I'm rebuilding my htpc and am having some problems.  I'm getting rid of my PC and just bought an ASUS laptop which I figure could double as my HTPC.  I have the following laptop http://ca.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=CyyiEd0t9iKZ6Afg which should be more than enough to play back a standard dvd wirelessly I would have thought.  The DVD's are stored on my Unraid server in Video_ts format with the DD soundtrack.

 

I seem to be getting choppy playback of my movies no matter what software I use.  I've tried WMC as well as MPC HC and just downloaded TMT.  THey are all very choppy.  I have a Linksys Wireless-G router (WRT54GP2) and am running TMT under Windows 7.  Do I need a better router or should I be able to play my dvd's wirelessly with what I have?

 

Any help is appreciated!

I'm rebuilding my htpc and am having some problems.  I'm getting rid of my PC and just bought an ASUS laptop which I figure could double as my HTPC.  I have the following laptop http://ca.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=CyyiEd0t9iKZ6Afg which should be more than enough to play back a standard dvd wirelessly I would have thought.  The DVD's are stored on my Unraid server in Video_ts format with the DD soundtrack.

 

I seem to be getting choppy playback of my movies no matter what software I use.  I've tried WMC as well as MPC HC and just downloaded TMT.  THey are all very choppy.  I have a Linksys Wireless-G router (WRT54GP2) and am running TMT under Windows 7.  Do I need a better router or should I be able to play my dvd's wirelessly with what I have?

 

Any help is appreciated!

Sorry to say, but you will have a very tough time playing a movie wirelessly unless it is highly compressed and you have no interference from any other wireless devices, cordless phones, microwave ovens (they share the EXACT same 2.4Ghz spectrum)

 

To be successful you might need to convert the movies to a lower resolution. (so their bit rate can be handled over the wireless link)

Streaming mpeg2 at DVD bitrates is going to be hit or miss over wireless. If you transcode to mpeg4, like xvid or x264 which is more efficient, wireless streaming shouldn't be an issue provided you dont have alot of noise from other devices using the same frequency.

Another possible solution is to upgrade to a Wireless-N router.  They are advertised to communicate at a higher bit-rate and your laptop supports the protocol.

Another possible solution is to upgrade to a Wireless-N router.  They are advertised to communicate at a higher bit-rate and your laptop supports the protocol.

 

Just keep in mind that theoretical bandwidth for wireless is different than the actual throughput you'll get but wireless-n could help.

 

With wireless there are so many more variables to deal with than a wired connection.

Hmmm I wish I knew for sure if Wireless N would work.  Don't want to spend the money. 

 

I now ran into a different problem.  I managed to get the picture to my screen using HDMI and do get sound but for whatever reason I'm not getting sound from my front surrounds.  THe sub, center and rear output sound but not my fronts.  I went back to my old htpc using TT and spidiff and it outputs correctly.  THis was using MPC HC

Ok I got my sound problem sorted out.  So I tried plugging in my network cable and seeing if movies play back smoothly.  Didn't make a difference. Even connected movies play back very choppy.  Just to make sure it still wasn't using a wireless connection I disabled it.  Didn't make a diff.  Still very choppy.

 

Anyone have any ideas why it would play so choppy.  My old HTPC was very smooth.  It ran TT and I output video via VGA cables to component.  My screen resolution was also set at 1920x1080.  My new laptop is much more powerful.

Do you have the latest graphics drivers / audio drivers installed and system updates installed?

 

Yup.  checked the ASUS website and all my drivers are uptodate.  I can't believe ASUS can sell a laptop that can't even play back a standard dvd smoothly. 

Try copying an entire Video_TS folder onto your laptop and playing it from there, instead of streaming it.  If it is still choppy, then you know there is something wrong with the laptop itself (drivers, most likely).

 

I suggest this because I'm very surprised that hardwiring the laptop didn't fix the problem.

Well I did as you asked.  Playing it from my hard drive seems to work perfectly fine on my laptop and even output to my TV in 1920x1080P.  I even popped in the physical dvd of Saving Private Ryan with the DTS soundtrack and it played flawlessly to my tv.  Now I'm confused.  My old HTPC was a Pentium single core 2.8mhz running an ATI 9600xt connected to my same router.  I never had a problem with choppy video in all these years.

 

Any suggestions as to what to do?  I checked and as far as I can see from the asus site, I'm running the latest driver. Do you think getting a better router would help? 

Maybe, but I kind of doubt it since said you had no problems with your old HTPC.  Even a 10/100 router like yours should be fast enough to stream HD video when hardwired.  I wonder if your cables could be bad?  What kind of network cable are you using? Cat5, Cat5e, Cat6?  Do you have any alternates you could try?

 

Also, do you have any compressed video files (.avi, .mkv, etc.) that you could try streaming?  I wonder if a lower bitrate file like this will work.  If you don't have any, you can encode one of your DVDs using Handbrake (just use the 'normal' preset).

If you suspect a crappy router, then do a test eliminating it:

Set up your unRAID and your laptop with static IP addresses, and connect them directly with a network cable.

(Most Gigabit NICs detect the type of cable correctly, so you probably won't need a special cross-over cable for that)

Now see if it stutters.

 

I downloaded a sample avi file from the internet and it played fine wirelessly.  But not sure if that's a good enough test.  I'll see if I can try Handbrake.

 

Somehow I don't think it's my router.  My old HTPC can still stream the movies fine.  Is it possible there's something with the combination of my laptop and router causing the problem? 

First try the 'normal' preset in Handbrake.  If you are able to play that file wirelessly, then try it again with the 'AppleTV' preset.  This will create a higher bitrate file that should be harder to play wirelessly.

I ended up replacing my router for a test, however I ran into a small snag.  After replacing my router I can't see my server now and can't remember what I need to do on the server side to have it join my network?  I'm sure there's something in the flash drive I have to change.  Also I guess I have to connect a monitor to my server.  How do I shut it down so I can reboot?

 

Edit: Nevermind figured it out.  Up and running again

Wow, just replaced my router with a Linksys Gigabit N 310 and now I can stream my movies nice and smooth all wirelessly.  What a difference!  I'm a happy camper now! lol 

 

Finally I can get rid of that large hunk of a HTPC...and move it to my bedroom lol

Great!  So Wireless N made the difference?  Or are you streaming them hardwired?

Yup it looks like Wireless N made the diff.  I can do both now, wired and wireless.  The router was expensive, $125, but worth it.  I like that it has no antenna sticking out so it kinda blends into my audio cabinet.