Nintendo’s Wii U has apps for watching Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, and all kinds of other streaming video. But it doesn’t offer an app that will play media files from an external drive or media server. Here’s a little trick that will let you stream local videos from your home network to your TV with your Wii U.
Thanks to Wii U’s web browser, which includes support for streaming MP4 files. With a media server app on your computer, you will be able to use your Wii U to play videos back on TV.
Stream local video to Wii U through Plex Media Server
Here, the media server we recommend is Plex. As one of the best programs for setting up a home media server, Plex provides a nice web interface that enables you to easily access personal media on Wii U. In addition, it also helps to automatically transcode media files to the MP4 format that Wii U supports. Follow the steps below to get the job completed.
Install and setup Plex Media Server on your computer
Download and install the Plex Media Server to your computer. After you do, you’ll be prompted to create a free account and go through the basic setup process. Point Plex at your media library – in other words, the folder on your computer containing all those video files you want to watch on your Wii U. For more detailed steps please visit: add movies to Plex.
Stream local video from Wii U’s web browser
Now, grab your Wii U’s gamepad and tap the Home button to head to the home screen. Tap the “Internet Browser” icon to load the web browser – it’s that blue, globe-shaped icon at the bottom of the screen, in the center.
Tap the “Enter URL” field at the top of the screen and enter to the following address: plex.tv/web. You’ll be taken to the Plex sign-in page and, after you sign it, you’ll be pointed at your local media server. The videos will stream entirely over your local network, from your PC to your Wii U, and won’t use any Internet bandwidth.
If you don’t have an internet connection, you can also directly connect to the PC running Plex. You’ll need to check your computer’s local IP address to do this. Once you have, you’ll type an address in the form: http://[IP address]:32400/web
So, if the IP address of the computer running the Plex server is 192.168.0.100, you’d type: http://192.168.0.100:32400/web
After connecting, Plex’s web interface will appear on your screen. You can browse your media library from here. Tap a video to see more information, and then tap that video again to start playing it.
You may also interest in: Stream personal Media to PS4 via Plex
Stream Unsupported local videos to Wii U via Plex
Although Plex Media Server can beneficially help you to transcode some file formats to Wii U supported MP4 file formats. However, there are still some file types such as ISO, BDMV, MXF, MTS, iTunes, Video_TS or Blu-ray/DVD disc file formats that Plex can not handle with. Fortunately, with a powerful third party media conversion tool such as Pavtube Video Converter Ultimate for Windows/Mac (support Mac OS X El Capitan), you can comprehensively rip Blu-ray/DVD and convert virtually any video file formats to Wii U supported MP4 formats or Wii U specially optimized profile formats for streaming.