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craigthomas · Mar 13, 2003, 06:14 PM

I want to connect 2 computers to be able to play video from the other macs HD, but they are a room apart (25ft). Any ideas.

xtal · Mar 13, 2003, 06:31 PM

Booting the source computer up in FW target mode with a long cable between makes the most sense. Is the video in a file, or do you want to stream it?

craigthomas · Mar 13, 2003, 07:56 PM

Originally posted by xtal:
Booting the source computer up in FW target mode with a long cable between makes the most sense. Is the video in a file, or do you want to stream it?

I want to play eyeTV programs on a computer that's in a different room. I would prefer not to go target since that leaves one computer inactive.

hadocon · Mar 13, 2003, 08:00 PM

Originally posted by craigthomas:
I want to play eyeTV programs on a computer that's in a different room. I would prefer not to go target since that leaves one computer inactive.

why not use ethernet?

craigthomas · Mar 14, 2003, 01:52 PM

Originally posted by hadocon:
why not use ethernet?

Well, I could but I figured that it may not play well over ethernet. Do you really think that 100bt is fast enough to play video? 802.11b is way too slow.

geekwagon · Mar 14, 2003, 02:24 PM

Originally posted by craigthomas:
Well, I could but I figured that it may not play well over ethernet. Do you really think that 100bt is fast enough to play video? 802.11b is way too slow.

Are both computers recent enough to have gigabit ethernet? If you use cat-6 cable I would think that would work... I constantly (several times a day) stream divx encoded video (200mb for 30 minutes of video) over 100mb and it works just fine.

craigthomas · Mar 14, 2003, 04:03 PM

Originally posted by geekwagon:
Are both computers recent enough to have gigabit ethernet? If you use cat-6 cable I would think that would work... I constantly (several times a day) stream divx encoded video (200mb for 30 minutes of video) over 100mb and it works just fine.

No, both retired work computers that are reduced to home/family systems and are pre-gigabit (Ti500 and G4-466).

Oh well, I may have go with s-video and rcas under the house to my directly to my home entertainment center. http://www.smarthome.com has some great stuff for setting up muliple room entertainment.

hadocon · Mar 14, 2003, 08:43 PM

Originally posted by craigthomas:
Well, I could but I figured that it may not play well over ethernet. Do you really think that 100bt is fast enough to play video? 802.11b is way too slow.

If you have 100BT you will be fine. I regularly stream DV from another computer in my house without a hitch.

bradoesch · Mar 17, 2003, 06:49 PM

Originally posted by hadocon:
If you have 100BT you will be fine. I regularly stream DV from another computer in my house without a hitch.

I agree. On the technical side, DV requires 3.9 MB/s (I hope I remember correctly), and 100base-T ethernet provides a maximum theoretical speed of 12.5 MB/s.

craigthomas · Mar 17, 2003, 10:10 PM

Thanks, 10baseT sounds like the cheapest way to go. While I'm under the dreaded house I'll probably send S-video and RCA wire as well. Not looking forward to the dusty crawling job though.

FYI: I tried a wireless 2.4GHz PC to TV product (PC a term they use for "personal computer" and is Mac friendly - it acually uses no sw). Unfortunatly it didn't send clean video and audio.

Would've been cool though.

bradoesch · Mar 18, 2003, 01:49 AM

Originally posted by craigthomas:
Thanks, 10baseT sounds like the cheapest way to go. While I'm under the dreaded house I'll probably send S-video and RCA wire as well. Not looking forward to the dusty crawling job though.

FYI: I tried a wireless 2.4GHz PC to TV product (PC a term they use for "personal computer" and is Mac friendly - it acually uses no sw). Unfortunatly it didn't send clean video and audio. Would've been cool though.

I'd recommend going with 100 base-T ethernet instead. All the cable nowdays is CAT5e which is 100 base-T, and I'd recommend a 100 base-T hub/router/switch or whatever you're getting. Although if you are going to run 100 Mbit cable, replacing the hub/router/switch in the future would be a lot easier than running new cable.

craigthomas · Mar 18, 2003, 02:04 PM

I decided that I'm going to run 2 lines of CAT5. I found some in wall faceplates and plugs that convert CAT5 to S-video to give me the option to run video straight to my big screen TV from my Mac in the other room or stream to my PowerBook then to the TV. I have a bunch of CAT5 labeled cable. Not sure if it is CAT5e. Is there a difference?

bradoesch · Mar 20, 2003, 12:43 PM

Originally posted by craigthomas:
I have a bunch of CAT5 labeled cable. Not sure if it is CAT5e. Is there a difference?

CAT5e is a better cable than CAT5. Here's a better explanation.

parkds · Mar 20, 2003, 11:03 PM

Firewire speed drop VERY fast if the cable is longer than 15 feet. Sometimes this is a real problem for video editors. I know that to solve this issue there are companies that sell a little box with 2 female firewire connectors. The box essentially acts a power boost to help keep the signal going. I personally don't 100% trust this solution. Plus it would be very expensive. I agree with what people are saying here...try cat5.