Streaming PC games on internal lan (guide)

[MsDG]

How to stream PC games from a gaming PC to another device withing your local network

This is a blatant "cut and Paste" from something I found on the net. I haven't tried it myself yet but I imagine some may find it a useful guide.


I have been working on using multiple programs to create a remote gaming setup for my house. So far, it is limited at around 30 fps which some people may consider to low for the gamer, but this should be fine with most people. This is for people who have a powerful main computer, but may wish to play their games throughout their house and in other rooms.

Limitations....


Will not work over internet, most internet connections will not be fast enough, therefore the latency will be over 1,000 ms, which is not cool


Some games may not stream properly because they contain anti-cheat services that block this form of streaming. Games like battlefield 3 have this and therefore will not stream properly.


Nvidia cards are the only card that splashtop officially supports for having full screen streaming. AMD cards will only stream in windowed modes, but I have an AMD card and have no issues with it being in windowed mode.

USB headsets appear to have issues currently that cause conflicts when plugged in, therefore causing a bsod. Sorry, many people will be limited to only 3.5 mm headsets.


Materials:


1 gaming computer with good graphics card etc




1 remote client computer (laptop etc)




1 decent N router (Preferably with Qos)


This is a must if you want to have a stutter free stream for games. Qos is highly recommended because you need constant connection for the stream to not stutter. Some routers that do not have a proper set-up qos may not properly allocate the bandwidth to the display intensive applications, therefore this stream may not work. If your router does support QOS, make sure that the two computers that are going to be streaming are on the highest priority level. I am not sure about linksys routers, but the Netgear router login page is on routerlogin.net


Splashtop Streamer and Client - http://www.splashtop.com/downloads (Standard high definition remote login. It is nice because it has an easy set-up)




USB-OVER-NETWORK: http://www.usb-over-network.com/

I have used this and have found no issues with latency and sharing. This is because splashtop has issues with direct mouse emulation and therefore only uses an overlay which creates a touch based interaction, similar to a touchscreen, and therefore does not work with most first person shooter games. **** Note other programs may work, but I may not know much about them as I have not used them.



Procedure:


1: Make sure that the Qos is setup and working if available on your router. This will greatly improve performance.

2: Download and install the client splashtop application on the computer that you wish to view the game stream on.


3. Download and install the server splashtop application on the computer that is more powerful and you want to run the games.


4. Setup an account and login on both computers. Make sure that these computers can see each other and you can login into the server computer from the client computer. This is also a good time to check the streaming speed by running a video on the server computer. If it does not appear as though the video is streaming smoothly, your computer may not be powerful enough to run the streamer, client, or your network connection is too inconsistent or not fast enough. It helps to have drivers completely updated.

5. If connection is smooth, go into the splashtop settings at the top of the page and uncheck the option of Adapt to Network Connection. With this on, the resolution is diminished, therefore making the game look worse.

6. Get some form of usb over network application such as the one mentioned earlier at: http://www.usb-over-network.com/ This will make it easier to control in many games.

7. Install the client version of the usb over network on the computer which will be running the games.

8. Install the server on the computer which will be displaying the streaming games.

9. Go back to the computer with the client of the usb over network, at the top, there will be a button that say new connection. Click on that, a message box should pop up. Enter the name of the other computer on the network and leave the connection ports the same. If all goes well, the server should be able to connect and you should see the other computer on the network.

10. On the server computer, once you plug in a mouse, you should be able to see the mouse on the usb over network client. From there, right click and share device. This will be the equivalent of plugging the usb mouse into the other computer. If all goes well, it should disconnect and you should not be able to control the computer anymore. This is why a second mouse is recommended.

11. Login to the the computer that will be running the games from the splashtop application on the remote computer. From there, the mouse that was previously shared should be able to control the mouse on the main computer. If the mouse has issues with first person shooter games, this most likely means that the mouse is not being shared or hasn't been shared properly. If it hasn't been shared properly, enter the usb over network server on the client computer and click stop sharing. At this point, then click begin sharing. This should resolve most issues.

12. Enjoy playing games on your new home onlive setup with much less latency.