Media Center Solution Needed

[MadMorigan]

Hey guys

So I currently have this sony blu-ray player as my living room media center:

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-BDPS3500-Blu-ray-Player-Wi-Fi/dp/B00TYFCJ8S/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1444457297&sr=1-1&keywords=sony+blu+ray+player

I bought it before I knew how to build PC's. The problem is the media center has poor wi-fi capabilities and is slow with loading amazon prime videos, hulu, youtube, and netflix. My house is too long and has vaulted ceilings for an ethernet cable less than 100ft. At 100ft, the ethernet cable i bought at first was too awkward looking in this house and my gf hated the look so I returned it.

I'm looking for a solution that either greatly improves the wi-fi capabilities of my current media center or something cheaper than buying a ps4. BTW I have comcast hi-speed internet (25 mbps) so a lot of the wi-fi extenders don't work with it.

I wouldn't mind buying parts for a cheap media build but i'm not sure where to start. I do have an old ivy bridge mobo, antec case, win 7 + hdd being unused that i could revive if need be.

After seeing my bro's ps4 and crappy internet connection (10mbps) doing MUCH MUCH better than my sony media center, i'd like a solution whose media capabilities are as good as PS4 or better.

Budget - $300
Thanks y'all!

 

[xtremealu]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD A10-5800K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($84.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A88XN-WIFI Mini ITX FM2+ Motherboard ($82.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team Elite 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($22.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Case: Rosewill Neutron Mini ITX Desktop Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Silverstone 300W 80+ Bronze Certified SFX Power Supply ($48.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($17.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $347.62
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-10 02:48 EDT-0400

 

[Outlander_04]

A cat5 cable , and a new girlfriend

 

[MadMorigan]

A cat5 cable , and a new girlfriend

might be the cheaper solution... but it does look really bad the way the cat5 cable would have to be placed in my house. I've also been looking at the nvidia shield and amazon fire but i don't know their wi-fi capabilities and how strong they'd be. Both their rating on amazon aren't impressive. Would really want a good wireless solution