Best Options for a Home Entertainment Network?

Vultan asks: "Now that I'm finally a proud homeowner, I'm looking to integrate my video, audio, and computer hardware. Specifically, I'd like to be able to listen to Internet radio throughout the house (or at least through my main stereo unit), and transmit video from my computer to my home theater in a separate room. I've done my share of googling, and I'm drowning in options. Wired vs. wireless, RG6 vs. CAT5e, digital vs. analog, line level vs. speaker level (for audio), etc. What kinds of technology do Slashdot readers use or recommend?"

Simple solution

[Napoleon The Pig]

Well one would think you could run just a standard TV out to get the video, and run your soundcard through your stereo amp to get the audio. Most likely your best bet would be to keep it all wired since speed would be limited via wireless. Those are just a few of my thoughts, but what do I know, I'm just a silly college student. Good luck.

What are your preferences?

[Max Romantschuk]

I've been planning the same for some time. Currently I'm aiming for wireless. The reasons?

• The speed is OK with the latest generation
• No wires
• Moving things around won't become an issue
• Upgrading won't require new wires

The main issue with wireless is speed... it's not terribly good, but enough to stream DivX (disclaimer, haven't tested, only done the math.) If you're planning to move several gigabytes from machine to machine in a hurry you might want wires instead.

Security is also a weak link with wireless, but that depends on your location as well. Encryption is always extra overhead, which is a bummer.

But personally I'd rather have a slow flexible system than a fast system I can't change because I've installed the RC45 jacks in the wrong places.

Ground Loops

[ViXX0r]

One thing I can't stress enough is to be wary of ground loops when connecting any number of audio/video components together. If there's more than one path to ground throughout your entire connection of equipment it's extremely likely you will hear a 60Hz (50Hz in europe) hum in the background of all your music. I just managed to track down and stop mine the other day.

Connecting a computer and a home stereo receiver is probably the most common cause of this effect.

Fortunately, you can get ground loop isolators pretty cheap for line-level, and cable tv applications... of course, if you choose wireless this is a moot point.

Re:Cat5

[SL33Z3]

With all the talk about wireless, this post would almost seem archaic to some. However, I wanted to pointed out that this is probably your best option if you can do it. it requires quite a bit of work in breaking up drywall in spots to run your cable, then patching it up. However it works well. CAT5 doesn't fall prey radio interference. With my wireless network, I've had some interferenece when using my 2.4 Ghz telephones. CAT5 doesnt' have this problem. I might also recommend if you make this investment in CAT5 , go plenum. It will keep intereference down from power cords and light fixtures that would impede plain ole CAT5. It costs more, but definitely worth it. I have a 2500 SF house I'm building and a single box of 1000FT wired EVERY room in my home, sometimes two or three runs to each room. I ran each cable from a spot in the garage (for God's sake, don't run them next to your power box). I then built a patch panel into the wall bought a media cabinet from Blackbox.com (expensive, so look at others such as "Leviton" or their newly aquired company "OnQ" ). You can place your modem, router etc in there.

Of course, this all only takes care of your networking needs in the home. Check out avsforum.com to get help with everything from running cable, to selecting the right equipment for you.

Re:Wiring a house for media..

[GreenKiwi]

For times when I want really excellent sound, I have a second hifi which tends to get plugged into a soundblaster live - but for the majority of the time, soundblaster sound from the laptop suffices.

Yeah, and when you want music instead of just "sound" get something like the Digital Audio Labs card (http://www.digitalaudio.com/ [digitalaudio.com]) or one of M Audios board (http://www.midiman.net/products/consumer/index.ph p [midiman.net])

Re:Divide and conquer

[Skater]

Or save money for the coming repair bills, such as broken down dishwashers, furnaces, etc. The joys of ownership. :)

--RJ

My experience: wired *and* wireless

[Glyndwr]

Our household LAN has various components, like a file server, an Xbox for DivX and mp3 playback through the 5.1 surround sound system, and a half-dozen PCs (shared house). We needed both wired (for speed; e.g., file server to LAN or Xbox to file server) and wireless (for laptop flexibility) so we installed both. I can use my iBook with a little micro hifi in the kitchen to stream mp3 wirelessly, as the layout of the house made wiring the kitchen a pricey prospect; meanwhile, I still get to shove gigabytes of data on and off the file server pretty quickly from any of the wired desktop machines.

I think the best answer depends on the layout of your house, but with wired being so cheap, I would suggest using wires were you need them and they can be easily run, and wireless wherever wires cannot reach.

As for getting music to each room, I'm leaning towards the view many other posters have suggested: round up some classic Pentium desktops and use them as streaming nodes. It's not fantastically elegant but at least it's cheap and flexibile.

Re:Wired vs Wireless: health and ease of access

[MickLinux]

When thinking about the wired vs. wireless, don't forget the health issues: the correlations between cell phone usage (that is, microwave frequency radio near the ear) and inner-ear nerve cancer, and the correlations between ozone exposure and leukemia. Although your direct exposure is bound to be less intense for internet than for a cell phone, you have to consider that 24-hour exposure is going to make that more significant.

Because of this, I'd suggest wired, LCD monitors, and with good ventilation for the power supplies.

But then there comes another issue: when standards upgrade and you want to upgrade as well, how easy or difficult will it be to change your system? For this reason, I would suggest running the wires behind screw-in molding, or a self-latching molding if you can get it. I'd make the molding large enough to hold at least four cables, maybe larger. Where you have such things as a false cieling [kitchens] or false floor, make use of those. Finally, color-code and tag everything, at both ends and whereever it can be accessed, and make up a master plan of the house cabling. Put that master plan in an envelope that is taped into the router's enclosure, and another copy of the master plan on the inside of the house's circuit-breaker box. Make sure that the master plan references everything by color, so that future owners can easily track things.

Wife Doesn't like Wires???

[Amos Moses]

Here is an idea that worked for me. Put in moldings. Crown molding that goes around the room close to the cieling, and baseboard molding that goes around the base of a room. You can get it in literally 100's of styles to fit your home/budjet, and used correctly adds really well to the asthetics of a home. You can then run wires along the top of the Crown molding, and pick some that leaves a gap along the foot of the wall, and you can run wires behind it. I let my wife pick out the styles she liked best within the price, and phisical contraints, and she was thrilled. hope this helps those of you who want the CAT 5, but also have wives.

DVB Video Disk Recorder

[jsantala]

All the europeans out there might want to check out VDR [cadsoft.de]. Its a great piece of software that works for DVB broadcasts.

Other than that I'd say CAT5 and SPDIF digital everywhere. Wireless is fine for stuff that moves, but you ain't going to move your home theater setup around the house, are you?

Don't tell her!

[siskbc]

Married or single? That could be a determining factor. 9 out of 10 wives will prefer wireless...

9 out of 10 wives don't know wtf wireless IS. Don't give her the option.

Also, if you do a better job of hiding the wires, she won't complain too much. Then, she'll only complain that you ripped up all the drywall in the house. ;)

Re:Audio: SliMP3

[gantz]

Is there a device anywhere that allows native playing of other formats? i.e. a device that you can upload different codecs to depending on your music library?

Yes. It's called a "laptop."

Sorry, I couldn't resist.