Authored by: Support.com Tech Pro Team
DLNA servers allow for a fast and easy way to share media; movies, music, and pictures, from device to device over your home network. Windows includes a simple-to-use DLNA server. This guide will walk you through setting up your DLNA server, and a DLNA client on your mobile device.
Tools You'll Need:
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Supplies You'll Need:
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Before You Begin:
You must have this thing before you whatever.
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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.
In this case, you'll be creating a DLNA server on your Windows 10 computer, then connecting your media devices — smart TVs, streaming media players, tablets, and smartphones — to it.
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.
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.
Windows Power Settings
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.
First, we need to turn on the media streaming server.
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.
We now need a program setup on your phone or tablet to view the various video you're sharing.
There are dozens of other DLNA-compliant media players on the market, some cost money, others are free, and all have specific features that some people may find more or less useful. If you are more comfortable with another tool, then you are welcome to use that tool instead.
This document will focus on a program called VLC Media Player. It is free, open-source, and available for iOS and Android. It has a built-in DLNA media browser.
Installing VLC