Hello… I have a problem with the network connection.
I want to stream HD (720p/1080p) from my computer to WD TV Live. Computer and WD are connected (cable) via a Thomson Speedtouch 585 router. My network adapter supports 10/100/1000 and my router 10/100 (the same as WD).
When I stream movies the speeds are about 1,5MB/s (just 13% of the full speed) and the network graph (from task manager) is like this:
I am able to stream uncompressed bluray m2ts files (34 mbit average 48 mbit max) without problems over a 100 mbit connection. I think the problem might be on the PC’s end. Check the CPU usage while streaming. If you have another PC see how fast you can transfer files between two PCs. If the network is ok between two PC’s (80-90% of 100 mbit) then the problem is with WDTV. If the network is slow try setting the network card settings to default. Normally you shouldn’t force connection speed. It should be set to auto negotiate. Jumbo frames should be disabled. Try with flow control on. If these don’t work problem can be with the router or cables. Hope this helps.
Thank you for your response. I tried to copy an 720p file over network from the pc I stream to my notebook (via the same cable I use to stream to WD) and the speed was stuck 99% of the total bandwidth (around 12MB/s):
So, as I can see my pc adapter, my router and the cable don’t have a problem. What I am supposed to do to confirm that my WDTV has a problem? The 2 years of warranty have passed and as I can remember from the first boot of my WDTV via network I didn’t see speeds larger than 1,5MB/s
Streaming is different than file transfer. When streaming a video file, the WDTV is requesting the video file in small chunks and it buffers the information. When the buffer is emptied, it request the next chunk. So if your video file is 10 GB (1080p mkv) and the movie is 2 hours long you’re going to be “transferring” 10 GB in 2 hours. Which works out to be 1.4 MB/s which is 11.4 Mbit/s (11 % of your connection). So what your seeing is normal. You would never see 99% network utilization during streaming. So what kind of a problem are you experiencing while watching a 1080p mkv? Do you get the buffering icon (the rotating ring)? Do you get freezes, stuttering, jerking every few seconds? Audio sync problems? Which firmware are you using? On a different note how did you get 99% during file transfer? Did you use ftp? Because I thought you can’t get that without ftp transfer due to overhead.
No I ve just used shared folders. The metering program that monitors the lan speed gave me a 12MB/s upload.
As far as the WD is concerned, when I have an 1080p mkv (~16GB) after 15-20 minutes of watching it freezes and I have to wait… So I suppose that the non-continuous upload of 1.5MB/s is normal for streaming… Right?
Well I don’t know what else to suggest. Your network seems fine. If you don’t get the buffering icon and it freezes it can be a firmware issue or the file might be encoded in a way (profile) that causes WDTV to freeze. 16 GB for 1080 is a bit excessive are these special or home encoded videos? I use firmware 1.04.22 and I haven’t seen any recurring freezing problem yet. Did you try pin hole side reset and reset to factory defaults (afterwards you need to enter your settings again)? You may also want to search the forum for mkv video freezes.
No I ve just used shared folders. The metering program that monitors the lan speed gave me a 12MB/s upload.
As far as the WD is concerned, when I have an 1080p mkv (~16GB) after 15-20 minutes of watching it freezes and I have to wait… So I suppose that the non-continuous upload of 1.5MB/s is normal for streaming… Right?
What you’re seeing is NOT normal. I rip all my movies uncompressed main movie to a MKV container. The BD rips with DTS audio, 1080P MKVs are running on average 30+Mb/s (or about 4-5 MB/s). I always select the media server w/in WDTV, and don’t bother with shared as my NAS is a DLNA compliant server - which most thing including PCs are.
I have watched full BD rips over and over again and never seen any hiccups, buffering or anything of the kind - rock solid. My network is wired Gb ethernet.
You might want to look into how you’re ripping your movies, your server and/or other network issues.
contagious I have the latest fw on WD but I see no light at the end of the tunnel. :s
tjkaz the file(s) which freeze(s) is(are) OK and checked. If I had a continuous 4-5MB/s it wouldn’t be a problem with almost any type and size of a video file.
I think I should make a crossover link directly from my pc to WD to check if the problem persists.
Did you try playing the files directly from a usb drive attached to WDTV to see if they freeze after 20 min? Unfortunately I can’t see the screen caps you posted it says domain not registered. I assume it fluctuates a lot. Is the update speed in task manager set to high? That would make the graph appear less steady.
