Zeno~SPARTA~ Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 OK as you know I have built a media pc its working ok, but..... My idea is to wirelessly transmit films stored on a NAS or another PC to the media PC. I tested the idea using my dell xps and a linkszs USB N draft wireless attachment. IT worked almost flawlessly, the DVD files went from the main PC to the router and from the router to the laptop without jitters or stutters, based on that performance I built the media PC and used the same wireless attachment. But now I do get stutters, frankly the performance is unnaceptable. On further analysis using the Networking tab in Windows Task Manager I find that whilst the Connection speed ranges between 108 to 243 mbps (ample for my needs) during a file transfer the system only used around 10% of the bandwidth. The main difference is that the media PC has a Vista Ultimate operating system ad the laptop is XP based. Any ideas on improving the performance would be appreciated. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoScream~SPARTA~ Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 Check that anti virus is not running - Check network settings TCP IP v4 settings - Check task manager if any other process is making large memory demands - Check throughput by doing a std file transfer of a file bigger than 1GB - Answer all the above Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usthomsen~SPARTA~ Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 I may be interrested in buying the pc if u are too ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
custard~SPARTA~ Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 rofl Cheeky bugger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeno~SPARTA~ Posted January 31, 2008 Author Share Posted January 31, 2008 Check that anti virus is not running - NO Check network settings TCP IP v4 settings - Dont know will check when I get back to Suisse Check task manager if any other process is making large memory demands - Memory usage pegged at 34% never more, processor usage much lower. Check throughput by doing a std file transfer of a file bigger than 1GB - I have done a 4 gig transfer and thats when I saw the usage was only 10% of the wireless capacity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
custard~SPARTA~ Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 You may think I am taking the piss but I've read that Vista networking is a bitch to setup properly I would consider putting XP on there mate. Wait 4 days and see if this Vista service pack will help maybe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoScream~SPARTA~ Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 Windows Fire wall! Are you running it ? Windows Firewall with Advanced Security. Vista runs 2 default firewalls, the normal inbound like Windows XP and an additional Outbound like a normal Norton Internet firewall etc. The problem is if you turn off the normal inbound one you naturally assume you done all the windows firewalls, WRONG. Opened outbound rules allow all. Goto control Panel, swith to Classic View,click on Administrator tools,go into Local Security Policy, and there you will see firewall folder. Setup the profile your using with a new outbond rule. I had my fire wall off the whole time and still do, but this worked. I hope it works for you. Windows Vista has outbond rules in it's firewall unlike XP only having inbond. Silly me to think that when I shut off the fire wall that everything would be wide open. Aparently This has to be manualy set regardless. My transfer rate went from AVG 2.5MB to 72.3MB over Gigbit. Windows Vista runs 2 firewalls unlike Xp, inbound & an out bound firewall, both are separate. Other things 1. NIC settings (half & full duplex) were wreaking havoc on LAN transfers 2. My Linksys WRT54GL router was the cause 3. Windows Vista?s ?Remote Differential Compression? was causing the slow transfer rate 4. Windows Vista is just painfully slow? live with it 1. NIC settings (half & full duplex) were wreaking havoc on LAN transfers I spent some time manually setting NIC transfer modes on both machines. I rotated through these settings but did not see a significant benefit. * 10mbps / sec (Half Duplex) * 10mbps / sec (Full Duplex) * 100mbps / sec (Half Duplex) * 10mbps / sec (Full Duplex) * Auto Negotiate http://www.ads-links.com/index.php/how-to-...k-transfer.html Have you got Linksys ? 2. My Linksys WRT54GL router was the cause Failing to locate a duplex setting on this unit, I quickly determined that this may not be the culprit for the slow network transfers. If memory serves, I think a 3rd party firmware like HyperWRT or Thibor is required to adjust advanced internal settings on the WRT54GL router and I am only running the official Linksys firmware. Last thing, on web browser & transfers. http://www.petri.co.il/improve_windows_vis...performance.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeno~SPARTA~ Posted February 1, 2008 Author Share Posted February 1, 2008 Thanks for this info, I'll check it next week when I get back to switzerland. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeno~SPARTA~ Posted March 9, 2008 Author Share Posted March 9, 2008 OK update time. Media pc objective: PC capable of streaming video and music wirelessly from a NAS or main PC Media PC components Shuttle XPC Shuttle Intel SG33G5 Intel Core2 duo E6750 2GB Corsair DDR2 800 ram 750GB Seagate Barracuda HDD Vista Ultimate Logitech DiNovo Edge Bluetooth Keyboard Linksys "N" draft USB Wireless network adapter Problem semi regular stutter/slowdown in playback of video. Attempted Solutions 1 Install Graphics Card (Asus EAH2400Pro) 256mb ddr2 memory Result no change 2 Play video direct from Hard Drive Result no change 3 Add second 750gb Hard drive with XP pro on it so I can boot from either drive Result no change Observation: Problem occurs in XP and Vista so this is not a Vista issue. observed a semi regular blip in CPU usage which coincided with video stutter 4 Change affinity of video software to CPU 1 and all else to CPU 0 (particularly antivirus and firewall) Result: no change Observation: Even though the blip in CPU usage was in CPU 0 the video still stuttered simultaneously, no blip observed in CPU 1 5: Turn off Firewall and Antivirus Result no change Observation: As above, therefore problem not caused by these 2 programs. 6: Disable Wireless network adapter Result perfect video and audio Conclusion, this wireless adapter in its current configuration is not suitable for streaming video and is interfering with video process even when not streaming. So to watch video from the local hard drive I disable the WiFi adapter. This is not an issue for now as I have 1.5tb on the media pc with all my films on them, but this is not the solution I was looking for. I will investigate reconfiguring the wifi adapter or going with another make. I will keep you posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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