Patent ID: 8171148

Claim:
A method of establishing a media streaming connection between a media player and a placeshifting device that are each communicating via a network, the method comprising: receiving, by a relay server, a first request associated with the media player and a second request associated with the placeshifting device; in response to receiving the first and second requests, establishing a first connection between the relay server and the media player and a second connection between the relay server and the placeshifting device, wherein a message server is configured to establish a pre-existing connection with the placeshifting device across the network using a connection-based protocol, and wherein a message is sent to the placeshifting device across the pre-existing connection to direct the placeshifting device to establish the second connection with the relay server; and relaying data received by the relay server on each of the first and second connections to the other of the first and second connections to thereby establish the media streaming connection between the media player and the placeshifting device via the relay server.