TV Live Plus over Wireless

Just got a TV Live Plus mainly so I can watch HD movies off a computer in my basement on a TV on the 1st floor of my house.  Got it hooked up to my TV via HDMI, had a couple firmware updates when I started it up so I did those, then I started testing files and stuff.  I had read that it takes a couple days to tinker with settings and whatnot to get it working just right but to be honest there aren’t really all that many settings on the device to tinker with.

So, I have it running with a wireless adapter (ASUS USB-N13) off a wireless router provided by my ISP (AT&T U-Verse).  The computer I have it pulling files from is connected to a D-Link switch which is plugged into the router.  I can get into all of the files fine, it plays smaller, non-HD .avi files just fine, plays the music off the computer just fine, etc., etc.  Even when I start up an HD movie (x264 1080p .mkv files - average around 10GB a pop) it looks beautiful and plays perfectly.  After about 60-90 seconds, every single time, the video starts stuttering and the audio cuts out completely.

Is this strictly a networking issue where the files are just too large to be streamed reliably over the wireless network or is it something else?  I was pretty set on trying hardwiring after I read a bit of the forums here but I activated my Netflix account on the device as I was reading on here then went and sat down to try some Netflix stuff.  I had one movie where I guess Netflix determined my connection was too slow (goes back to maybe the wireless connection?) and played the non-HD version but I tried an episode of Lost in HD from Netflix and it played in HD and played perfectly.

Any help is appreciated, I don’t have too much of an issue with hardwiring but I don’t want to do it if I definitely don’t have to if someone else here has run into similar problems and knows the fix.  Thanks again for any help.

It’s not the SIZE of a file, it’s the bit rate required to stream it that is important. Crowded G wifi nets are often not up to the task of high bit rate files.

There wasn’t a single other wireless device in use when I was trying to get everything working.  I have a laptop that I rarely use that uses the wireless but it was off and my phone uses the wireless but I had WiFi disabled on it.

You still think it’s most likely just the high bitrate trying to go steady over the wireless?  The bitrate of one of the files I was trying was ~12mbps.  Another was ~15mbps.  I wouldn’t think that’s too crazy for wireless networks that are supposed to max out at 54mbps but I guess you can’t be too sure what that signal is running into over the 30 or so feet between the router and the adapter.

Just looking up some Netflix stuff and it looks like their HD streaming video runs no higher than 4mbps.  So I guess that could explain why the Netflix HD stuff ran fine while the stuff from my network share at 3x or more the bitrate didn’t.

bicranium wrote:

There wasn’t a single other wireless device in use when I was trying to get everything working.  I have a laptop that I rarely use that uses the wireless but it was off and my phone uses the wireless but I had WiFi disabled on it.

 

 

So you don’t have neighbours with WIFI?

I have 1 wireless network that isn’t mine that my phone has picked up once but it doesn’t come up regularly.  When I was setting up the TV Live Plus the only network that came up was my own.

Also, tested out some 720p .mkv files that I had.  They run at 5.5mbps as opposed to the 12-15mbps that the 1080p files were running at.  There was some stutterering at the beginning but it eventually smoothed out and played just fine.  So I guess the signal just isn’t good enough.

I’ve had the same problem with dedicated N, but my travel distance is considerably greater and through two walls and two floors.  I am posting a separate question concerning adding another cable modem to my network just to service the WDTVLIVEPLUS.  I do have interference problems from at least two other pretty strong wifi’s in the neighborhood.