Content

• To step
• Part 1 of 3: Preparing to stream
• Part 2 of 3: Streaming in Windows
• Part 3 of 3: Streaming on a Mac
• Tips
• Warnings

This wikiHow teaches you how to use VLC Media Player to stream a video playing on one computer on the same Internet network to another computer. To do this, you need the free VLC Media Player installed on both computers, and both computers must be on the same wireless network.

To step

Part 1 of 3: Preparing to stream

1. Install VLC Media Player on both computers. If you have not done this yet, first install VLC Media Player on both computers that you want to use for streaming and the computer on which you want to receive the stream.
   • VLC is available for free on both Windows and Mac computers, as well as most Linux distributions.
2. Determine the IP address from both computers. To stream a video from your computer to another computer on your network, you need the IP address of both computers.
3. Make sure both computers are on the same network. Both one computer and the other computer must be connected to the same network (such as your home router) in order to stream video to the other computer.
   • If your router has multiple channels (e.g. a 2.4 GHz channel and a 5.0 GHz channel), make sure both computers are using the same channel.
4. Understand that streaming may not work within your network. If you have a slow upload speed or if there are multiple devices using the network (such as phones, consoles, other computers, etc.), streaming over the network may not work. This can be solved by requesting a better internet connection from your service provider.
   • If your router and / or modem is older than a few years, attempting to stream could cause one or both devices to crash.

Part 2 of 3: Streaming in Windows

1. Open VLC Media Player. This is the icon of an orange and white traffic cone.
2. click on Media. This tab is in the top left corner of VLC Media Player's main menu. A submenu will open.
3. click on Stream ... at the bottom of the submenu of Media. The Stream window opens.
4. click on Add… to the right of "File Selection". A file explorer will open.
5. Select a video. Click on a video you want to stream. You may first need to select a folder in the left sidebar, or open a folder in the main File Explorer window, to find the file you are looking for.
6. click on Open in the lower right corner of the window. Now the video is added to the stream.
7. click on Stream at the bottom of the window.
8. click on Next one. This is the bottom right corner of the window. The Stream Output window opens.
9. Click the "Setup Destination" submenu. This submenu usually refers to "File" by default. A drop-down menu will appear.
10. click on HTTP in the submenu.
11. click on Add to the right of the frame HTTP. The HTTP setup page opens.
12. Make a note of the port indicated there. You need to know which port the stream will go through later.
13. Enter the IP address of the other computer. You do this in the text field "Path". You will see a slash (/) in the "Path" field - leave the slash while entering the IP address.
14. click on Next one.
15. Uncheck the "Enable transcoding" box at the top of the window.
16. Click the "Profile" submenu to the right of the window. A drop-down menu will appear.
17. Select the "TS" format. click on Video - H.264 + MP3 (TS) in the drop-down menu.
18. click on Next one.
19. Check the "Stream all basic streams" box at the top of the window.
20. click on Stream at the bottom of the window. This completes the streaming setup and you can start streaming the video to the other computer.
21. Open VLC on the other computer.
22. Open the network stream window. click on Media and then on Open network stream ....
23. Enter the address of the stream. Type http: // ipaddress: port where "ipaddress" is the IP address of the streaming computer and "port" is the port number as indicated on the "HTTP" page.
    • Suppose you have a stream from a computer with an IP address of 123.456.7.8 and a port number of 8080, then you type http://123.456.7.8:8080.
24. click on Play. After a delay of up to 30 seconds, the video from the other computer should start playing in your media player.

Part 3 of 3: Streaming on a Mac

1. Open VLC Media Player. This is the icon of an orange and white traffic cone.
2. click on File. This tab is in the top left corner of VLC Media Player's main menu. A submenu will open.
3. click on Stream / Export Wizard .... You can find this option at the bottom of the drop-down menu.
4. Check the "Stream to network" box at the top of the window.
5. click on Next one. This blue button can be found in the lower right corner of the window.
6. click on Selecting… or Select to the right of the text box "Select a stream". A Finder window will open.
   • "Select a stream" should be checked, but if not, do it for you here Selecting… choose.
7. Select a video. Click on a video you want to stream. You may first need to click on a folder in the left Finder box or open a folder in the main Finder window to find the video.
8. click on To open in the lower right corner of the window.
9. click on Next one.
10. Check the "HTTP" box in the middle of the page. The text fields "Port" and "Source" (or "Path") appear on the page.
11. Make a note of the port indicated there. You need to know which port the stream will go through later.
12. Enter the IP address of the other computer. Do this in the text field of "Source" or "Path".
    • If there is a slash (/) in the text field, leave it there and enter the IP address after it.
13. click on Next one.
14. Make sure both "Transcode" boxes are unchecked. Both should be in the center of the page.
15. click on Next one.
16. Check the box "MPEG TS". This one is in the middle of the page. This may be the only option you have for the stream.
17. Click twice Next one. Do this on the current page and on the "Additional streaming options" page.
18. click on Complete. This is a blue button at the bottom of the window. This completes the stream setup and starts streaming to the other computer.
19. Open VLC on the other computer.
20. Open the network stream window. click on File and click on Open network ...
21. Enter the address of the stream. Type http: // ipaddress: port where "ipaddress" is the IP address of the streaming computer and "port" is the port number as indicated on the "HTTP" page.
    • Suppose you have a stream from a computer with an IP address of 123.456.7.8 and a port number 8080, then you type here http://123.456.7.8:8080.
22. click on Play. After a delay of up to 30 seconds, the video from the other computer should start playing in your media player.

Tips

• If you want to stream multiple videos in a row, you must first create a playlist. The easiest way to do this is to select the videos you want to play, right click on a selected video, click Add to playlist in the drop-down menu, then save the playlist by clicking Media (or File on the Mac) and clicking Save playlist to file.

Warnings

• You may need to set up port forwarding on your router to view the stream.
• It is possible that the receiving computer receives the video in a slightly lower quality.