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Questions About Streaming

fhm555

fhm555

So FOS my eyes are brown
Feb 16, 2011
13,490
20,816
#1
Hey folks, i've been trying to stream from my cable modem to a bluray box to a TV. When it works it's great but i'm lucky if i get a whole program without a stall or freeze, often so bad i have to reset the Blu-ray box and try again. Now on the other end of the house, on a desktop with a wifi connection i have zero problems. Same with my phone, wifi and uninterrupted viewing. Do i need a buffer of some kind, some way to store more of the signal from my cable modem. I've got another computer, could i run through it and just treat the (smart) TV as the monitor?
Thanks in advance for any and all help.
 
#2
Your steam is only as strong as it's weakest link. A couple things come to mind right away......
A slow/old/outdated NIC in either/both device(s) after the cable modem.
Bad cabling between the modem and TV.
Settings in either device may limit available bandwidth.
Is it a smart TV? Will it connect to the internet wired or wireless? If yes, it would be good to test the stream quality of the TV without the Blu-ray box in the mix.

-Mike
 
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#4
I'd suspect the bluray is the bottleneck. Is your tv "Roku" equipped? All you need is the Wi-Fi if so. Keep the HDMI input in use for the player, but you may be trying to put 10 pounds of crap in a 5 pound bag, so to speak, by routing through the player.
 
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#6
My streaming setup is the opposite of yours. Due to the nature of where my service enters my house My PC is hard wired but the rest of my home is WiFi.

My netwrk problems started a few years after we got the service. My fix was to purchase my own modem ( and ditch the monthly modem fee ) It was newer, much faster and had a more robust safety suit. It is also able to do cable, fiber, DSL and WiFi. It was a bit pricey but it made my streaming life worlds better.


I bought a netgear Wifi extender and it made all the difference in my home network. My smart TV was hit and miss as well. When I added the extender I had zero problems. throughout my house.

I bought this one.
 
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#7
Funky Ghost said:
I bought a netgear Wifi extender and it made all the difference in my home network. My smart TV was hit and miss as well. When I added the extender I had zero problems. throughout my house.

I bought this one.
Click to expand...
I had to get a wifi modem when they did the install. It's an Arris and it works great. I hard wired the Bluray player because it was right under the TV and i thought it would work better hard wired.
 
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#8
fhm555 said:
I had to get a wifi modem when they did the install. It's an Arris and it works great. I hard wired the Bluray player because it was right under the TV and i thought it would work better hard wired.
Click to expand...

The Arris is top notch. It shouldn't struggle with the hardwired set up even with multiple devices on WiFi. Have you tried a speed test? You can hard wire a lap top and go here Speedtest by Ookla - The Global Broadband Speed Test. I'd suggest doing it during peak hours to get a true idea of what you have. More info is good when dealing with network issues.
 
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#9
Funky Ghost said:
The Arris is top notch. It shouldn't struggle with the hardwired set up even with multiple devices on WiFi. Have you tried a speed test? You can hard wire a lap top and go here Speedtest by Ookla - The Global Broadband Speed Test. I'd suggest doing it during peak hours to get a true idea of what you have. More info is good when dealing with network issues.
Click to expand...
I've done a speed test on my desktop in the other end of the house and it's showing excellent speed. There are times like sunday afternoon when things slow down but very little. The only real problem i have with my provider is occasional mini outages for no apparent reason. It will just quit but before i can get on the phone to report it it comes back on. That and the incessant requests to take customer satisfaction surveys are the only things i can really complain about. :D
 
#10
fhm555 said:
I've done a speed test on my desktop in the other end of the house and it's showing excellent speed. There are times like sunday afternoon when things slow down but very little. The only real problem i have with my provider is occasional mini outages for no apparent reason. It will just quit but before i can get on the phone to report it it comes back on. That and the incessant requests to take customer satisfaction surveys are the only things i can really complain about. :D
Click to expand...

For us it was AT&T. They throttle bandwidth when you reach a certain use, even if you pay for their fastest service. It was the main reason I dumped them. I don't know if other providers do that as well.
 
#12
MJ5150 said:
Around here, Comcast charges you when you exceed the data cap, but you aren't throttled.

-Mike
Click to expand...

I use Comcast as well. I pay for the 50mbps service. I've never tested under 120 since I've been with them. I've never run into a cost over-run either. I know a lot of negative things have been said about Comcast but I've been very happy with them for more than 10 years now. I just didn't dig their equipment :D
 
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#13
Funky Ghost said:
I use Comcast as well. I pay for the 50mbps service. I've never tested under 120 since I've been with them. I've never run into a cost over-run either. I know a lot of negative things have been said about Comcast but I've been very happy with them for more than 10 years now. I just didn't dig their equipment :D
Click to expand...

No issues here either.
Four adults share the Comcast connection we use. I work from home and we're cord cutters. The other couple don't/aren't.
We start getting alerts around the 20th to 23rd every month that we are getting low on data. I think twice in the last 30 months we went over the 1T allotted to us.

-Mike
 
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#15
What are you using to send the feed to your TV?

Here's what I do...bring up the signal I want on a laptop or cell phone, then cast the feed to a Chromecast plugged into my TV. I can leave the laptop or phone on a charger for the duration of the program.

You can find used Chromecasts on Ebay all day for just a few bucks. They really do work.
 
Last edited:
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#16
I've got a
Pilgrim said:
What are you using to send the feed to your TV?

Here's what I do...bring up the signal I want on a laptop or cell phone, then cast the feed to a Chromecast plugged into my TV. I can leave the laptop or phone on a charger for the duration of the program.

You can find used Chromecasts on Ebay all day for just a few bucks. They really do work.
Click to expand...
Thanks, i'll look in to that.
 
#18
Pilgrim said:
It's pretty simple, and very reliable. That said, practically any digital feed will find a way to hang occasionally, but the Chromecast is a decent solution.
Click to expand...
I can deal with the occasional aw poopie, but this is a situation where my equipment is obviously lacking where i'm trying to feed to a TV.
 
#19
Hey y'all. Finally got time to get back around to this.
Went to Best Buy today and got a Chromecast thingy.
it was the simplest piece of electronic gear i've ever set up, went from out of the box to watching in less than ten very easy minutes.
I'm sitting here watching episode 2 of the second season of Jack Ryan casting it from my phone. I've already watched episode 4 of Watchmen and the latest 2 episodes of Last Week Tonight on HBO Go and so far no hangs or freezes and a much sharper picture to boot. While i was at the store today i picked up a Lenovo 2 in 1 to use as my TV control but this is working so well i may see if i can dig up my old I6 and just leave it next to the TV.
Thanks again to everyone for all the help and advice. It's why this is my only social media outlet.
 
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#20
Pilgrim said:
What are you using to send the feed to your TV?

Here's what I do...bring up the signal I want on a laptop or cell phone, then cast the feed to a Chromecast plugged into my TV. I can leave the laptop or phone on a charger for the duration of the program.

You can find used Chromecasts on Ebay all day for just a few bucks. They really do work.
Click to expand...

I stream often from my phone and tablet via Chromecast on a TCL 4K Roku smart TV. Everything works great.
 

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