Home networking guide Music on tap
One major benefit of a home network is that you can share music, photos and video around the house – and not just with other PCs. Some devices, such as the Best Buy Apple AirPort Express (£90) and Roku SoundBridge M1000 (£180), let you listen to the library of tunes on your PC through your hi-fi.
Other devices, such as the Elgato Eye Home (£210), let you view your digital photos and stream videos from your computer’s hard disk to your TV screen.
The Elgato works only with Apple Macs; Windows XP users could consider an Xbox 360 (£210), which, as well as being a games console, can also stream music and photos from a PC. If you have a Windows XP Media Center PC, it will also stream video.
In our example, we’re setting up a Roku SoundBridge, so we can listen to digital music on our PC through our hi-fi in the living room.
1Connect to your hi-fi
Connect the media-streaming device's audio outputs to your hi-fi, just as you would with a CD or MiniDisc player using the red-and-white phono sockets and a cable.
The Roku SoundBridge M1000 has a built-in wireless adaptor, so there's no need for any extranet working hardware. Many other media-streaming devices, like the Xbox 360, only have an ethernet port, so you'll also need a wireless bridge (see step six in Get connected).
2Set up server software
To use a streaming device, you need to run special software on your PC. Some come with their own software. With others, including the SoundBridge, you can download Windows Media Connect for free.
Once you've installed it, you'll be able to click on the Sharing button and select the folders on your computer that you want your streaming device to have access to - usually the ones where your music or photos are stored.
3Add the Roku to the network
The Roku SoundBridge looks for available networks as soon as you turn it on. If you need to, enter the encryption key.
On your PC, the Windows Media Connect software should have detected the SoundBridge. Click Devices, highlight SoundBridge and click Allow to complete the set-up.
Back on the SoundBridge, select the Windows Media Connect music library and use the device's remote control to browse through the music on your PC by artist, album or genre.
