Streaming UHD content over wifi troubles.

[QuantumSingularity]

Ok guys, so i got a Sony XBR-65A8H TV, nailed it to the wall of my dining room, hooked it to the Wi-Fi and oh crap - when i went on to stream any of the UHD movies i have on my PC, it's lagging af. There is no problem with Netflix 4k or YT playing 4k content, but when i go for the real good quality stuff where a single movie is 70+GBs with a bitrate of 65+Mbps it plays 4-5 secs stops for about 10 secs and then repeats. I know the trouble is my network, cause for the wifi i'm using the original ISP provided Huawei ONT with built-in wifi and with the DP/HDMI direct connection there is no trouble whatsoever. Wifi network shows as 117Mbps and i thought it would be enough even if the bitrate got to 100Mbps, but i guess i was wrong. What WiFi Router would you recommend for this sort of task? 

 

To jump the questions - no there is no way i can lay at least 35m of HDMI/DP cable across the entire apartment and i don't wanna hook an external HDD to the TV.

 

P.S

I have few lower quality UHD movies with lower bitrate and they run w/o a problem.

[GuiltySpark_]

How are you streaming them? 

[QuantumSingularity]

Basically tried everything i could think of - the windows built in Cast to Device option, tried with VLC's stream option, tried adding them in a Media Device library and running that from the TV, even tried streaming it from inside Chrome, but every time the same result.

[Kilrah]

Ethernet cable. 

[QuantumSingularity]

I don't want cables running on the walls again. It was like a jungle at one point at home with ethernet cables running everywhere and i don't wanna do it again. Especially now when the TV is on the wall with the power socket behind it and nothing is seen around it; not a single cable.

[GuiltySpark_]

Ideally ^

 

But if your wifi can't handle the throughput needed on 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz, you could implement a Plex server on the PC with the video files and it'll transcode things on the fly.

[QuantumSingularity]

So you mean there isn't a single wifi router on the market that can handle UHD streaming with high bitrate ?

[GuiltySpark_]

Sure, assuming perfect conditions. Wifi is very variable depending on interference and obstructions. 

[BondiBlue]

This sounds like a problem either with the TV itself or more likely the network. I steam 4K Blu-ray rips to my Apple TV over Wi-Fi all the time, and I never have a single issue. The AP is far away from the Apple TV, but it still has enough of a signal. You might just need to invest in a better AP. 

[Kilrah]

12 minutes ago, QuantumSingularity said:

So you mean there isn't a single wifi router on the market that can handle UHD streaming with high bitrate ?

There is if the conditions are right. But it could also be the TV's built-in WiFi adapter that's limiting things.

[Alex Atkin UK]

4 hours ago, QuantumSingularity said:

There is no problem with Netflix 4k or YT playing 4k content, but when i go for the real good quality stuff where a single movie is 70+GBs with a bitrate of 65+Mbps it plays 4-5 secs stops for about 10 secs and then repeats. I know the trouble is my network,

The video decoders in TVs do not always handle high bitrate content.  I know even when my TV claimed it did, it wouldn't work with Bluray rips.

After various different devices, I finally found the NVIDIA ShieldTV to be the ONLY device that could handle high bitrate.

[QuantumSingularity]

Guys, the TV handles the movies just fine. I've put the biggest one with the highest bitrate on an old SSD in an external case and it plays perfectly, hooked to the usb3 port. You can scrub, ffw... everything. The problem is the router. It's rated only for 150Mbps on 2.4GHz. And when you add on top of that all the stuff connected to it - the lights, the fridge, the ACs, my phone, the other TV it gets a bit overwhelming i guess. I was thinking about something like the ASUS RT-AC58U AC1300 or RT-AX58U AX3000 but before diving head first for one of those, wanted to ask if someone already had experience with that stuff.

 

[CerealExperimentsLain]

Wait........  Wait wait wait... You mean 117Mbps is the *raw* connected rate not an actual benchmark?  2.4ghz? 150mbps 'rated router'?  Wait, is this just 2.4ghz Wireless N?

 

...Holy cow, yeah... That's not gonna work.

[Falcon1986]

@QuantumSingularity

1. What is the exact model of the ISP device?
2. How far is it from the TV? 35m? Are there any physical obstructions around the antennae? How high is it off the floor?
3. If you were to draw an imaginary straight line from the ISP device to your TV, what objects/materials would the signal have to go through?
4. What are your WiFi settings on the ISP device for both 2.4GHz and 5GHz antennae?
5. If you run a speed test from a PC or mobile device where the TV is located, what speeds do you get?
6. Run a wireless survey on a device next to the TV and post the graphical channel analysis output for 2.4GHz and 5GHz.

[Donut417]

1 hour ago, QuantumSingularity said:

wanted to ask if someone already had experience with that stuff.

Dont have first hand experience as we just bought our first 4K TV and have no 4K content currently. However doing a lot of research on 4K playback with Plex, Ive read that you can easily use over 100 Mbps just to stream high quality 4K content via Plex. Yes, you can do it via WiFi, as many end up doing that because most Smart TV's only have 100 Mbps Ethernet ports. However, You have indicated you have a Single Band Wifi Gateway from your ISP. Id say on a Good DAY, you might be able to get 2/3rds of what that router is rated for via WiFI. 

 

The first thing I would do is do a site survey like @Falcon1986 suggested. This way you can see how good the airwaves are in your home. 

[Kilrah]

7 hours ago, QuantumSingularity said:

It's rated only for 150Mbps on 2.4GHz.

There's no 5GHz? Yeah that wouldn't cut it.

[QuantumSingularity]

On 9/25/2021 at 2:27 AM, CerealExperimentsLain said:

Wait........  Wait wait wait... You mean 117Mbps is the *raw* connected rate not an actual benchmark?  2.4ghz? 150mbps 'rated router'?  Wait, is this just 2.4ghz Wireless N?

 

...Holy cow, yeah... That's not gonna work.

Yes, i meant the raw reported speed for the network from the settings. The benchmark on Speedtest on the TV when connected to the wifi network gets up to 55Mbps. But i checked and it's rated 802.11ac and it finds 5Gz networks.

On 9/25/2021 at 2:44 AM, Falcon1986 said:

@QuantumSingularity

1. What is the exact model of the ISP device?
2. How far is it from the TV? 35m? Are there any physical obstructions around the antennae? How high is it off the floor?
3. If you were to draw an imaginary straight line from the ISP device to your TV, what objects/materials would the signal have to go through?
4. What are your WiFi settings on the ISP device for both 2.4GHz and 5GHz antennae?
5. If you run a speed test from a PC or mobile device where the TV is located, what speeds do you get?
6. Run a wireless survey on a device next to the TV and post the graphical channel analysis output for 2.4GHz and 5GHz.

It's a Huawei EchoLife HG8245. Works perfectly fine with the cable, but it's only rated 820.11n, not ac. The range between the router and the TV in straight line is no more than 2m, but in order to run a cable to there, i have to reroute it basically through the entire hallway, then the other hallway and then finally in the room. Not to mention it will just hang there and be super ugly on the wall. There is only one wall 8cm thick between the TV and the router, and although it's concrete the signal strength is perfect (-28db).Maxes out the scale in Wifi Analyzer. There are no other interfering networks. It's simply the router.

[Donut417]

1 hour ago, QuantumSingularity said:

Yes, i meant the raw reported speed for the network from the settings. The benchmark on Speedtest on the TV when connected to the wifi network gets up to 55Mbps. But i checked and it's rated 802.11ac and it finds 5Gz networks.

It's a Huawei EchoLife HG8245. Works perfectly fine with the cable, but it's only rated 820.11n, not ac. The range between the router and the TV in straight line is no more than 2m, but in order to run a cable to there, i have to reroute it basically through the entire hallway, then the other hallway and then finally in the room. Not to mention it will just hang there and be super ugly on the wall. There is only one wall 8cm thick between the TV and the router, and although it's concrete the signal strength is perfect (-28db).Maxes out the scale in Wifi Analyzer. There are no other interfering networks. It's simply the router.

You dont need a full router as technically you cant replace your ISP's box. Because it seems you have some Fiber connection and Fiber gear has not reached the consumer sector as of yet. So either look for a Wireless AC or AX AP or find a router that can work in AP mode, because you dont want to double NAT yourself. 

 

As far as the concrete goes. Remember that lower bands like 2.4 Ghz are built for penetration. 5 Ghz is not going to be as friendly towards that concrete wall. Its hard to know how much loss you will have. 

[QuantumSingularity]

Well guys, i managed to resolve my problem and decided to post it here in case anyone else encounters something similar. It was indeed the router. First i got D-Link DIR-825 and while a lot better, it didn't solve the the problem entirely. There were still some lags, however the lower bitrate rips were fine. Stayed with it for a few months, but wasn't satisfied by the performance. So today i got a TP-Link AX1800 (or Archer AX20 as it is know here in Europe) and right off the bat it felt much snappier. Now even the 100Gig rips play smoothly w/o interruption. Just in case i disabled the 2.5GHz network and left only the 5GHz. The signal is at max strength in every room unlike the Dir-825 where at 5GHz i lost 20db of the signal in the bedroom. All the devices have reserved channels and IPs so i hope won't get contradicting addresses. So yeah.. it was just a €60 piece of kit that solved all my problems.