MKV files over a wireless network stutter

I bought a WDTV Live Plus but the MKV 720p x264 files stutter over a wireless network. However they will play fine if I plug my external HDD directly on the wdtv. I can’t rollback because my network adapter is not recognized or the network shares bugs. And I still want to use Netflix and Pandora as promise on the box!

WDTV Live PLus HD with the lastest firmware 1.4.18.

Network Adapter: Airlink101 AWLL6075 on the WDTV.

Router: Brand new Motorola Surfboard (802.11n, only 10 feet away from the box)

Computer: iMac 27" 10.6.6 connected directly to the router over ethernet.

Mine is doning something similar. I finally goti t setup to play my files but when I select a 1080p MKV file it will play for a few seconds then start to stutter and have no sound at all. Whats weird is it plays a 720p movie just fine all the way through. I have a wireless N router from Netgear and a wireless N usb for my WDTV live + and it just doesn’t make sense to me… My laptop said its logged in at 150mbps and its in the same room as the WDTV live plus. Heck the WDTV is closer to the router than my laptop so I don’t know why it would be an issue transfering the HD mkv file. Hope they can get a fix for this.

I am also using the latest beta firmware as my usb wifi N stopped working in the 1.04.17B one I believe is what the version was. Whatever the beta one now is I think it’s something 18_B or something. Anwyays anybody have any luck with this? Oh and I’m doing network shares too.

Win 7 x64 ultimate

If possible, connect via media server / DLNA.

I believe PS3 Media Server is a decent free solution (despite the name, it should work with any DLNA compliant media players).  I don’t have any experience with it though.

My NAS runs Twonky media server and it seems to provide a more efficient connection; you should find that the files no longer stutter.

TVersity Media server works for me. (turn off transcoding)

I also bought the power line network adapters. They work great when wireless doesn’t work correctly and hard wire is not an option.

Serviio DLNA media server is a free ■■■■■ proof server for your films, music and pictures and does a good job with my WDTV Live.

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Yeah I mean it’s weird it plays 720p videos just fine on network shares but 1080p movies are a NO GO. I may try the some of these solutions tonight. I just want to do it all wirelessly and not have to do a wired setup.

Many others have had mkv stuttering problems with the last two firmware upgrades. Many of us have had to roll back the firmware to a previous version to get our systems to work the way they used to. For me, version 1.03.49 is the latest firmware without the stuttering problems. You do not need the network or the network adapter to do a firmware downgrade.

You can look here if you want to try rolling back your firmware.

http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=5800

Also, have a look at these threads that describe mkv stuttering problems.

http://community.wdc.com/t5/Firmware/Firmware-BUG-Confirmed-V1-04-10-MKV-files-network-share/td-p/94758

http://community.wdc.com/t5/Networking/can-t-play-anything/m-p/118202#M5855

http://community.wdc.com/t5/General-Discussions/MKV-quot-stutter-quot-and-lag/m-p/118256#M18075

I tried the serviio product and guess what…? It worked like a champ. No more stuttering or anything. I wll be using it from now on :smileyvery-happy:

Furman - I’ve tried them all and this was the best for streaming, very basic but does the job better than all the others I have tried.  I have turned the transcoding to off, turned off the descriptive metadata and have disabled a few of the category’s from under the presentation tab so the WD only shows the ones I want to see.

Have fun.

Mark

Thanks for all this information guys.  I have a question.  I was having the same problem with my player so I installed serviio, it seemed my problem was solved last night, everything was working fine, movies playing without studder.  Then I come home tonight and fire everything up and the problem has returned mysteriously overnight even when using serviio.  Are there any settings I could be missing or something I did wrong to make it change day to day like that?  Thanks for any help. 

Acturbo

Are you connected wireless? if yes I would guess that someone near you have started using the same wireless channels as yourself.