1080p streamed wirelessly?
#1
I've read many threads where people say that streaming 1080p over wifi is hit or miss. My home setup makes it almost impossible for me to run wires to all of my computers (1 HTPC and 3 laptops).

I've been researching several components and this is what I have decided on purchasing:

D-Link DIR-655 router
D-Link DNS-321 NAS box
with a Rosewill RNX-N1 USB network adapter for my HTPC

I currently have:
Linksys WRT54GS router
with a Zonet ZEW2500P 802.11g USB network adapter


I know my setup is outdated. I bought all that before I could ever even imagine streaming videos and music through my entire network, but I digress.

Currently I can transfer files wirelessly on my "g" network at a speed of 1.49 MB/s. I transferred a 700mb file in 7 mins. I streamed 720p movies to my laptop and they worked nicely. 1080p was choppy though. It doesn't help that my laptop is about 3 years old, and I don't think can do DXVA because it's an older gpu and was still around 90% CPU usage with MPC-HC.

So I'm very hopeful and optimistic that when I purchase my new hardware network speeds will not be a problem for me. (Just need to fix the Hardware Acceleration problem, which is another issue)

Does anyone have any experience with the equipment that I plan on getting that you can share with me?

Any input or advice would be greatly appreciated.
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#2
I don't have specific experience with the hardware you're looking at, but I wirelessly stream 1080p full blu-ray rips over 802.11n with no fuss.

It is "hit or miss" since the biggest thing that effects wi-fi speeds is interference on the same frequencies, from other networks around or not.

If you can go to 5.8ghz you'll be less likely to get hit with interference since very few people are using that right now (it's more expensive).
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#3
Well I just bought the aforementioned equipment and have been having problems with my connection ever since. My network speeds have been slower than with my old setup. I'm working on fixing my router issues with the DIR-655. Hopefully I can get this resolved as soon as possible.
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#4
fonzie Wrote:I streamed 720p movies to my laptop and they worked nicely. 1080p was choppy though.

Have you run the 1080p file locally to check that the bottleneck is indeed network and not CPU or GPU?
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#5
Best thing i ever bought was my Netgear 5ghz Wireless N Bridges..

You can get them off Newegg for like 40 each.

Plug 1 into your router and wall, plug other into wall and set in(or behind) your entertainment center. Has two ports, plugged one into my MediaPC(currrently a Popcorn Hour) and other into Xbox 360. No setup required, they just find and bind to eachother in a matter of seconds.

Im able to stream pretty much anything, ive even thrown some 45Mb/sec bitrate 1080p Blu-Ray dumps of Planet earth at it with no studdering, which is about as bad as any video your going to find anywhere.... This is from my router upstairs to my entertainment rack downstairs, probably 20-30 feet offset + distance from first to second floor...so its not a huge distance but works great.

Granted its only two ports, but there are cheap ways(hubs) to extend that to as many as you want if you really need more...

To do 1080p i found through research you pretty much have to use wireless N. They dont say if that DIR-655 is using 5Ghz spectrum or not, but if i had to guess its not...which severely limits it.

One thing you *CAN* try though is to turn off all other wireless on the router, so that its only using N..turn off a/b/g and just do N...that should help some...maybe enough to get you over the hump.
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#6
BananasQ Wrote:Have you run the 1080p file locally to check that the bottleneck is indeed network and not CPU or GPU?
Yeah, it sounds more like that's the issue - if it was network bandwidth which isn't sufficient it would be buffering rather than being choppy, wouldn't it?
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#7
I'm so sorry I haven't seen this thread sooner! ) ' :

The dlink dir-655 wireless n router is a piece of SHITE! Wireless signal quality drops off quickly and the connection drops erratically, getting worse over time. I hate equipment that mysteriously craps out over time when there's no good reason. Unfortunately, if you aren't buying pro-grade wireless, we're up the creek. You're better off figuring out a way to wire for GB.
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#8
I've got a DIR-655 ... it's one of the few home wireless routers that hasn't started overheat and die every year. That being said, mine has horrible wireless N performance.

I'v never gotten reliable 1080p streaming over wireless N even from 1ft away.

I think you're better off using the wireless to sync the movies to a drive attached to the xbmc box and play them locally.
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#9
I was able to stream a 1080p BD rip of Planet Earth using 802.11g, however the two were only about 3 feet away so I now use a 100Mbit ethernet.
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