VLC can easily access media from UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) as well as DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance). The option is available in the View > Playlist section of the media player. UPnP and DLNA allow you to stream content over your local network. You can see televisions make use of this feature to access videos from your laptops and other devices supporting the standard. It’s like sharing the media content that you have on your computer or phone to other devices without the need to copy and move files. All of them should be connected to the same network or Wi-Fi.
Universal Media Server Software
Universal Media Server is a free DLNA, UPnP and HTTP/S Media Server. We support all major operating systems, with versions for Windows, Linux and macOS. The program streams or transcodes many different media formats with little or no configuration. Local media servers have gone out of style. Microsoft no longer makes Windows Home Server and is phasing out Windows Media Center. But there are still great solutions if you want to run a home media server and stream to all your devices.
If you have VLC on your computer, you will be accessing the files available via UPnP as well as DLNA. There should be another device sharing media files using this standard or protocol. It’s like a private network for audio and video files.
Here’s how you access media from UPnP or DLNA using VLC:
Universal Media Server Android
- Open up VLC Media Player.
- Go to View > Playlist [CTRL + L].
- On the left under Local Network, click on Universal Plug’n’Play.
- You’ll see a list of files or streaming networks listed on the left.
- Browse through them and right click on them to Play, Stream or Add to Playlist.
- You will be playing media from your network in some time.
Universal Media Server Ps4
Note: It can take some time for VLC to discover and list all the folders and sub-folders from your UPnP and DLNA servers.