Which slingbox do i need with mce?

[geekyhawkes]

Basically as the title to be honest?  What is the cheapest / lowest spec slingbox i can get away with for an MCE install?  All i want to be able to do is listen to mp3s / music / internet radio in my bed room so not even fussed about a decent display.

Thanks

[totallymaxed]

Basically as the title to be honest?  What is the cheapest / lowest spec slingbox i can get away with for an MCE install?  All i want to be able to do is listen to mp3s / music / internet radio in my bed room so not even fussed about a decent display.

Thanks

I'd suggest a Squeezebox to do that...Slingbox is really for accessing video media from your Core from a remote location.

Andrew

[geekyhawkes]

Thanks, and will any squeezebox do the job?  I have looked time and again at the logitech squeezebox website and it gives no information at all really, just a few people sitting round a black box and smiling! Its difficult to get any "tech" details.

[hari]

get one, you will end up sitting in a front of a black thingy with a smile on the face :-)

[greenhornet]

I'd actually recommend a HAVA.  I don't know that Sling, Squeeze or Hava have proper integration with MCE but talk on the forums is that Hava has the most potential.  I have one.  I love it.

[hari]

I'd recommend a squeezebox. I know that they have proper integration with MCE. Talk on the forums is that even the recent ones work with the new squeezecenter.

No offense, but please don't recommend stuff when you don't know if it is supported or not.

br, Hari

[totallymaxed]

Thanks, and will any squeezebox do the job?  I have looked time and again at the logitech squeezebox website and it gives no information at all really, just a few people sitting round a black box and smiling! Its difficult to get any "tech" details.

The Original Squeezebox is 'plug n play' with 0710....plug 3 in attach an amplifier or some powered speakers and they just work for audio only playback. With 0810 you will get support for the Squeezebox...the Receiver and the Boombox.

All the best

Andrew

[geekyhawkes]

Perfect, thanks for the detail

[colinjones]

I highly recommend the Squeezebox Boom as an all in one solution.... very nice, you can just pick it up and walk around the house, plug it back into power and have media wherever you want! No amp or speakers required, its sound is very good considering how tiny it is (although very heavy from the speakers!) As the guys said, this is not plug and play in 0710 as it requires the latest SqueezeCentre and 0710 only has the only (Slimserver) built in. You can work around this and fudge the device template to use SqueezeCenter instead however you can end up in dependency hell if you're not careful! Will be nice to have pnp in 0810!

[geekyhawkes]

Ive ended up with a squeezebox classic so i am hoping it will be pretty plug and play with 810.  The question i have is can i still use the supplied remote to control the squeeze box or should i plan on using an orbiter with the mce hybrid? 

Also, i am assuming internet radio will still work with the squeezebox?

Finally, i am just thinking about how i can connect up the squeezebox.  I have read the following http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Use_network_audio_players_for_a_whole-house_music_solution  and it seems that the device should be completly plug and play but I have not thought through wifi / lan options.

My plan (with MCE 810) is to have the LAN for the MCE network (waiting on later addition of MD's), I would like to use WIFI to connect the Media center hybrid to the internet (via a WEP network / Orange Livebox).  The issue I have is that I would like to use the Squeezebox via WIFI and not LAN and am not sure if my plan above will support this!?  Will the MCE hybrid still pass music to the squeezebox via this "external" wifi link? 

Finally, and something i dont think will be an issue once the drive is mounted, my MP3's are kept on a NAS attached the to Orange Livebox (current DHCP controller).  I imagine once mounted it will be transparent to MCE that the NAS is on the livebox.  (My reason for wanting the NAS on the livebox is for ease of access from my laptop / desktop pcs not part of my MCE network).

Can someone give me an idea what the best way to achieve my planned rollout is? 

[totallymaxed]

Ive ended up with a squeezebox classic so i am hoping it will be pretty plug and play with 810.  The question i have is can i still use the supplied remote to control the squeeze box or should i plan on using an orbiter with the mce hybrid? 

Also, i am assuming internet radio will still work with the squeezebox?

Finally, i am just thinking about how i can connect up the squeezebox.  I have read the following http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Use_network_audio_players_for_a_whole-house_music_solution  and it seems that the device should be completly plug and play but I have not thought through wifi / lan options.

My plan (with MCE 810) is to have the LAN for the MCE network (waiting on later addition of MD's), I would like to use WIFI to connect the Media center hybrid to the internet (via a WEP network / Orange Livebox).  The issue I have is that I would like to use the Squeezebox via WIFI and not LAN and am not sure if my plan above will support this!?  Will the MCE hybrid still pass music to the squeezebox via this "external" wifi link? 

Finally, and something i dont think will be an issue once the drive is mounted, my MP3's are kept on a NAS attached the to Orange Livebox (current DHCP controller).  I imagine once mounted it will be transparent to MCE that the NAS is on the livebox.  (My reason for wanting the NAS on the livebox is for ease of access from my laptop / desktop pcs not part of my MCE network).

Can someone give me an idea what the best way to achieve my planned rollout is? 

The Squeezebox classic is plug-n-play with LinuxMCE-0710 and yes you can use the supplied remote to browse your music library. Wifi or LAN works well in our experience but the WiFi access point must be on your LAN side and NOT ON YOUR WAN SIDE

The Orange Live Box I assume is your Broadband router...and therefore will be on the WAN side of your Core as it has to be to provide the Broadband connection. Therefore any NAS service provided by the Orange Live Box will on the WAN side rather than the LAN side of your Core and will not be accessible via the LAN. If you want to have a NAs then it MUST BE connected to your Core's LAN side.

All the best

Andrew

[colinjones]

Seconding Andrew's remarks... buy yourself a cheap, standalone wifi AP for you LAN side, you are going to need it anyway. Don't try to fudge an external AP, it won't work unless you hack up the system, at which point you won't get any support! Similarly, you need to move your NAS to the inside.... here's the deal, move everything to the inside and just have a cat 5 between your external NIC and the broadband router. Then life will be easy. as here http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Network_Setup

The only issue I can see with Squeezebox Classic and 0710, is if the sb has been updated to newer firmware it possibly now requires SqueezeCentre rather than SlimServer. But the display will tell you that the SqueezeCentre needs upgrading if that is the case. Then you will need to modify your core, carefully!

[geekyhawkes]

Thanks guys.  I do have a spare wireless router from orange so I image in should be able to use that within the lan.  I will knock up a block diagram of how i understand my setup should be configured covering the highlights of the areas I am most confused lol!

I am intending on using the squeezebox to serve to rooms upstairs (bedroom and dressing room) as I cannot justify the expense just now for an additional Squeezebox. I am thinking that a Zwave controlled main socket for the 2 sets of powered speakers might be a way forward, although that mind end up being more expensive that just 2 squeezeboxes lol.

Thanks for all of the help so far, as ever Andrew and Colin are defiantly steering me the right way!
(I will be documenting my setup/install as much as possible to try and contribute to the wiki/newbies as much as possible, I am planning on going straight to 810 due to hybrid setup)

[geekyhawkes]

Right here is my "rough" understanding on how i should setup my system




Sorry if its not perfect, i had my wisdom teeth out earlier today so am not exactly firing on all cylinders!

[Marie.O]

Bluetooth is not needed (nor used) by the n810/n800.

Currently, utilizing Wifi for the external (or the internal) network is not supported out of the box, but itspac created a patch for it, which you might want to try.