VLC not communicating over my LAN

[GW VLC]

VLC installed will not communicate over my LAN; 2 computers communicating over my LAN

Can anyone give me some advice on what I might try to get VLC to work on both my computers and stream from one computer to the other?

I have turned off Windows defender on both computers, and suspended my Kaspersky Anti Virus software, this does nothing to resolved the issue.

Objective:
Stream A/V from the internet, or play a local MP4 file, on Computer A (windows 11 Laptop) and stream the audio from Computer A via VLC to Computer B (windows 10 Desktop, with high quality speaker system) and play the audio over Computer B speakers.
NOTE: my existing LAN allows Cmptr. A and Cmptr. B to communicate in both directions over my local LAN. The setup is: Cmptr A WiFi to my Router, Computer B Ethernet cable to my Router. Prior to attempting to use VLC I identified the URL's for both computers, including ports. Used Command Prompt (run as admin.) to identify / verify URL address for both computers. CmdLine "netstat -a"

Results (numerous attempts to connect always result in the same error, changed port numbers in an attempt to fix the issue, no change):
NOTE: turned off my antivirus software Kaspersky and turned off Windows Defender while attempting to get VLC to work.
"Your input can't be opened:
VLC is unable to open the MRL "http://192.168.1.2:8080 and several other ports tried multiple times. The log file shows: "main: Running VLC with default interface. Use 'cvlc' to use vlc without interface." "Access error: HTTP connection failure".


Setup:
Computer A: will run a MP4 file stored on Compute A, VLC setup: select VLC Stream to select the local MP4 file and click ADD, select Stream and then Next, Select HTTPS from the drop down and check Display locally and select ADD, enter my local LAN URL 192.168.1.8:port# (have tried several ports, same results). Select Next, deselect "activate Transcoding" and select "Video - H.264+MP3 (MP4) and select next. Select box "Stream all elementary streams" and select "stream" button.
Computer B: Launch VLC and then select "Open Network Stream" select "Network" then enter the URL of Cmptr. A: http: 192.168.1.2:8080

[mightyenigma]

Did you ever figure this out? I'm having the same problem after allowing specific ports in my firewall for TCP and UDP even though VLC already had those open for its app.
I always get "Connection refused by peer" in the Messages when I try to open network stream on the same computer that's outputting the stream. You'd think it would allow a connection from ITSELF, right?

Tried port 8080 and 1234 (and made sure to allow 1234 specifically in windows firewall).

Wifi router is not blocking either of those (and it shouldn't matter - I'm getting it from the same computer, right?)

tried RTSP and UDP also, neither works.

I used the same settings and took the same steps as you. The only difference is I'm trying to view on the same computer (with a 2nd instance of VLC opening the network stream) as the streaming instance is running.

If you ever figured out how to solve this problem, please let me know.

I want to stream from my DVD drive to my firestick, without having to rip the DVDs to video files or MKVs. All the other DVD players in the house are not working right now but the one on my PC works great (plays the DVD just fine on the streaming instance of VLC, just never can connect to itself from the 2nd instance, and I can't get other devices on the same home network to connect to it either).