conclusion...

Thank you to everyone for your input.

I have endeavoured to assimilate what has been proffered and think I'm going to do the following...

Condense all my data to a 4TB NAS Drive, connect it to my router and view media on my iMac or MBP and at a pinch get one of the recommended apps so I can also view it on my iPad.

(Back-up the 4TB NAS to USB Drives and my computers to USB attached HDs via TimeMachine)

What's the consensus fellas?

Cheers, Mal AU
 
to Malfromcessnock
YES Stick it all one 1 BIG NAS, (back that up)

also
I replied to your earlier post, but it's gone!!!
so
What is the count column for? (just ignore the column)
You have a Mac Mini - where is your AirPort Extreme shown - is it your router? (yes I've got a standard router, planning on airport if the standard router did'nt work but it did, so no need to change for now)
And is your Cat 6 Cable a regular Lan Cable? (yes LAN cable 1gb)
I 've got 6 lines in the house, all connected to the router, and the NAS is connected as well.
the app I use is
PlayerXtreme™ HD - Premium Multimedia PlayerBy PentaLoop
but there's hunners & hunners of them
 
Last edited:
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