2012-09-08, 02:50
So I am trying to play videos with my HTPC through a home network but the videos are not able to play without stuttering/buffer-like playback - it plays smooth for a couple of seconds then stops for a couple seconds then starts playing again and keeps repeating. I tested multiple videos and it seems to only do this with large HD files or in scenes with a high bitrate, which leads me to believe there is some bottleneck in the network.
I have never done this before and everything is still in the building stage, but I just wanted to test this out since it will eventually be my end-game, yet I'm running into problems which have me puzzled. Here is the setup: HTPC is connected to a router by cat5 and is trying to play a video off of an external hard drive connected to a laptop that is connected to the router via cat5 which is sharing the external's files with Windows' homegroup feature - hopefully that makes sense. What puzzles me is I thought this problem would only be caused if the computers were to be shared wirelessly, this is not the case though, everything is wired. Next thing I thought of was a limitation of the router since, from what I have been hearing, it needs to be a gigabit one. I looked up the router I have, which I am renting from my ISP, this one here Actiontec/Qwest Q1000 Wireless N VDSL Modem Router, noting in the description, "gigabit switch", so I believe that is what's I'm looking for. Now I am out of ideas. Does anyone know what may be the cause of this issue?
Let me know if any additional details are required. Appreciate any help. Thanks.
I have never done this before and everything is still in the building stage, but I just wanted to test this out since it will eventually be my end-game, yet I'm running into problems which have me puzzled. Here is the setup: HTPC is connected to a router by cat5 and is trying to play a video off of an external hard drive connected to a laptop that is connected to the router via cat5 which is sharing the external's files with Windows' homegroup feature - hopefully that makes sense. What puzzles me is I thought this problem would only be caused if the computers were to be shared wirelessly, this is not the case though, everything is wired. Next thing I thought of was a limitation of the router since, from what I have been hearing, it needs to be a gigabit one. I looked up the router I have, which I am renting from my ISP, this one here Actiontec/Qwest Q1000 Wireless N VDSL Modem Router, noting in the description, "gigabit switch", so I believe that is what's I'm looking for. Now I am out of ideas. Does anyone know what may be the cause of this issue?
Let me know if any additional details are required. Appreciate any help. Thanks.