[kortina]

Same issue here. Except that SMB does *not* work like a charm. When Windows boots, you invariably get 'Unable to connect all network driives' error (I presume because the network hasn't initialized yet, and Windoze is too dumb to wait for it to be done). So, you need to use the file explorer and manually click on each of them to reconnect them again, or XBMC can't see them.

I also use TwonkyMedia; and I get the impression its buffering is superior to what a SMB drive offers. Plus, TwonkyMedia turns a collection of video locations, and turns them into a single media source: much, much cleaner than silly SMB drives to every location.

Gee if only there was a way to make Windows "Always wait for the network at computer startup and logon"

gpedit.msc
Local Computer Policy, Computer Configuration, Administrative Templates, System, Logon
"Always wait for the network at computer startup and logon" = Enabled.

I have been using XBMC from various SMB servers over the last 8 years and it has been hard to fault. (Win2003r3, Win2008R2, Win7, Win8.1, UnRaid)

SMB in my experience is way better than UPNP.