This weird workaround is worth the read!..
I’ve had a bandwidth problem from my HP laptop (Vista Ultimate 64) wired through a d-link 655 router to my WDTV Live Plus. Playback runs for less than a minute, then chokes off. However, playing video from my Dell (XP-home) also wired thru the d-link is healthy. All file transfers initiated by either the HP or the Dell to a USB drive attached to the WDTV run smooth and fast. However, copying a file from the HP to the attached USB drive, initiated from WDTV using its file management section, exhibits the same halted throughput as playing video through the WDTV. Copying initiated by the WDTV of files on the Dell run smooth though.
Here’s the weird… because I had exhausted every other possible source of the issue (turn router gig off, duplex, cables, buffer sizes, unique IP addresses, subnet, group name, firewalls, QOS, WDTV reset, firmware, myriad settings of the 655 and laptop NIC), I wanted to take a look at weather opening a healthy cpu-initiated file transfer would affect throughput of a WDTV-initiated HP-sourced video stream. JOY JOY JOY. Whenever a cpu-initiated file transfer to the WDTV’s USB drive is taking place, streaming video to the WDTV from files on the HP is HEALTHY! In fact, even a Dell-initiated file transfer to WDTV fixes the bandwidth choke.
It looks to me like the router is stopping the WDTV from opening up wide portal to the HP to stream video for some reason. But when either networked cpu initiates a path to the WDTV, it allows the video stream to sneak through.
Can anybody point me to a permanent fix? Is setting up port forwarding what I need?
