I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – one of the most crucial elements in the Cord Cutting lifestyle is a feature-rich, yet easy to set up and navigate media server. Yes, there’s the ever faithful Netflix with its second-to-none library of movies and TV series and original content, as well as the likes of Hulu Plus, Crackle, and the ever expanding Vudu. Each has their strengths and weaknesses. For example, my experience with Crackle was lack-luster from day one – commercials I can live with when it comes to free content, but the cut-ins of the commercials were always horrible. I would often get slapped with a commercial while an actor was mid sentence. To me, Vudu is essentially a video rental store. No real harm there if you’re the type that likes to watch everything on an on-demand basis, but that simply isn’t for me. In my opinion, Hulu Plus is the worst of all. Pay a monthly subscription fee to watch commercials that I can’t skip? No thanks.

   But, what of the content you own that these providers don’t have? What of your favorite TV shows for which you’ve set up some form of DVR capability on a designated PC? Again – you’re going to need a media server!

   By now I think it’s obvious that my favorite recommended media server is Plex. It is robust, easy to use, and its configuration requires no coding knowledge on the user end. Plex is “out-of-the-box” ready to use. Like all things, it does have its short-comings, though most are minor in my opinion. For example, fast-forwarding and rewinding could be improved to show real-time views of current media position as Netflix does. The greatest short-coming is the long-overdue, much requested parental control feature. Plex says they are working on this, but as of date, this still does not exist. I touched on this in my January post “Plex Parental Controls….Sort Of”, in which I also provided information regarding an alternative solution known as Plex RARflix that I still use to this day.

   But all this time that I’ve been using Plex, I couldn’t help but wonder, “is Plex all there is?”. I’ve just found it hard to believe that in this day and age, Plex is the only easy to use, robust media server available for multiple platforms. To be clear: I’m not questioning whether or not Plex is the ONLY media server. I know of many media servers. I’m questioning whether or not there are other media servers that are as simple to use and deliver the same punch as Plex. So, I went on a mission – to find a worthy Plex contender. I even went into this mission with the mindset that I was going to replace Plex with ____.

   I started with some criteria (Mission Objectives, if you will) –
 
     1. The media server must be simple to download and install on my hardware. No hosted downloads – the server’s developer should be reputable enough to make the .exe available 1st party.
     2. The media server must have an understandable, fairly easy to use configuration UI for setup and server maintenance.
     3. Since I’m a Roku Cord Cutter, the server must have a Rocku channel.
     4. The Roku channel must have a sensible UI for navigation and viewing.
     5. The server must deliver content to the Roku channel in the best resolution possible.

   Using those 5 points alone, I was able to eliminate many media server offerings without even actually testing them.  I did try out Serviio, which has been around for some time now, but found its configuration and plugin installation process cumbersome and time consuming. Also, I had to access it using Roku Media Player as there is currently no Roku channel as of yet.

   All said and done, the closest contender I could find was Media Browser. Though not new to the media server arena, Media Browser only recently released its official Roku channel from beta (Mission Objective #3 – – met!).

   The directions for downloading and installing the Media Browser server on your hardware are clear and simple, with the install for Windows being the simple, familiar .exe format delivered directly from the Media Browser website (Mission Objective #1 – – met!).

   As for picture quality, Media Browser delivers stunning 1080p viewing with no annoying buffering issues. (Mission Objective #5 – – met!).

   The server configuration UI is fairly simple and easy to navigate. It’s rather minimalist, which I like – no flashy emoji-type icons, 3D effects or otherwise annoying splash screens or pop ups. However, I did find an  odd quirk with the Plugins section – specifically, when attempting to add any plugin from the MB Classic plugins section. Whenever trying to add any of these plugins to Media Browser, I keep receiving a rather uninformative error message that simply states “This plugin must be installed from with in the app you intend to use it in“.

 Now, considering the desktop heavy origins of Media Browser, I kind of get what this error message is referring to. However, in the realm of the Cord Cutting Roku user, this error message is pointless and quite frankly confusing. After all, I am installing it form within the app I intend to use it. Since this error happens with every plugin from this section, I personally find it useless to include the MB Classic section if these plugins cannot in fact be used. Simply put, if these plugins can’t easily be added to Media Browser (and many of them are pretty cool, so I was pretty disappointed), then what’s the point of listing them there?

   The biggest selling point for me on the configuration front has to be where I feel Plex has dropped the ball – as mentioned, Parental Controls. The Media Browser UI makes it plain simple to set up multiple user accounts and assign what content these accounts should have access to. It also makes it very simple to add passwords to these accounts if you so wish. And these are actual passwords. PlexRARflx accomplishes this with direction pad arrow entries, but Media Browser gives you the full qwerty keyboard. I understand that there are those people who hate using this keyboard on Roku because it can be time consuming making entries, but I personally have no issue with it.

   I configured 2 user logins – one main, password-protected Family login that contains all media content, and a Kids login with no password protection that contains only our children’s content as I did with Plex RARflix.

    So I have to say Mission Objective #2 is pretty much met, with the exception being the rather cryptic MB Classic plugin error.

    This brings us to Mission Objective #4, which I purposefully saved for last. Unfortunately, this is where things begin to fall apart. To quickly recap, Media Browser’s download and set up is great. Media delivery / picture quality is great. Server UI is great, barring the odd plugin error presented when attempting to add those from the MB Classic section. However, the Roku channel itself needs a lot of work. Granted, this channel is fresh out of beta, so hopefully there will be updates to clean things up.

   First and foremost, one of the biggest issues I’ve found is with metadata and content images. Media Browser comes defaulted with The Open Movie Database and TheMovieDb for metadata downloaders. For images, there is TheMovieDb, FanArt, The Open Movie Database, and Screen Grabber. There are a few additional plugins available (I added Last.fm), but it still seems as though Media Server can’t pull in complete data as efficiently as Plex. So, for a lot of the content in my library where Plex has full, complete listing information, Media Browser does not.

   For example – seeing as we are in the Halloween season, I thought I’d add a classic favorite of mine: “Pumpkinhead”.  Plex immediately displays as this –

    Sadly, this is true of a very large percentage of the content that both servers have access to – from my TV shows to movies – while Plex displays complete art and information, Media Browser often only shows system icons with no titles or any other descriptive information to know what content the icon represents, or a picture from a random scene from the content. While Plex seems to simply “get it”, Media Browser seems to be expecting me to do more – either try to download some other plugin, or create my own – in order to tell it how to “get it”.  Simply put, no matter what content I add to my designated media folders on my hardware, Plex immediately has the correct artwork and content description while Media Browser has unfortunately failed to do so on a large percentage of my content.
 I also find Media Browser’s “Jump In” feature to be not very user friendly. It offers side-scrolling navigation (which I publicly plead for every developer to stop using!) that’s grossly over-sized, and quite frankly childish looking. I really don’t understand the decision to add this as it only helps amplify the need for a drastic UI makeover.

One of the most important elements of connecting to the outside world via the internet is your router. Whether you have a single PC connected via an Ethernet cable, or multiple devices connected via wireless, your router is your devices’ pivotal point of contact – surpassed only by your modem, which is your router’s point of contact. To put it simply, no one goes to the internet without first talking to the modem and they have to first be allowed through by the router to get there.

  When it comes to online family safety, and given the importance of the router, why would you leave its setup to your teenager? Many years ago, the answer to this question was simple: given the then-cumbersome nature of router configuration, many parents who lacked the tech savvy nature of a generation born into it only had the choice of their teen or their cable guy. Even today if you rent your router from your cable provider (which often comes as a modem / router combo), you may feel compelled to let the cable guy just handle it. But if you purchase your own router, which I suggest you should, you can rest assured that the days of the overwhelmingly complicated router setup are long gone.

   Years ago when I used to do a lot more freelance PC repair work than I do now, I found myself in far too many situations whereas I needed a client’s network password and they could only answer, “oh, I let my son set that up – I don’t know what it is.” I would have to bite my tongue to keep from asking, “so, did you let him set up your bank account as well?”. Instead, I would simply factory reset their router and teach them how to set it up themselves, and explain the importance as to why they should have the ultimate control of their router – not their teen aged son.

   I’ve also assisted with unfortunate circumstances in which the parents simply could not trust what their children may be doing online after hours. Having ultimate control of your router also gives you the ability to set the hours in which the internet can be accessible. You can make this setting apply to internet access to the entire house at certain hours, or to specific devices on your home network. Again, the point here is that you configure these settings, not your child.

   You may have already noticed something missing from this post. Although I can’t stress enough the importance that you set up your own router, what I can’t do is tell you how to do so. Why? Because just like most things all routers are different, so set up is dependent on which model you buy. Sure, I could make this a super long entry, and go on and on about specific router models or even post links to the most popular models’ user manuals. However, EVERY MODEM comes with its own manual. Many are only a few pages long, as they should be. They usually contain the basic information you’ll need to get started – the administrator user name and password (which you should change ASAP), and a link to more in-depth setting information. Some routers, like my Netgear router, actually have on-screen instructions built in once you log into the router. I repeat – what’s most important is that you take a few minutes to set up your router. Trust me – if you can create a Facebook  account, log in, and write posts, you can log into and set up your router. It is just that easy! And if you are in the unfortunate situation where there is someone in your home struggling with internet usage, your router is an extremely important part to helping heal and rebuild.

    One of the hardest things for a lover of technology to come to grips with is the possibly that there may be certain aspects of technology that may not be as beneficial as once perceived. Or, worse yet, that these aspects may in fact be detrimental. Bummer….

   During the mobile coming of age, one key element that developers and users alike agreed upon was productivity. This would require having instant-on, up to the minute information – primarily in relation to productivity’s foundation of communication known as email. Add to that a calendar for appointments and reminders (which I personally rely on heavily), and the current world leading form of communication known as texting, productivity literally demands constant notification.

   Then came a new form of interaction known as social media. With it, the world has become an increasingly smaller place. No longer are people required to leave the comfort of their own homes to “meet” new and interesting people – from around the corner to the other side of the globe. People share as much, and as little, about themselves as they wish, whether true or make-believe. With social media came a need for a new form of productivity – being socially productive: being always up-to-date with every response to every post, sharing pictures and news links, and being on top of the latest social media trend. Again came another demand for constant notification.

   With our mobile devices we have our mobile forms of entertainment – from games, to books, to TV shows and movies – all in the form of neatly packed glowing digital squares known as apps. These bring their own need for notifications as well – stay connected with friends playing the same games and challenge their scores, receive new episode information regarding a favorite TV show, being alerted about a new eBook or movie release. Yes, yet more notifications.

   As a nerd, the fact that these types of notifications can be accomplished in an overall basic and efficient manner on such small devices is nothing short of amazing to me to this day. But then came the downside(s) to it all.

   What first started off my notification-lees lifestyle actually had nothing to do with the actual number of notifications I was receiving. It actually had to do with my once favorite cell phone, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Launched originally as the flagship for the Nexus line, this phone had one extremely bad flaw – extremely pathetic battery life. The best way to to squeeze out at least a halfway decent day of usage on the Galaxy Nexus was to download and install a “battery saver” app and disable notifications on basically every app installed on the phone because, for those of you who may not know (especially you Android users), notifications adversely affect battery life.

   And my phone was quiet. At the time I felt it was too quiet, so I found myself checking my social media apps for new posts, checking email, etc. Looking back on it now, I really had no logical reason to do so. Sad to admit it, but I was basically brainwashed into to thinking that I just had to.

   Today, I no longer own the Galaxy Nexus. I no longer worry about battery life. However, I still keep notifications turned off for all my most used apps / tools. Why? For a few simple reasons:

1. My social media engagement isn’t even half of what it used to be. I keep my personal Facebook profile for what I believe is the most important reason anyone should: for sharing pictures and family updates with friends and relatives. I don’t tend to engage in “conversations” there as much as I used to, but I still believe it’s an excellent platform for simply “staying in touch”. I do engage more in Google +, but I feel I get more direct engagement and content about my favorite nerd stuff there. As for Twitter – I was never a heavy user as it were, so having no notifications from there really had zero impact.

2. As for email – not really sure why I thought I ever needed email notifications in the first place to be honest. I’ve never really been in a situation where I was so eagerly awaiting an email that I just had to know the very instant when it arrived. In fact, from a common sense standpoint, I look at it this way – did I ever in my life hang around my mailbox at home waiting for mail to come, that I had to know arrived as soon as it got there? No. So I made to conscious decision that I check email only at a certain time in the day. If I’m expecting something from someone, I usually know anyway – they tell me they are sending something.

3. I do keep one notification active – my calendar. In my opinion, this is really the only important notification on my devices. From appointments, to meetings, birthdays and other events – my calendar is probably the most important tool on my devices.

   But above and beyond those reasons, the most important reason why I stopped being a slave to notifications is because I am a husband and a father. Over the years I’ve seen how the “cell phone evolution” has made much of the public become heads-down day walkers, with me being among them as well. And watching movies like Her (which I loved and highly recommend) helped hammer-home the point:

   A few months ago, I was invited to participate at a Families & Technology seminar.The goal of the seminar was to help families with the sometimes daunting task of keeping all members of the family safe online.

   I was happy to hear the seminar hosts hammer home a couple key points that I always try to convey to those who ask me for help with their home networks –

1. Take ownership and learn – don’t be fearful of the internet and technology in general.
2. Don’t waste your time telling you kids what they’re “not allowed to do” while online.

   Those 2 key points withstanding, one of the first things I tell parents is never let your teen set up your home network. Sure, there was a time when setting up a router all but required a Network Engineering degree, but those days are long gone with today’s super-simple router user interfaces (more on that in Part 2).

   But if you already have your network setup, and don’t want to be a “helicopter parent” while your kiddos are online, there is simple, very effective, and FREE tool you can use on the front line of your network. Nerds the world over like myself have been personally using and suggesting to others the cloud-delivered internet security network OpenDNS for years. So for those of my fellow Nerds who fit into that camp, this post will be of little benefit to you. But for those who may be unaware, OpenDNS is a must-have in my book when it comes to effective online safety and security without completely bogging your network down with Fort Knox – type overkill.

   Without going into a mind boggling, tech – heavy explanation, I’ll give a quick and commonly used analogy for what DNS is (it was the same analogy my professor used in my Cisco lab while pursuing my Network Engineering degree):

  DNS stands for Domain Name System. Think of it as serving as the phone book for the internet by translating human-friendly computer hostnames into IP addresses. For example, the domain name http://www.example.com translates into the IP address 93.184.216.119 (IPv4). and 2606:2800:220:6d:26bf:1447:1097:aa7  (IPv6). Unlike a phone book, the DNS can be quickly updated, allowing a service’s location on the network to change without affecting the end users, who continue to use the same host name. Users take advantage of this when they use URLs and email addresses without having to know how the computer actually locates the services.

   With that basic definition in mind, think of OpenDNS as your “phone book customization service”, in that you can tell it what content of the “phone book” you do and do not want delivered to your location. Setup is fairly simple – the only thing that may be of any difficulty is knowing how to log into your router and enter the DNS address that OpenDNS will provide to you (again – more about that in Part 2). Once you’ve created your OpenDNS account and entered your provided DNS address, you will have access to your very own network dashboard with which you can set your security level and check valuable statistics about your network.

   If you’ve read any of my past blog entries, it should come as no surprise to you that I love Roku. Simply put, it made the Cord Cutting transition in my home simple and easy. Of course there are other streaming devices available as this market continues to expand. Of those other offerings I also have Chromecast, which is good in its own right at its price point, but it simply doesn’t pack the same “punch” as Roku.

   Speaking of Chromecast, Roku has also entered the stream stick arena with its own $49.99 offering. I don’t have the stick, but it looks to have the same robust selections behind it that make the Roku Player rock.

   When Google announced the Chromecast, I knew it would only be a matter of time before others (Roku included) would tap into the streaming stick market. No biggie – it’s business. But Roku lovers such as myself have been wondering, “Will there be a Roku 4? If so, when?” And, along that line of questioning, I began to think of things I think should be included to make the next generation of Roku more awesomer!

The Interface

   When I first purchased a Roku box, the interface left a lot to be desired. The channels were great, but if you added many of them you had to side-scroll to get to them all.

   This was a bit frustrating to say the least, but Roku eventually released an update that brought us the all-too-familiar grid style. And that’s just it. You see, I don’t think there is necessarily anything wrong with the grid style, but I feel it’s getting a bit stale because it seems that everywhere we turn this is what we see. And let’s be honest with ourselves here – it was Netflix who set this standard.

   I believe it’s time for something new. Something fresh. An all new approach to the streaming interface, and I think Roku should be the ones to set the new standard. As they are the leader in the “streaming pack”, I think they should be the ones behind the new way we look at browsing our streaming content.