How to Connect a Roku to a Windows DLNA Media Server

Authored by: Support.com Tech Pro Team

1. Introduction

DLNA, the Digital Living Network Alliance, is a set of standards to allow sharing video, audio, and pictures easily from a computer or network device to a simpler display device, like a Smart TV or Roku. It provides an easy way to show the movies you have on other screens throughout your connected home.

Tools You'll Need:

Access to your Windows 10 computer to setup the DLNA server
Access to your Smart TV or Roku with DLNA support

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Supplies You'll Need:

Zip ties
Any other consumable supplies
Comment out supplies section if no supplies are necessary

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Before You Begin:

You must have access to your Windows 10 computer to setup the DLNA server.
You must have access to a Smart TV or Roku with DLNA support.

What is DLNA?

DLNA stands for Digital Living Network Alliance. Usually, it's used to refer to a suite of services that can run on a computer and allow access to a media library by other devices on your home network.

This means it's a quick, easy method to share your whole media library from your computer to the rest of your devices on your home network.

DLNA Server

In this case, you'll be creating a DLNA server on your Windows 10 computer, then connecting your media devices â€” smart TVs, streaming media players, tablets, and smartphones â€” to it.

Recommendations

There are a few things to keep in mind when using your computer as a DLNA server.

These are not strict requirements, but rather suggestions to help you have the easiest setup, and best possible experience while sharing your media library.

Computer Sleep Options

How to Disable Sleep Mode in Windows

Server

Your computer is acting as a server. Your computer must remain turned on while you are watching something on your other device.

Power

If your computer is a laptop, it is recommend to keep it plugged into power. Also, it's best to make sure your computer is not set to 'go to sleep' after a set amount of time

Ethernet Connection

It is highly recommended that your computer is connected to a wired Ethernet connection. This provides a more stable, faster connection, as well as lets you use the WiFi bandwidth for the device receiving the video, instead.

2. Enable Media Streaming

First, we need to turn on the media streaming server.

Open the Start Menu and select Settings.

Select Network & Internet.

Select Ethernet (if your computer has a wired connection), or Wi-Fi (if your computer uses a wireless connection) on the left.

Network and Internet Settings with Wi-Fi and Ethernet highlighted.

Select Network and Sharing Center on the right.

Ethernet Options with Network and Sharing Center highlighted.

Select Media streaming options on the left.

Network and Sharing Center with Media streaming options highlighted.

Select Turn on media streaming.

Media streaming options with Turn on media streaming highlighted.

Name your media library, then select OK.

Shared Files

Next, we need to make sure we're sharing the files you want to share.

In most cases, this will already be setup, but it's best to check to be sure.

Open File Explorer, then select This PC on the left, and Videos on the right.

Windows Explorer with This PC and Videos highlighted.

Make sure you see your movies listed here, and that they have sensible names. Move any other movies you want to be able to play into this folder. This is the folder your other devices will see when they browse for videos to play.

3. Roku Media Player Check

Your Roku has a free media streaming app available that can access the DLNA media server you just setup called "Roku Media Player".

In most cases, this app is pre-installed on your Roku, but it can be removed, either by accident or because it wasn't being used. This isn't a problem, it's fast and easy to reinstall.