Exclusively remote lifestyle: is it sustainable?

Channels DVR Server
#1

So with locast gone I am ready to move my channels setup into the antenna market of my football team. I will never be at this location: its my brothers house (we always meet up at my parents, anyway).

I'll buy new hardware and everything (dvr currently runs on my mac mini)

My question is: is a server that i dont have local access to going to be a nightmare to manage? Im not doing it if its gonna flake and i need to be on the phone with my brother screwing with settings all the time. Should i try this, or look at a cheaper plug and play option like airtv?

#2

I spent the entire summer in another location and used my setup remotely 100% of the time. Even streaming 4K movies.

Now, the source has 1 gigabit up and the remote place has 400mbit , so that helped. But really that just meant 4K streamed great.

It worked out freaking great, shout out to @eric.

As for managing your server, as long as it's available (and it has to be for remote streaming to work), you can manage it just fine. And at least you'll have someone there to kick the computer if something goes wrong.

#3

Nightmare absolutely not. You could setup an OpenVPN server at your brothers on the dvr server(depending on hardware) or even pick up a rpi and run piVpn on it. Put the OpenVPN client on your phone and you can pretty much do any administration to the sever you would ever need. Once setup itā€™s one click on your phone and you are on his network.

#4

tbh i was gonna get a wemo switch too to remotely reboot the tuner or whatever, but whatever the server i guess id see if i could ssh and tell it to reboot or something.

#5

I use a remote server extensively and it works flawlessly. If have are using the Pluto docker it might require local access or a VPN to upgrade to the newest release.

#6

Got a suggestion for hardware to make this go well?
i dont need a lot of storage space; I'm not saving a big library, I save a thing and then watch it.
Prioritize things that make it speedy, like hardware transcoding, networking speed.... cpu? ram?
Will i need a vpn into the remote location to manage things? does that lean towards something like a NAS for making that easy to build in (vs a shield)

also: i should reiterate im looking for hands off sustainability and reliability. I have dabbled in linux and things, to make a homebridge server (to make otherwise incompatible smart home stuff talk to apple homekit) and its was rough. im a noob, but setting that up from package managers and keeping it up to date was a pain. If something like a shield or a synology is better at having gui accessible settings and auto updaters and things, i would favor that.

#7

I use a M1 Mac Mini and a 8TB External WD Hard Drive. It is probably not the cheapest solution but seems to be the most user friendly. The M1 Mac Mini often go on sale for $599 and will probably have better resale value than most other solutions. If you have a fast enough upload speed you will be able to stream at original quality (āˆ¼ 8mb/s per stream) without the need for transcoding. I manage the remote dvr through my.channelsdvr.net and don't have any issues.

#8

I would suggest you go with WireGuard rather than OpenVPN, way simpler implementation and now included in the kernel by default!

2 Likes
#9

Thanks for the heads up. I set up OpenVPN on pi years ago and it has been super solid. After reading a little about wireguard seems like that would be the way to go on a fresh start or rebuild.

#10

If I got a synology; would the vpn server run on that, or would I need something separate?

And the VPN letā€™s me do which thing that I couldnā€™t do otherwise? Some administration tasks on the synology?

#11

Upon further research, I think I can do this pretty easily. Fox in philly is owned and operated by fox, so it should be streaming via TVE. So I would just need a synology logged in with TVE in the Philly market, not even need an antenna.

If the synology can be easily remotely accessed and administered (which I figure is the point of a NAS) then I think Iā€™m good to go at pretty reasonable cost ($350) with minimal links in the chain.

#12

You can remote admin a Synology using built-in tools, DSM Mobile and QuickConnect.
DSM Mobile https://kb.synology.com/en-global/DSM/help/DSM/DSMMobile/main?version=7
QuickConnect https://kb.synology.com/en-global/DSM/help/DSM/AdminCenter/connection_quickconnect?version=7

#13

I donā€™t think there would be much of a need for a vpn if you go with a nas.

#14

I don't know how long locales last once they are set. But I set up a server 2 weeks ago on a laptop when in Knoxville TN with Xfinity and I am watching them today and I'm currently in CA. Maybe someone can chime in on how often they do a location check after setup.

#15

The DVR server would be placed at a family members house which is inside the TV market, and Iā€™d access it remotely, so Iā€™m not worried about anything timing out

#16

One big consideration is their upstream bandwidth, and how reliable it is. Youā€™ll probably need at least 10Mbps upstream for best results, and even higher would be better.

#17

Wow, yes that helps! :wink:

Yep and therefore the specs of the NAS whether transcoding will be required

#18

Iā€™m going for it, ordered a DS220+ and will place it out their house next week and give it a go.

If it doesnā€™t work out, anyone want a recently unboxed ds220+? :joy:

#19

If I need to remove and read a source (sometimes thatā€™s the way you fix tve issues especially with xfinity) can I do that remotely without a vpn? Doesnā€™t seem like an option in the apps, unless itā€™s the ā€œenable/disableā€ switch

#20

Shouldnā€™t be an issue. You could use your phone browser and do it with my.channelsdvr.net