Kitz Forum
Computers & Hardware => Networking => Topic started by: renluop on September 19, 2018, 12:42:02 PM
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I hope you will forgive me, should this be in the wrong board.
My FTTC connection is not the greatest, synching at ~2.4Mb/s, so even at peak traffic throughput I'd think adequate for IPlayer.
Last evening we were watching Bodyguard, but it was spoilt by the frequency of buffering. The connection from router to STB is wireless, and direct path, through walls, upper stramit board, lower block, is ~6 metres..
Is it usual over such a distance for enough speed to be lost, that buffering results?
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2.5Mbps ? are you sure about that?
or do you mean 2.5MB/s ? (note the b or B - quite important!)
2.5Mbps would be struggling to do any on demand without buffering occuring
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H Renloup, My wireless system has also suffered for random buffering, but it is mainly due to network congestion, and or connected equipment.
My wireless system receiver is a TP link 4 port router, that feeds 1 television, 2 Panasonic recorder, 3 Oppo UDP 203, 4 Humax freesat recorder.
The Panasonic DVBT recorder can be really annoying at times, due to buffering. Yet the TV watching the same IPlayer progamme is not affected.
This is going thru 2 brick walls (1950's Bungalow) also 6m from transmitter (Fritzbox).
I have used this program in the past to map out best spots in the house (Free Trial).
https://www.tamos.com/products/wifi-site-survey/wireless.php?r1=google&r2=awd_tg&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIwuns3aLH3QIVgrHtCh327gDBEAAYASAAEgIX_fD_BwE
Other things to note are other neigbours wireless channel numbers, mobile phone apps come in handy for this, keep your numbers well away from theirs!
I use channel 13 @ 2.4Ghz and channel 100 @ 5Ghz.
Any numbers using the same or adjacent couple of channels, will suppress your signal :(
Hope any of this helps...
Robin
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2.5Mbps ? are you sure about that?
or do you mean 2.5MB/s ? (note the b or B - quite important!)
2.5Mbps would be struggling to do any on demand without buffering occuring
Oops silly me, but put simply 24500kbps. :-[
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As your connection is so slow, I hope you are only trying to use standard quality and not HD. Even using standard quality it is likely that any other internet activity at the same time is going to cause issues.
How fast does my internet connection need to be?
BBC iPlayer programmes stream at up to 5 Mbps or megabits (5000 kbps), depending on the quality. Our standard quality version is 1.5 Mbps (1500 kbps).
You’ll actually need a little more bandwidth than this to watch programmes on BBC iPlayer. If you think your internet connection is slower than expected, please contact your internet service provider.
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He means 24.5Mb. He has FTTC.
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I have ever heard of FTTC at 2.5 Mbps, so assuming we mean 2.5MBps ie bytes, so 20Mbps ie bits per second, perhaps ? Lower case b means bits, upper case B means bytes.
Or perhaps 2.5 Mbps ie bits per second is the speed of the wireless lan not the FTTC.
Anyway, precious little chance of getting some services to work at such a low speed, since they require 3Mbps (ie bits per second).
Would need to run a network cable, and if the device does not accept an ethernet connection into it, then place a wireless access point suitably near the device in question, on the end of the network cable.
A wireless LAN speed of 2.5 Mbps is the rock bottom speed that you might get when the station is desperate, with extremely attenuated signal, either by walls, foil-backed plaster or great distance. Interference from neighbours could well be having a disastrous effect, so switching channels, preferably switching to one of the many free 5GHz frequencies would cure that. However, if attenuation due to walls has not be cured first, switching from 2.4GHz to 5GHz will make things worse, because 5GHz has worse penetration of barriers according to some.
A really good wireless access point is your friend here.
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OK roll back on this
From here (https://forum.kitz.co.uk/index.php/topic,22299.msg382020.html#msg382020).
DSL uptime: 1 days, 17:00:55
Data rate: 4811 / 22834
Maximum data rate: 4811 / 23405
To summarise, it looks like he is currently using a PN HubOne and had asked for a suggestion for his possible failing Billion which wouldnt set up a wireless connection.
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I'm totally confused - is it a wireless or a connection issue? He did specifically say the sync speed.
My FTTC connection is not the greatest, synching at ~2.4Mb/s
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I am in the sweet violets, aren't I? :-[ Careless with decimal points and missings 0s! ::)
As our leader said above, I was at the time of that quote working with the Plusnet router. However, with the assistance of the Billion Forum worked around the problem with the 8800NL, and am using it once more.
It does synch faster than the Hub; currently 24500 kbps
@parkdale
I am quite frugal with my setup. Connected by wireless are
Desktop, Ipad, Humas PVR and Internet Radio. The last works even with router OFF, courtesy someone's open connection.
Edit
What the item in your link does, is interesting, though I do not have a compatible adapter.
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I am in the sweet violets, aren't I? :-[ Careless with decimal points and missings 0s! ::)
As our leader said above, I was at the time of that quote working with the Plusnet router. However, with the assistance of the Billion Forum worked around the problem with the 8800NL, and am using it once more.
It does synch faster than the Hub; currently 24500 kbps
@parkdale
I am quite frugal with my setup. Connected by wireless are
Desktop, Ipad, Humas PVR and Internet Radio. The last works even with router OFF, courtesy someone's open connection.
Edit
What the item in your link does, is interesting, though I do not have a compatible adapter.
Usually I use a laptop (any wifi adapter, built in, or otherwise, will do) and knockup a house plan template in a drawing program, if my memory serves me correct :fingers: save as bmp, then walk around the house mapping the points on the drawing...
To get a heat map
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Good extra wireless access points are your friend, Renluop, don’t cost the earth and just plug into your router or switch and either replace or augment your existing wireless LAN with other areas of broadcast signal closer to where they are needed. But you need to get a link to those wireless access points (WAPs) from your main switch or router and this is either done with a network cable, which might physically be a pain, or else at a push it can be done with a wireless link because I have successfully done so.
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Getting back to the original question, BBC iPlayer does sometimes buffer owing to problems at BBC, no amount of home improvements will fix that. There was one obscure documentary (sorry, can’t remember what) that I tried to watch any number of times, but always failed due to buffering within a minute or so of start of program, despite the fact that other iPlayer material played perfectly.
I’d assume that the obscure documentary above was probably hosted on some low throughout server. Popular material should be hosted on higher bandwidth servers. Then again, Bodyguard is hugely popular, with big demand on servers no matter how it is hosted. Buffering on Bodyguard owing to BBC’s own limitations would surprise me a little, but not a lot. :-\
This is why I still maintain my mythtv, with bit-for-bit perfect rendition, from OTA digital HD broadcast, of any BBC material worth watching. :)
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@SLM I don't quite see how mythtv would have helped my event.
@parkdale (September 19, 2018, 03:58:07 PM) Mentioned the neighbouring networks. FWIW, the maximum found by a scanner was this morning, (picture). Mostly it's me (Billion) @ 100% and the TNCAP @ 30%.
The only network on channel 6 is mine, and its doppelganger. Why that appears, can anyone tell me?
In the light of @SLM's contribution, I now think, it's something to be lived with.
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Are you using your ISP's DNS? I believe BBC uses CDNs and the most appropriate CDN will vary so if you are using a generic DNS like Google's it might mean that you are not using the best one for you.
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@SLM I don't quite see how mythtv would have helped my event.
I was just pointing out that if you record from Freeview broadcasts using a PVR, there shouldn’t be any buffering issues. Mythtv is just my own choice of PVR, other PVRs also solve the buffering problems.
My own preference is to record from freeview, falling back on iPlayer only for things that I failed to anticipate. As well as occasional buffering, iPlayer streaming has other drawbacks too, such as no support for surround sound audio. Freeview in contrast does, occasionally, when the BBC can be bothered, provide 5.1 sound. Not sure Bodyguard is 5.1, mind you, even on Freeview.
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@Jelv I'm using that allocated by PN.
@SLM I do use a PVR, keeping On Demand for items missed, or clashed
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For the BBC programmes it will be better to download the programme first and then watch it.
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I make Sunday afternoon my time for looking at listings mag to choose programs and series to record. TBH, we hardly watch anything live, apart from news and morning output at breakfast.
BTW we're totally Freesat, as our Freeview choice is Lite from a local relay, or out of region full from Mendips. We're right under a hill, that blocks Rowridge, V&H.
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We're right under a hill, that blocks Rowridge, V&H.
A fellow central south coast person! We get pretty good reception to Rowridge. In fact I bought a cheap £15 box from the auction site a few months ago that does freeview HD and all 4/5 of them come in strong. Have freesat as well though as extra low down dishes are easier to do than roof aerials.
I find it really odd that you are getting buffering on any iplayer streams with ~25mbit. As you say the highest bitrate is just over 5mbit and I cant remember the last time I had live or catch up sources from there buffer (with pretty much the same connection speed as yours). From your OP you were watching the "bodyguard"? I have not been watching but am led to believe this has been phenomenally popular, so maybe this was a peak time event and the CDNs/BBC servers could not cope?
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BTW we're totally Freesat, as our Freeview choice is Lite from a local relay, or out of region full from Mendips. We're right under a hill, that blocks Rowridge, V&H.
You can't be that far from me - we are in Mere. I'm going to take a wild stab in the dark - Motcombe?
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Not that near, 43 km by crow flying approx south-east, twixt Bo'mo and So'ton.
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Are you using your ISP's DNS? I believe BBC uses CDNs and the most appropriate CDN will vary so if you are using a generic DNS like Google's it might mean that you are not using the best one for you.
i don't believe that's an issue any more.
it was in the initial days of using non-ISP DNS but not any more i believe.
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Re ISP DNSs. Once, when I had mislaid the primary and secondary I was told to use, i asked my son for his details. He is with same provider. Eventually I found my data, and changed back.
I cannot see how, but could I have marred my performance using incorrect DNS?
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Yes, but it is only going to affect some things, such as web page load timing slightly. It can’t be the answer here. I would dig around in the web and find your own isp’s dns servers, or ask here, as they will be closest. 8.8.8.8 / 8.8.4.4 and the newer 1.1.1.1 and the opendns servers 208.67.222.222 208.67.220.220 are all good too.
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In my last post I was not meaning DNSs other than the ISPs, but the incorrect ones in the ISPs range, e.g
199.106.6.9 instead of 199.106.56.59
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Sincere apologies if all of the following is well known.
Well, if you had entered the DNS values wrong, then some things would not work at all because all DNS lookups would fail. Routers usually send out suggested DNS values to machines in the LAN, so if the router had the correct values then that might mean things were ok anyway, unless you managed to override the correct data from the router. Routers often get correct correct DNS values direct values automatically the ISP delivered by the PPP protocol (If using PPP, which many ISPs are). So often one does not have to do anything at all. It is best not to configure DNS values at all, especially in the case where it is in a machine that might be moved around to a different network or change internet connection.
Some services would just work regardless, because they simply know IP addresses that need to be used and do not need to do any DNS lookups because they are not referring to things by domain name at all.