ASUSTOR Portal

You will find the ASUSTOR Portal app in App Central. Use this app to fully exploit the NAS server's multimedia capabilities since it offers access to the KODI (formerly XBMC) application. It also allows you to browse the Internet through its built-in Google Chrome browser or log into ADM to manage the NAS, watch YouTube clips, or monitor live feeds through Surveillance Center. All of the above can directly be done on your TV and without a client PC.

You have three options to remotely control ASUSTOR Portal:

• The ASUSTOR remote
• The AiRemote app for mobile devices
• USB keyboard and mouse

Here are the supported resolutions of ASUSTOR Portal.

Plex

Plex Media Server allows you to stream media to numerous devices. These include smartphones, tables, notebooks, etc.


A Xiaomi Mi router (AC1200) located at around twelve meters away without any obstacles in between was used for all of our wireless multimedia tests. Using Plex, we managed to stream any file through a wired Gigabit connection to a PC client. However, we weren't able to wirelessly stream 1080p content (MKV format) with a bitrate of 20 Mbit/s smoothly. We noticed lots of frame drops and breaks with high bitrate 1080p files we tried. The same was the case with 4K content over a wireless connection.


The seek function with a 4K file led to these CPU utilization spikes with a wired connection.


The activity monitor went crazy once we tried to stream high bitrate 1080p to a mobile device.


CPU utilization was even higher with 4k content, without any good results, though, since we weren't able to stream anything.

Remote Center

Remote Center can be installed via App Central. You have to install it in order to control the NAS with Asustor's remote control or the AiRemote app for iOS or Android devices.

Kodi

Kodi is probably the best media player application around. It can be used to play all popular audio and video formats and allows for network playback should you want to stream multimedia on the NAS to a TV or monitor through the bundled HDMI port. We suggest you use a multimedia keyboard to control Kodi, but you can also use any device that is compatible with Asustor's AiRemote app.


Every file we tried in Kodi, ultra-high bitrate 1080p or 4K, was reproduced just fine, and the seek function with 4K files was pretty fast. This means you will be able to fully utilize the HDMI port of the AS6208T if you connect it to a 4K TV.

SoundsGood

SoundsGood is a Web music player that allows you to listen to music stored on the NAS via a Web browser. It supports browsing by artist, album, and folder and supports keyword searches. It even allows you to create playlists, and if you connect speakers to the NAS via HDMI, USB, or S/PDIF, you can use SoundsGood as a local music player.

Asustor informed us that the SoundsGood app got an important upgrade to v2.0. UI is changed and it supports now dual-mode music streaming. Lyric is also supported. You will find more info here.

LooksGood

Use LooksGood to stream videos from the NAS to a client through a web browser. It supports high-definition multimedia content, subtitles, and different audio channels. You will find a brief introduction to LooksGood here.


The graph above shows you how heavily the CPU was taxed when 4K media content was streamed through a wired Gigabit connection with the LooksGood app. As you can see, CPU utilization wasn't high, and RAM utilization was low.

AiVideos

The AiVideos app failed to properly stream 1080p content (MKV format) with a bitrate of up 20 Mbit/s or higher over a wireless connection. 4K streaming was possible, but it took ages for reproduction to start and the seek function was really sluggish.


The spike in CPU utilization above took place as a 4K file's reproduction was about to initialize on our mobile device.