FRITZ!Box and Windows 7: Multimedia in the network

The third and final installment of the “FRITZ!Box and Windows 7” series is all about multimedia. In the second installment we described in detail how the FRITZ!Box makes files available to all devices in the home network. Yet where the use of multimedia files is concerned the FRITZ!Box is equipped with even more convenient functions – like the FRITZ!Box Media Server.

The FRITZ!Box Media Server offers more comfort in the network

The Media Server automatically offers the music, video and image files to the corresponding playback devices in the network. The media files can be played or displayed by all devices in the FRITZ!Box network that support the UPnP-AV standard.

This could be a stereo system, for instance, or the new Media Player integrated in Windows 7. The overview of the Windows Media Player displays not only the local media library, but conveniently, the FRITZ!Box Media Server as well. The media made available by the FRITZ!Box are then accessed just as simply and conveniently as data stored locally.

Music files are transmitted from the FRITZ!Box directly to the stereo system

The Windows Media Player can not only play back music, it can even forward it any other playback devices integrated in the home network. Use the “Play to” command, available when you right-click on the title, album or playback list.

Then the music is transmitted directly from the USB storage device connected to the FRITZ!Box to the stereo system. The big advantage: Now the computer can be switched off. Of course, pictures or video can be transmitted instead of music, for instance to a TV integrated in the network.

Review of all the installments of the series

For a review of all the installments of the series, click here:

Part 1: FRITZ!Box and Windows 7 – a perfect combination
Part 2: Configuring USB devices for the FRITZ!Box in Windows 7
Part 3: FRITZ!Box and Windows 7: Multimedia in the network