In my house, I have a rather large media network.
Components:
2tb seagate external hard drives with media (x3)
2 Laptops (Windows 7)
1 "media server" (pc running windows 7 connected to 2tb harddrives)
1 Belkin N+ Router
Right now, the "Media Server" streams media from the 3 2tbhd's to the 2 laptops as well as a PS3. The 2 laptops are networked to stream and the PS3 receives it's streaming via PS3mediaserver.
When I am at home, my HTC HD2 connects to my home network. How do I get the media on those harddrives streamed to the HTC HD2? I know it has a media streaming app but thus far using the physical address on the network has not worked.
Thoughts?
Thanks
cfallaw said:
In my house, I have a rather large media network.
Components:
2tb seagate external hard drives with media (x3)
2 Laptops (Windows 7)
1 "media server" (pc running windows 7 connected to 2tb harddrives)
1 Belkin N+ Router
Right now, the "Media Server" streams media from the 3 2tbhd's to the 2 laptops as well as a PS3. The 2 laptops are networked to stream and the PS3 receives it's streaming via PS3mediaserver.
When I am at home, my HTC HD2 connects to my home network. How do I get the media on those harddrives streamed to the HTC HD2? I know it has a media streaming app but thus far using the physical address on the network has not worked.
Thoughts?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need a streaming server that the HD2 can use either via the browser or the streaming media app, over the wifi ...
I would check out tversity , it is free and pretty damn cool ....
watcher64 said:
You need a streaming server that the HD2 can use either via the browser or the streaming media app, over the wifi ...
I would check out tversity , it is free and pretty damn cool ....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
Orb is another one that's worth checking out:
www.orb.com
I will look in to Orb.
I tried Tversity previously to stream all media to the PS3. Unfortunately, it would crash when I tried to direct it to more that one external hard drive. I might look into it again. I am sure I will find out it when I look at it, but I wonder if they have added "thumbnail" previews. They had not in the past.
Thanks for the suggestions.
I'm looking for something that will let me access all my music and movies from my nexus 10. Something that won't need any PC set up our access. I gave my laptop to my girlfriend and use my nexus 10 and galaxy nexus exclusively. I bought a GoFlex 3TB Home yesterday thinking that I could plug it in to my router and a ton of storage fit music and movies. I returned today because after a day of trying to set it up I could not get anything close to a smooth experience. It took me half the day just to register it with seagates servers (the drive is unusable until registered) and the go flex android app is a joke.
Does anyone have a Wi-Fi hard drive set up that doesn't go through a PC? I thought about picking up a go flex satellite but after the goflex home I have no faith in seagates system.
kosmab said:
I'm looking for something that will let me access all my music and movies from my nexus 10. Something that won't need any PC set up our access. I gave my laptop to my girlfriend and use my nexus 10 and galaxy nexus exclusively. I bought a GoFlex 3TB Home yesterday thinking that I could plug it in to my router and a ton of storage fit music and movies. I returned today because after a day of trying to set it up I could not get anything close to a smooth experience. It took me half the day just to register it with seagates servers (the drive is unusable until registered) and the go flex android app is a joke.
Does anyone have a Wi-Fi hard drive set up that doesn't go through a PC? I thought about picking up a go flex satellite but after the goflex home I have no faith in seagates system.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was looking at these. They have a bridged mode as well so you can maintain the Internet connection.
http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-Wi-D...id=1356746901&sr=8-3&keywords=wifi+hard+drive
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk HD
I just picked up one of the Kingston 64gb with drives. Really liking it so far and have had a good experience streaming movies from it, not a ton of storage but would recommend. I got it mainly for traveling with the kids for them to watch movies.
My router has some sort of DLNA thing and a USB port; not entirely sure if it would be usable for storage though, but it should be fine for media streaming.
I use BubbleUPnP to stream media from my PCs to my nexus 10. Its available in the Google Play Store
Sent from my Nexus 10 using xda app-developers app
Maybe this is what you're looking for :
Sorry - wasn't allowed to post a link. But look out for CloudFTP.
--
Sent from my Nexus 10 with Tapatalk2
[email protected]&SuperSU+Busybox
I picked up the seagate goflex satellite for $100 during the holidays. Stock, It's definitely hindered by the lousy software/firmware, but you can replace it, either on your own or for $35 you can get a package from www.hackseagatesatellite.com. Essentially, you are installing a linux server system on it. You can run SMB, webDav, FTP, iTunes server, or DLNA system. Multiple devices can also stream from it simultaneously.
I haven't tried it, but it also has dropbox and eyefi integration.
The hardware is not fast enough to stream a 30 gb 1080p mkv file. But if you transcode it with handbrake to a reasonable size, it streams well with only an occasional stutter with the stock player.
If you use BS player in LAN mode, and set the buffer to large, It plays the entire 1080p movie without any hiccups or pauses. (Avatar plays beautifully. I am also undervolted and underclocked with the KTmanta kernel)
I'm not quite sure if this would fit your situation but try using a NAS (Network Attached Storage). Then just find an app on the play store that supports streaming from one and viola! You can even take it a step further and download movies onto your N10, then transfer them to the NAS, allowing anyone with access to view/stream content.
I know Newegg has a dedicated section for NAS setups, but I'd consider buying a NAS enabled hard drive bay and tossing in a few old drives. Upgrade-ability + Customization :good:
An additional bonus to using NAS is you do not need a router that supports it in comparison to DLNA /USB support.
I would agree with this, I have the same setup - using an old version of Dlink's DNS-323.
Hi,
I've been trying to stream some .mkv files from my Windows Home Server to my Nexus 7 and anything over 1GB runs like a dog, choppy and slow (using any media player). It works fine locally using OTG or from the internal SD partition. The problem appears to be the wireless, so I did some testing using 3 AP's dotted around the house.
Using ES Explorer and copying a 1.3GB file from my WHS to my Nexus 7...
Billion 7800N - 1.5-2 MB/s
Mikrotik 951 - 500-600 KB/s
Netgear WR802T - 1.2-1.5 MB/s
Unfortunately the Mikrotik is the one near the bedroom, where I stream the most!
Question: Whats the best throughput you have seen via WIFI - and what router are you using? I have conceded that the Mikrotik is cack for WIFI, so I'm looking a purchasing a new AP / Router. The current "top dog" for speed appears to be the Asus RT-N66U (I've seen on various sites). It's expensive but I just need it to work, anyone use the RT-N66U with Nexus 7 for streaming have an opinion before I buy? Would be much appreciated.
Thanks
No N66U users out there??
Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda app-developers app
dannysmith43 said:
Hi,
I've been trying to stream some .mkv files from my Windows Home Server to my Nexus 7 and anything over 1GB runs like a dog, choppy and slow (using any media player). It works fine locally using OTG or from the internal SD partition. The problem appears to be the wireless, so I did some testing using 3 AP's dotted around the house.
Using ES Explorer and copying a 1.3GB file from my WHS to my Nexus 7...
Billion 7800N - 1.5-2 MB/s
Mikrotik 951 - 500-600 KB/s
Netgear WR802T - 1.2-1.5 MB/s
Unfortunately the Mikrotik is the one near the bedroom, where I stream the most!
Question: Whats the best throughput you have seen via WIFI - and what router are you using? I have conceded that the Mikrotik is cack for WIFI, so I'm looking a purchasing a new AP / Router. The current "top dog" for speed appears to be the Asus RT-N66U (I've seen on various sites). It's expensive but I just need it to work, anyone use the RT-N66U with Nexus 7 for streaming have an opinion before I buy? Would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, not sure if this will help before you purchase an RT-N66U - but maybe offer some insight and maybe you won't need to spend anything...
I've got a couple of different setups I have had success with for streaming at home and have no issues with larger mkv files...none of which depend on Windows or WHS for "streaming" the files. That said, I think you might be ok with your router and might want to start with looking at the source. Also, I have 2 routers in my home, one is set up as a "bridge" so that I can access my wifi without having to have a second SSID and password for the additional AP. The second router (the bridge) is not as robust as the main, but still works just fine.
Unless I'm mistaken (I know windows in general doesn't, and as far as I know Win Home Server is the same), Windows isn't going to natively handle your mkv files without a codec pack or some type of splitter and I think that's where you're running into issue.
But I personally don't use windows itself to stream anything to my devices directly, and I do have a box with WHS on it. However, I do my use my other windows boxes with both Plex and XBMC and they handle larger MKV files fine.
I also have had success with large MKV files using a cheap Pogoplug that I picked up for $15 and playing them from a flash drive hooked up to it! (its like this http://www.adorama.com/COCPOGOP21.html)
That said, Plex (http://www.plexapp.com/) lets your pc do the heavy lifting with the transcoding (which is essentially the same that's occurring with your windows home server, but it handles mkvs) for the device.
There's also XBMC (http://xbmc.org/about/) just "serves" the file and using something like UPNPLAY (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=cx.hoohol.silanoid&hl=en) and MXPlayer (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mxtech.videoplayer.ad&hl=en) should work fine.
As far as the pogoplug - it doesn't like the mkv extension, but if you rename the file to an "mp4" extension, the pogo app will allow you transcode or play original. I don't care to have it transcode anything, so I select "play original" with the app on the nexus and let mxplayer do the work - no sweat. In addition to playing at home, that option (as well as Plex) allows you to stream when away from home (3g/4g or wifi) without having to punch a hole in your firewall to access it from off site.
One thing you might consider is ripping some type of large videos in a couple other formats other than mkv and see if your WHS handles them better. If so, it's isolated to MKVs and your WHS and you likely need to re-encode to a different format or try another option. Also, have you tried disconnecting the router you feel is "slow" or not connect to that AP and see if the movies stream better from another AP? If it is the same, it's related to the MKV and WHS.
Hope that helps some.
Has anyone had issues with their player randomly dropping connection to WiFi?
I only noticed this because I use Plex a lot. And after a few days it would stop playback and tell me it couldn't find the server. So naturally I though it was either an issue with my server (never had problems in the past) or the app.
Recently I noticed when I scroll through the apps the WiFi logo at the bottom shows its not connected.
I scrolled through setting to try and see if there's any advance settings I could tweak but there's not.
I will reset my netgear router when I get home. But has anyone experienced this yet??
Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk
Haven't had any issues staying connected to my AC68U over the past three days. Family streamed a few movies yesterday and last night and been playing music quite a bit without any problems. Hopefully resetting your router will fix your issue. Good luck.
I have also been having wifi issues on the nexus player. I have not updated to the recent image that was posted and was hoping that would fix the issue. I also have a usb ethernet adapter on the way. Not really impressed with the devices so far, am still using my mk808 primarily which the nexus player was supposed to replace
Edit: update by flashing the latest system.IMG and have not had WiFi drop out yet.
Elrondolio said:
Haven't had any issues staying connected to my AC68U over the past three days. Family streamed a few movies yesterday and last night and been playing music quite a bit without any problems. Hopefully resetting your router will fix your issue. Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe I got it acting right now. I saw in another thread issues with the player dropping 5ghz signal. It was suggested to just use 2.4 band instead. When I got home this morning I set up a separate network for the player to connect to with the player as the highest priority and it seems to be jam up.
Only other issue I'm seeing is my mkv blurays will only play for a few minutes then stop. They're huge files so I'm thinking this has something to do with it. Other than that I'm happy for now!
Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk
same problem. Fix?
I have had the exact same problem. If it isn't too much trouble, would you mind explaining how you did this? I am not too versed in network technology. I am guessing this is something I do on the d-link page? Is that correct?
Thanks so much.
codygs83 said:
I believe I got it acting right now. I saw in another thread issues with the player dropping 5ghz signal. It was suggested to just use 2.4 band instead. When I got home this morning I set up a separate network for the player to connect to with the player as the highest priority and it seems to be jam up.
Only other issue I'm seeing is my mkv blurays will only play for a few minutes then stop. They're huge files so I'm thinking this has something to do with it. Other than that I'm happy for now!
Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
markculton said:
I have had the exact same problem. If it isn't too much trouble, would you mind explaining how you did this? I am not too versed in network technology. I am guessing this is something I do on the d-link page? Is that correct?
Thanks so much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been using Plex for 4 years or so.. In my experience, nothing beats using Ethernet instead of Wifi...
I use TP Link Powerline extender to connect the Nexus Player (i also have a Roku next to it)... My plex media server is on a laptop connected directly to the router... I have tried everything and this set up is the fastest and the best resolution. NEVER buffers and i watch everything in 1080p.
Stop wasting time figuring out the wifi and go ethernet. You wont regret it.
Wifi needs to be better.
spyderman33 said:
I use TP Link Powerline extender to connect the Nexus Player
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
spyderman33 said:
Stop wasting time figuring out the wifi and go ethernet. You wont regret it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How, precisely, do you have it connected? There is no Ethernet port on the Nexus Player--do you have a USB to Ethernet adapter that works? There is no arguing that Ethernet is the way to go with Plex and high bitrate; however, I rarely ever have any issues playing my 1080p stuff over Chromecast (which is 2.4Ghz N wifi only) and I have this device connected using 5Ghz 802.11ac so there should be no issues.
Sadly, mine will not stay connected to my 5Ghz 802.11ac network, it does seem to stay connected to my 5Ghz 802.11n access point a little better. I am pretty certain the Nexus Player has some wifi bugs that need to be worked out, ASAP! It's frustrating that Ethernet is not an option by default.
innoman said:
How, precisely, do you have it connected? There is no Ethernet port on the Nexus Player--do you have a USB to Ethernet adapter that works? There is no arguing that Ethernet is the way to go with Plex and high bitrate; however, I rarely ever have any issues playing my 1080p stuff over Chromecast (which is 2.4Ghz N wifi only) and I have this device connected using 5Ghz 802.11ac so there should be no issues.
Sadly, mine will not stay connected to my 5Ghz 802.11ac network, it does seem to stay connected to my 5Ghz 802.11n access point a little better. I am pretty certain the Nexus Player has some wifi bugs that need to be worked out, ASAP! It's frustrating that Ethernet is not an option by default.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct, I am using an MIcro USB to USB OTG Cable http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D8YZ2SA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I am sure the bugs will get sorted out but until then, this is the best solution...
innoman said:
How, precisely, do you have it connected? There is no Ethernet port on the Nexus Player--do you have a USB to Ethernet adapter that works? There is no arguing that Ethernet is the way to go with Plex and high bitrate; however, I rarely ever have any issues playing my 1080p stuff over Chromecast (which is 2.4Ghz N wifi only) and I have this device connected using 5Ghz 802.11ac so there should be no issues.
Sadly, mine will not stay connected to my 5Ghz 802.11ac network, it does seem to stay connected to my 5Ghz 802.11n access point a little better. I am pretty certain the Nexus Player has some wifi bugs that need to be worked out, ASAP! It's frustrating that Ethernet is not an option by default.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i could argue that ethernet is not the way to go. FireTv/Ouya/Mojo Madcatz only have a fast ethernet port (100mbps max) and ac can go close to gigabit speeds. I get 833mbps on my Netgear r8000 on ac. I can easily play 20GB+ files without any drops. I even played REMUX blurays (as long as they arent VC1, which the firetv doesnt support either) and those files played just fine too. So unless you get a true gigabit port (which i know of no Android box having) 802.11ac is the ideal option for the Nexus Player. Dont waste your money with a gigabit to USB adapter because the NExus PLayer has a USB 2.0 which can only give you a max of 480mbps.
My suggestion is save some of that money you're saving from your cable bill, sell your current router and keep that $20 you would be spending on a USB to Ethernet adapter and invest in a wireless AC router, you can get a decent Route for $100.
http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-Arche...F8&qid=1416715312&sr=8-1&keywords=wireless+ac
Also what AC ROuter do you have? if its an ASUS than im sorry, i had a ASUS 87u and changed it for a Netgear r8000 because i had constant drops with ASUS, if you turn off Beamforming it will fix your wireless AC drops. at least it did for me.
---------- Post added at 08:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:52 PM ----------
markculton said:
I have had the exact same problem. If it isn't too much trouble, would you mind explaining how you did this? I am not too versed in network technology. I am guessing this is something I do on the d-link page? Is that correct?
Thanks so much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what kind of router do you have?
mejdam said:
i could argue that ethernet is not the way to go. Fire Tv only has a fast ethernet port (100mbps max) and ac can go close to gigabit speeds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
100Mbps is more than the device would likely ever need to stream any type of media one would stream on the Fire TV and it will get 100% of that bandwidth between the Fire TV and the switch (assuming you don't have a faulty cable, obviously) 100% of the time--regardless of what other devices on your network or your neighbors networks are doing. Sure, 802.11ac permits better than gigabit speeds... but that doesn't guarantee them. Also, there is the issue of signal degradation when you're further away from your router, the fact that it's shared bandwidth, etc. You could argue both ways but wired is definitely the more reliable option in most cases. The FireTV has either Fast Ethernet OR 802.11n, no gigabit speeds either way.
Sadly, the fire TV has issues with several audio codecs and just isn't what it should be (yet, at least). I'm kinda over the fact that I have to use an external player to play DD 5.1--which is part of the reason I decided to give the Nexus Player a try... that and I wanted to see what google could do this time around.
I have the Buffalo WZR-D1800H--It was an earlier model and not the greatest but it's worked flawlessly and lets me transfer at 40+MB/s on a different floor. I get around 12MB/s using my 802.11n 5Ghz AP upstairs (3 floors with the ac router on the first). If I got the Ethernet cable thing, I'd spend $10 on the 10/100Mbps since it would be sufficient but I shouldn't have to do that. All the other devices in my place do fine even on N, the Nexus Player should be working awesomely on ac... It just isn't and it has issues on N and G--I honestly think it may partly be a Plex issue. I think there are also some deeper wifi connectivity issues.
spyderman33 said:
Correct, I am using an MIcro USB to USB OTG Cable http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D8YZ2SA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool, what are you using for USB to Ethernet? I have a few USB OTG cables (I got them pretty cheap when I got my first Nexus) and I might as well put them to some good use... I'd like for my Nexus Player to actually play my Plex media without all the issues! Would something like this work?: http://smile.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Ethernet-Adapter-Black/dp/B00ET4KHJ2
****
I should also add that my NAS & Plex Server (PC, used for several things) are all wired over Gigabit. My wireless router doesn't have to do that much, generally, except connect my phone, Mac Book Pro, Chromecast in bedroom, SqueezeBox and a few other little things that don't use much data.
innoman said:
100Mbps is more than the device would likely ever need to stream any type of media one would stream on the Fire TV and it will get 100% of that bandwidth between the Fire TV and the switch (assuming you don't have a faulty cable, obviously) 100% of the time--regardless of what other devices on your network or your neighbors networks are doing. Sure, 802.11ac permits better than gigabit speeds... but that doesn't guarantee them. Also, there is the issue of signal degradation when you're further away from your router, the fact that it's shared bandwidth, etc. You could argue both ways but wired is definitely the more reliable option in most cases. The FireTV has either Fast Ethernet OR 802.11n, no gigabit speeds either way.
Sadly, the fire TV has issues with several audio codecs and just isn't what it should be (yet, at least). I'm kinda over the fact that I have to use an external player to play DD 5.1--which is part of the reason I decided to give the Nexus Player a try... that and I wanted to see what google could do this time around.
Cool, what are you using for USB to Ethernet? I have a few USB OTG cables (I got them pretty cheap when I got my first Nexus) and I might as well put them to some good use... I'd like for my Nexus Player to actually play my Plex media without all the issues! Would something like this work?: http://smile.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Ethernet-Adapter-Black/dp/B00ET4KHJ2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes my ac band of 833mbps is shared, so even if i have 8 constant devices on that band it still would be faster than a 100mbps wired connection. I own a firetv and have no issues with DD5.1 files from my Synology 1812+, by any chance are you using Samba shares from a windows box? if so thats your problem, switch to NFS shares. also wired connections are shared unless you run a router directly to your setup box without going through a switch. you didnt answer my question though, what ac router do you have that you're having issues with.
mejdam said:
by any chance are you using Samba shares from a windows box? if so thats your problem, switch to NFS shares. also wired connections are shared unless you run a router directly to your setup box without going through a switch. you didnt answer my question though, what ac router do you have that you're having issues with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I added in, it may not have posted until you already started your reply. I accidentally posted before I added it in--I needed to check on the model.
The Ethernet connection is only shared if you are using a hub. A switch (I have a 16 port Gigabit switch that connects to my router) provides dedicated bandwidth to each available port--up to 2Gbps/port (1 up and 1 down, concurrently). My specific switch with 16 1Gbps ports can handle up to ~32Gbps worth of traffic at once. My Plex server is connected directly to the switch as is my NAS. The only way I'd have to worry about saturating the PC (Plex Server) to switch link is if I am transferring large amounts of data between the PC and my NAS and that's not common--and definitely not the cause of my issue. It's actually never caused me an issue. The link between the Fire TV and switch is always 100Mbps (assuming there isn't any broadcast traffic or that sort of thing, which isn't likely).
I do use NFS with everything except the media shares from my NAS, sadly. It is a goal but I am going to have to install the Enterprise version of Windows on my PC--Microsoft doesn't appear to support NFS (client) on Windows 8.x unless you have Enterprise and I have Pro. I guess that's what I get for actually paying for it? I am going to put Enterprise on my PC at some point but it's not a priority. Over Gigabit, SMB is sufficient for my use--the overhead isn't an issue right now. That said, I do use Plex so the media share between the Fire TV and my Server is Plex.
If you have your Plex server on let's say port 3 and multiple devices are talking to the Plex server than that line is being shared, which was my point. Again it would take over 8 devices on my ac band before its the speed of your single 100mbps line.
Over gigabit smb is sufficient? You just said you needed to connect a hard drive to your firetv to correctly play ac3 files. Clearly smb is your problem and you don't need to pay for NFS shares, there are free alternatives. Also the speed of your "network" might be gigabit but your speed to your firetv is truly only 100mbps because that's the max the Ethernet port can go. I'm not trying to pick a fight, I'm just saying that with the nexus player 802.11ac gives you the fastest speeds. Sure wred gigabit could be faster but there's one problem, there's no gigabit port or even fastethernet port.
mejdam said:
If you have your Plex server on let's say port 3 and multiple devices are talking to the Plex server than that line is being shared, which was my point. Again it would take over 8 devices on my ac band before its the speed of your single 100mbps line.
Over gigabit smb is sufficient? You just said you needed to connect a hard drive to your firetv to correctly play ac3 files. Clearly smb is your problem and you don't need to pay for NFS shares, there are free alternatives. Also the speed of your "network" might be gigabit but your speed to your firetv is truly only 100mbps because that's the max the Ethernet port can go. I'm not trying to pick a fight, I'm just saying that with the nexus player 802.11ac gives you the fastest speeds. Sure wred gigabit could be faster but there's one problem, there's no gigabit port or even fastethernet port.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think there is a little bit of confusion. My Plex Server/PC are on say port 1 of my 16 port gigabit switch and is communicating with the switch at ~1Gbps. My NAS is on ports 2/3 and both ports are at a Gigabit (each NAS port has it's own IP--one is just used for my Mac and phone backups, the other is predominately used by my PC for Plex shares and whatever other files I put on there) and my FireTV is on port 4 at 100Mbps (limited by the FireTV). (I do not connect a hard drive to my Fire TV, I think someone else said that). I can stream to 3 different TVs (using a mix of a google TV (wired), Chromecast (wifi) and Fire TV (wired or wifi--same results either way) without any issues, buffering or otherwise, at full 1080p with ~12GB files all using Plex. It works near flawlessly most of the time. The only issue is that the Fire TV doesn't stream 5.1 audio (most of my content is AC3) UNLESS I use an external player (XBMC, etc...)--lots of info about this in the Plex forums.
The Fire TV does not have 802.11ac, it has 802.11n. Having it connected to an 802.11ac access point doesn't offer any real benefit other than they tend to do 802.11n slightly better than most 802.11n routers, presumably because they tend to be more powerful. There is no benefit for putting my FireTV on wifi over Ethernet--none what-so-ever since there is already an Ethernet port right next to it--because it will only add traffic to my wireless network. Putting it on wifi isn't going to give it much more bandwidth than having it connected Ethernet with the distance it is away from my 5Ghz router/AP (each is on a different floor) and the level of congestion around me on 2.4Ghz, which is on the same floor (I live in a Condo Complex in uptown Dallas, lots of other wifi routers). The connection between my Fire TV and my switch is ~100Mbps and the connection between my Plex Server is ~1Gbps. I can be moving files betwen my Plex Server and NAS at around 700-800Mbps and still play video on my FireTV from my Plex Server without any issues at it's max bitrate.
SMB is not my problem, I've been using it for a while. The Fire TV has some audio codec/passthrough issues with it's native player. If I switch to SPMC or XBMC and PlexBMC, I can play AC3 5.1 fine straight from my Plex server. I can also select External Player within Plex and play media through any external player such as XBMC without any issues with audio. The problem is that it's a pain to do it that way and it doesn't keep up with watched history, etc. like it should. You also have to manually choose the external player you want to use each time and there are issues with exiting some of them, FF/Rew, etc. The Nexus seems to be able to play my media fine with full AC3 5.1 surround... except it chokes randomly, freezes, etc. and that appears to be related to the wifi. I never said I would be paying for NFS! I will most definitely not be giving Microsoft more of my money to get a simple feature that should have been available in the pro version. As for the free options, I've tried several and they are flaky--so annoying. There is a good NFS server for Windows (Hanewin or something like that) that I've used (and actually run on my moms setup) but I need a client because my NAS does NFS. The free clients I've tried just aren't what they should be, many are dated. The good clients want money.
Ultimately, the fact that the Ethernet port on the FireTV isn't really relevant because that's all that specific port needs to be, I don't have any media with anywhere near a 100Mbps bitrate. Using a switch means that port gets 100% of its bandwidth 100% of the time regardless of what else my network is doing. A lot of people think a switch and a hub are the same thing because they look the same and kind of function the same, but they are quite different. A switch is able to provide each port it's dedicated bandwidth to each other port (traffic is only sent to the port it's designated for) and a hub is totally shared across all ports (traffic from every port is seen by every port). (I'm not suggesting you don't already know this, please don't take offense.) Sorry, I know that's a lot of info, I just want to try to clarify. It's so much easier with a whiteboard! The end result, however, is that something is not right with either the Nexus Player or Plex--I think there are issues with both considering my Nexus Player has issues connecting to my router and both access points and loses connection randomly and that when it is connected, YouTube/Hulu/Netflix all play pretty well. I, also, am not trying to argue--I'm just trying to clarify my situation.
Also, you mention if I have my Plex server on port 3 and multiple clients talking to that port... it's shared. True, but it's a gigabit connection being shared. Unless there are a whole lot of clients communicating with that Plex Server, it's not going to saturate so there should still be plenty of bandwidth for any other Plex client I might have on other ports. It would take 10 Fire TVs each playing close to a 100Mbps (bitrate) media clip to saturate my Plex Server connection (assuming there is nothing else communicating with my Plex server).
"Cool, what are you using for USB to Ethernet? I have a few USB OTG cables (I got them pretty cheap when I got my first Nexus) and I might as well put them to some good use... I'd like for my Nexus Player to actually play my Plex media without all the issues! Would something like this work?: http://smile.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Ethernet-Adapter-Black/dp/B00ET4KHJ2"
I am actually using an Apple USB to Ethernet adapter that I had lying around and never use... Its exactly like this one.
http://www.amazon.com/Apple-MB442-U...1416754525&sr=8-1&keywords=apple+usb+ethernet
I think you can use any generic one really..
It was plug and play, didnt ask for anything, it just said it was connected to Ethernet when I checked.
If anyone else is having connection issues check you Date and Time. My Nexus Player was connected but but none of the apps could connect to anything. Upon checking dmesg I saw a lot of these error exceptions
Code:
Caused by: com.android.org.bouncycastle.jce.exception.ExtCertPathValidatorException: Could not validate certificate: Certificate not valid until Fri Apr 05 09:15:55 MDT 2013 (compared to Fri Dec 31 19:41:48 MST 1999)
Turns out all the Google apps use SSL and since my date was set to 1999 the certs showed up as invalid, I have automatic time turned on.
So for now just set your date manually and don't use Automatic Date&Time.
My NP is only able to connect to 2.4Ghz wireless. I have 2 different SSID's (2.4 and 5.0) and NP can see the 5.0, but gives an error that it can't find the network after you enter the password and try to connect.
The NP also keeps on dropping the 2.4Ghz Wi-Fi connection. I have many wireless devices on this network on both 2.4 and 5.0 Ghz working just fine so I know that the router is not the issue. (Asus RT-N66U)
I'm seeing similar issues, problems with 2.4ghz and worse with 5ghz. I'm using a USB to ethernet adapter and it was working pretty well when I was home. I left for the weekend so I only got a few hours to play with it but no issues
I too had trouble connecting to 5Ghz until I manually set the channel to 48 in my ASUS DSL-AC68U router. It won't connect to any 3 digit 5Ghz channels like 149 etc.
I am having issues with most 1080p content, even over Ethernet. There are just issues with the device and with Plex that need to be worked out. Google needs to get to work on it now!