Topic: Troubleshooting poor network performance (Read 6434 times)

lockdown571 · « **on:** January 26, 2012, 12:31:01 pm »

Hey everyone, I'm really enjoying JRiver media center, but unfortunately I can't get my files to play over my network without significant stuttering. I'm running the latest version of Media Center. Many files are straight blu-ray to mkv rips. Everything thing is wired with gibabit, which I've confirmed as files copy over at +800 Mb/s.

All files play fine locally. I've tried both the built in networking tool in JRiver Media Center and mounting the networked drives in Windows 7 explorer. The files also stutter if I try playing them in VLC. However, the files play perfectly over my network using Plex (http://www.plexapp.com/). Unfortunately, I really don't know how else to go about diagnosing the issue. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

bob · « **Reply #1 on:** January 26, 2012, 03:36:58 pm »

You can't get full gigabit performance without using Jumbo frames. Everything in the chain between your PC and the renderer (including the renderer itself) needs to handle jumbo frames (9000 byte MTU).
Now as far as I know, wireless won't cut it. Many network switches and most routers are 100 MB.
Without end to end support for jumbo frames you'll be capped at at around 300-500mbps (hardwired). Obviously if you have a 100mb switch or router in the way the max will be 100mbps.

lockdown571 · « **Reply #2 on:** January 26, 2012, 07:25:57 pm »

Quote from: bob on January 26, 2012, 03:36:58 pm

You can't get full gigabit performance without using Jumbo frames. Everything in the chain between your PC and the renderer (including the renderer itself) needs to handle jumbo frames (9000 byte MTU).
Now as far as I know, wireless won't cut it. Many network switches and most routers are 100 MB.
Without end to end support for jumbo frames you'll be capped at at around 300-500mbps (hardwired). Obviously if you have a 100mb switch or router in the way the max will be 100mbps.

I don't understand. Do you mean that I will be capped at 300-500mbps within Media Center? I already said that files currently transfer at over 800+ mbps on my network. Regardless, wouldn't 300-500 mbps be enough to pull a 35 mbps blu-ray?

bob · « **Reply #3 on:** January 26, 2012, 09:36:08 pm »

Quote from: lockdown571 on January 26, 2012, 07:25:57 pm

I don't understand. Do you mean that I will be capped at 300-500mbps within Media Center? I already said that files currently transfer at over 800+ mbps on my network. Regardless, wouldn't 300-500 mbps be enough to pull a 35 mbps blu-ray?

This is in reference to the potential upper bound of your network configuration. If your configuration gets 800mbs between two particular devices, that's great! MC won't reduce that at all. Can you measure the bandwidth between your particular renderer and the MC PC? It seems like that would be non-trivial to test (unless both are PC's). Are you serving on one PC and rendering on another PC?

lockdown571 · « **Reply #4 on:** January 26, 2012, 10:06:19 pm »

Quote from: bob on January 26, 2012, 09:36:08 pm

This is in reference to the potential upper bound of your network configuration. If your configuration gets 800mbs between two particular devices, that's great! MC won't reduce that at all. Can you measure the bandwidth between your particular renderer and the MC PC? It seems like that would be non-trivial to test (unless both are PC's). Are you serving on one PC and rendering on another PC?

Yes, both are PCs running Windows 7 SP1 64-bit. I don't know how to measure the bandwidth to or from the renderer.

lockdown571 · « **Reply #5 on:** January 26, 2012, 10:36:43 pm »

Well, I turned off the firewall on my router, and streaming has improved considerably. Skipping forward and back is still very slow, but once the video begins to play, it doesn't stutter. I'm wondering whether this is just typical of SMB. As for the firewall, don't I just need to configure port forwarding for Media Center? If so, what ports does Media Center use? (EDIT: Actually, isn't port forwarding just for connections to the internet, not connections within your LAN? Now I'm really confused).

JimH · « **Reply #6 on:** January 27, 2012, 06:41:39 am »

That's correct. Port forwarding is only needed for access from the Internet.

bob · « **Reply #7 on:** January 27, 2012, 09:10:31 am »

Quote from: lockdown571 on January 26, 2012, 10:36:43 pm

Well, I turned off the firewall on my router, and streaming has improved considerably. Skipping forward and back is still very slow, but once the video begins to play, it doesn't stutter. I'm wondering whether this is just typical of SMB. As for the firewall, don't I just need to configure port forwarding for Media Center? If so, what ports does Media Center use? (EDIT: Actually, isn't port forwarding just for connections to the internet, not connections within your LAN? Now I'm really confused).

Interesting... You make it sound as if the router is between the 2 pc's doing the streaming (when I say between, I mean one PC is on the wan side and the other is on the lan side) . Is this the case?

Or are both computers connected to the lan switch side of the router.

lockdown571 · « **Reply #8 on:** January 27, 2012, 09:30:30 am »

Quote from: bob on January 27, 2012, 09:10:31 am

Interesting... You make it sound as if the router is between the 2 pc's doing the streaming (when I say between, I mean one PC is on the wan side and the other is on the lan side) . Is this the case?

Or are both computers connected to the lan switch side of the router.

I have a typical configuration. The computers are both connected to the router via lan. The wan port connects to my cable modem.

MrC · « **Reply #9 on:** January 27, 2012, 11:28:32 am »

What is the exact name/model of your LAN router?

lockdown571 · « **Reply #10 on:** January 27, 2012, 04:04:50 pm »

Sorry, I should have mentioned that. It's a Linksys WRT54G running DD-WRT v24-sp1.

MrC · « **Reply #11 on:** January 27, 2012, 05:01:05 pm »

Unfortunately there are something like 12 versions of the appliance. Check the bottom label to discover the exact version.

bob · « **Reply #12 on:** January 27, 2012, 05:45:05 pm »

Quote from: MrC on January 27, 2012, 05:01:05 pm

Unfortunately there are something like 12 versions of the appliance. Check the bottom label to discover the exact version.

I think most if not all of those (I have one) have software implemented switches. That could explain the speedup in bandwidth when the firewall is off. Also, it's 100MB not 1G.
I suggest you get a separate 1gig switch and connect your internal lan together on that with a connection from the hardware switch to the WRT to complete the network.

MrC · « **Reply #13 on:** January 27, 2012, 06:42:24 pm »

Exactly. I wanted to look-up the switching speed, which I believe is not great in these models since the revamp by Cisco way back when Cisco acquired Linksys.

bob · « **Reply #14 on:** January 27, 2012, 10:14:56 pm »

Quote from: MrC on January 27, 2012, 06:42:24 pm

Exactly. I wanted to look-up the switching speed, which I believe is not great in these models since the revamp by Cisco way back when Cisco acquired Linksys.

Good call on asking for the router model MrC!

paul.raulerson · « **Reply #15 on:** January 27, 2012, 10:42:19 pm »

Quote from: bob on January 27, 2012, 05:45:05 pm

I think most if not all of those (I have one) have software implemented switches. That could explain the speedup in bandwidth when the firewall is off. Also, it's 100MB not 1G.
I suggest you get a separate 1gig switch and connect your internal lan together on that with a connection from the hardware switch to the WRT to complete the network.

Or update your router/firewall to something a bit more modern.

-Paul

lockdown571 · « **Reply #16 on:** January 28, 2012, 10:10:54 am »

Hey everyone. Sorry for giving you all this information to you piecemeal. The Linksys router says WRT54GS. My network goes like this: cable modem -(WAN)> WRT54GS -(LAN)> Trendnet Gigabit Switch -(LAN)> devices in house. This is the Trednet switch I use: http://www.amazon.com/TRENDnet-Unmanaged-GREENnet-Standard-1000Mbps/dp/B001QUA6RA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327766574&sr=8-1. There's also an Apple Airport Extreme (gigabit but not dual band model) connected via LAN to the Trendnet switch (DHCP turned off on the airport). The Airport is only used for wireless devices like my laptop and phone.

So do you think performance would improve if I upgraded the Linksys router, or is performance between my server and HTPC more dependent on the Trendnet switch? Sorry, I'm fairly computer savvy, but networking is my achilles heel

MrC · « **Reply #17 on:** January 28, 2012, 11:01:11 am »

If you are getting fast file transfers and all the devices in the equation are connected directly to this switches downstream ports, then I would rule out the physical layer as being an issue (the switch has 16Gbps forwarding).

Perhaps its time to looking at any A/V or other anti-malware software running...

lockdown571 · « **Reply #18 on:** February 06, 2012, 07:04:51 pm »

I don't think this is a problem with any anti-virus program. I have another HTPC on the network that has no anti-virus software at all. It's actually extremely bare bones software-wise. Just Windows 7 64 bit with Plex and JRiver installed. I tried playing the movies on that HTPC, and sure enough it still stuttered. Plex works perfectly with the same files on that PC.

MrC · « **Reply #19 on:** February 06, 2012, 07:43:02 pm »

Ok, another question. I only quickly re-read this thread, so I might have missed something.

Can we confirm how you are performing the playback?

- Using an MC client connected to an MC Library Server
- Using DLNA
- Using a local MC with local library, whose files are on a remote file server (eg via UNC paths, or mapped network share to local drive letter)

lockdown571 · « **Reply #20 on:** February 06, 2012, 07:53:26 pm »

Quote from: MrC on February 06, 2012, 07:43:02 pm

Ok, another question. I only quickly re-read this thread, so I might have missed something.

Can we confirm how you are performing the playback?

- Using an MC client connected to an MC Library Server
- Using DLNA
- Using a local MC with local library, whose files are on a remote file server (eg via UNC paths, or mapped network share to local drive letter)

I'm using an MC client connected to an MC Library Server, although I've also tried using local library with mapped networked shares. Same result.

lockdown571 · « **Reply #21 on:** February 06, 2012, 08:08:10 pm »

Quote from: lockdown571 on February 06, 2012, 07:04:51 pm

I don't think this is a problem with any anti-virus program. I have another HTPC on the network that has no anti-virus software at all. It's actually extremely bare bones software-wise. Just Windows 7 64 bit with Plex and JRiver installed. I tried playing the movies on that HTPC, and sure enough it still stuttered. Plex works perfectly with the same files on that PC.

Turns out I was wrong! I ended up uninstalling Windows Security Essentials completely from my desktop, and it does seem to be working now. The dedicated HTPC still has some issues with playback, but it might not be network related. I'll have to look into it. How, then do I get JRiver to play nice with Windows Security Essentials?

MrC · « **Reply #22 on:** February 06, 2012, 08:12:37 pm »

In this case, you must use exactly the same paths in both the server and client. Check the Filename fields. MC must be able to access the file at the location specified in the Filename field directly (eg. using Windows file sharing).

Also be sure to enable:

Tools > Options > Media Network > Client Options (when connected to a Library Server) > Play local file if one that matches Library Server file is found

Without both of these, video will be transcoded into a streaming format and streamed... hence stutter. When both criteria are met, MC will just request the file from Windows, which handles the transfer of the raw data.

Finally, disable video conversion under the same client options.

MrC · « **Reply #23 on:** February 06, 2012, 08:17:44 pm »

Quote from: lockdown571 on February 06, 2012, 08:08:10 pm

Turns out I was wrong! I ended up uninstalling Windows Security Essentials completely from my desktop, and it does seem to be working now. The dedicated HTPC still has some issues with playback, but it might not be network related. I'll have to look into it. How, then do I get JRiver to play nice with Windows Security Essentials?

This is a common response re: A/V. :-)

On both client/server, configure MSE to exclude MC's media files and ignore MC's processes:

  Settings > Excluded file and locations (... add your top-level media folder(s) here)
  Settings > Excluded processes (... add your MC programs: Media Center17.exe, JRService.exe, JRWorker.exe)
   these live at: C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 17\

lockdown571 · « **Reply #24 on:** February 06, 2012, 08:49:21 pm »

Brilliant! Thanks for the help everyone

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Author Topic: Troubleshooting poor network performance (Read 6434 times)