Wifi-N Bridge for Home Theater and Video Streaming
- Thread starter haisaikat
- Start date
Yes that was the next experiment, upto 12-13GB movies streamed fine. However beyond that for 20+GB files the playback started to stutter. One improvement was that for the 35GB 2012 I had and the 45GB avatar the ASUS OPlay used to get stuck completely earlier but at least that was not proceeding and at times frames were getting stuck after that 3 seconds it played fine and went on like this.
Another thing I noticed and was reading mistakenly (my bad knowledge) was the speed in KBps that was being displayed by OPlay before opening a file. When reading a 35GB file of 90 mins duration I was guessing that speed should be 25GB divided by 90x60 seconds which is around 7 Mbps, however the same file was getting stuck when the speed shown by OPlay was 10Mbps+.
Then I realized that read speed of a video file (oPlay was displaying) is different than bitrate of the video which probably even if the OPlay was reading well was failing to either decode and play at the same time. Surprisingly though the same 35 GB file is played very well by the same OPlay when connected via USB, probably it reads ahead and buffers.
I found my PS3 to be doing better in this regard although it stuttered but at bigger intervals than the OPlay. Although I am not sure how much of this is due to processing power of the the player so my next pending experiment is to connect a laptop (Core i3, 2GB RAM) via wore to the same bridge and open the same file using VLC and see if there is any improvement, will try this by this weekend since that is my wife's laptop and she is away in this week.
Another positive thing I learnt is that the PS3 can at read 4+ GB files if the files are streamed by a network UPnP service, earlier although this sciope was there I never tried since PS3 with its built in Wifi-G connection many a time used to stutter on 2+GB files.
I will also try out a plain file copy test this weekend and inform what read speed I am getting.
However frankly I was not at all hoping to stream those 35+GB files using this bridge. My main intent was to increase the internet throuput of PS3, internet capability to Viera TV (youtube streaming is flawless) and of course improving the link speed of my OPlay and all this by bypassing the normal 2.4 GHz band and utilizing the 5GHz band. In will continue using the USB drive for big file sizes.
Awesome, thanks for the detailed test. So streaming my blu ray rip from NAS to my PCH via wireless N is just going to be a pipe dream for me 
My G router is able to start the streaming for the blu rip and i was really surprised that it was even able to stream a single frame but it just hangs after that. But did streamed numerous 720p movies up to 6 GB without any issues whatsoever. So finally all but given up, instead planning to invest on a USB 1 TB HDD for my PCH...
My G router is able to start the streaming for the blu rip and i was really surprised that it was even able to stream a single frame but it just hangs after that. But did streamed numerous 720p movies up to 6 GB without any issues whatsoever. So finally all but given up, instead planning to invest on a USB 1 TB HDD for my PCH...Awesome, thanks for the detailed test. So streaming my blu ray rip from NAS to my PCH via wireless N is just going to be a pipe dream for me
manny hold on before you make your final decision, I have a couple of more tests to perform and I hope at the end we will have a more solid conclusion.
Even single stream 11n rates are more than enough for blu ray streaming. Maybe a better antenna would help.
-Ajay
-Ajay
Here is the next set of tests
1, Connected the NAS directly with the Dlink bridge and tried to playback the 45GB Avatar.m2ts over wired connection on Asus OPlay and PS3. O Play this time did better than PS3, Both played the file with little or almost no stutter (more in PS3) probably because everything was on wires. OPlay was showing read speeds averaging 30 Mbps.
2. Now disconnected the wire from OPlay and connected to one of my toshiba laptops having 100 mbps ethernet (file copy speed was around 12.5 mbps standard) and tried to play the same mile. Windows Media Player played perfectly but vlc player totally mssed up.
3. Shifted the NAS back to the parent Cisco router and ran the same tests once aagain. OPlay was getting stuck but less frequently however PS3 did even worse. Another observation was that laptop connected in wired manner with bridge got stuick while playback pof media player itself.
So to draw inference, it seems that network speed is not the only cause of failure, rather individual processiong power and buffering everthing is comming into consideration..
Next round of test, check with cat6 and gigabit laptop port
1, Connected the NAS directly with the Dlink bridge and tried to playback the 45GB Avatar.m2ts over wired connection on Asus OPlay and PS3. O Play this time did better than PS3, Both played the file with little or almost no stutter (more in PS3) probably because everything was on wires. OPlay was showing read speeds averaging 30 Mbps.
2. Now disconnected the wire from OPlay and connected to one of my toshiba laptops having 100 mbps ethernet (file copy speed was around 12.5 mbps standard) and tried to play the same mile. Windows Media Player played perfectly but vlc player totally mssed up.
3. Shifted the NAS back to the parent Cisco router and ran the same tests once aagain. OPlay was getting stuck but less frequently however PS3 did even worse. Another observation was that laptop connected in wired manner with bridge got stuick while playback pof media player itself.
So to draw inference, it seems that network speed is not the only cause of failure, rather individual processiong power and buffering everthing is comming into consideration..
Next round of test, check with cat6 and gigabit laptop port
I order iBal cat6 cables from ebay and it arrived yesterday. Earlier my DNS323 NAS was connected to the Linksys WRT610N Router via a cat6 cable and also the laptop was also connected to the 5GHz Dlink bridge via another cat5 cable. I replaced both the cables with cat6 and ran some data transfer tests. Instead of trying to play the viseo I did normal file copy tests. Here are the test results
The file in question is the same 45GB m2ts file of Avatar movie (2D) kept in my NAS connected to Router directly. Please note that the speed slightly increases with smaller file sizes but since the intention of this test is to check full hd streaming so I do not want to post those results
1. Laptop connecting over 2.4 GHz wifi N at the same place as bridge --> 2.4 to 3 mbps
2. Laptop connected to bridge via cat5 cable to bridge --> 5.8 to 6.2 mbps
3. Laptop connected to bridge via cat6 cable to bridge --> 7.1 to 7.5 mbps
4. Laptop connected to router via cat5 cable --> 14 mbps
5. Laptop connected to router via cat6 cable --> 15 mbps
6. Laptop connected to NAS directly via cat5 cable --> 16 mbps
7. Laptop connected to NAS directly via cat6 cable --> 17 mbps
8. Laptop connected to wifi N 2.4 GHz network just beside the router --> 3.7 mbps
Needless to say that the streaming playback of this file worked well only in 4,5,6,7 only but the desired scenarios (1,2,3) did not happen properly since as per the file size at least 8 to 9 mbps file read throughput would have been required which this architecture falls short of.
A couple of other observations the channel width of the 5GHz band was set at 40 but changing the setting to Auto (20 or 40) improved the throughput (above readings are based on that). Setting jumbo frame options (different sizes) in NAS degraded the performance. Tweaking the Fragmentation Threshold, BEacon interval, etc parameters in the router degarded the throighpur hence kept them at default values.
I am bit of concerned on the raw throughput of file read directly from the NAS which has SATA 1TB 7200rpm seagate drives. I need to check the same from my USB 1TB drive, that will be next set of tests.
The file in question is the same 45GB m2ts file of Avatar movie (2D) kept in my NAS connected to Router directly. Please note that the speed slightly increases with smaller file sizes but since the intention of this test is to check full hd streaming so I do not want to post those results
1. Laptop connecting over 2.4 GHz wifi N at the same place as bridge --> 2.4 to 3 mbps
2. Laptop connected to bridge via cat5 cable to bridge --> 5.8 to 6.2 mbps
3. Laptop connected to bridge via cat6 cable to bridge --> 7.1 to 7.5 mbps
4. Laptop connected to router via cat5 cable --> 14 mbps
5. Laptop connected to router via cat6 cable --> 15 mbps
6. Laptop connected to NAS directly via cat5 cable --> 16 mbps
7. Laptop connected to NAS directly via cat6 cable --> 17 mbps
8. Laptop connected to wifi N 2.4 GHz network just beside the router --> 3.7 mbps
Needless to say that the streaming playback of this file worked well only in 4,5,6,7 only but the desired scenarios (1,2,3) did not happen properly since as per the file size at least 8 to 9 mbps file read throughput would have been required which this architecture falls short of.
A couple of other observations the channel width of the 5GHz band was set at 40 but changing the setting to Auto (20 or 40) improved the throughput (above readings are based on that). Setting jumbo frame options (different sizes) in NAS degraded the performance. Tweaking the Fragmentation Threshold, BEacon interval, etc parameters in the router degarded the throighpur hence kept them at default values.
I am bit of concerned on the raw throughput of file read directly from the NAS which has SATA 1TB 7200rpm seagate drives. I need to check the same from my USB 1TB drive, that will be next set of tests.
Lately though I have realized one important thing after I flashed my WRT610N with DD-WRT firmware. The DAP1522 Bridge is a 150mbps single stream wifin N bridge but my linksys 610N supports 2x150mbps or 300mbps in the 40MHz band over 2.4 / 5 GHz. So somewhat my DAP1522 is a bottleneck around here. Now I am looking to import a refurbished E2000 within less than 3K INR and see if I get better throughput over 300mbps connection. Btw after flasing my WRT610N with DD-WRT I have been able to make it transmit two 2.4GHZ signals as compared to one dedicated 5GHz in stock firmware thereby getting better effective range
Saikat nice try but I have more or less given up the dream of wireless 1080p streaming. I have an Airtel Broadband Wif G Router and also a Dlink DIR 655 router.
Here is my plan :-
My Airtel wifi g router will serve all my cellphones, laptops , desktops etc. I will then be using a powerline adapter to connect my dir 655 to my airtel g router only for Internet. The Dir 655 will work on N Only 2.4GHZ-40HZ mode which will serve my Smart TV and if possible a NAS (connected to my DIR 655 using Ethernet 1GBPS cable) . Do you think this setup will work for 1080p streaming ( File Sizes varying from 2 to 16GB including 3D) ?
I don't have a NAS currently and I am using a Laptop connected to my DIR 655 with 1GBPS cable for all my speed tests ! I will buy a NAS only and only if the streaming tests work ! Otherwise I will invest the same money in a media player like HIMedia/Prodigy and connect it via hdmi to my TV's.
gcpraveen
Active Member
sorry for the off topic, I have beetel and dlink wireless router, how will you connect a wireless router to another wireless router in wireless mode?
I mean dlink wireless to beetel wireless in wireless mode? do you have that option? if so I can extend my connectivity to 2 other rooms, currently it is available only in living room.
I mean dlink wireless to beetel wireless in wireless mode? do you have that option? if so I can extend my connectivity to 2 other rooms, currently it is available only in living room.
If I understand your intended setup correctly then it is like below
Main Setup: [Internet] ? connected via PSTN Line ? [Airtel G Router] ? connected via Powerline adapters ? [DIR 655]
Now there are two plans from your side
A. [DIR 655] ? Ethernet 1Gbps cable ? [Laptop (or NAS in future)]
B. [DIR 655] ? Wifi N ? [Smart TV via wifi Adapter]
C. [DIR 655] ? 1 Gbps Ethernet wire ? [Media Player] ? via HDMI ? [Smart TV]
In this case a couple of points you must check before proceeding or spending any money
1. You Main Setup is okay, however if powerline adapters are costly you may think of cat6 cabling connection.
2. If the length of the Gbps wire is more than 10-20 feet better ensure that it is good quality cat 6 cable since recently I bought 50 m cat6 roll from ebay but that failed to work at gbps beyond 10 feet length. Better purchase from any local network shop and ask them to ensure gbps speed at your desired distance. This problem is however not there on factory crimped cat6 patch cables of lower length. Gbps speed is MUST for 10 15 GB + files.
3. Setup A is OK but it is limited to the disk transfer speed of your HDD (be it internal or USB). And most of the ready-made NAS solutions available in market gives you at max 20mbps real transfer speed but if you setup one for your own (see sam9s guide of NAS on this forum) he got upto 75 mbps. Although 20mbps is more than enough for a single HD streaming but not suitable if multiple HD content streaming is required (like one on your bedroom TV / laptop and another on your smart TV)
4. For Setup B have you already purchased the adapter, if not check whether they support 40 MHz 300mbps connection which not all N rated adapters do. These are mostly meant for bringing internet connectivity to your TV and semi HD content viewing online if available bandwidth is there. Otherwise even if your router is ready for 300 your adapter will still connect at max 150mbps.
Moreover 40MHz 300 mbps is possible only is a very ideal situation where the router and receiver are closely placed (drops over distance) and there are no other 2.4 GHz signal in the neighboring places to interfere. I have recently upgraded my router with high gain antennas (see another thread on this forum) but that is for extended range coverage only with max 5 mbps real file transfer speed. For streaming between rooms of HD content I have resorted to dedicated LAN cabling at Gigabit speeds between NAS/Router and HTPC.
5. Setup C is more promising (if your laptop has no HDMI out) since your TV usually do not have gigabit lan ports. However you must ensure that your Media Player support Gigabit Lan ports.
Hi saikat any cat cable will do as I will be using it only for internet cinnectivity. My smart tv has inbuilt wifi . Ethernet is not feasible as equipment are in diff rooms. The most robust solution is definitely cat6 but not achievable sigh...
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Yes but in close proximity. 5GHz band weakens rapidly over distance taking down the effective bandwidth. In the 2,4 GHz band, unless you place source and destination close you may not get the necessary minimum throughput for sustaining FHD BD Rips. Remember that this much advertised 300 / 450 mbps 2T2R or 3T-3R tech many a time drops to single T-R or 150 mbps over distance.
However since the topology of every house is different, I would suggest you to try measuring a file copy throughput (speed in MB/s) by keeping the transmitter and receiver (2 router - extenders) in the desired location. At least 9 to 10 MB/s is required for 20GB+ Rips.
By the way, this is assuming that your range extender also works as wireless bridge mode (where it will not work in extending the range of primary router by reducing the throughput but in acting as a wireless client to your primary router to which you will wire your playback devices.
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Check if your extender supports bridge mode. If yes, then try your luck by placing it in 3rd room to test network throughput. Otherwise power line is good and as others have pointed out this works for them well hence you know that it is tried and tested. However if possible I would ask you to go for cabling (cat6) between rooms even if it means routing it via outside the windows (if required).
I suggest the following reading to know in details.
HowStuffWorks "Pros and Cons of Power-line Networking"
For 1080P movies any extender would not be of much help. However a pair of good quality powerline adapter would cost you from 4k to 6k. Still try to wire it through a cat6 cable as haisaikat has mentioned. It is cheaper and you get the same result as a powerline adapter. I would have done it myself but did not have an option and had to go for powerline adapter as the distance to cover was very long. Powerline adapters definitely works 100%
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