Media players that buffer network properly

[OVerLoRDI]

I'm having a nasty time finding a media player that will buffer network streams properly.

My laptop has a wireless N adapter and I'm attempting to stream 720p mkvs over the network. I can copy a 1 hour file in about 5-6 minutes, but when it comes to streaming it is a mess. So by that logic, bandwidth shouldn't be an issue, I get 3 MB/s over my wireless.

I have tried VLC player, and adjusted the buffer lengths and I still get massive pauses and hiccups. With MPC it seems like you can't increase the buffer length (I could be wrong).

Attached is my network usage during streaming. 25% or less the whole time...

 

[smitbret]

I'm having a nasty time finding a media player that will buffer network streams properly.

My laptop has a wireless N adapter and I'm attempting to stream 720p mkvs over the network. I can copy a 1 hour file in about 5-6 minutes, but when it comes to streaming it is a mess. So by that logic, bandwidth shouldn't be an issue, I get 3 MB/s over my wireless.

I have tried VLC player, and adjusted the buffer lengths and I still get massive pauses and hiccups. With MPC it seems like you can't increase the buffer length (I could be wrong).

Attached is my network usage during streaming. 25% or less the whole time...

3MB/s? Are you sure? I can't open your image, it's blocked my my company software but with my Wireless N setup I have never recorded anything more than 110mb/s while streaming video. That's with excellent signal strength and even in the same room. Most people have trouble streaming HD media over a wireless connection and very few get it to work reliably.

A little more information about the specific files would be helpful here. A "1 hour" file is not useful information. Size, bitrate, codec, container, etc.

 

[Crusty]

3MB/s? Are you sure? I can't open your image, it's blocked my my company software but with my Wireless N setup I have never recorded anything more than 110mb/s while streaming video. That's with excellent signal strength and even in the same room. Most people have trouble streaming HD media over a wireless connection and very few get it to work reliably.

A little more information about the specific files would be helpful here. A "1 hour" file is not useful information. Size, bitrate, codec, container, etc.

110mb/s > 3 MB/s

3MB/s is only 24mb/s.

bits vs Bytes

 

[OVerLoRDI]

3MB/s? Are you sure? I can't open your image, it's blocked my my company software but with my Wireless N setup I have never recorded anything more than 110mb/s while streaming video. That's with excellent signal strength and even in the same room. Most people have trouble streaming HD media over a wireless connection and very few get it to work reliably.

A little more information about the specific files would be helpful here. A "1 hour" file is not useful information. Size, bitrate, codec, container, etc.

File sizes are typically 1-1.5 GB, 720p h.264 in mkvs.

3 Megabytes/second is the throughput I'm getting on my wireless.

 

[smitbret]

Whoops. My bad. I was confusing my bits v bytes with KB v MB.

Unfortunately, while the math you did is solid, it just doesn't work out that cleanly. The problem you're going to have is the available bandwidth. Blu-ray standards allow for a peak of 45mbps which is about double what you are getting with 3MB/s. So, you need to be absolutely below 25mbps, and that is hard to do with any HD source of any quality.

A little more information about a file or two would be helpful, including codec and bitrate (run it through MediInfo).

I can't think of any media playing software out there that buffers the way you are asking. It seems like it should be something simple to buffer it into a HDD or a few GB of RAM but I have just never seen it implemented like that. I have used Media Player, VLC, The KM Player pretty regularly over the years and they just try to read from the source as needed.

How far away is your router from the source and destination. I would think that any decent Wireless N connection would give you 50-100% better than that. My wireless N would consistently give 60-70mbps and could handle peaks over 90mbps.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

MediaInfo says:

2867 Kbps. AVC (High@L4.1) (CABAC / 8 Ref Frames)

So average of about 350 kbyte/s, which my network shouldn't have an issue with.

 

[ImpulsE69]

It sounds like you've got other issues. Get a wireless sniffer (inSSIDer) and see if someone is stepping on your signal. Or maybe it's something to do with your laptops wireless --- or someone using your bandwidth?

How far is your router from where you are doing it? Does it work fine if you connect to it with a cable? It could simply be your router sucks or needs a firmware update.

There are lots of reasons it could be happening, but I doubt it has to do with your player. The speed you are going at should work just fine --- and even the sizes you are doing should work flawlessly without N speeds. (Granted N is much more finicky than normal..so there's also that (things interfereing with the signal).

 

[OVerLoRDI]

It sounds like you've got other issues. Get a wireless sniffer (inSSIDer) and see if someone is stepping on your signal. Or maybe it's something to do with your laptops wireless --- or someone using your bandwidth?

How far is your router from where you are doing it? Does it work fine if you connect to it with a cable? It could simply be your router sucks or needs a firmware update.

There are lots of reasons it could be happening, but I doubt it has to do with your player. The speed you are going at should work just fine --- and even the sizes you are doing should work flawlessly without N speeds. (Granted N is much more finicky than normal..so there's also that (things interfereing with the signal).

I'll give inSSIDer a try.

This is what I've got:

What else should I look for? My network is OrangeZebra on channel 1