Home IT Solution
Keeping this simple and you'll need to know some IT details; I am a Netgear and Acer solution partner...hence their products; Gigabit network with cat5e (for pricing) wired round the house, Netgear 16 Port Gigabit Switch in loft, Netgear DG834PN 108mbps Router for wifi and internet access with child protection (word blocking), Acer EasyStore 2TB with RAID5 (1.45TB) usable, this stores loads - all the photos, divx movies, mp3's and DATA. Netgear EVA-8000 x2 (one in the computer/play room and one in the living room main one), this connects to the EasyStore plays back on HDMI and normal scart to any TV.
Plays all the above media and has USB input as well! In the kids bedroom i have a philips media mp3 player connects wifi to the Easystore and pulls mp3 music down (he has too much choice now!). The EVA has a follow me solution so if your watching a film and want to watch it in another room with another eva you can send it to that and continue to watch it...All Games consoles/laptops and pc's use the wired network or wifi as I see fit. I have a Satalite Triax distribution box in the loft which sends the satalite signal to every room through sockets also installed (ALL very easy to install just time consuming). The Triax has a CCTV camera feed, so i can see who is at the door on the lounge TV. The Triax also sends the signal of DVB-T (freeview TV) DAB Radio signal and FM as well as normal TV signal to the triple face plate in each room.
The Netgear EVA is the fancy bit of kit, my partner did not used to look at the some 18,000 digital photos we have. Now she can listen to ALL her albums and view the photos and have a chuckle looking at them, before they were on the computer collecting dust so to speak. I also use it to watch all my films.
On the Triax; with a Magic Eye and second remote you can watch and change sky channels in another room with no extra cost!....It's great having a house that is wired correct so any new toys simpley just plug and work great...
Total Cost about £1000 fitted for cabling, triax, switch and wall sockets...other costs...Router £100, Media Gateway's £160, Traix, £100, EasyStore £500, Gigabit Switch £89 Baby Patch Cabinet £100 and patching face plate baby comms room in my loft now...;-)
Wish all new houses came pre-wired alerady with the above...the installation guys didnt have a clue about the wiring they were laying, but i helped, and fitted the end to the face plates myself...once finished they were very jealous and said it was a better setup than some mansions they had done installations in.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
