Database Users

What's the best WiFi adapter for a PC?

I plan to drop my verizon fios service and just tether from my S4. I figured this was a good place to ask which WiFi adapter is the best for this, or at least which brand? I figure PCI is better then USB, but that's all I know.
I'm running Win7 64bit on a nice custom built rig, if that makes any difference.
Thanks!

Nobody had a thing to say?
Well, I did a little poking around and saw that the S4 has 802.11ac capability. There's only one PCI-e adapter available on New Egg that supports 802.11ac. Its an Asus brand with a nice tri-antenna stand to get the antennas away from the back of the PC box. I'll report back in a few weeks to say how it works.

Got the WiFi adapter in the mail and installed today. Only spent a few minutes fooling with it but it installs easy and appears to work well. Connection speed for forum browsing and email checking was snappy and indistinguishable from the wired fios connection.

WiFi connectivity problems

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.
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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
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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.
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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
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spyderman33 said:
Stop wasting time figuring out the wifi and go ethernet. You wont regret it.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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!

[Q] Limelight Game Streaming

Has anyone used the Limelight app? I've got my PC which is wired into a Airport Extreme and then of course the Nexus Player is connected over N my router doesn't do AC. If I do the Nvidia Utility to optimize games and then run at 720p everything runs perfect but if I up it to 1080p it lags not really bad but bad enough that it annoys you. I know it is not the PC because it can run with everything maxed out no problem. I'm assuming it is a bandwidth issue getting to the nexus player. Would it be best to maybe get a USB ethernet adapter or a AC router. I have no problem running the ethernet cable actually already have one ran for my Roku 3.

jtboyz01 said:
Has anyone used the Limelight app? I've got my PC which is wired into a Airport Extreme and then of course the Nexus Player is connected over N my router doesn't do AC. If I do the Nvidia Utility to optimize games and then run at 720p everything runs perfect but if I up it to 1080p it lags not really bad but bad enough that it annoys you. I know it is not the PC because it can run with everything maxed out no problem. I'm assuming it is a bandwidth issue getting to the nexus player. Would it be best to maybe get a USB ethernet adapter or a AC router. I have no problem running the ethernet cable actually already have one ran for my Roku 3.
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mine operates 1080p fine
the only problem I have is sometimes when I load a game directly it is black screen, so I just load it through the steam dashboard.

Streaming from the nvidia tools, the picture is not great but I believe it's due to compression and not resolution. Also there's a bit of input lag, which appears to be due to streaming and not input communication (near instant response on the broadcasting PC).

Gave it my first shot tonight.
I'm using the Nexus Player over LAN via USB OTG and a StarTech (see: cheap-ass) USB 2.0 HUB. I set connection to 1080p 60FPS, and 100MB connection. I'm using a Netgear R6250 AC router. I was able to play Steam Big Picture without any noticeable input lag. I tested several different games: BioShock Infinite (the final checkpoint to the ending), Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky (much higher than 60FPS), Final Fantasy XIII (about 1 hour of gameplay), and Brutal Legend (played about 20 minutes of gameplay, hated it). The main point is: I was taken back. I didn't expect this to work so well, and I don't regret my Nexus Player purchase anymore, even if Google were to abandon the project as it stands now (lets be real, this project needs a lot of work).
If there's anything else you'd like to know, I'd be happy to provide the information. Oh, while I'm mentioning what I played, I'm running a fairly decent rig, an i5 4670k, with 8GB Corsiar RAM, and an EVGA GeForce 660Ti. Nothing is currently overclocked.

khoooool

SoundMage said:
Gave it my first shot tonight.
I'm using the Nexus Player over LAN via USB OTG and a StarTech (see: cheap-ass) USB 2.0 HUB. I set connection to 1080p 60FPS, and 100MB connection. I'm using a Netgear R6250 AC router. I was able to play Steam Big Picture without any noticeable input lag. I tested several different games: BioShock Infinite (the final checkpoint to the ending), Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky (much higher than 60FPS), Final Fantasy XIII (about 1 hour of gameplay), and Brutal Legend (played about 20 minutes of gameplay, hated it). The main point is: I was taken back. I didn't expect this to work so well, and I don't regret my Nexus Player purchase anymore, even if Google were to abandon the project as it stands now (lets be real, this project needs a lot of work).
If there's anything else you'd like to know, I'd be happy to provide the information. Oh, while I'm mentioning what I played, I'm running a fairly decent rig, an i5 4670k, with 8GB Corsiar RAM, and an EVGA GeForce 660Ti. Nothing is currently overclocked.
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What controller did you use? And was there any issue with button mapping?

SoundMage said:
Gave it my first shot tonight.
I'm using the Nexus Player over LAN via USB OTG and a StarTech (see: cheap-ass) USB 2.0 HUB. I set connection to 1080p 60FPS, and 100MB connection. I'm using a Netgear R6250 AC router. I was able to play Steam Big Picture without any noticeable input lag. I tested several different games: BioShock Infinite (the final checkpoint to the ending), Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky (much higher than 60FPS), Final Fantasy XIII (about 1 hour of gameplay), and Brutal Legend (played about 20 minutes of gameplay, hated it). The main point is: I was taken back. I didn't expect this to work so well, and I don't regret my Nexus Player purchase anymore, even if Google were to abandon the project as it stands now (lets be real, this project needs a lot of work).
If there's anything else you'd like to know, I'd be happy to provide the information. Oh, while I'm mentioning what I played, I'm running a fairly decent rig, an i5 4670k, with 8GB Corsiar RAM, and an EVGA GeForce 660Ti. Nothing is currently overclocked.
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Hmm sounds like it must be a bandwidth issue for me since the Nexus Player is using wireless N and the host is wired. Time to buy a adapter and get a wired connection. Just for curiosity can you try using your AC wireless and see the performance please.

jtboyz01 said:
Hmm sounds like it must be a bandwidth issue for me since the Nexus Player is using wireless N and the host is wired. Time to buy a adapter and get a wired connection. Just for curiosity can you try using your AC wireless and see the performance please.
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I would think in the case of streaming, it would always be better to try to go LAN. I know it's certainly possible to not use WiFi, as I also own an Nvidia Shield Tablet and I play remotely every day (Wifi N,) but certainly preferable to be hard-wired in whenever possible. The Nexus Player automatically switches to LAN when it's connected and settings become available once plugged in. A shame so many things are needed to make that happen though.

I would like to play Grim Fandango Remastered on NP, is it possible via Limelight?
http://grimremastered.com/

Already run an Asus AC68u router (before owning the NP) so I've been playing limelight over ac WiFi. I also have a gtx660ti in my gaming computer. Extremely impressed by nvidia and the folks at limelight who REd the game stream protocol. Truly great experience for me, but I'm not an fps multiplayer fanatic. I just like playing campaign, adventure, hack n slash games on the big screen. My input lag and decode lag was 9ms. I honestly don't know if that's good or bad but it's the numbers I remember from playing Arkham Origins last night. I don't notice any performance hit with that lag. Everything feels real time to me, but I'm probably not very sensitive to that like some real avid gamers may be. Never tried Lan
Everything in my stream library has worked so far. I use the dual shock controller with the sixaxis apk (sideloaded). That screws up the remote but I use my tv remote through HDMI cec anyway, along with the ds3 controller I don't miss the standard controller. The sixaxis apk has a nifty trick that has helped me a few times. In preferences you can toggle "mouse" support with any button. I choose the PS-power button on the ds3. I can't recall which but one of my stream games just sits there asking me to press start, and I can toggle the mouse mode to press it. Most games that ask that (even without game pad support) usually go straight to the game as if limelight is helping you along by providing the start click or something

No problems with Limelght stremaing on mine.. 1080p/60fps, over ac wifi using an AC68u router. I've tested it with about a dozen games at this point, most only briefly.
Latency reported varied from 6 to 10ms, with the median probably falling about 9ms. Feel wise, it was barely perceptible, and didn't have any effect on gameplay in any games tested. I did not test with any shooters, other than Defiance, which is toward the slow end anyway as shooters go. I probably ran about 1hr of Guild Wars 2 through it without any problems - no disconnecting, crashing ,or other wonkyness. Once or twice I'd notice compression artifacts but they would clear up in under about 1/4th of a second.
On the gamepad side of things, I played Assassin's Creed: Black Flag a bit, using a 360 wireless gamepad and the MS usb receiver for it. Here's an interesting tidbit - the game popped into gamepad mode, even though there wasn't a gamepad hooked up to the PC itself.
The gamepad mappings were correct/all buttons worked the same within the game as they do when the gamepad is hooked directly to the PC. I'm not 100% sure that's an out of the box thing though, because I have been messing with the keymap file for the 360 controller to get it's d-pad working in general. I'll have to do a little more testing in that respect when I get a chance.
Overall the experience was great though, and really opens up some interesting possibilities.

I wish my Limelight would work but i think its a problem with my PC and Nvidia Experience sins i cant even get the program to open on my PC, just errors every time i try top open Nvidia Experience, and i tried to connect to my PC from the app and i got prompted with a box to enter the pin and managed to start a game from steam but it didnt work so good, the game started but suddenly i lost the ability to stear and the app kicked me and it takes 10 tried to get it to start just to play 1 minute...
So i tried Splashtop THD and Splashtop 2 but those where unuseable sins the screen was all green and flickery so i have to settle with Kainy HD that works fairly good...

DarkShadowSwE said:
I wish my Limelight would work but i think its a problem with my PC and Nvidia Experience sins i cant even get the program to open on my PC, just errors every time i try top open Nvidia Experience, and i tried to connect to my PC from the app and i got prompted with a box to enter the pin and managed to start a game from steam but it didnt work so good, the game started but suddenly i lost the ability to stear and the app kicked me and it takes 10 tried to get it to start just to play 1 minute...
So i tried Splashtop THD and Splashtop 2 but those where unuseable sins the screen was all green and flickery so i have to settle with Kainy HD that works fairly good...
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Which nvidia GPU are you running?
I remember hearing about something similar called kino console but I've never tried it

darker_slayer said:
Which nvidia GPU are you running?
I remember hearing about something similar called kino console but I've never tried it
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well damn, that worked a lot better, might even pay the ~10$ sins it worked way better than my ~20$+ Splashtop THD.
i got a 970 GTX so should be no problem, but my Nvidia Experience wont even start and seems just buggy as hell, so Kino was a good alternative, low latency and smooth gameplay with the default remote.

Too bad. My 660 does great with limelight. Did you enable gamestream and tell it where to scan your game libraries?
It can also work well just staying inside steam, but on your steam-server you need to go to big picture mode and enable hardware accelerated encoding. HW decoding was enabled by default I believe, but encoding was not. Without it steam IHS will suck through steam and consequently through limelight

darker_slayer said:
Too bad. My 660 does great with limelight. Did you enable gamestream and tell it where to scan your game libraries?
It can also work well just staying inside steam, but on your steam-server you need to go to big picture mode and enable hardware accelerated encoding. HW decoding was enabled by default I believe, but encoding was not. Without it steam IHS will suck through steam and consequently through limelight
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ah, yes, the streaming was enabled and last time i used it i managed to laung borderlands but it soon stoped working and i allways have connection issues and gets disconnected soon after i connect.
the hardware encoding was not tho..., gonna give it one more go with it enabled when my kid goes to bed tonight, cheers again,

darker_slayer said:
Too bad. My 660 does great with limelight. Did you enable gamestream and tell it where to scan your game libraries?
It can also work well just staying inside steam, but on your steam-server you need to go to big picture mode and enable hardware accelerated encoding. HW decoding was enabled by default I believe, but encoding was not. Without it steam IHS will suck through steam and consequently through limelight
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I never knew this was an option . i shall be testing this too thanks
might explain why sometimes i a SLOW ENCODE message on the bottom left , im not using limelight however i have another pc i was just curious about limelight so took a gander in here , glad i did!

Nvidia Shield TV Console & Router settings?

I got my Shield tv console delivered yesterday, (late as possible damn ups) and love it so far, haven't had enough time to play more, but after work today I will. I have an asus rtac68w, which according to nvidia is a held ready router, but I need to know what and how to set up my router to optimally perform for my shield tv and streaming.
Any help people?

The Shield is like any tablet or smartphone. There is nothing "special" to set up in the router for it
It's just highly recommended to use a wired connection for the Shield but have wifi configured too because they're known bugs with current firmware when the network isn't wifi. So sometimes you need to switch to wifi to do some stuff then back to wired for optimal performance. They'll fix this later I guess.
ps: go there : https://forums.geforce.com/default/board/159/ instead of XDA, you'll find official NVidia reps. XDA is ignoring the Shield Android TV so let's us leave.

Basically, to set it up best; Connect it to ethernet that goes straight into the router. That said, You want to make sure it connects to your 5GHz network, that your 5GHz network does not have legacy support enabled (AC only if possible with no N or A support). WMM and BeamForming is helpful sometimes. Those are the basics.
So, whatever you would do to optimize your WiFi for GameStream or GRID on the Shield Tablet or Shield Portable, you could do the same things here, plus the option of straight gigabit ethernet.
I hadn't heard of the issues with the Wired ethernet personally, hopefully they fix that pretty quickly. It may be specific to certain environments or other issues. Also, I know that the controllers use WiFi-Direct (rather than BT), however anything with that causing part of the networking fails would be pure speculation on my part.

I haven't had any issues with Ethernet

ryocoon said:
Also, I know that the controllers use WiFi-Direct (rather than BT), however anything with that causing part of the networking fails would be pure speculation on my part.
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Actually it's the wired connection that 'might' mess with the initial controler pairing:
from a NVidia rep:
https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/836884/?comment=4546797
If you are unable to pair your SHIELD Wireless Controller during initial setup and your SHIELD Android TV is connected to your network over ethernet, try temporarily disconnecting your ethernet cable to go into WiFi mode and check if pairing issue is fixed.
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I haven't had problems either hardworking the console or using the Shield Tablet in console mode and using a Micro USB ethernet connector to hardwire the tablet. I must say that I get less lag streaming games in 4K from my PC using the console vs the tablet. I just wish I could sideload Amazon Prime Instant Video and M-Go so I could stream whatever 4K video content they offer besides only Netflix and YouTube video in 4K. No studdering, no buffering, just good quality 4K video from this thing. I must say, this console could have a major impact over how games could be delivered in the future. No latency at all except 1st person shooters being streamed via Grid. This is the best device I've bought in a long time.

I had some issues with DHCP when first setting up my unit on a wired connection. It kept disconnecting from the internet even when showing a connection. I set up my IP manually and updated to 1.2 and have had no issues since...it is super fast but may still setup wifi as you said just incase.

Rolldog said:
I haven't had problems either hardworking the console or using the Shield Tablet in console mode and using a Micro USB ethernet connector to hardwire the tablet. I must say that I get less lag streaming games in 4K from my PC using the console vs the tablet. I just wish I could sideload Amazon Prime Instant Video and M-Go so I could stream whatever 4K video content they offer besides only Netflix and YouTube video in 4K. No studdering, no buffering, just good quality 4K video from this thing. I must say, this console could have a major impact over how games could be delivered in the future. No latency at all except 1st person shooters being streamed via Grid. This is the best device I've bought in a long time.
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What happens when you side load Amazon video and M-Go? I was able to side load a bunch of apps (including M-go but didn't run it yet) from my rooted samsung Note 2014 by backing up my apps with Titanium to the micro sd. I then moved the micro sd to the Shield TV and used ES File Explorer to auto open some of the zips that contained the APK and installed from there. From my memory, since I'm not at home to check what else I side loaded, I have the following working so far:
Chrome Browser
Dolphin Browser
Dropbox
Google Drive
Popcorn
Showbox
Helium
Facebook
Hulu Plus
Photo Circle
Speedtest
Ppsspp
And jut tested m-go

I'll add that when I first set up the Pro yesterday on a wired connection, it had all sorts of problems -- including not being able to download the update. Had to go wireless to get the update, but by that point it was acting so strange I did a full factory reset right after. (1.0 seemed quite buggy, but 1.2 feels fantastic so far. HUGE strides!). Haven't had problems since.

kgersen said:
The Shield is like any tablet or smartphone. There is nothing "special" to set up in the router for it
It's just highly recommended to use a wired connection for the Shield but have wifi configured too because they're known bugs with current firmware when the network isn't wifi. So sometimes you need to switch to wifi to do some stuff then back to wired for optimal performance. They'll fix this later I guess.
ps: go there : https://forums.geforce.com/default/board/159/ instead of XDA, you'll find official NVidia reps. XDA is ignoring the Shield Android TV so let's us leave.
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The only problem I have with the GeForce forum is there is no way to be notified if you get a reply from anyone. Is there any work around for this?

lartomar2002 said:
The only problem I have with the GeForce forum is there is no way to be notified if you get a reply from anyone. Is there any work around for this?
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not that I know of. The NVidia forum software is very old and bad, everyone agree on that.
I use Feedly and a RSS subscription to monitor the GeForce forum, it's a bit easier.

I have Amazon Prime Video sideloaded, and it works great. Unfortunately, I think a different version utilizes UHD video because I haven't been able to find any 4K content. Netflix and YouTube have some 4K content, and I've been able to stream some games in 4K, but until the UHD content providers start releasing their content to more devices instead of them signing exclusivity contracts (Samsung) to help them offset the royalties on the H.265 content, which is quadruple what H.264 was, I think most people will be limited on 4K content. Sucks.....

Persistent Wifi / Wifi Direct issues with Shield TV

I created a topic a while back about Wifi being disconnected after waking from standby. I turned off standby mode then and dedicated my 5GHz band to the shield. Problems seemed to go away, but they've been getting worse over the last few weeks. This is xposted on nVidia's forums, but I want to see if the XDA community has any advice as well. Any help is appreciated
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I've had my Shield TV since about last November. Overall the unit is great but I'm getting problems with Wifi that seem to be getting worse. When I first had the unit, it seemed like it would disconnect from my wifi after going to sleep and need to be restarted or manually reconnected about once a week or so. I have an ASUS RT-AC68U, and I am using my 5GHz radio. The Shield is the only device I allow to use 5G, and from Wifi Analyzer, there are no other 5GHz routers in my neighborhood. My router and Shield are on the same floor of my house, and only separated by about 20ft with minimal obstruction (Shield is inside a TV stand, router is in the next room with door open.
When the problem first started, I set the unit to not go into Standby mode, which seemed to help (it was always disconnected after coming out of standby).
Now it seems to be getting progressively worse. The unit now needs to be rebooted after not being used for some time. This is typically once when we first get home from work/school and later on in the night after dinner. In addition to Wifi not working, Wifi Direct often stops working as well as my shield controller wont work. I have to resort to a USB keyboard to get the thing to reboot.
I have updated the firmware each time it becomes available which has made no impact on this issue. Currently I'm on 3.1 stock firmware. I have not rooted or unlocked this device. Does anyone have a similar issue? Is there anything I can do to try and fix this? Connecting by Ethernet is out of the question, I don't have a drop near by and I bought this unit because it has wireless AC capability.

I got disconnects from wifi but never seen an issue with the wifi-direct which is for the controller. The 3.1 update did sort the issue with my shield remote though.
Honestly the short answer is to use Ethernet to get the best out of the kit, even a cheap Homeplug networking kit would be better than the wifi. Besides the wifi drop outs, I had no end of grief trying to get SPMC/KODI to access shared folders on my network with wifi (yes even 5GHz).....using Ethernet resolved the headache.

honosuseri said:
I got disconnects from wifi but never seen an issue with the wifi-direct which is for the controller. The 3.1 update did sort the issue with my shield remote though.
Honestly the short answer is to use Ethernet to get the best out of the kit, even a cheap Homeplug networking kit would be better than the wifi. Besides the wifi drop outs, I had no end of grief trying to get SPMC/KODI to access shared folders on my network with wifi (yes even 5GHz).....using Ethernet resolved the headache.
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*sigh* It's frustrating to buy something for a specific feature (wireless ac - upgraded router as well which I had been mulling for a while)... to have it not work. Thank you for the suggestion though. I was looking at just getting a wireless AC AP or adapter if I gave up on the sheild's network, but the homeplug is in the same ballpark and probably more reliable so I'll keep that in mind if it gets to that point.

jst07 said:
*sigh* It's frustrating to buy something for a specific feature (wireless ac - upgraded router as well which I had been mulling for a while)... to have it not work. Thank you for the suggestion though. I was looking at just getting a wireless AC AP or adapter if I gave up on the sheild's network, but the homeplug is in the same ballpark and probably more reliable so I'll keep that in mind if it gets to that point.
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No worries...I do realise it's not what you wanted to here. IMHO if a device is static then hard wire it, I use wi-fi only for mobile/portable devices.
I think your best move would be to look at getting a triple pack homeplug kit (dual ethernet ports would be good). One is for the Router, another for the SHIELD TV and the third (if you deem necessary) for your old router. Hopefully your old router can be setup as an AP and extend your wifi further throughout your home or garage/garden even. The kits are dead simple to use, although they can be fussy about the power extensions used...Ideally you want one that has passthrough so you can plug the adapter into the wall outlet, then the power extension into the homeplug adapter (Just a word to the wise in case you go this route and encounter problems).
I've had my SHIELD TV for a little while too and I also thinks it's great....I've been offered silly money for it from friends, once they've seen all I've set it up to do. I've actually got to the point now where I want to do a factory reset. I have done my experimenting and now know what I want on there, so it won't take long to redo and i'll lose the junk in the process...perhaps it might help cure some of the wifi niggles I encountered too...who knows?
Wish you all the best with it

honosuseri said:
No worries...I do realise it's not what you wanted to here. IMHO if a device is static then hard wire it, I use wi-fi only for mobile/portable devices.
I think your best move would be to look at getting a triple pack homeplug kit (dual ethernet ports would be good). One is for the Router, another for the SHIELD TV and the third (if you deem necessary) for your old router. Hopefully your old router can be setup as an AP and extend your wifi further throughout your home or garage/garden even. The kits are dead simple to use, although they can be fussy about the power extensions used...Ideally you want one that has passthrough so you can plug the adapter into the wall outlet, then the power extension into the homeplug adapter (Just a word to the wise in case you go this route and encounter problems).
I've had my SHIELD TV for a little while too and I also thinks it's great....I've been offered silly money for it from friends, once they've seen all I've set it up to do. I've actually got to the point now where I want to do a factory reset. I have done my experimenting and now know what I want on there, so it won't take long to redo and i'll lose the junk in the process...perhaps it might help cure some of the wifi niggles I encountered too...who knows?
Wish you all the best with it
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Thanks. I switched to my 2.4G wifi and problems seem to have gone away, at least for now. Probably try that a little longer. I too have thought about resetting and using one of the custom roms on here.

Using 2.4Ghz is worse for some users from neighbor's wifi causing it to drop out.
I use 5Ghz and have to occasionally restart the device to fix it.
You would be better off using power off instead of relying on standby mode as that is buggy and prone to causing issues with stuff like audio and a stored media playback glitch.