Just installed a new PC with windows 7. The movies are now choppier then ever. I was hoping that by replacing my 5 year old PC with a more robust one the streaming would get better NOT worse. I have held off on doing the latest update due to the posts that mentioned not to. Now that I have windows 7 should I do this firmware update?? I noticed they claim it works better with windows 7. Any help or advise would be helpful.
Even a very slow PC shouldn’t have streaming issues (assuming disc drive is okay). I/O is going to be the bottleneck on any such system. Are you hardwired into your router on both the PC and the Live? And are you using net shares of media server? (Net shares will be better).
Thanks for the reply. I am hardwired into the PC and steaming about 10 feet to the live. I am using network shares. It plays small files, 4gb and under fine but any bigger ones very choppy and loses sound often. Will the latest firmware update help??? Or will it do more harm then good? If I hardwire the live to the router will it be flawless assuming the files are good? Not sure if I want to do that, or hardwire the HD, or live with the fact that I only can really play smaller files. Unless of coarse there is another solution.
Thanks
You definitely need to at least try a hardwire to your Live to eliminate the wireless as your issue. If it plays fine then you know what the problem is.
My wireless network was fine until I tried to play high bitrate files (this doesn’t necessarily mean large files, although a rule of thumb is the larger the file per hour, the greater the bitrate). Anything above 25mbps would stutter and slow down to a crawl. Then I ran wires (50 feet) across to my router and all was well again. But you first have to isolate the problem (if it is your wireless there may be things you can do to improve that speed as well).
Thanks, I originally had the WDTV wired to the HD and it would play the longest of files perfectly. I had one that was 18 GB for a hour an a half movie that worked with no flaws. Before I do that again, what I can I do to increase the wireless speed? It’s a pain to disconnect it everytime I want to make changes or add something.
If you are running a wireless G network going to an N network is your best bet (but you have to go *completely* N – if you have any G devices at all the network will run at the slowest speed and thus negate any advantage). This will require a new wireless router but they are fairly inexpensive (the D-Link gets good reviews) and, of course, a new wireless adapter card unless you are already using an N card.
For an existing network you can make sure no other net traffic is taking place – no file sharing (even wired), no other devices on the net (I could always stop my streams cold by transferring a TiVO file or playing iTunes). You can look at your signal strength and see if you can boost it with a booster if you aren’t getting 4 stars. I’m sure doing an internet search will reveal other ways to tune up your wireless (I’m really a programmer and not much of a hardware person – my wife’s the network expert :>).
Ultimately you will probably find you are far better off just biting the bullet and wiring up – unless your house is VERY atypical running wires through the attic or basement and then through the walls is actually really simple (it only took me two hours to run three cables 50 feet each in my house and I’m an old man). The results are always better – most new homes are CAT5 wired for good reason. Unless you are always playing very low bitrate files I don’t know why you wouldn’t want to do this.
