Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Glen]

Ok, here goes. I have two computers both p3, both running xp pro. Server is 1.2 g and client is 700 m speed.
I am running a wireless network that was p2p and there was no noticeable buffering happening. I have since added an ethernet connection to a wireless router on the server and now the system is running infrastructure mode. Client is still wireless. The client is now showing buffering of 3-5 sec for every song that it plays. Any tweaks that I can do to get around this hump? Things that I should know but maybe forgot? Ideas??
Thanks, Glen

[John Gateley]

Hi Glen,

I don't have a clear picture of what your network looks like, but: if you are fairly sure that the problem is caused by adding the "ethernet connection to a wireless router on the server", then look for things like firewalls on the wireless router (complex rule sets would slow down the initial part of the connection), or misconfiguration on the server (maybe doing reverse DNS lookups or something and having them fail before starting the connection).

j

[Glen]

John, let me try to shed a little light on my confusion. P3 1.2 g win xp connected to usb 10/100 adapter connected to linksys wireless access point router. Media files are on this machine in ape format. P3 700m win xp connected to wireless adapter via usb port. p3 1.2 is server and p3 700 is client. Server has lots of resources and hd space. Client has 256 mg ram but only 200 mg hd left. It is only for music via network, so no other apps.
Running MJ on server and the response is instant, even with other apps going at the time. Running MJ on the client and the response is the same. However, when I connect to server from client, there is a long delay (10 sec) and then connection takes place. Playing any files causes about 3-5 sec buffering to take place and the music is fine. If I have a que of songs in playing now, then there is the initial buffering and then for each song there is new buffering. Before I had the router installed, I was using just two wireless interface cards talking to each other (p2p) and there was no buffering happening. (at least not measureable)
There is no broadband connection to the router as it is being used only as an access point, and there are currently only the two machines making up my network.
Does this give any more info??
Hope so.
Thanks, Glen

[John Gateley]

It helps, but I'm not sure how much more I have to add.

Try a different type of connection between the client and server, is there a pause? (FTP jumps to mind).

It might be worth the effort to go back to the old configuration and  verify that the new router is the problem. If  so, It's probably not MJ, but something in your network that is messed up.

I didn't know that two client cards could be used to do a network! Pretty cool.

j

[RemyJ]

If you're connecting to the server using a host name, try using the server's ip address directly.  

What kind of response do you get when you ping the server?

Is the usb wireless adapter the same one that was working before in ad-hoc mode?

Try swapping ethernet cables and ports on the Linksys.

Is file sharing working OK?   Via NetBIOS or TCP/IP?  If NetBIOS what happens if you change it to TCP/IP?

Are you using WEP on the wireless link?

[Glen]

Remy, here's what I remember from last night, as I'm at the office now.

Connection is via ip address direct thru the router 192.168.1.100:80

Ping sounds familiar but I couldn't tell you how to do said function. Maybe you could enlighten me??

Yes it is.

I will try a port swap tonight.

I sent a few files across from server to client and the response seemed nearly instant. All of the settings that I have looked at appear to be Tcp/ip. Not sure if Netbios was even in there.

I will be going to WEP but for now the system is totally open.

Hope this helps, and any suggestions would be welcome.
Thanks, Glen

[xen-uno]

In windows go to Start>Run and type cmd. Now type in ping followed by the IP address you want to check.

Example: pinging my DSL Router

C:\WINNT>ping 10.0.0.1

Pinging 10.0.0.1 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 10.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=64
Reply from 10.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=64
Reply from 10.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=64
Reply from 10.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=64

Ping statistics for 10.0.0.1:
   Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
   Minimum = 0ms, Maximum =  0ms, Average =  0ms

10^-27

edit > when you say "However, when I connect to server from client" are you actually logging in to a common (amongst all machines) workgroup (or domain)?

[mikeosbornma]

Any luck with this? I have the same basic setup (two PCs with linksys 4 port wireless and wireless 10/100 cards). I connect (with IP address) no problem but the constant re-buffering is killing me.

-Mike

[mander]

I am having similar problems... My config is:

Linksys 4 port router wifi AP.
Laptop - client using wifi
Server - linksys usb wifi

Everything looks good.  Can connect UNC and everthing, however from time to time I get a 1-5 second delay on anything being transfered... MC takes care of this by buffering the connection.  

I have tried changing to a different channel on the wife.  I have also tried changing the RTS size.  My initial thought was network colision, so by lowering the RTS # it makes it do a clear to send before sending packets over that size... Didn't notice much help, but it slowed down the network speed...

Anyone have ideas?

[Glen]

Something that I found very interesting the other day. If MJ server started up with the default ip setting of my system on my network (ie 192.168.1.100 port 80) then I was experiencing bad buffering delays. However, if MJ happened to start up with another address (169.254.95.237:80), and I have no idea where this came from, then there were no buffering delays. Now, I am using a linksys wireless router but when this was taking place (there weird address) I did not have broadband hooked up. Since broadband was installed I can not get that address to happen. I am using DHCP but will try to go static and see what happens.
Thanks, Glen

[RemyJ]

Check the "media server address" thread

[mikeosbornma]

One more data point. I have another PC in the kids room that seems to work fine, with the exact (as far as I can tell) configuration (windows2K, linkSys wireless card, and all the same driver and firmware dates).  For some reason my Compaq machine just will not play audio without stopping and rebuffering every 10 seconds. I've played with every registery setting and TCIP config, I think I'm running out of ideas. Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks.

[JimH]

It sounds like the connection is getting routed through your ISP.  When it starts buffering, unplug your router's connection to the Internet and see whether it stops or continues.

[mikeosbornma]

Doesn't seem to make a difference. It looks like my local network is fine (ping and traceroute all give good results - no misdirected traffict to AT&T). There is something different about my Compaq machine that I'm missing, but I don't know what yet.

[JimH]

I missed the fact above about it being wireless.  That's a whole nother can of worms.

The connection itself may be weak.  Linksys has utilities that show the performance.  If you have two Access Points, the machine may hook up to the wrong one.  They need to be on the same channel.  The adhoc vs. infrastructure needs to be the same.

Try the Linksys docs and their website.

Even before that, it might be smart to try the machine with a wired Ethernet connection.  If you have a wired Ethernet port on the machine, you can disable it.

Try swapping cards and see if the problem stays on the same PC.

[mikeosbornma]

Thanks. The wireless network is fine and signal strength is 100%, but I will try the wired connection, although it may take me a while to find the time to move the PC downstairs to do so. I'll keep you posted.

-Mike