Media Browser Add-in

werds

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#101

Post by werds » Thu Nov 21, 2013 4:48 pm

christoph86 wrote:Having any luck werds? I didn't quite explain the outside network connection correctly. For access outside of network away from home you need to use your wan external ip address. For access in network you use the computer ip that is running running the server. The android app is now available on google play for a small fee if you use android. For that app I have two connections. If I'm on WiFi I use my computer server ip, if I'm away on 4g network I use the external ip. Same thing for a browser.
No true luck at the moment but I think the issue is because I am running Windows for the HTPC (mb3 server) and the clients that I have been testing MBC on are all Win8 or Win 8.1 (and those machines seem to have their own intermittent issues with the homegroup and shared files). Everything always appears to be setup fine. The files are accessed and play every now and again... but more often than not... the clients cannot access the MB3 server for any one of various reasons...

So for now I have put MB3 to the backburner until I get around to putting ALL the Win 8 and 8.1 machines back to Windows 7, and until after I complete the HTPC upgrade transition (picked up a 6 core xeon on the cheap so want to upgrade from my i3 530 was soon as holidays roll in and I HOPEFULLY get the time). But with being a teacher and dad to a 9 month old and a 3 year old time is taken up between reading stories, playtime, and grading papers.

I really do want to get it working as it appears nicer in many aspects than 2.6.2 But until I can get it working perfectly on the test systems I dare not touch the main HTPC with a wholesale change or I will have a miserable holiday season! Hopefully putting all of the pc's back onto similar software will clear the homegroup issues that previously didnt exist (or at least didnt present themselves as a problem before testing out MB3)

Bryan

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#102

Post by Bryan » Thu Nov 21, 2013 7:23 pm

How has everyone found upgrading from 2.6.2 to Classic 3? I've only setup the server on my WHS system so far, haven't touched the HTPC. I'm hoping 3 will be an improvement, 2 has worked well but is a bit prone to mild errors, just enough to be an annoyance. I do know I'll have to remove 2 and install and setup 3, but I don't have anything fancy setup.

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newfiend

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#103

Post by newfiend » Fri Nov 22, 2013 2:55 am

werds wrote:
christoph86 wrote:Having any luck werds? I didn't quite explain the outside network connection correctly. For access outside of network away from home you need to use your wan external ip address. For access in network you use the computer ip that is running running the server. The android app is now available on google play for a small fee if you use android. For that app I have two connections. If I'm on WiFi I use my computer server ip, if I'm away on 4g network I use the external ip. Same thing for a browser.
No true luck at the moment but I think the issue is because I am running Windows for the HTPC (mb3 server) and the clients that I have been testing MBC on are all Win8 or Win 8.1 (and those machines seem to have their own intermittent issues with the homegroup and shared files). Everything always appears to be setup fine. The files are accessed and play every now and again... but more often than not... the clients cannot access the MB3 server for any one of various reasons...

So for now I have put MB3 to the backburner until I get around to putting ALL the Win 8 and 8.1 machines back to Windows 7, and until after I complete the HTPC upgrade transition (picked up a 6 core xeon on the cheap so want to upgrade from my i3 530 was soon as holidays roll in and I HOPEFULLY get the time). But with being a teacher and dad to a 9 month old and a 3 year old time is taken up between reading stories, playtime, and grading papers.

I really do want to get it working as it appears nicer in many aspects than 2.6.2 But until I can get it working perfectly on the test systems I dare not touch the main HTPC with a wholesale change or I will have a miserable holiday season! Hopefully putting all of the PC's back onto similar software will clear the homegroup issues that previously didnt exist (or at least didnt present themselves as a problem before testing out MB3)
Hey WERDS, I am running 8.1 on my desktop PC at the moment. It is a bit wonky here and there. I am hoping subsequent updates to 8.1 stabilize it over time. My HTPC is running Win 7 Pro and I have the Server and Client installed on the same machine. I know that may sound odd as I should move it to my WHS (MB Server) but my HTPC has been my media Server for some time as some of the content is on the HTPC and some on my Server. I have had good luck so far getting MB3 working on Windows 7 and I have MB3 Client installed on the Windows 8.1 desktop PC as well as Media Browser Theater and they both seem to be working fine. I think you may just have some permission issues that need to be addressed in your folder settings and that link I sent you should help with that.
I know what you mean about taking time to tinker with the PC that provides TV to the family though. As screwing that up can mean a lot of tension in the home from the wife etc.
It is still in BETA (MB3) at the moment and there are updates to MB3's server client almost daily. So it's not even near a finished product yet but I can say since my switch from MB 2 that it's been fairly stable. Some things get hung up trying to update in the server at the moment for me and I usually check once a day to make sure it's up to date and that the plugin's are updating properly. I think the problem I am having with the server is I have two infiniTV 4's in my machine and when it wakes from sleep it take a few for them to acquire an IP address and until that happens my network connection won't connect. The server (mb3) tries to connect prior to my network connection coming online and it fails some of the tasks it tries to start at boot up. I have to go into the server (mb3) and re-run the things that fail. The goal they are reaching for is coming to life though and I think it's going to be great when it's all done.
There are some really cool plug-ins for MB3 that MB2 didn't have like Theme Music and Theme Video's for TV and Movies. IF you get things working try out these plug-ins!!
Good Luck, I hope that you can get MB3 working for you. It really is quite a jump forward form MB2.
newfiend~

werds

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#104

Post by werds » Fri Nov 22, 2013 3:05 am

newfiend wrote:
werds wrote:
christoph86 wrote:Having any luck werds? I didn't quite explain the outside network connection correctly. For access outside of network away from home you need to use your wan external ip address. For access in network you use the computer ip that is running running the server. The android app is now available on google play for a small fee if you use android. For that app I have two connections. If I'm on WiFi I use my computer server ip, if I'm away on 4g network I use the external ip. Same thing for a browser.
No true luck at the moment but I think the issue is because I am running Windows for the HTPC (mb3 server) and the clients that I have been testing MBC on are all Win8 or Win 8.1 (and those machines seem to have their own intermittent issues with the homegroup and shared files). Everything always appears to be setup fine. The files are accessed and play every now and again... but more often than not... the clients cannot access the MB3 server for any one of various reasons...

So for now I have put MB3 to the backburner until I get around to putting ALL the Win 8 and 8.1 machines back to Windows 7, and until after I complete the HTPC upgrade transition (picked up a 6 core xeon on the cheap so want to upgrade from my i3 530 was soon as holidays roll in and I HOPEFULLY get the time). But with being a teacher and dad to a 9 month old and a 3 year old time is taken up between reading stories, playtime, and grading papers.

I really do want to get it working as it appears nicer in many aspects than 2.6.2 But until I can get it working perfectly on the test systems I dare not touch the main HTPC with a wholesale change or I will have a miserable holiday season! Hopefully putting all of the PC's back onto similar software will clear the homegroup issues that previously didnt exist (or at least didnt present themselves as a problem before testing out MB3)
Hey WERDS, I am running 8.1 on my desktop PC at the moment. It is a bit wonky here and there. I am hoping subsequent updates to 8.1 stabilize it over time. My HTPC is running Win 7 Pro and I have the Server and Client installed on the same machine. I know that may sound odd as I should move it to my WHS (MB Server) but my HTPC has been my media Server for some time as some of the content is on the HTPC and some on my Server. I have had good luck so far getting MB3 working on Windows 7 and I have MB3 Client installed on the Windows 8.1 desktop PC as well as Media Browser Theater and they both seem to be working fine. I think you may just have some permission issues that need to be addressed in your folder settings and that link I sent you should help with that.
I know what you mean about taking time to tinker with the PC that provides TV to the family though. As screwing that up can mean a lot of tension in the home from the wife etc.
It is still in BETA (MB3) at the moment and there are updates to MB3's server client almost daily. So it's not even near a finished product yet but I can say since my switch from MB 2 that it's been fairly stable. Some things get hung up trying to update in the server at the moment for me and I usually check once a day to make sure it's up to date and that the plugin's are updating properly. I think the problem I am having with the server is I have two infiniTV 4's in my machine and when it wakes from sleep it take a few for them to acquire an IP address and until that happens my network connection won't connect. The server (mb3) tries to connect prior to my network connection coming online and it fails some of the tasks it tries to start at boot up. I have to go into the server (mb3) and re-run the things that fail. The goal they are reaching for is coming to life though and I think it's going to be great when it's all done.
There are some really cool plug-ins for MB3 that MB2 didn't have like Theme Music and Theme Video's for TV and Movies. IF you get things working try out these plug-ins!!
Good Luck, I hope that you can get MB3 working for you. It really is quite a jump forward form MB2.
newfiend~
You are right there are some permissions issues that I havent been able to nail down (even after reviewing your link). An example is that I could have a shared folder on my win 8.1 PC, have all homegroup permissions set and my wifes win7 pc cannot access that one specific folder and files that the day before she could access. Then a few reboots on my win 8.1 machine with NO changes and she gets access to one specific folder (while through the whole process she was able to browse every and any other folder on that same share). I really wanted Win8 and Win8.1 to work but for the sake of not pissing ticking off the wife I am retreating to Win7.

I must admit in the little and limited time I got to tinker with the MB3 server/client setup I was impressed with what looks to be a potentially powerful setup! So I definitely am not giving up on it completely :) Thanks for the help so far everyone! I am sure I will be joining the MB3 party full time in the near future ;) [as at this very moment I am reformatting one of the Win8 machines and loading Win7 lol]

OK...I did NOT write "urinating off" lmao... filters are weird!
Last edited by werds on Fri Nov 22, 2013 3:22 am, edited 1 time in total.

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newfiend

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#105

Post by newfiend » Fri Nov 22, 2013 3:07 am

Bryan wrote:How has everyone found upgrading from 2.6.2 to Classic 3? I've only setup the server on my WHS system so far, haven't touched the HTPC. I'm hoping 3 will be an improvement, 2 has worked well but is a bit prone to mild errors, just enough to be an annoyance. I do know I'll have to remove 2 and install and setup 3, but I don't have anything fancy setup.
Hi Bryan,
So far I am loving MB3. There is a bit of a learning curve with MB3 from MB2. I would highly suggest you read the MB3 Forums especially the tutorials on setting up the Server and Clients. This will save you a lot of time. For something that's still a BETA it's quite stable. It has it's quirks but it is updated VERY frequently. If you don't mind running BETA software on your PC then by all means join in on the fun. I was reluctant to install it until it came out of BETA but most people running it prior to me have said how stable it is and that they were enjoying it so I decided to try it out. I'm glad I did.
I have an XBOX 360 and I can confirm it does work on my 360. I ran into one problem trying to change the theme from the default MB3 theme to Crystal on the 360 and the lag was beyond useable. If you use the default theme it works really smooth. I am also using the Media Browser 3 app for Windows Phone and that works well too. It's nice being able to stream my .mkv's to my phone over Wi-Fi.
If you run into a problem I would suggest you check the MB3 forums there is a ton of good info in there and plenty of people to help you.
Good Luck,
newfiend~

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#106

Post by Bryan » Fri Nov 22, 2013 3:53 am

Thanks. I seem to have gotten it mostly figured out this evening, working well on my 8.1 desktop. I did wind up having to put my movies into individual folders to resolve some art issues, as they were previously all in one folder.

Is Classic still in beta? I thought Theater was the only thing that was.

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Scallica

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#107

Post by Scallica » Fri Nov 22, 2013 4:00 am

I'm extremely impressed with MB3. I love the web-based administration and web-based access to your media library.

My only grievance is that the iOS app requires v7.
HTPC Enthusiast / Forum Moderator - TGB.tv Code of Conduct

christoph86

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#108

Post by christoph86 » Fri Nov 22, 2013 3:20 pm

Bryan, Theater is only now just Alpha and still has a bunch of functionalities to come, including live tv (NextPVR). I'm only tinkering around with Theater on my non-htpc computer atm but it has been very stable so far. Classic is still Beta. I love MB3. Took a little while and some tinkering to set it up how I wanted it, but it's been very stable for me with very little issues. I use it on my XBOX fine and love the new Android app for using on mobile devices. The developer team there is amazing and they are working hard it seems to get it on as many applications as they can (Xbox One and OpenElec for example).

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#109

Post by Bryan » Fri Nov 22, 2013 6:57 pm

Ah, I didn't realize Classic was still a beta since they took that tag off the downloads page. At any rate, it seems to work well, although for the moment I don't see much changed from M2. I haven't used it much yet but it seems stable. Haven't tried my Xbox, the only extender we have is in the playroom and isn't used much.

Unfortunately I do still have the blue bars problem, part of me was hoping it'd go away with 3.

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newfiend

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#110

Post by newfiend » Fri Nov 22, 2013 9:31 pm

I also thought it was out of beta, but in the forums its still considered a beta product. Classic is pretty close to mb2, however there are additional plugins for 3 that really enhanced the experience. Try out theme videos for tv or movies. As well as theme songs. Have you tried the Crystal or ROC themes? These are all great plugins for MB3!

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#111

Post by leedavies » Mon Nov 25, 2013 2:12 pm

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New promo video for Crystal theme for MediaBrowser3 (also compatible with MediaBrowser2.6) is online at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDyXNmJEhEY


Crystal is available to buy now for just $10 - see http://crystalmediabrowser.com/MBStore for more details.


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leedavies

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#112

Post by leedavies » Mon Nov 25, 2013 2:15 pm

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New promo video for ROC theme for MediaBrowser3 (also compatible with MediaBrowser2.6) is online at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfyOfrD4Rrs


ROC is available to buy now for just $10 - see http://crystalmediabrowser.com/MBStore/ROC for more details.


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gilhamj

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#113

Post by gilhamj » Sun Jan 26, 2014 4:28 am

Media Browser has been updated :)

Combines streaming phone/tablet/web support along with Windows Media Center.

http://www.mediabrowser3.com/

duncane

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#114

Post by duncane » Wed Mar 05, 2014 12:39 pm

Media Browser development is speeding along...

The Android app has Chromecast support now. http://mediabrowser3.com/community/inde ... n-android/

;)

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#115

Post by duncane » Tue Apr 29, 2014 4:50 pm

Hi folks, lots happening with Media Browser just now.

The latest server beta includes,
  • New translations
    DLNA Play To improvements
    New DLNA Server
    Enhanced DLNA profile editing
    New server notification system
    New transcoding audio boost setting
    New collection grouping setting
    Improved mobile layouts in the web client
    Display mirroring added to the web client
See here for more http://mediabrowser3.com/community/inde ... 523140980/

The iPad app and Windows Phone 8 app have had lots done too, the Windows Phone 8 app includes Live TV support. More about the apps here http://mediabrowser3.com/community/inde ... pers-blog/

Mobile Browser Client Screen
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iPad Play To / Remote Control
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Windows Phone 8 Live TV
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Cheers
;)

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newfiend

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#116

Post by newfiend » Tue Apr 29, 2014 7:39 pm

Just updated my WP8 app and played a recorded TV show. Picture quality is very good. So far very impressed with the phone update. This keeps getting better with each release it seems. Very pleased with MB3 so far.

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#117

Post by duncane » Tue Apr 29, 2014 7:42 pm

Hi again, I should've said above that the WMC Add-in is constantly being updated also and it's what I still use all the time.

The WMC Add-in is free but some of the other apps are paid for. The MB team have just put all paid for apps on a 7 day sale, each app $0.99

http://mediabrowser3.com/community/inde ... s-sale-99/

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DavidinCT

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#118

Post by DavidinCT » Tue Dec 09, 2014 3:58 pm

OK, I know a LOT of people use MediaBrowser, I never have but, I have heard really good things about it. Today looking through deals, I saw an app for Windows Phone and how I can stream movies to my phone and even live tv and recorded tv (NON-DRM shows). Neat ! I am still using the default Movie Library in WMC with about 350 or so movies, most Blue-ray rips (will be moving to 4K when available)

This is the one thing that I really want for my HTPC, from the time of having Webguide on XP MCE, I have not found a good streaming option. I would like to use this on my Windows Phone and a web browser.

The setup looks a little complex due to tons of options but, here is what I am looking for. When I open the program, I just want to see my movies as I want to use it as a replacement for the buggy movie library in WMC. SO I would remove the Movie Library from WMC and replace it with Media Browser. I want other options available, so when I connect via my phone, I can see recorded shows and possibly live tv/guide. I want these parts completely hidden from WMC or an extender. Can this be done ?

With this being said, how is Extender (360), compatibility ? Does the menus/ movie list perform as well as on the WMC or how the ML works ? Does this app use any codecs or anything that could cause movies not to play on a Extender ? Is it any better in this aspect ?

Install, is this just Server> then the WMC front end, everything is configured on the server and the front end just is what WMC sees ? Any overhead on the machine it's on for resources ?

Thanks, would like to give this shot this weekend
-Dave
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Windows Media Center certified and WMC MVP 2010 - 2012

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newfiend

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#119

Post by newfiend » Wed Dec 10, 2014 2:10 am

DavidinCT wrote:OK, I know a LOT of people use MediaBrowser, I never have but, I have heard really good things about it. Today looking through deals, I saw an app for Windows Phone and how I can stream movies to my phone and even live tv and recorded tv (NON-DRM shows). Neat ! I am still using the default Movie Library in WMC with about 350 or so movies, most Blue-ray rips (will be moving to 4K when available)

This is the one thing that I really want for my HTPC, from the time of having Webguide on XP MCE, I have not found a good streaming option. I would like to use this on my Windows Phone and a web browser.

The setup looks a little complex due to tons of options but, here is what I am looking for. When I open the program, I just want to see my movies as I want to use it as a replacement for the buggy movie library in WMC. SO I would remove the Movie Library from WMC and replace it with Media Browser. I want other options available, so when I connect via my phone, I can see recorded shows and possibly live tv/guide. I want these parts completely hidden from WMC or an extender. Can this be done ?

With this being said, how is Extender (360), compatibility ? Does the menus/ movie list perform as well as on the WMC or how the ML works ? Does this app use any codecs or anything that could cause movies not to play on a Extender ? Is it any better in this aspect ?

Install, is this just Server> then the WMC front end, everything is configured on the server and the front end just is what WMC sees ? Any overhead on the machine it's on for resources ?

Thanks, would like to give this shot this weekend
I'll try and answer some of your questions.. I use MB3 on my own HTPC (Windows 7) as well as Windows Phone.

I have the Windows Phone app, as well as the Windows 8.1 apps and Android Apps on my daughters (2) Android Tablets.
You set up the server on the HTPC or Server of your choice. I set the server up on my main HTPC as well as Media Browser Classic plug in for WMC. (Yes both server and Client for WMC can be installed on the same PC.) It then serves all my clients on my network, my phone via Wi-Fi or on Cell Data, or over the internet through a web browser. (It's really slick).
There is some configuring to do, It's not a ton of work but I would plan out a good part of the day to do some setup and configuring as you will have server setup as well as forwarding ports on your router etc to do for access away from your home network.

The layout and display (theme options) for Media Browser Classic are good. I use Chocolate at the moment it seems to be the most frequently updated (stable) theme I have found.
I have Movies, TV Shows, Channels(streaming tv channels like revision 3 etc.) and Music on the HTPC that I have setup With Media Browser. I never liked the default movie library in WMC and Media Browser was a much better looking experience and now with all the streaming options it's just awesome. Most of my archived TV and Movies are in .MKV format and the server transcodes and plays them to all my devices.

I messed around with Live TV a bit when it was first added to MB3 but it was a bit buggy at first. I am sure it is better now but I mainly use it for my movies and archived TV. But If I remember correctly there is a guide and you are able to set recordings etc from media Browser 3. and its hidden from the regular Media Browser interface in WMC, it uses a backend service like ServerWMC or NEXT PVR which allows you access to the guide and tuners for live tv playback. (It's a bit complicated and you will need to do some reading on the MB3 website on setting all that up. like I said I tinkered with it early on but haven't tried again recently.) I used ServerWMC.

Xbox 360 compatibility.. Well at the moment this is not quite that good on an extender. Most of my collection is in .MKV with multi channel audio and I just can't seem to get some movies to play. If I had all my movies in .MP4 it would work better. However I do not at this time want to re-encode 600+ Movies.. Plex has an app for the 360 and XBOX One. I think that Media Browser will soon follow suit and release their own apps for both platforms. I know they are or were already working on a XBOX One app. I am hoping a Xbox 360 app comes at some point as well as I have 3 Xbox I would like an app for.

As far as Codec's go, I was dead set against using any codec packs for a long time. With the introduction of LAV filters I have found bliss with these and being able to play my Multi-channel audio through my AVR and also having the ability to allow MB3 to transcode any audio source to all my mobile devices. I followed this tutorial on setting up LAV and it worked great! http://www.thehtpc.net/htpc-tips-and-tw ... subtitles/

You will install the server on the machine that you want doing all the heavy lifting (ie all the transcoding to mobile devices etc. My HTPC has a core i7 and 16GB of ram and has more power than my WHS (Core 2 Duo and 4 GB of RAM). Once the server is set up you will install the Media Browser Classic Client on the PC With WMC that you use. you will configure that to connect to the Server. Most all of the setup is then done on the server. Make sure you read up on its setup on the MB3 site. It will make things smoother. It's pretty easy to set up now and it's changed a bit since launch to be easier in fact. When the machine is transcoding it does work the CPU a little bit until it transcodes far enough ahead.. but I have never had it interfere with any other tasks the pc might be running. I think you would be pretty happy with it once it's all set up the way you like.
If you have any questions just PM me and I'll try and help you out over the weekend. I have to work Saturday Morning but should be home the rest of the weekend (off and on).
I hope this helps you out a little bit.. Also the MB Client for Windows Phone just got a big (Awesome) update.. :thumbup:
newfiend~

milli260876

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#120

Post by milli260876 » Sat Dec 20, 2014 1:23 am

You may want to set u a dynamic DNS address if you don't have a static IP too for remote connection
Lee

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