Patent ID: 8793762

Claim:
A playback device, comprising: a network port arranged to allow the playback device to access a wide network having a plurality of peer devices that communicate using a common security protocol; and a controller: a playback device memory, communicatively coupled to the controller, comprising instructions for programming the controller to: receive a request to access, via the network port and the wide network for media content selected for playback by a user of the playback device; perform a test across the wide network in order to determine if any one or more of the peer devices on the wide network which stores at least a part of the media content selected for playback is on the user's local network, the test comprising: identifying one or more of the plurality of peer devices on the wide network which stores at least a part of the media content selected for playback; determining a latency of communication between each such identified peer device and the playback device; and accessing, via the wide network, the at least a part of the media content from a content memory of the at least one identified peer device, the accessed media content used for playback by the playback device.