DLNA client over the WAN

I am confused - how do you think this solves the uplink bottleneck? Are you thinking the DLNA server would transcode to a lower bitrate? That wouldn't work on a duo v1.

Keeping the library and metadata on the server side is of particular interest.

So basically, having seen this question asked numerous times in different threads (and every time, seeing incorrect suggestions), there isn't any DLNA client on Windows that allows you to specify the description XML file of a remote DLNA server? (as it is possible on apps like PlugPlayer, Airplayer, 8player(?) on the iPhone)

I have a Readynas Ultra 6 (my profile was incorrect)

DLNA libraries and metadata are always on the server, and accessed through the DLNA API. Whether it is XML or some other syntax is a different question (and really doesn't matter for the functionality). Though XML is not an economical syntax, it's strength is flexibility not bandwidth efficiency.

I understand the interest in whether there are windows client/server combination that works over the open internet (hopefully someone knows of one). But I don't think that will really solve your performance concerns on the uplink, unless the server is also capable of transcoding. Connecting to a DLNA server over a VPN connection is a little less bandwidth efficient than connecting directly, however the difference is not large.

How is your VPN connection set up? Is it possible that your router doesn't have enough horsepower to maintain a full speed connection?

Yes that is essentially my question: just in the same way as it is straightforward to point your iPhone to your DLNA server's configuration via the XML file (rather than counting on the discovery protocol which is only broadcast within the broadcast domain/local subnet)

I guess that I could look into using a VPN tunnel properly but was hoping for the same ease-of-use. I was also concerned that a VPN tunnel may add a lot of overhead traffic.

I had actually only been using Readynas Remote and FTP (in XBMC) to attempt this but with very disappointing results. As I've been able to achieve reasonable results with my iPhone (over Wifi or 3G), I was hoping that I could attempt the same. Probably more of a wishlist but ideally these clients would perform more buffering, especially with the flakey connection that 3G can provide. I'm not sure why some of these clients (such as AirPlayer) don't download subsequent files (in a playlist for example) in advance, to avoid having to wait for the initial buffering when you move to the next file in the playlist.

I've also seen quite poor performance with ReadyNAS Remote (though I haven't tried it lately), and FTP is an old protocol that was not designed for streaming. Accessing over a direct VPN connection would work better than ReadyNAS Remote, but still might struggle with 3G (and hotspot wifi for that matter). This would also require a VPN software package on the router and the device.

Increasingly my laptop is just used to transfer to the actual player (phone, tablet, or my old iPod), I am not using it for playback very often. However, I agree that is would be nice if the PC could use the same streaming access methods as the phone. When I have a chance I will google a bit...