Questions before buying..

[popeeta]

Currently, my router (cisco e4200 with attached usb storage) is set up in the living room and hardwired to my bluray player (lg bd570). What I'm doing is loading the content to the PC in my bedroom, which is wirelessly connected to the network, then transferring the file to the router attached USB storage and playing from that location via the bluray player. While this works a lot better than trying to stream HD quality over a wireless network, I still have fairly consistent drops on some movies. I thought the capabilities of the popcorn hour player might solve this problem. If you have any input it would be greatly appreciated.

[excal]

If you're connected via wire the popcornhour will be great. But if you wanna go wireless my personal opinion is that HD video and wireless don't mix very well on any device period. Some may feel different, but I'm just a bit biased...i try not to use wireless networking on anything I don't have to.

But if its all connected directly or wired, ya you should be good to go. That's where the popcornhour really excels.

[popeeta]

all files are h.264, 1280xh, or .mp4

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(02-09-2011 06:55 PM)excal Wrote:  If you're connected via wire the popcornhour will be great. But if you wanna go wireless my personal opinion is that HD video and wireless don't mix very well on any device period. Some may feel different, but I'm just a bit biased...i try not to use wireless networking on anything I don't have to.

But if its all connected directly or wired, ya you should be good to go. That's where the popcornhour really excels.

The popcorn hour will be hardwired to router and connected to receiver via hdmi

[jkasanic]

It's difficult to say if this setup will work better with a PCH. Is your problem streaming wireless or just how the dvd player is reading content from the USB attached to the router? I currently have an e4200 (nice router if only it would stop blinking!) but I haven't tried the USB storage device option. My PCH C-200 is hard wired between a 10/100 switch (needed this for reliable streaming, see posts on gigabit networks), the e4200 and a gigabit switch attached to my UnRAID server.If you are transferring the files wirelessly BEFORE streaming then I would say a PCH would be better in this case and you could just attach the USB device directly to the PCH and streaming would be perfect. However, if your problem is streaming wirelessly then it's very difficult to say if the PCH will improve the quality of your HD content. FWIW, I've found there are many factors influencing the quality of wireless streaming (e.g. streamer, firmware of streamer, container of HD content, network etc.) and you basically have to troubleshoot which one is affecting you most.

[popeeta]

(02-09-2011 07:01 PM)jkasanic Wrote:  It's difficult to say if this setup will work better with a PCH. Is your problem streaming wireless or just how the dvd player is reading content from the USB attached to the router? I currently have an e4200 (nice router if only it would stop blinking!) but I haven't tried the USB storage device option. My PCH C-200 is hard wired between a 10/100 switch (needed this for reliable streaming, see posts on gigabit networks), the e4200 and a gigabit switch attached to my UnRAID server.If you are transferring the files wirelessly BEFORE streaming then I would say a PCH would be better in this case and you could just attach the USB device directly to the PCH and streaming would be perfect. However, if your problem is streaming wirelessly then it's very difficult to say if the PCH will improve the quality of your HD content. FWIW, I've found there are many factors influencing the quality of wireless streaming (e.g. streamer, firmware of streamer, container of HD content, network etc.) and you basically have to troubleshoot which one is affecting you most.

Yeah I had decided to stay away from trying to stream wirelessly completely, and would not be doing that. I have been transferring the files wirelessly before streaming. I think the problem is just the DVD player trying to read and process the files from the attached USB drive on the router.

So youre saying that hardwiring the PCH through a switch will be better than having it directly hardwired to my router?

[BanditRider]

You can just plug the USB drive directly into the PCH. And still have access to it over the network from your PC. Hell, the Bluray player could access it too.

[popeeta]

(02-09-2011 09:00 PM)BanditRider Wrote:  You can just plug the USB drive directly into the PCH. And still have access to it over the network from your PC. Hell, the Bluray player could access it too.

The Bluray player is accessing it now, thats what I am viewing with. But its having multiple issues, such as dropping the connection on some higher quality movies, and lag.

[jkasanic]

(02-09-2011 08:43 PM)popeeta Wrote:  So youre saying that hardwiring the PCH through a switch will be better than having it directly hardwired to my router?

Several people have reported issues with trying to stream with their 200 series model over a gigabit network. I had to introduce a 10/100 switch between my router and a C-200 to fix my issue. However, some people report they are able to stream fine over gigabit but I think they are in the minority.

[chris57]

If you use a Gigabit switch as opposed to a routyer with Gigabit ports you will have a better chance of using Gigabit successfully. Taking the load off the router helps.

Remember also that Gigabit is not needed for streaming anything. BluRay 1:1 backups only max at 60Mb/s. Also Gigabit is the Link Speed not the speed that you will see for actual Data Transfers. That depends on not only the Link Speed but also the devices cpu power and other variables in your network.

[popeeta]

(02-11-2011 01:20 AM)chris57 Wrote:  If you use a Gigabit switch as opposed to a routyer with Gigabit ports you will have a better chance of using Gigabit successfully. Taking the load off the router helps.

Remember also that Gigabit is not needed for streaming anything. BluRay 1:1 backups only max at 60Mb/s. Also Gigabit is the Link Speed not the speed that you will see for actual Data Transfers. That depends on not only the Link Speed but also the devices cpu power and other variables in your network.

I understand the gigabit info, thanks for the explanation.

So the problem I am currently having is most likely caused by the bluray player not being able to process the movie at an adequate speed? And the PCH will most likely be a better solution?

[chris57]

You have wireless in your link, that would be the number one reason why anything with decent bitrates has problems I would have thought.
Using NFS as opposed to SMB does help but wireless anywhere in the link will cause problems potentially.

[jkasanic]

Chris, he said he was only using wireless to transfer the files to the USB device (attached to the BluRay player) before streaming; therefore, I don't think he should encounter any of the issues related to streaming wirelessly unless of course the transfer of the file is somehow corrupted.

@popeeta: IMHO, the PCH will be a better soltution for streaming high bitrate files than your current BluRay player.