Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

How can I stream movies that are on an Airport Time Capsule on my iPad 1?

M

magentawave

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 8, 2009
235
14
I'm thinking of buying an Airport Time Capsule mainly so I can load it with a ton of movies and watch them on my iPad 1 while traveling in my motorhome.

I have a couple questions about using an Airport Time Capsule please...

1) Can I stream a movie directly from the Airport Time Capsule to my iPad using one of those free video player iPad apps or do I have to put the movie in iTunes on my iPad first before I can actually watch it? (I called Apple with this same question and got two totally different answers from two humans) The bottom line is... What is the fastest, easiest most hassle free way to watch movies that are stored on the Airport Time Capsule on my iPad 1?

2) Is it possible to move movies from a DVR to the Airport Time Capsule? I called Time Warner and Cox and they said I can do that but weren't to clear on how to actually do it. Is it as simple as hooking up a USB cable from the DVR to the Airport Time Capsule and then dragging them into the Time Capsule?

3) Is there a better wifi external hard drive than the Airport Time Capsule? Like maybe the Seagate wifi hard drive??

Thanks very much!

UPDATE: This will be with NO internet.
 
Last edited:
AFAIK there are 3 ways to stream movies to iPad (doesn't matter if they come from a TimeCapsule or from elsewhere):

1) play the iTunes purchases from the cloud
2) Home Sharing
3) run Plex both at home and on iPad

#1 requires that you purchase your content from iTunes
#2 works only on home network (not over Internet) and requires running a computer with iTunes
#3 requires you to run a Plex Media Server at home. You can do it either on a computer, or on select NAS devices.

Other than that, you can achieve remote playback from your home network drive with a program called FileBrowser. This will not exactly be streaming, but accessing a file on your home drive over network and playing it back.
 
I second the recommendation for Plex. Even though you'll have to run it on a computer and can't just use the Time Capsule solo, I think you'll have a much better experience. It gives you a lot more out of the box, including an app that allows you to sync content to your iPad if you want. Works great with an iPad 1, too.

Another option is to use something like the Air Video app*…*but there is a server component to that as well, so you have to have a computer running… Might as well go with Plex as it gives you added features like pulling in metadata, poster art, etc.
 
Okay thanks. I have four questions about Plex please...

1) Does Plex work without an internet connection?

2) Why would I need Plex if the Airport Time Capsule creates its own wifi network?

3) Does Plex enable me to stream the movie directly from the Airport Time Capsule without downloading it to my iPad?

4) Instead of using Plex with the Airport Time Capsule, could I use it with any NON wifi external hard drive?

Thank you! :)
 
magentawave said:
Okay thanks. I have four questions about Plex please...

1) Does Plex work without an internet connection?

2) Why would I need Plex if the Airport Time Capsule creates its own wifi network?

3) Does Plex enable me to stream the movie directly from the Airport Time Capsule without downloading it to my iPad?

4) Instead of using Plex with the Airport Time Capsule, could I use it with any NON wifi external hard drive?

Thank you! :)
Click to expand...

Playing video is more than wifi as you need some kind of application that reads the file and plays it on the screen. The iPad is not a full fledged computer and cannot do this on its own. The iPad is a client and you need a server app running somewhere to send it video (and the TimeCapsule won't run a video server app). A computer, however, is able to read files stored on a TimeCapsule (or any hard drive connected to it) and play the video. If you have iTunes or the Plex application running on the computer, they can act as video servers. Your iPad can connect to the computer applications and stream the video. Its just the way apple does things,

In other words, both Plex and itunes are computer programs that run on a computer. Neither will run on the Time Capsule, you need another box besides the TimeCapsule and iPad. There are some NAS boxes that can stream video stored on the NAS to your iPad, but this is not a TimeCapsule.

You can use both Plex and iTunes without a internet connection.

BTW, its a similar situations with AppleTVs, iPods, iPhones
 
Last edited:
magentawave said:
I'm thinking of buying an Airport Time Capsule mainly so I can load it with a ton of movies and watch them on my iPad 1 while traveling in my motorhome.

I have a couple questions about using an Airport Time Capsule please...

1) Can I stream a movie directly from the Airport Time Capsule to my iPad using one of those free video player iPad apps or do I have to put the movie in iTunes on my iPad first before I can actually watch it? (I called Apple with this same question and got two totally different answers from two humans) The bottom line is... What is the fastest, easiest most hassle free way to watch movies that are stored on the Airport Time Capsule on my iPad 1?

2) Is it possible to move movies from a DVR to the Airport Time Capsule? I called Time Warner and Cox and they said I can do that but weren't to clear on how to actually do it. Is it as simple as hooking up a USB cable from the DVR to the Airport Time Capsule and then dragging them into the Time Capsule?

3) Is there a better wifi external hard drive than the Airport Time Capsule? Like maybe the Seagate wifi hard drive??

Thanks very much!

UPDATE: This will be with NO internet.
Click to expand...

Most DVRs will not allow you to directly store video on a hard drive readable by other devices (its a digital rights and copy-write thing). Some DVRs allow you to record onto a hard drive, but only that DVR can view it. With the right converters, you can capture the analog video on a computer as you watch it and the video gets stored on a hard drive of your choice. I have an old Panasonic DVR that will record SD video to a DVD or DVD RAM (which can then be ripped to a computer), but I dunno if anything like that still exists.

What many do is, at the computer you sync your iPad to, add the video to your iTunes library, an then sync it to your iPad. This stores the video on the iPad, so you are limited to what it can hold, which is a lot of SD shows.

Otherwise, one option is to buy something like a mini (a small kinda portable computer), any model used or refurbed. Connect up a massive external USB drive (you can get 4TB for ~$100 now days). Put your mini's iTunes library on the hard drive, turn on sharing, and import tons of video. Take the mini and hard drive with you in the RV and then use the iPad to view the video.

Another option is to pick up a Synology NAS, add internal drives. At home, use your computer to load it up with Video files. Synology has a nifty Video server built in and a free iPad app, I'm not absolutely sure it runs on older iPads. Then when you go on the road you take the synology with you. They are not "portable" but are small enough to be easily carried. A SYDS212JK2 is a nice one. You end up paying maybe $500, but could be cheaper than the mini route. The mini has its advantage as its also a computer.

There are dozens of other alternatives, DRM makes it complicated, but you asked specifically about iPad viewing.

You could also think about using a laptop instead of the iPad, but that costs more.
 
Last edited:
Someone told me that I can use the Filebrowser app on my iPad to stream movies from a hard drive with its own wifi network. Anyone here done that?

When you say "Mini" are you referring to the Mac Mini?



ColdCase said:
Most DVRs will not allow you to directly store video on a hard drive readable by other devices (its a digital rights and copy-write thing). Some DVRs allow you to record onto a hard drive, but only that DVR can view it. With the right converters, you can capture the analog video on a computer as you watch it and the video gets stored on a hard drive of your choice. I have an old Panasonic DVR that will record SD video to a DVD or DVD RAM (which can then be ripped to a computer), but I dunno if anything like that still exists.

What many do is, at the computer you sync your iPad to, add the video to your iTunes library, an then sync it to your iPad. This stores the video on the iPad, so you are limited to what it can hold, which is a lot of SD shows.

Otherwise, one option is to buy something like a mini (a small kinda portable computer), any model used or refurbed. Connect up a massive external USB drive (you can get 4TB for ~$100 now days). Put your mini's iTunes library on the hard drive, turn on sharing, and import tons of video. Take the mini and hard drive with you in the RV and then use the iPad to view the video.

Another option is to pick up a Synology NAS, add internal drives. At home, use your computer to load it up with Video files. Synology has a nifty Video server built in and a free iPad app, I'm not absolutely sure it runs on older iPads. Then when you go on the road you take the synology with you. They are not "portable" but are small enough to be easily carried. A SYDS212JK2 is a nice one. You end up paying maybe $500, but could be cheaper than the mini route. The mini has its advantage as its also a computer.

There are dozens of other alternatives, DRM makes it complicated, but you asked specifically about iPad viewing.

You could also think about using a laptop instead of the iPad, but that costs more.
Click to expand...
 
magentawave said:
Someone told me that I can use the Filebrowser app on my iPad to stream movies from a hard drive with its own wifi network. Anyone here done that?
Click to expand...
Yes, I have. As I said, it is not streaming. The file browser is what it says to be : a file browser (akin to Finder or Explorer).
It can log in to a network share, browse it's files and folders, and if there's a movie among them, it can open the movie file (NB! over the network, from remote drive) and get it fed to a movie player on iPad.
There are also other movie player apps available on iOS App Store, that can connect to network shares (eg GoodPlayer). But you must pay attention to that when selecting, because not all do.
 
Yes Mac mini.

There are terminology here that can get in the way of the novice.

I think you want to load a bunch of video files onto a hard drive in a Time Capsule (or some wireless NAS) that you can take camping where there is no internet service and view those movies with your iPad. Technically perhaps not streaming but thats what I think you want to do.

As pritv says, there are a few iPad apps that let you do that, although I have not used them.

Not sure if you have already looked there, but you could get some help in the iPad forum https://forums.macrumors.com/forums/137/ . They have a section for apps.

Are you trying to watch DRM protected movies, or personal movies (for example copies of DVDs you bought) ? ... DRM complicates things.
 
Last edited:
Apparently I was using the term "streaming" in the wrong context. Sorry for the confusion everyone. :eek:

Should I expect a lot of buffering when trying to play a movie with Filebrowser?

priitv8 said:
Yes, I have. As I said, it is not streaming. The file browser is what it says to be : a file browser (akin to Finder or Explorer).
It can log in to a network share, browse it's files and folders, and if there's a movie among them, it can open the movie file (NB! over the network, from remote drive) and get it fed to a movie player on iPad.
Click to expand...



Yes that is exactly what I want to do.

I don't know if they are DRM or not.

ColdCase said:
Yes Mac mini.
I think you want to load a bunch of video files onto a hard drive in a Time Capsule (or some wireless NAS) that you can take camping where there is no internet service and view those movies with your iPad. Technically perhaps not streaming but thats what I think you want to do.

Are you trying to watch DRM protected movies, or personal movies (for example copies of DVDs you bought) ? ... DRM complicates things.
Click to expand...




>>>>>>>>
You have all been very helpful with advice and links and I thank you. :)

I've been asking about how to watch movies on my iPad without internet that have been loaded on to a wifi external hard drive. So I guess the next question to ask is... Is there a simpler and cheaper way to accomplish this on an iPad?
 
How many GBytes of video are you talking about?

The least expensive (like no cost) option would be to import the videos into your iTune library and then sync your iPad, which puts the Video on the iPad itself. No need to take anything else with you.

If the video is taking up too much space, there are a number of tools that you can use (like handbrake) to first convert/compress the video into iPad size and then import into iTunes. This can save a lot of space. You can get many hours of SD video on a 16GB iPad, its the HD Video that takes a lot of space.

It may be less money to upgrade your iPad to one with more memory.... just thinking out loud here.

Most of us that have a lot of video (more than fits on an iPad) use a media server (like a Mac Mini) with larger hard drives to store video. We rip DVDs we own. We then take those video files (and others that did not need ripped) and run them through handbrake (a free app) to make video files compatible with the iPad or iPhone. We store those on the media server hard drive.
 
I don't know for sure yet but probably at least a couple TB. Aren't most movie size video files at least 1 to 1 1/2 GB's per movie?

I was thinking that I want the process of watching a movie on my iPad to be as simple as watching a movie on my iPad with Netflix. That means I don't want to hassle loading a bunch of movies on to my iPad and would prefer to access them wirelessly on a hard drive.

Yes Handbrake is a great little program.

ColdCase said:
How many GBytes of video are you talking about?

The least expensive (like no cost) option would be to import the videos into your iTune library and then sync your iPad, which puts the Video on the iPad itself. No need to take anything else with you.

If the video is taking up too much space, there are a number of tools that you can use (like handbrake) to first convert/compress the video into iPad size and then import into iTunes. This can save a lot of space. You can get many hours of SD video on a 16GB iPad, its the HD Video that takes a lot of space.

It may be less money to upgrade your iPad to one with more memory.... just thinking out loud here.

Most of us that have a lot of video (more than fits on an iPad) use a media server (like a Mac Mini) with larger hard drives to store video. We rip DVDs we own. We then take those video files (and others that did not need ripped) and run them through handbrake (a free app) to make video files compatible with the iPad or iPhone. We store those on the media server hard drive.
Click to expand...
 
I've just discovered ifiles for the iPhone and iPad, which will connect to the Time Capsule over afp protocol.
http://www.ifilesapp.com

So, time capsule makes a wifi network and assigns it an ip address (say 192.168.0.100
Use Airport Utility to enable sharing, and set user accounts.

Connect your iPad to the wifi network, and use ifiles.
Create a connection in your dashboard using ATP option to 192.168.0.100, giving it the password you've set for users access in the Time Capsule.

You then can browse and stream from the Time Capsule, or download to ipad for viewing off the wifi connection.

This also works remotely, if you've opened afp through your firewall on your home router.

This has worked for me with a 2G Time Capsule. I've been told that the latest Time Capsules might have changed this a little, and you have to connect via SMB connections rather than AFP
 
UPDATE: Thanks for all of your suggestions everyone. Well I bought a 2TB Time Capsule and the File Browser app for my iPad 1 and it works great for playing videos on my iPad that are stored on the Time Capsule with NO internet connection. It won't play .avi files though so then I bought the PlayerXtreme app because I was hoping it would play the avi files on the Time Capsule but it won't either even though it can access the Time Capsule just like File Browser can. Bummer. So before I start converting all my AVI's into MP4's, does anyone know how I can play the AVI videos on my Time Capsule with my iPad?
 
magentawave said:
Thank you. And will AirPlayit play the .avi files on my Time Capsule with my iPad 1 with NO internet connection?
Click to expand...

Oh, you stored files on time capsule? No internet connection is not a problem but time capsule is. Normally if you want to play avi file remotely you need a computer to re-encode the file to iPad standard.
 
matrix07 said:
Oh, you stored files on time capsule? No internet connection is not a problem but time capsule is. Normally if you want to play avi file remotely you need a computer to re-encode the file to iPad standard.
Click to expand...

Or convert the AVI file to iPad format and store them on the Time Capsule. There are a couple ways to do that... perhaps iMovie.. iTunes... QT... HandBrake..
 
Yup, thats what it says in the title of this thread. ;) I've been converting the avi's to mp4's with Handbrake but became hopeful I wouldn't have to do that when you mentioned that app. Oh well, back to converting with Handbrake.

matrix07 said:
Oh, you stored files on time capsule? No internet connection is not a problem but time capsule is. Normally if you want to play avi file remotely you need a computer to re-encode the file to iPad standard.
Click to expand...
 
magentawave said:
I've been converting the avi's to mp4's with Handbrake but became hopeful I wouldn't have to do that when you mentioned that app. Oh well, back to converting with Handbrake.
Click to expand...

Well, if you don't mind to convert all then great. When you live in the complete Apple ecosystem your life will be much easier. But if you don't have time to convert, a used 2011 Mac mini is perfect for the task and I guess it's very cheap now. (you could wait for Apple to release a new mini model and then it will be even super cheaper.)
 
You could use a WD MyBook Live connected via Ethernet to your Time Capsule (or AirPort Express for that matter), and the WD MyCloud App to do that.

71l5NcF%2BLKL._SL1500_.jpg
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
I do mind having to convert all the avi files but don't know of any other way to make them playable from the Time Capsule. Actually, I'm not sure if the issue is that the Time Capsule doesn't do non MP4 files or that the Cloud Browser app on my iPad won't play them?

The reason I bought the Time Capsule was to access movies on it with my iPad while traveling and out in the middle of nowhere with NO internet. So considering that, does the Mac Mini create its own wireless network without internet like the Time Capsule? If not, then what would be the point for getting a Mac Mini?

matrix07 said:
Well, if you don't mind to convert all then great. When you live in the complete Apple ecosystem your life will be much easier. But if you don't have time to convert, a used 2011 Mac mini is perfect for the task and I guess it's very cheap now. (you could wait for Apple to release a new mini model and then it will be even super cheaper.)
Click to expand...



Its good to know there is another wifi external drive available. Thank you. Are you saying that the WD MyBook Live can play any kind of video files including AVI's using the Cloud Browser app on my iPad 1? What is the point for connecting the WD MyBook Live to the Time Capsule when it is a wifi external hard drive like the Time Capsule? I got a killer deal on the Time Capsule slightly used so if the WD will play all video files then maybe I should sell the Time Capsule and buy a WD?

You could use a WD MyBook Live connected via Ethernet to your Time Capsule (or AirPort Express for that matter), and the WD MyCloud App to do that.

71l5NcF%2BLKL._SL1500_.jpg
[/QUOTE]
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back