DLNA, Serviio, BT Home Hub and Bravia TV’s
I have created this guide to assist all frustrated people who have ever tried to get their PC’s to work with their Sony Bravia TV’s (2010 plus) via DLNA through a BT Home Hub using Serviio. Twice I have had problems with different PC’s and, after searching various forums over very many months, I have resolved all my issues. I hope to help everyone else in one simple and concise place within this forum as I myself have found it both interesting and useful and wish to contribute something back.
Firstly, this is my network set-up;
1 No. BT Home Hub version 2.0 directly connected to my incoming telephone line via a wall socket from which I have;
1 No. Bravia KDL-37EX403 connected to the Home Hub via home plugs. The Home Hub is connected to a home plug, which is directly plugged into a wall power socket, via a cat 5 cable and the TV is connected to another home plug directly plugged into a wall power socket adjacent to the mains plug for the TV. They are on different floors at opposite ends of the house from one another.
I also have found these documents useful;
http://campaign.odw.sony-europe.com/tvme/mySony/my008/BRAVIA_DLNA_EN.pdf
www.sony.co.nz/microsite/iptv/images/quickflixguide.pdf
which shows ways of connecting a Bravia TV to a network, as well as how to search for your server, amongst other helpful information.
My initial set-up - 1 No. tower PC, running Windows XP, directly connected to the Home Hub via a cat 5 cable.
A good while ago ‘Catmambo’ recommended using Serviio for DLNA interoperability with Sony TV’s so, like everyone else, I went and downloaded it and expected it just to work (like you do!). But no, like with all computers and networks it wasn’t to be. So, having had no luck within the Sony forums I went looking elsewhere and found this in the BT forums;
http://community.bt.com/t5/BB-Speed-Connection-Issues/UPnP-Unreliable-on-Home-Hub-2-0/td-p/13083
of which doing this worked;
Access the BT Home Hub Gateway Web Interface through your web browser by typing in http://192.168.1.254 and go on to change the following settings in ‘Advanced’:
Application Sharing > UPnP – ‘Off’ (Mine is now ‘On’ and it still works)
Under ‘Port Forwarding’ assign the following to your TV (this is the ‘Device’ name that the BT Home Hub assigns it. You may need to check on the TV what the IP address is and check back on the BT Home Hub what it is called. (You can change this name within the Home Hub too for your convenience, but one step at a time!):
Direct Connect
DirectX 7
DirectX 8
DirectX 9
FTP
HTTP Server (World Wide Web)
HTTPS
Secure Web Server (HTTPS)
Web Server (HTTP)
Should you not know how to access the BT Home Hub Gateway Web Interface this document can assist; http://www.filesaveas.com/bthomehub_login.html, but there are others. (As an aside the BT Home Hub 2 is based on the Thomson TG787 router and the documentation for this can be obtained from here; http://downloads.thomson.net/telecom/documentation/TG787/R74X/SetupUserGuide/PDF/TG787_SetupUserGuid...)
It worked!
I thought that that would be the end of the story, which it was until a power surge blew the PC’s power unit some months later. As I’d had 8 years out of it I decided it was now time for a new PC.
I bought a new laptop and thought that it would just work in replacement of my old tower unit. But, hey, we’re talking computers and nothing is how it should be. So I was back to square one (almost!).
My Second set-up - 1 No. laptop PC, running Windows 7, directly connected to the Home Hub via a cat 5 cable.
I now have a whizzy new laptop (as you know ‘cos I just told you) and thought that I could connect to my Bravia TV via Serviio using Wi-Fi. Don’t you believe it! Nothing got this to work and, believe me, I tried all ways.
(Since writing this article I have found these links; http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/multimedia-voip/multimedia-voip-features/31273-hd-streaming-smackdown... and http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanwan/lanwan-basics/31238-slow-homeplug-five-ways-to-boost-powerline... which explain why hard wired is best. My home plugs are 85mbps which can deal with some 1080p applications but can get very bad stuttering. Their recommendation is that if you play 720p applications, which is what the BBC HD iPlayer programmes are, at 3.2mbps, then you should be fine. For comparison, other online streams at 720p are as follows; ITV Hub - 2.5 Mbps; Netflix - 3.8 Mbps (HD - 2.6 Mbps); Apple - 4.1 Mbps; Amazon - 2.5 Mbps; Hulu - 3.2 Mbps. I get very rarely get any iPlayer issues, and any I do are due to buffering from the wider network. Bottom line, power cables are not best for data transmission!. Should you wish to analyse your own videos to see (literally) what does and does not work for you then this free software is very helpful; http://www.winhoros.de/docs/bitrate-viewer/index.html)
Next I connected the laptop to the network via the cat 5 cable which my former tower was connected to. Still no joy. So, now getting very fed up, I downloaded PS3 Media Server, which didn’t work either. But it kick started Serviio into action. Do not remove PS3 Media Server (as I subsequently did) as Serviio ceases to work again (which I now think that is related to the Java engine within PS3MS).
Update July 2014 - I have 'discovered' that if Universal Media Server is used in lieu of PS3 Media Server, unlike PS3 Media Server, both it and Serviio work. Universal Media Server is far 'neater' than PS3 Media Server, it being a simplified, and 'cleaner', clone version of it. If this is undertaken PS3 MS can be entirely removed with UMS replacing it. Serviio still needs either one or the other to operate though, in my experience.
Update December 2014 - My 85Mbps powerline adaptors packed up in November so I replaced them with 500Mbps (£24.99 from Argos). I now find that I can connect to my TV from my laptop wirelessly, i.e. wi-fi, via my router. No longer is hard wiring necessary from my laptop. Just by increasing the capacity of the powerline adapters I have excellent connectivity - Highly recommended.
Currently am running Universal Media Server 5-0-0-b1 (developers version) & Serviio 1.4.1.2
Update March 2015 - Am finding the latest versions of both Serviio and UMS are unreliable with the Java 8 bundle. Have reverted to the above versions.
Update March 2015 (a few days later!) - One of my 3 month old powerline adapters has failed. So back they go to Argos and, as I have now a 'Now TV' box I am going down the Plex route.
Bottom line. This article shall no longer be updated. It was fun whilst it lasted.
Lastly, one other webpage which I have found helpful is this;
https://mostly-tech.com/2011/12/01/connected-home-best-practices/
And if all else fails download Concevia’s Mezzmo (www.conceiva.com/products/mezzmo/default.asp). It just works. It might cost a few bob but it just might be worth it in the long run. You have two weeks free trial before committing to buy.
Footnote; it would appear that, on paper, all homehubs have the same gateway web interface, so this should, in theory work for all. I haven't yet updated mine but I would be interested to know if this does apply for HH 3/4 & 5 models. Community kindly advise!
