Playing those Stubborn MKV files over Media Center

If you’re media library consists of those sometimes stubborn .MKV files and you have a home theatre craving content, then you probably share in my frustration at attempting to stream those MKV’s to your projector.

My current setup, Xbox with Media Center connected via Wifi to my PC’s library was not fast enough to stream anything above music and standard def content. I had a relatively fast Wireless N PCI adapter but sadly it was not fast enough. I fully realize I could buy a Roku and get the app Plex, but I wanted to see if it was possible with the equipment I already have.

Finally this week, I upgraded to Asus’s ‘relatively’ new Wifi adapter, the PCE-AC66. I picked mine up from NCIX. What a fast card!! The Superman of Wifi cards to say the least. Compatible with Windows 8 too…unlike many cards on the market. With the right router, this thing can stream zeros and ones up to 1.3 Gbps! That’s fast.

But alas, this fast card does not solve the nagging issue of MKV files. Media Center will not play them natively. You need some special codecs for that…and guess what; they’re FREE!

Then you can tinker with all the codec settings..I left mine all at default.

If everything goes the way it should, you’ll have full playability of your MKV collection in Media Center on your Xbox.