You
might be able to connect it directly to your desktop computer for local streaming, but you'd have to run a dhcp server on your PC so the Roku can get an IP address. You wouldn't be able to get through the network setup on the Roku since it wouldn't be able to connect to the Internet unless you were using some sort of Internet connection sharing (which would require two network cards in your PC), but maybe if the setup was already completed you could then switch the cable to your PC. There's also the issue of whether or not a crossover cable is required. I don't know if the Roku autosenses and I don't know how prevalent autosensing is in PC NICs either. I may have to try it just to see if it will work.
Edit: It does work! I didn't even need a crossover cable, so either my laptop or the Roku autosenses. I had the Roku setup for a wired connection then I rebooted it and connected it to my laptop which was running
dhcpd32 and I could connect to my MyMedia server. I'm not sure what it proves, but it was interesting nonetheless.
You should be able to connect the Roku directly to your modem for Netflix/MediaFly streaming. It would also be worthwhile to run the speedtest with your Roku connected directly to the modem.
The Roku can be pretty particular about what videos it will play. I use HandBrake with the same settings every time and I'd say about one in ten videos won't play. I've never tried to track down the issue. If I really want to see the video, I usually use a different program (like FormatFactory) to convert the original video to some other format and then HandBrake to convert it back to MP4. I'm not concerned about the loss of quality two conversion causes.
-JT
