[cbierwirth]

hi,

i'd like your advice on something. For about two weeks now my whole xbmc setup works kind of unstable. the videos (720p .mkv) are stuttering more often and every time one of the computers in my households does anything more or less heavy on the internet the buffering begins^^ even if i just watch a youtube clip on the ipad.
so i wanted to ask you if someone has any kind of advice. maybe my whole setup is that bad..?

so..i got an atv1 with crystalbuntu (aug11 version) in the living room. this is connected via ethernet to my airport extreme in the corridor.
then i have a macbook (white 08) which runs couchpotato/sickbeard/sabnzbd in the office. The macbook is also connected via ethernet to the airport extreme.
my whole media is stored on about 6 (cheap) 3,5 external hdd's which are all connected via usb2.0 to the macbook. so the macbook streams the media from the office to the atv in the living room.

this setup worked like a charm for about a year..but now…

is there anything you would change without investing that much?

thanks so much for your help

[numb7rs]

So, the network is fully cabled between the data source (macbook) and the HTPC (atv)? The streaming slows down when another device has heavy internet usage?

I'm no expert, but that sounds like a problem with the router to me. Have you got a network switch you can use to help traffic bypass the router?

[outatouch0]

sounds like you have maxed out the available bandwidth on your home network.
Plus your media source is being funneled through the laptop AND a gaggle of usb hard drives. While this setup can "work" it really is not designed for this task.
First off, was this setup working fine up until a few weeks ago and then suddenly you have an issue? Did you add, remove change something?

I would (before spending money) try to find software updates (update all your drivers and firmware) and tweaks that might eek out some performance improvements to see if that will help.

Keep in mind, sometimes automatic firmware/driver updates get installed without you knowing about it. You see unexplained sudden problematic behavior and it turns out to be a bug in the new update you knew nothing about. So look for those type of things too.

[cbierwirth]

thanks for your help.

yes, this setup worked fine until a few weeks ago. i haven't changed a thing. just my version of crystalbuntu got an update.

i now downgraded my airport extreme a version and changed a few things on the router. it now works a little bit better..but it's far from "fine" : )

the thing is..my whole setup always worked..but never really "worked"... as outatouch is saying.

would it be better to connect the atv and macbook directly?
or is it a waste of time and the best thing would be to get a nas or something like that?

i know.. a lot of questions..but thanks again : )

[outatouch0]

There may be tweaks or better ways to set up Apple stuff. Not being at all familiar with ATV or Mac I can not help you beyond the general ideas and concepts.
You say it all "kinda works" and I would suspect that given your setup. It seems it will do what you ask but not with stellar performance as it is not designed for such use. I suspect you will get better performance out of Hardware designed store and stream multimedia. What type of NAS works best with Apple/Mac IDK. There are many options and many or most seem to have cross platform use built into the design.