Reason for this is because i cloned all of my settings over from my PC setup.
How?
You can certainly clone the settings on a copy of Media Center, but you have to do it via the Library Backup/Restore process. If you cloned it manually by regedit, it is going to make you sad (because there are a handful of unique identifiers buried in the settings which need to be reset when cloning and the Backup/Restore system takes care of for you). If you did this, I'd recommend doing it again on the Client, but doing it right this time (using a
Library Backup).
Opening the port on your router only matters if you're trying to access your Library Server from outside of your LAN. If you're at home on the same network as the server, this won't matter. For stuff like this, it is usually best to tackle things one step at a time (so you know what broke it if something breaks). So, undo any of the router-side Port Forwarding you set up and get it working within your LAN/Wifi network first. Tackle accessing the Server from outside your network
after you know it works inside.
Note: This assumes you're not operating in some kind of ill-advised double-router situation (where your client is on a separate wifi network which is firewalled off from your wired LAN). If you do have such a setup (with multiple routers involved) then you'll probably need to explain more to get valid advice.
First, make sure you reset the
Access Key on the client, as Brian explained above. If you're concerned you might have mucked this up, just reset it on all of the systems (it won't hurt anything as you don't have any clients connected yet). The client doesn't even need to have the Media Network stuff enabled
at all (unless you also want to be able to remotely-control the client machine for some reason, but I'd tackle that as a second step later). So, just turn off
Options > Media Network > Use Media Network to share this library and enable DLNA on the Client (for now at least).
Then, on the Client device, you want to add a new Library and enter the Access Key from the Server (and then enter the username and password you set up in the authentication settings on the server when prompted).
If it doesn't connect, you
might, depending on your specific security settings on the Server, need to open the port on the Windows Firewall on the server (though this is not typically required so long as you allowed MC on the network when you first ran it). If you're just using the built in Windows Defender Firewall,
follow these instructions to open TCP port (UDP isn't required for MCWS). The default port is 52199 if you didn't change it under
Options > Media Network > Advanced > TCP Port. If you use a third-party security suite, you'll need to figure out how to tame it on your own, but you can try just disabling it temporarily to confirm that's the issue if you're having trouble.