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Step-by-step guides to making the most of your digital TV

Project

Dreambox remote video streaming

august 2010

Freesat Freeview euro tv skyThe best kit, The best programmes

2 What Satellite & Digital TV august 2010

You can watch your Dreambox or Linux sat receiver over the internet from anywhere in the world by following these simple steps

the typical Linux-based PVR already provides – or can easily be upgraded to provide – some nifty networking-related functions that place it ahead of

the crowd. First of all, there’s the ‘web interface’ which – as its name suggests – allows the box to be remotely controlled via a standard web browser. that browser could be running on a PC or PDa connected to your home network – or, with appropriate setup, the internet itself. then there’s the ability to stream video, as received by the tuner (i.e. the transport stream that carries the service, and so with no quality loss) over the network. and finally there’s the ability to act as an FtP (File transfer Protocol) server.

Basically, this means that you can transfer recordings from your Linux PVR’s own HDD to a networked computer for backup, conversion into DivX or DVD authoring via a standard piece of software known as a FtP client. If your box has multimedia ‘jukebox’ capabilities you can transfer the files you want to play in the opposite direction, from PC to PVR, not that such files are limited to multimedia types. If

you’ve set up your machine for remote access, then these files can be accessible from anywhere in the world via FtP – provided the password and username are entered. some of these ideas were explained in earlier projects that you can find online at wotsat.techradar.com/techzone/projects.

In this article, though, we’ll discuss how these networking elements can be harnessed to provide a very useful feature – the streaming of a tV channel over the internet so it can be viewed from anywhere in the world with a sufficiently fast internet connection. to do this we’ll be using the ‘tunisia Dreambox player and streamer 6.04’ application – we tried others like Dreamview, but had trouble getting them to work. that will be the focus of our second project; the first will detail the preparation needed. although the article refers specifically to the Dreambox, there’s no reason why other Linux-based receivers (notably ones running Enigma/Enigma 2) couldn’t be used here – although some tweaks of settings may be required the same basic principles will apply n Martin Pipe

Turn your Linux-based satellite receiver into a secure internet video streamer so you’re never out of touch

Dreambox

august 2010 What Satellite & Digital TV 3

Project

Project 1: Preparation (a quick guide to some of the procedures outlined in the earlier articles)

Now we move to the second available column. Enter the receiver’s name into the

description box; for ‘inbound (or public) port’, enter ‘8001’; for ‘type’, select ‘tCP’; into the (private) IP address box, enter the IP address of your receiver; for private (or outgoing) port, enter ‘8001’. Ensure that both are enabled – usually via a checkbox in the relevant column. Click on ‘save’ or ‘apply’.

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get networked! although some of the latest Linux receivers have Wi-Fi built in, we

recommend using wired Ethernet – it’s capable of higher speeds and this is important as our third project involves streaming a channel (typically at a data rate of 3.5-4Mb/s) to a PC for transcoding into an internet-friendlier form. Connect the Ethernet port of your receiver to a spare port on your broadband router.

01Ensure that the parameters relevant to your home network are correct on the receiver

(menu/setup/system/network/device setup/adapter settings). DHCP – which does this automatically and derives settings like the IP address and gateway for you – is usually enabled by default. the current settings should be shown. take a note of the receiver’s IP address. Next, update your receiver to the latest firmware.

02Find an image compatible with your receiver. For our Dreambox DM800 we

chose the Jade firmware from www.pli-images.org. save this to your PC and unzip it – compatible images have an .nfi extension. shut down your receiver (hold down the power button and select deep standby. Disconnect power from the receiver. While reapplying power, hold down the standby button on the front panel.

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We’re using a Belkin router but similar principles apply to other models (if you’re

struggling try portforward.com). Log in and select the ‘virtual servers’ firewall option, and use the first blank column. Put name of your receiver in the ‘description’ box the (e.g. ‘Dreambox’). For inbound port and private (outgoing) port specify ‘80’; for ‘type’, select ‘tCP’; for (private) IP address, enter the IP address of your receiver.

07If you require remote FtP access we must allow these connections to access port 21.

In the next available column enter the receiver’s name into the description box. For ‘inbound (or public) port’, enter ‘21’; for ‘type’, select ‘tCP’; into the (private) IP address box, enter the IP address of your receiver; for private (or outgoing) port, enter ‘21’. Check your changes via a checkbox in the relevant column. Click on ‘save’ or ‘apply’.

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this activates the bootloader. On the receiver’s front panel display – if available

– the IP address (which should be identical to the one your noted earlier) should be shown. Enter this IP address into the web browser of the PC you downloaded the firmware to, and at the bottom of the screen you should see a ‘firmware upgrade’ link. Click on this and locate the .nfi file. then click on ‘flash!’ to initiate the upgrade.

04When that’s completed, restart the receiver. Ensure that the web interface is active; go

to menu/plug-ins – and check that it’s listed. If not, choose the ‘download plug-ins’ option, find it in the list that appears and select it for installation. It should then appear in the plug-ins list. Click on the item, and ensure that the ‘start Webinterface’ option is set to ‘yes’.

05It’s now time to make your receiver accessible over the internet. to do this,

something known as ‘port forwarding’ needs to be set up on your home network’s gateway router (the gadget, usually provided by IsPs, that allows multiple wireless or wired devices to share the same broadband connection). these devices feature an internal security firewall, which should by bypassed only for the relevant traffic.

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4 What Satellite & Digital TV august 2010

Project 2: Set up a free account with Dynamic DNS

With your port forwarding set up, remote internet connections should now be able to reach your receiver. However, you need to know your numerical IP address, the set of four ‘triplets’ which lie behind every website address on the internet – and even then, that’s not as straightforward as would first appear. It’s also useful to have a domain name you can remember more easily than a 12-digit IP address.

to be able to access features like the web interface and streaming from internet-connected devices you

could enter the IP address that your internet service provider (IsP) assigns to you. unfortunately, most domestic IsPs allocate IP addresses to their subscribers ‘dynamically’. this means that the assigned IP address could change if your router is rebooted or the connection is dropped and restarted – and as a result you will have no idea of what to type into the web browser of your remote PC from one day to the next.

Happily, there’s a solution in the form of ‘dynamic domain name’ services – the one we’ll be using is

DynDNs (www.dyndns.com). this service assigns a domain name (more memorable than numbers) to your IP address – if it detects that your IP address has changed, then it will automatically acquire your new address. the basic service is free but you have to renew it every month. In addition, it gives you a limited choice of ‘preset’ top-level domains.

go to the site, click on the ‘create account’ option and follow the instructions. It’s easy to do – indeed,

DynDNs will even detect your current IP address, sparing you the trouble of entering it. Choose a preset domain

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toolkitn a Dreambox or similar Linux receivern a home network based around a router or hub – ideally connected to the internet via broadbandn an Ethernet cable of sufficient length to connect your Linux-powered receiver to the networkn a personal computer (Pentium 4 minimum, dual-core recommended), also connected to your network (for streaming and FtP)n Dream Multimedia website (information and official firmwares for Dreambox receivers): www.dream-multimedia-tv.den Jade firmware: www.pli-images.orgn VLC Media Player: www.videolan.orgn Windows FtP client (WinsCP): winscp.netn DynDNs: www.dyndns.comn Dreambox player and streamer 6.04 application: www.mfaraj57.9k.comn Help with port forwarding and almost any other router setup problem: www.portforward.com

name you can remember and enter for the first part of the domain name something equally memorable to you. using this service requires confirmation – you’ll be sent an e-mail containing a link that enables you to continue registration.

Once you’ve completed the process, entering your allocated domain name into a browser on a

networked home PC will take you to your wireless router’s configuration page. But when you enter the domain into a networked PC, you should instead see your receiver’s web interface. to ensure that all is well before travelling, it might be a good idea to call up a friend and ask him to try it. Of course, anyone else can see it too, so make sure you’ve picked a strong password.

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Other free providers include No-IP, ChangeIP and 2myDNS

Premium features remove ads and offer better domain names

Pick a name and domain you can remember

This option is the basic way to track your IP address

You shouldn’t need to look up your external IP address

You can also use Dynamic DNS to access your e-mail remotely

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Project

Project 3: Streaming to the outside world

You may be able to stream video on the local network via the web interface (discussed with VLC in an earlier article) but here the video consists of the data streams as received by the tuner. these have a data rate that’s too high to reliably stream over the average broadband connection so recompression is needed. Most if not all current Dreamboxes lack the computing power needed to recompress video in ‘real-time’.

the trick is to use a PC to accept these bit streams from the Dreambox over the

network, recompress and restream them in a broadband-friendlier form – the PC has to be powered up for this. this is where the ‘Dreambox player and streamer 6.04’ app (aKa ‘DPas’) comes in. this Windows application can be downloaded from www.mfaraj57.9k.com. You’ll also need the latest VLC Media Player (www.videolan.org).

01Install both of these programs. start up DPas and click on ‘settings’. From the

pull-down menu select the Dreambox model you’re using and enter its IP address. Ensure the port is set to ‘80’, and enter your username and password. Click on the ‘test connection’ button – you should get a ‘connection with Dreambox is successful’ message.

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another setting allows you to specify the bit rate and thus the quality of the

streamed audio and video that can be enjoyed at the remote end. If you have a good upload speed the medium setting should suffice. If your upload speed is limited, choose ‘low’. In the ‘advanced’ setting, encoding parameters can be manually entered. Experimentation is advisable: liaising with a friend or colleague is a good idea here!

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entered into a web browser the default compatible media player (usually Windows Media Player) will open and the stream should start playing.

Open up your router’s firewall/virtual servers configuration page as in Project 1,

step 7. In the next available column enter ‘Dreambox streaming’ or something similar into the description box; for inbound and ooutgoing ports enter ‘1234’; for ‘type’, select ‘uDP’; into the (private) IP address box, enter the IP address of your PC (to find this, open a Windows command-prompt session and type ‘ipconfig /all.’)

03In the next available column enter ‘Dreambox streaming or something similar

into the description box; for ‘inbound (or public) port’, enter ‘5678’; for ‘type’, select ‘uDP’; into the (private) IP address box, enter the IP address of your PC; for private (or outgoing) port, enter ‘5678’. Ensure that both are enabled – usually via a checkbox in the relevant column. Click on ‘save’ or ‘apply’.

04On the right-hand side of DPas’ setting window you should enter the domain

name of the DNs you set up in Project 2. Keep the server streaming port as 1234, as specified in step 3. Clicking on the adjacent ‘question mark’ button brings up a port checker to allow you to check that port 1234 is publicly accessible. You can also check that port 80 (as specified in Project 1, step 7) and port 5678 (step 4) are working.

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Choose a channel – the left-hand side of the

DPas program window is dedicated to channel selection. Click on the ‘start restreaming’ button. VLC Media Player should then start and you should hear and see the re-encoded stream – with the same quality that will be experienced at the remote location. On the right-hand side of the main program window you’ll be given the internet address of the stream just beneath the source preview window. It will be in the form mms://<domain name>:1234. this is the address that you would use to initiate streaming in the remote location – note it down and pass it to those who require access. When this address is

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