Help streaming 4k content

[Lisandro Heinzmann]

Hi everyone. I´m posting this thread because, even though I searched and got some answers, I think I will be better off explaining my particular situation.

I´m trying to stream 4k content to my Nvidia Shield over the network, with plex, and a few seconds after the video starts, I get a message saying that my connection is not good enough to stream this quality.

My setup is as follows.

I have a 100 Mbps down 8 Mbps up connection. My computer (where I have the content) is connected via ethernet to a D-Link DIR-860L router (which I got of a recommended list on the Shield website). In the living room (which is at, roughly, 10 meters away with a wall between it and the router) I have a Lynksis RE2000 range extender and I have an Nvidia Shield connected, via ethernet, to said extender.

Using a test app that checks the connectivity between the Shield and my PC, I get the following results:

Bandwidth (Mbps): 31.22
Frame Loss (%): 0
Jitter (ms): 12
Ping (ms): 3

I checked for this results on different occasions as soon as I got the message from plex so I'm assuming that was the network status when I got the error (The values would be slightly different each time, but nothing mayor).

Also, if I play 4k content through netflix or youtube, I have no problems at all.

I would like to know if you can identify the weak point in my setup. I'm travelling to USA in a few months and I'm planning on getting an ASUS RT-AC88U but I'm afraid to make that change and then not solve the real problem.

Do you guys think my router is the problem? Should I do something different?

I really appreciate any feedback you can give me on this matter. Regards!

 

[microchip]

your bandwidth is not enough. Your ~30 Mbps for 4K content is really pretty low and I assume that's why you get the warning. For example, a remux of some Full HD content can easily exceed the 30 Mbps you have. Now imagine a remux of 4K, it can go as high as 60 Mbps in some cases

 

[Lisandro Heinzmann]

I see, thanks for your reply. Now, considering that I have 100 Mbps, Do you think that if I upgrade my router I should be able to get better bandwith to my shield? I do not know if changing the router would be enough or if I should also consider getting a better extender.

 

[microchip]

I think your extender is the issue, but I might be wrong. You can try connecting the Shield, if possible, to the router directly and do some testing again

 

[Lisandro Heinzmann]

I will try that today. If the problem is the extender, I will then look into the most reliable way to get 100 Mbps to the living room from where the router is. Thanks again for your reply

 

[MichaelCG]

If you want the most reliable way to get 100Mbps to the living room...it is via Cat5e or Cat6 cable. It sounds like your current setup is possibly operating over 2.4GHz instead of 5GHz which could explain the 30Mbps speeds being reported. If you are determined to do this via WiFi, I would suggest investing in some AC capable gear to help get those link and throughput rates up more. This would be a new router/AP and a new extender/bridge that are AC capable.

If you are streaming from your in-home plex server to your in-home shield...your Internet connection and actual router performance aren't even in the picture. This is going to be primarily a factor of the network(WiFi) performance between those two systems.

 

[Lisandro Heinzmann]

I see what you mean. The reason I would like to avoid ethernet is because it would be quite complicated to get the cable from the router to the Shield. Do you think that if I get an ASUS RT-AC88U as a router and an ASUS RP-AC52 AC750 as a repeter I should get the signal I need? If that would still be unrealiable, then I would just try to get the cable routed to the Shield.

 

[sfx2000]

Do you think that if I get an ASUS RT-AC88U as a router and an ASUS RP-AC52 AC750 as a repeter I should get the signal I need? If that would still be unrealiable, then I would just try to get the cable routed to the Shield.

Have you considered HomePlugs or similar (like G.Hn or MOCA)...

 

[Lisandro Heinzmann]

Have you considered HomePlugs or similar (like G.Hn or MOCA)...

Honestly, I had no idea that was a posibility (I´m kind of new to the networking situation). I will look into that. On the other hand, I connected the shield through an ethernet CAT5e cable (moved it temporarily close to the router) and made a test with an aplication that sends a file and meassures the speed. I sent a 9000 MB file and, if I understand correctly I´m getting 3800 megabits per second transfer (around 400 megabytes). Am I correct to asume that this would be enough to stream the content without problems?

 

[Klueless]

How's the 5 GHz signal to the living room? You might try forcing the range extender to connect to the router at 5 GHz. (I'm using a range extender to connect two buildings, N protocol over 5 GHz, and am getting 215 Mbps.) You might get lucky.

 

[MichaelCG]

Something is up with your LAN Speed Test....not exactly possible you are getting 3.8Gbps across a 1Gbps link. A proper 1Gbps hard wired connection between PCs should easily net around 500Mbps or higher depending on the performance of the client and server.

Why are you using an extender wired to the shield? Doesn't the shield have built-in WiFi?

Pretty sure all options have been covered by the various posts so far.

- Force extender to 5GHz (tune existing WiFi)
- Run hard line
- Use PowerLine devices
- Replace WiFi AP and Client with AC capable gear
- Use MOCA devices

The level of effort, performance, and cost all vary across these options. The cheapest will be to tune your existing setup better by forcing to 5GHz and confirming you have a clear channel.

 

[sm00thpapa]

I have always read that you need a minimum of 25Mbps to stream 4K content. In my experience on my LG and Sony 4K tv the most I've seen is 17 Mbps while streaming a 4K movie.