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[AuditGuy]

hi everyone

I have a windows pc in my lounge, a bunch of media files on a nas and an audio renderer connected to an amp. All connections stable and effective via ethernet. i use a controller app on android to select media from a mc26 library and playback on a dedicated renderer. I'm considering moving the pc to live in a less sound sensitive place and connect via wifi. The nas and renderer will remain connected directly to the router by ethernet.

on investigating, i noticed that when playing a file, there are large volumes of network traffic showing in task manager; traffic that dramatically drops when playback is stopped and resumes on playback.  my understanding of dlna was that the controller gave a renderer a network location for media and so i expected no additional traffic 'through' the pc. i have seen the behaviour is not affected by buffering options.

i'm concerned that having this vol of traffic over wifi  will either affect audio quality or network performance for other devices. i do not wish to remove jrmc' which offers features i value. AFAIK jrmc will not install on my WD cloud NAS.  can anyone help me to understand the role played by the jrmc pc in this config? and/or point out any features which might create a setup where files are routed from the nas direct to the renderer but 'published' by jrmc?

system:
windows 10 pc running jr v26 w/
Media Library set up to use original format
media files on NAS. WDMYCLOUD
technics renderer
bubble upnp control point

[Scobie]

Andrew's explanation in this thread outlines the plumbing quite well.

https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,119987.msg829612.html#msg829612

MC as the Control point does stay in the loop, are you transcoding?

Also have a look at DLNA on the Wiki.

[AndrewFG]

You mention that your files are on a NAS. That could mean two things: either the NAS is acting as a File Server, and/or it is acting as a UPNP Media Server.

If it is acting as a File Server then MC is acting as both Control Point and as Media Server. In that case MC will fetch the tracks from the File Server and its Media Server will serve them to the Renderer. So the media is essentially passing over your network twice.

If the NAS is acting as a Media Server then MC is acting as a Control Point only. In that case MC will instruct the Renderer to fetch the tracks from the Media Server. So the media only passes over the network once.

Notwithstanding the higher network traffic, I recommend you to use the NAS only as a File Server. And if it also has a Media Server I recommend you to turn that feature off. The reason is that a) NAS Media Servers are pretty rubbish compared to MC, and b) MC will have much better integration with your library and its meta data.

To prevent network bandwidth issues it is best if all devices Renderer, File/Media Server, and Control Point are connected by Ethernet rather than  WiFi.

[AuditGuy]

thank you chaps, I have a better understanding now. for the record, my setup on the nas has dlna switched off, meaning it serves files; nothing more. MC acts as Server and Controller, and that explains the network traffic.
In fact, or rather reflecting on this further, running an instance of MC and using it purely as a DLNA controller is quite an edge case? the library features of the program, such as smartlists and tags are unused in this set up. and if the program isn't actively involved in passing the file to  the renderer, then the features such as transcoding and dsp cannot be active either, surely?

I'm off to hunt for a silent pc to replace my wheezy i5 HDD spinning desktop.

thanks again all