Best firmware? Streaming while using bittorrent?

Up until now I’ve only used usb hardrive for movie playback on my WDLIVE but I’d like to get some advise from wdlive owners here that use networking playback- as I plan to go this method via erthernet cat5e to PC instead.

How stable/unstable is netorking playback VS. usb mass storage? Will video playback be less smooth? This will be for my parents so they need simple and  don’t care about any interactive online features/programs.  It will be used exclusively for 1080p mkv’s. Most are 8-16 GB. Do PC specs matter? What WDLIVE firmware is best? I tried updating firmware awhile back for this device but it seemed to make video playback less smooth so I reverted to stock firmware since networking updates didn’t matter to me then. . It will be plugged  HDMI directly into TV for 1080p 60 hertz fixed rez for video and & via toslink to DTS capable receiver downmixed to 2  channel stereo for audio.

Will the PC that is serving the WDLIVE be able to enter sleep mode automatically after WDLIVE is turned off?

Will I be able to keep my bittorrent client running on my PC while streaming to WDLIVE? This is very important to me. My bittorrent program won’t be downloading  but I need it to be  uploading. Will this effect WDLIVE streaming?

Can someone link me to to step by step directions on how to setup to my network? 

My network playback is rock solid, and I play from an NAS (not even a PC, so less computing power on the disc end).  Now, I’m completely hard wired and I would suggest that in your case (IOW, hard wired from the Live to the router, and from the PC to the router).  As long as you do this you shouldn’t have *any* issues (I use a bit torrent client running constantly on my network and it doesn’t affect playback even when all three of my Live units are streaming).

I use the latest official release firmware for my Live – YMMV, but I would recommend this.