DESPERATELY need help with LAN streaming

[zabrak999]

Hey there!

I'm streaming video PC to PC (vid is on windows 7 PC, watching it via streaming over wifi on a Windows 8 laptop)


yet, it seems like every min. or less it'll lag for a sec...


...Anybody know what's going on here? Help would be FANTASTICALLY appreciated,

Thanks!

 

[IndyColtsFan]

There are a lot of factors which can affect video streaming. As a first step, you should plug both PCs into the same network switch and see if you see the same lag when you play the video. If you do see the lag, it is likely an issue with one of the PCs (I'd start by putting performance counters on the Windows 7 PC if that's the case). If you do not see the lag, it is probably an issue with the wireless network.

What kind of wireless network and router do you have and can you give any information about the video such as bit rate, etc?

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I'd also wonder what kind of streaming tech you're using - just opening the file from a network share, or are you using an actual streaming setup like XMBC or Plex?

 

[evident]

streaming over wifi is tricky, especially if you're trying to stream anything over 720P. if there's a way for you to cache or copy the video over beforehand it could help.

i have no idea if this is even possible. when this happened to me i gave up completely on wifi and figured out a way to have my HTPC hooked up via moca and lan cable to the rest of my network.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

streaming over wifi is tricky, especially if you're trying to stream anything over 720P. if there's a way for you to cache or copy the video over beforehand it could help.

i have no idea if this is even possible. when this happened to me i gave up completely on wifi and figured out a way to have my HTPC hooked up via moca and lan cable to the rest of my network.

I'm able to stream from my Plex server (upstairs) to my entertainment center (downstairs) via a wireless bridge with no issues. We don't know enough about the OP's situation but I would guess that the wireless network is the issue and he isn't getting a good, strong signal either because of interference or he is too far away.

 

[smitbret]

streaming over wifi is tricky, especially if you're trying to stream anything over 720P. if there's a way for you to cache or copy the video over beforehand it could help.

i have no idea if this is even possible. when this happened to me i gave up completely on wifi and figured out a way to have my HTPC hooked up via moca and lan cable to the rest of my network.

This is generally the result in all but the best wireless networks.

 

[azazel1024]

Dunno, I have no issues streaming on my wifi network.

In my old townhouse I had issues streaming fairly high bit rate 720p because I was being crushed by my neighbors wifi networks. However, it was fine up through about 4Mbps, higher and I'd have some issues. I could get faster wifi speeds than that, but streaming didn't work so well.

In my current house with no nearby neighbors I can easily stream 3 medium bit rate (around 12Mbps) 1080p streams over wifi without any stuttering or issues, no probs. I also get around 20MB/sec of throughput on my wifi network on just 2.4GHz 40Mhz 2:2 router, so no suprises that I can stream that fine.

To the OP, for windows, are you using the built in DLNA streaming service? If so DO NOT USE IT, IT SUCKS! I have had so many issues back in the day. Reverting to just streaming through SMB/CIFS worked just dandy, but the built in DLNA server would stumble all over itself trying a couple of different clients. I never figured out what was wrong with it and just gave up. I didn't need DLNA anyway with what I was using, but it was the "better" choice for a number of reasons at the time.