Ongoing NAS on Wireless LAN 54G++ (125Mb/sec) HD unwatcheable (1 Viewer)

[Lotsofjazz]

Dear all,

Since a week I have a network attached storage device, Revoltec Alu Guard LAN with 1500Gb harddisk (XFS formatted, whatever that is, the only way to get full access and large file storage capability over the network). I have attached it to my Modem/router (Fritzbox 7170 Wlan fon) using the RJ45 Lan port, the main HTPC is connected using wireless lan 54G++ using a FritzStick at the HTPC side (should be capable of 125Mbit/sec, better then 10 base 100 wired LAN).

I tried to play a HD movie yesterday from the Revoltec, but that doesnt work as I expected, checked with shift-1: A lot of stutter and jitter, framerate of about zero, couple thousand jitter, hundreds of dropped frames.

I checked the wireless connection while "playing" the movie and found out traffic was about 6 to 8MB/sec, while throughput was 54MB/sec.. Throughput is allways at 54 even with no network activity, so it seems the WLAN capability is not fully used at all.

Playing the movie at the HTPC itself it plays smooth, so it must be the network settings.

Anybody here who has a working 54G (or 54G++ at 125Mb/s) Wlan working with HD movies? and if so, what are your settings at the router side and HTPC side?

Any advise or tips are appreciated.

Thanks!

Lots

UPDATE:

I did some up and download testing..

First I cant get it to screem at 125 Mbit a second, however the monitor says it is at its max, which is 54Mbit/sec.. but also the windows network monitor just sees 54Mbit/sec....

I tried to use the same file just downloading, and then it goes much faster, somewhere around 20Mbit/sec while I was downloading something from the internet the same time. doing an upload, the download speed decreases to somewhere around 10 to 15 and is not so constant anymore, it goes up and down between 10 and 20. None the less it is much higher then what I saw during playing the HD movie (MKV btw).

So my conclusion is that the network bandwidth/speed is actually more then adequate but there is something not right at the receiving end or the player (mediaportal?), like a buffer is not large enough or something. I have looked everywhere, but everything seems to be at its max for WLAN. So if anybody knows where to look.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks.

Another Update:

Now I tested with a DVD rip (the usual DVD format with VIDEO TS directory and a couple of IFO, VOB files and such) Works perfectly!! Watching the Fritzlan stick monitor, it shows that there must be some kind of buffer because it goes up and down all the time from zero to sometimes 18Mbit/sec.. looks like a sharp sinus curve.

So question is why doesnt it work this way with other formats.. I guess the WMM is doing its job here.

I will try with some Windows Media HD Video's tomorrow, I think that should work as well beacause these are also managed by the WMM is my guess.. but we will see.

 

[Kossu]

Well the 54 mbit/s is just a theoretical speed, normally you can get about 25 mbit/s through wireless.
Same goes with the 125 mbit/s, sounds like your settings are screwed if its only going at 54 mbit/s.

I personally use a simple 54 mbit/s network, and I was capable of playing a 8.5 gb big HD movie just fine, it was using from 8 to 11 % out of 100 mbit (link between my main computer and router, link between HTPC and Router is 54 mbit/s), so it should play fine, depending on the size of the movie and duration of course.

 

[dir]

I don't know about your unit, but historically, NAS units have extremely slow transfer performance. Just because it has a gigabit ethernet connection, or 802.11n, has nothing whatsoever to do with actual bandwidth. You should look for some NAS performance benchmarks and you'll probably be surprised at how badly they perform.

As I said, I don't know about your unit, but don't assume that actual read/write speeds going in/out of the unit are anything close to the max. (theoretical) limits mentioned on tech sheets. There's nothing illegal about claiming a unit "Comes with a 1000Mbit network connection, USB3.0, 802.11n, and eSATA connectors with over 1GB/sec. max throughput". A totally true statement that neatly avoids mentioning that the motherboard, operating system, (software) RAID, and file system together are incapable of more than 6MB/sec write speeds and 9MB/sec read speeds.

 

[pilehave]

I don't know about your unit, but historically, NAS units have extremely slow transfer performance. Just because it has a gigabit ethernet connection, or 802.11n, has nothing whatsoever to do with actual bandwidth. You should look for some NAS performance benchmarks and you'll probably be surprised at how badly they perform.

As I said, I don't know about your unit, but don't assume that actual read/write speeds going in/out of the unit are anything close to the max. (theoretical) limits mentioned on tech sheets. There's nothing illegal about claiming a unit "Comes with a 1000Mbit network connection, USB3.0, 802.11n, and eSATA connectors with over 1GB/sec. max throughput". A totally true statement that neatly avoids mentioning that the motherboard, operating system, (software) RAID, and file system together are incapable of more than 6MB/sec write speeds and 9MB/sec read speeds.

I don't know about performance on the NAS at hand, but I was actually reading a couple of reviews of a Synology CubeStation CS-407 wich is a VERY popular NAS. The test actually shows that the max read-speed is around 28 MB/sec. So your getting a 228 Mb/sec output, which will need a Gigabit LAN or a VERY maxed out 300 Mb/sec WLAN.

So...Megabit LAN is not totally overrated

EDIT: There is often a very big difference in performance regarding filesize/number of files, one big file being copied may sometimes take twice the time as thoundsands of files being copied.

 

[Lotsofjazz]

I don't know about your unit, but historically, NAS units have extremely slow transfer performance. Just because it has a gigabit ethernet connection, or 802.11n, has nothing whatsoever to do with actual bandwidth. You should look for some NAS performance benchmarks and you'll probably be surprised at how badly they perform.

As I said, I don't know about your unit, but don't assume that actual read/write speeds going in/out of the unit are anything close to the max. (theoretical) limits mentioned on tech sheets. There's nothing illegal about claiming a unit "Comes with a 1000Mbit network connection, USB3.0, 802.11n, and eSATA connectors with over 1GB/sec. max throughput". A totally true statement that neatly avoids mentioning that the motherboard, operating system, (software) RAID, and file system together are incapable of more than 6MB/sec write speeds and 9MB/sec read speeds.

I do not think the NAS is the issue as with copying I got about 20-30Mbit/sec over the wireless network. It is a brand new NAS from Revoltec who are pretty concerned about their image of high quality and performance.

My system is capable enough to handle high transfer rates (see specs on the left) (Vista, SATA2 HDD, 4GB 800Mhz DDR2, 2.7Ghz E6600 Dual Core, 1066Mhz FSB)

Lots

Well the 54 mbit/s is just a theoretical speed, normally you can get about 25 mbit/s through wireless.
Same goes with the 125 mbit/s, sounds like your settings are screwed if its only going at 54 mbit/s.

I personally use a simple 54 mbit/s network, and I was capable of playing a 8.5 gb big HD movie just fine, it was using from 8 to 11 % out of 100 mbit (link between my main computer and router, link between HTPC and Router is 54 mbit/s), so it should play fine, depending on the size of the movie and duration of course.

Yeah, I also wonder why I do not get the 125Mbit/as the monitor indicates it is maxed out at 54G, I checked the WLAN Router and WLAN stick settings several times, but the options are set that they may transmit at 125Mbit/sec.. Is there a service or something in Vista that prevents the units to send at these rates?

I will relocate the Fritzbox router this weekend by placing it really close the the wlan stick, to see if performace increases. If that doesnt help I will send a complain message to AVM (manufacturer of he Fritzbox) to see if they can help me.

Thanks

Lots

 

[JoePlumber]

Hi,

Plan A:
Try playing your HD video with MediaPlayerClassic - did you see any stuttering or do you hear only sound?

Typically, wireless devices will begin to drop packets when it encounters errors. Speed, distance, concrete walls, interference from microwaves and 2.4GHz phones are to blame. Better routers will have WMM, QoS, draft N 2.0, and the ability to prioritize your video and audio streams so that they will reach your HTPC box first with fewer errors. Ask their tech support if they have a newer firmware available.

Plan B:
Create a restore point in Vista. Install the latest Vista Codec Pack, accept all default settings.
It's safe to leave your MP settings alone (I recommend using CyberLink PDVD for video playback).
Try playing your HD video in MP.

 

[Lotsofjazz]

I Have now attached the NAS to the NIC of my HTPC and works fine with the HD video's. By bridging the NIC and the WLAN stick it remains in my network and can I reach it using the wireless network, disadvantage now is that if i want to use my laptop to do things with the NAS I need to turn on the HTPC as well. I have now placed the NAS out of sight behind the TV, luckely it is a very quiet one!

I sent a message to AVM about my issue and they replied quickly to say that the 54G++ increases the NETTO speed with about 35 % but would not really show in the monitor. It just shows as 54Mbit/sec but in reality it should be faster.. I think it is some proprietery way of WLAN, they also said it would not work with other adapters then the Fritz series. Appearently this is still not enough to get smooth HD video playback.

Well, I have given up to have the NAS on wireless, maybe next year my ISP will provide the Wireless N capable ADSL modems, we will see.

Lots

 

[Kossu]

I Have now attached the NAS to the NIC of my HTPC and works fine with the HD video's. By bridging the NIC and the WLAN stick it remains in my network and can I reach it using the wireless network, disadvantage now is that if i want to use my laptop to do things with the NAS I need to turn on the HTPC as well. I have now placed the NAS out of sight behind the TV, luckely it is a very quiet one!

I sent a message to AVM about my issue and they replied quickly to say that the 54G++ increases the NETTO speed with about 35 % but would not really show in the monitor. It just shows as 54Mbit/sec but in reality it should be faster.. I think it is some proprietery way of WLAN, they also said it would not work with other adapters then the Fritz series. Appearently this is still not enough to get smooth HD video playback.

Well, I have given up to have the NAS on wireless, maybe next year my ISP will provide the Wireless N capable ADSL modems, we will see.

Lots

Why don't you just buy a Wireless N capable ADSL modem?

 

[Lotsofjazz]

I Have now attached the NAS to the NIC of my HTPC and works fine with the HD video's. By bridging the NIC and the WLAN stick it remains in my network and can I reach it using the wireless network, disadvantage now is that if i want to use my laptop to do things with the NAS I need to turn on the HTPC as well. I have now placed the NAS out of sight behind the TV, luckely it is a very quiet one!

I sent a message to AVM about my issue and they replied quickly to say that the 54G++ increases the NETTO speed with about 35 % but would not really show in the monitor. It just shows as 54Mbit/sec but in reality it should be faster.. I think it is some proprietery way of WLAN, they also said it would not work with other adapters then the Fritz series. Appearently this is still not enough to get smooth HD video playback.

Well, I have given up to have the NAS on wireless, maybe next year my ISP will provide the Wireless N capable ADSL modems, we will see.

Lots

Why don't you just buy a Wireless N capable ADSL modem?

... Because I expect I will get one for free within a year or two.. I have a very generous Internet Service Provider, I never spent a dime on ADSL modems and get a new one from them about every two years, I just have the Fritzbox for a month and bought the Fritz Stick on Ebay for 17 euro's in the hope the 125Mbit/sec would help me stream HD Video wirelessly, but didnt work as I expected.

Since 802.11draft n is spreading like wildfire at the moment I expect wireless ADSL modems with this protocol will become the standard within a year, and then I will get the opportunity to get a new one again.

I could buy a wireless n transmitterset of course, but it works fine right now so why I should.

Lots