Can any one suggest how to build a Kodi Media Center.
I know I could have googled it but i am looking for suggestions from DMS guys.
Should I build it using those raspberry pi or buy some android tv box or cast it over chromecast from my android tab?
Majority of sites recommend using VPN. Which VPN should I get?
I’d start with the Raspberry Pi. You can set it up cheap and quick. Play around with it to see if you like it. I just use it internally at my house so I don’t use a vpn. Once set up it broadcasts itself uPnP and DLNA so your other media players should be able to find it.
Hope this helps,
Jeff
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I use a pi to stream my movies to my living room PC. Works fairly well.
what OS are you using?
I did a Pi media center as well. It worked pretty well for what I was using it for. I dont use it any more, Just because I was being cheap on the wireless & I didn’t want a cat5 or 6 cable strung around.
Here’s the relatively short version.
Kodi comes very empty. Raspberry Pi 3 is very good host for a kodi install. It has built in wifi and bluetooth. You will need a controller. You can use your TV’s remote using the HDMI connection. You can also use PS3 / PS4 controllers but it is a pain to setup.
You then have to learn how to configure it to find your media files.
You might be tempted to use one of the “fully configured” images out there that has a lot of addons preconfigured. This used to be found on a website called tv addons. I would not suggest this. They have been taken down due to copyright infringement claims. You can add the channels individually once you get the main repositories setup. Youtube has lots of detailed videos on which repos to install.
It’s a fun little project but gets boring after a couple of weeks and you’ll find something else to do with the pi.
I’ve re-provisioned mine to a hi-fi audio server using a DAC shield and the volumio.org image with Spotify add on 
edit: which I found out later both my PS3 and PS4 both have Spotify as well. So it too was kind of a waste. but the audio sounds great!
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I ran libreELEC for 6 months or so before I got off my ass and built a Plex server. I’ve now tied it into usenet via radarr and sonarr for auto downloading. I have no reason to go back to Kodi ever again…
what hardware did u use?
I’ve run kodi on rpi and a fire tv stick. Didn’t care for the vpn integration with either. Plex client runs better on the fire stick hands down.
I haven’t used Plex, but the fact that there’s apps on both my smart tvs and my Roku express for it, I think it’s ultimately the better way to go if you’re starting from scratch.
It’s freaking awesome. I ended up on plex by accident after I built a 24 tb freenas server. I bought a dual core rack server and had tons of unused processing power so I thought, ehh why not.
Installing plex is simple, although if I was going to do it again I wouldn’t host the plex server on the freenas box. Plex Pass premium features don’t play well with BSD distros, which is what freenas is based on. For non-premium users, they work extremely well together. Plex needs CPU power and freenas needs RAM. Lots of RAM.
Once you’ve got them both, you set up NZBget, radarr, sonarr, headphones, and a few Newsnet subscriptions, and then you have an auto downloading behemoth. If you want local programming, add hdhomerun to Plex.
All in all, it’s been fun to play with.
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