If you are not prepared to invest high amounts of money on hardware, you can opt for an affordable solution like setting up a Windows PC as a media server.
There are many options to do this, but first, you need to ensure that your home network supports media streaming. There are many free, open-source media server programs that allow you to stream content to media players from a Windows PC.
The choice of software depends on your budget, technical requirements, and the hardware you plan to use.
Sometimes, you just need to stream files, but often you have to encode exotic files into something more popular like MP4 or AVI, or MKV format.
For example, there are tons of old videos with a .flv extension that have to be transcoded before watching on modern smart TVs or home theaters. So, you might need to download and install free FLV file conversion software like the one from Freemake in addition to Windows DLNA media servers.
We will list some additional free Windows DLNA media servers, including some free trial options below:
Software
Let’s start with a selection of DLNA media server downloads for Windows that are available for free. Keep in mind that trial versions of commercial software only offer a limited set of features, or can only be used for a short period of time.
These are some good free DLNA trials available online:
- JRiver Media Center
- MediaMonkey
- Wild Media
- TVMobili
- iSedora Media Server
- Mezzmo
- Plex
- PlayOn
- Twonky
- Subsonic
- TVersit
- Serviio
On the other hand, there are open-source, free media server solutions that are fully functional.
Here is the best completely free media server software:
- Firefly
- DivX
- Skifta
- Windows Media Player
- Songbird
- XBMC
- Home Media Center
- MiniDLNA
- All Media Server
- Universal
- LXI Media Center
- TVBle
- Multicast2Unicast
- StormPlay RT
- PS3 Media Server
Although the hardware is a more expensive option, it can also be more convenient.
The following list includes the best Hardware based Media Servers.
Media Players/NAS
- Iomega
- Dlink
- Acer
- QNAP
- Buffalo
- NetGear
- Linksys
- Asus
- Western Digital
Also, have a look at our media sever reviews :
