Every guide
Fifteen guides, from “what even is a media server” to the automation stack people run for years. No jargon, no assumed Linux knowledge.
Start here
The idea, the real bill, and the fastest way to see it working.
Start hereBuild a family movie library for the price of one coffee a month
One rented box, one free app, and the films you own stop disappearing from a catalogue. Here is the real bill — not the one in the headline.
8 min read
Start hereWhat a seedbox actually is, explained without jargon
Strip away the forum vocabulary and a seedbox is one sentence: a computer you rent, that stays on, with a connection far faster than your home line.
5 min read
Start hereYour first media server, from nothing to watching, in about 20 minutes
Six steps, no terminal. The longest part is waiting for the first film to copy across.
4 min read
Choose your setup
Plex or Jellyfin, at home or hosted, NAS or a rented box.
Choose your setupPlex or Jellyfin: the differences that actually change your evening
They do the same job. They disagree on one thing — who is in the middle between you and your own files.
4 min read
Choose your setupNAS, seedbox or cloud: the real cost over three years
A NAS looks cheaper because the price is paid once and forgotten. Put it on three years and the ranking changes.
4 min read
Choose your setupA Raspberry Pi as a media server: what it does well, and where it stops
It is not a toy any more. It is also not a machine that transcodes 4K for three people at once — and the gap between those two facts is where people get disappointed.
4 min read
Automate it
The *arr stack, Usenet, Docker: how a library fills itself.
Automate itSonarr, Radarr, Prowlarr: the automation stack explained without jargon
Four apps with silly names that turn a media server into something you stop maintaining. Here is what each one is for.
4 min read
Automate itUsenet or torrents: what actually differs, and what it costs
One is a conversation between peers. The other is a download from a server you pay for. Almost every practical difference follows from that.
4 min read
Watch it anywhere
Apple TV, Fire Stick, phones, and sharing with the family.
Watch it anywhereStremio and Real-Debrid, explained — and what they cannot do
Two tools that solved a real problem and became enormously popular. Understanding what they are also makes clear what they are not.
5 min read
Watch it anywhereKodi in 2026: what it is for now, and what replaced the rest
Kodi did not decline — it went back to being what it always was: the best player in the business, and not a source of content.
3 min read
Watch it anywhereWatching your library on Apple TV, Fire Stick, Android TV and smart TVs
The device you plug into the TV decides more about picture quality than the server does. Here is what each one does well.
4 min read
Watch it anywhereWhy Plex stutters outside your home — and the one fix that works
Flawless on the sofa, unwatchable at your parents'. The reason is a number your provider does not advertise.
4 min read
Watch it anywhereSharing your library with the family, without it becoming your job
The difference between a library you enjoy and a helpdesk you run is about twenty minutes of setup.
4 min read
Costs, privacy & the law
What things actually cost, what your ISP sees, what the law says.
Costs, privacy & the lawCancelling Netflix: the arithmetic, honestly done
Cancelling saves real money. What replaces it is not free either — and one thing it cannot replace at all.
4 min read
Costs, privacy & the lawWhat your internet provider actually sees — and what the law says
Widely misunderstood in both directions. Here is what is technically observable, and what the law in France and elsewhere actually provides for.
5 min read