[RockerC]

• NO (GigaE) Ethernet - unless you buy an extra $20+ USB-C adapter.
  

Why is 1Gbps Ethernet needed on a device type like this?

Isn't 100Mbps is fast enough to stream video services like Netflix and cloud gaming services like Stadia, but I imagine that for Kodi you might want 1Gbps if using VFS (Virtual File Server) for archives videos and games with RetroPlayer or?

I understand that you want 1Gbps network-switches in your LAN if you want to stream 4K video to multiple devices fastly copying files between devices and networked storage, but why does this specific media player device need more than 100Mbps?

It only has 2GB RAM and 8GB flash for storage (of which only half is available to the user), so 1Gbps should really only be needed if map networked storage and need fast speed for copying complete smaller like games or?

Streaming 4K video should not need faster than 100Mbps interface on side of such type of media player or?

If this "Google Chromecast with Google TV" dongle supported 8K video then that might be very different.

[FXB78]

• NO (GigaE) Ethernet - unless you buy an extra $20+ USB-C adapter.
  

Isn't 100Mbps is fast enough to stream video services like Netflix and cloud gaming services like Stadia, but I imagine that for Kodi you might want 1Gbps if using VFS (Virtual File Server) for archives videos and games with RetroPlayer or?

But the thread is 'Pick the Right Kodi Box' not 'Pick the Right Netflix Box', and this device is lacking in many areas expected of a decent Kodi device. Sure it might be okay for a basic Netflix setup but that's not really what the thread is about.

[wrxtasy]

• NO (GigaE) Ethernet - unless you buy an extra $20+ USB-C adapter.
  

Why is 1Gbps Ethernet needed on a device type like this?

Isn't 100Mbps is fast enough to stream video services like Netflix and cloud gaming services like Stadia,

A bunch of things you are mentioning have nothing at all to do with Kodi.
It’s a simple fact there are better Kodi devices.

For a snappy Android TV - 4K HDR DV paid for Apps subscription streaming + basic 1080p 5.1 audio for Kodi then the Google TV Dongle will be good value.

[RockerC]

• NO (GigaE) Ethernet - unless you buy an extra $20+ USB-C adapter.
  

Why is 1Gbps Ethernet needed on a device type like this?

Isn't 100Mbps is fast enough to stream video services like Netflix and cloud gaming services like Stadia,

A bunch of things you are mentioning have nothing at all to do with Kodi.

OK, I concede on all those other points, but that does not answer the specific question about why 1Gbps is better than 100Mbps for a Kodi media player dongle-type device?

Please explain why 1Gbps Ethernet is in fact needed in an Android TV device for Kodi? Put it this way, if everything else is equal on two Android TV devices, does one having 1Gbps Ethernet really make it a better Android TV device for Kodi?

PS: Google Chromecast with Google TV does feature 802.11ac Wi-Fi 5 (2.4 GHz + 5 GHz) so its WiFi should at least push 500Mbps if not more (unless really badly placed).

[wrxtasy]

Why is 1Gbps Ethernet needed on a device type like this?

Isn't 100Mbps is fast enough to stream video services like Netflix and cloud gaming services like Stadia,

A bunch of things you are mentioning have nothing at all to do with Kodi.

OK, I concede on all those other points, but that does not answer the specific question about why 1Gbps is better than 100Mbps for a Kodi media player dongle-type device?

Please explain why 1Gbps Ethernet is in fact needed in an Android TV device for Kodi? Put it this way, if everything else is equal on two Android TV devices, does one having 1Gbps Ethernet really make it a better Android TV device for Kodi?

Simply it's a 4K HDR device so naturally users are going to ask the question, "Can I stream 4K HDR REMUXs with this Dongle ?"
And to do that - Reliably - you need a hardwired Gigabit Ethernet adapter. WiFi simply has too many variables for - reliable - high bitrate 4K HDR home network streaming.

To complicate matters I'm also reading at the moment even with an LAN/Hub/USB adapter this Google TV Dongle has problems with NTFS formatted USB storage.
So FAT32 only works and that is limited to 4GB file sizes.
A bunch of Android TV devices also had similar problems in the early days of the Android TV Oreo v8.0 or Pie v9.0 OS upgrade cycle.

[noggin]

The lack of auto Frame Rate Matching is a MAJOR problem for territories like UK, Europe and Australasia that also needs 25/50 Hz support for FTA TV and IPTV video streaming services. Here in Australia where I live we have at least 8 mainstream video streaming services using either 25 or 50fps.

Yes - plus Netflix and Amazon Prime Video show European/Aus/NZ content originally shot at 25/50fps at 25fps (The Crown, and some seasons of The Grand Tour are 25fps for instance). Watching this at 30/60 (or 29.97/59.94) is horrible. For high quality Netflix and Amazon Prime Video viewing you really need to be able to easily output 23.976, 24, 25 and 29.97fps content at the correct refresh rates (23.976, 24, 25 or 50, and 29.97 or 59.94).

[MrCrispy]

How is the speed of the various solutions when dealing with really large libraries? I 4K + HD audio support and for this based on 1st post have narrowed it down to -

Odroid N2 + CoreElec
Nvidia Shield
Vero 4K
Windows box running Kodi

Out of all these Windows box is probably going to be fastest and most expensive but I have no idea how 'fast'. Is there a big speed difference browsing?

Disadvantage of Windows - will it support all the other streaming apps you can get on other boxes from the Google store? e.g. official apps for Jellyfin/Plex?

[noggin]

Please explain why 1Gbps Ethernet is in fact needed in an Android TV device for Kodi? Put it this way, if everything else is equal on two Android TV devices, does one having 1Gbps Ethernet really make it a better Android TV device for Kodi?
PS: Google Chromecast with Google TV does feature 802.11ac Wi-Fi 5 (2.4 GHz + 5 GHz) so its WiFi should at least push 500Mbps if not more (unless really badly placed).

4K HDR-friendly devices that run Kodi may well be used to play UHD HDR BD rips with the video and audio content left untouched (remuxed to mkv potentially but with un-transcoded audio, video). This means that the bitrate of high quality discs can go above 100Mbs - and even with a large cache to even things out, you can run out of network bandwidth with a 100Mbs network connection. WiFi can work in some situations - but if you live in a busy city centre apartment block with congested WiFi - that can often not be good enough for UHD BD rips (though it's usually fine for the very low bitrate UHD stuff that Netflix and Amazon Prime stream which is usually significantly less <30Mbs)

Many of us would always go for cabled network connections between our media servers and our Kodi boxes - particular if other members of the household need to use WiFi at the same time as we want to watch content... (If my other half is downloading a 50GB video file for work over WiFi from our 500Mbs broadband connection, and I want to watch a UHD BD rip over WiFi from my server - we're going to clash...)

[MrCrispy]

Questions for @wrxtasy -

- is Nvidia Shield the only Android box which has lossless audio passthru, and has Widevine L1? I read that Ugoos firmware enabled lossless audio in Android but then I found a post saying it doesnt work
- it appears an Android rom on Odroid N2 also doesn't do lossless passthru? Why is that since it has the best support? based on this  https://wiki.odroid.com/odroid-n2/os_ima...e_20190612 the N2 will only passthru DD/DTS.
- cost of N2 + needed additions can be greater than the Android boxes officially supported by CE, such as Beelink GT-King etc. I understand N2 has the best heatsink, but there are many reports of people happily using android boxes for years. Is it just a question of quality control?

[wrxtasy]

Questions for @wrxtasy -

- is Nvidia Shield the only Android box which has lossless audio passthru, and has Widevine L1?

Yes it appears so. These days when running Android Oreo and above.
The cheaper 2019 Shield Tube would work fine as well, however Plex App seems to have issues with that one.

I read that Ugoos firmware enabled lossless audio in Android but then I found a post saying it doesnt work

Someone with a Ugoos X2 / X3 or AM6 would need to reply. Maybe Freaktab website has more info. I do not know.

- it appears an Android rom on Odroid N2 also doesn't do lossless passthru? Why is that since it has the best support? based on this  https://wiki.odroid.com/odroid-n2/os_ima...e_20190612 the N2 will only passthru DD/DTS.

All AMLogic chipset devices running Android v8.1 Oreo and above no longer have any HD audio passthru support. It’s probably an AMLogic SDK Android issue.
The majority of Kodi users dual boot AML devices and simply use CoreELEC Kodi anyway so it’s never been given high priority to add such Android audio support.

- cost of N2 + needed additions can be greater than the Android boxes officially supported by CE, such as Beelink GT-King etc. I understand N2 has the best heatsink, but there are many reports of people happily using android boxes for years. Is it just a question of quality control?

Yep quality quality control and the exact same hardware components in every Ugoos and ODROID device, not simply the cheapest batches of components available for the time period of box manufacturer.

Ugoos also have the best manufacturer supprted Android tablet Firmware going around with all sorts of tweaks seemingly added.
It’s why the Freaktab ROM devs. seem to love them so much.

Often cheap Chinese sourced Android devices can a bit of a lottery regarding exactly what you are going to get. For a lot of people that is an acceptable risk.

W.

[clarkss12]

Project Slimbox has created an ATV ROM for most of the Amlogic boxes that DOES support the HD audio codecs under Kodi.  He also includes Afrd for automatic framerate switching..... I prefer his ROMs.

https://forum.xda-developers.com/android...x-t4152049

[MrCrispy]

Project Slimbox has created an ATV ROM for most of the Amlogic boxes that DOES support the HD audio codecs under Kodi.  He also includes Afrd for automatic framerate switching..... I prefer his ROMs.

https://forum.xda-developers.com/android...x-t4152049

Interesting. Have you tried this? I don't see any mention of hd audio on Xda. Also seems to support only very specific boxes. But this is great work, thanks for the link.

[clarkss12]

Project Slimbox has created an ATV ROM for most of the Amlogic boxes that DOES support the HD audio codecs under Kodi.  He also includes Afrd for automatic framerate switching..... I prefer his ROMs.

https://forum.xda-developers.com/android...x-t4152049

Interesting. Have you tried this? I don't see any mention of hd audio on Xda. Also seems to support only very specific boxes. But this is great work, thanks for the link.

I am running it on my Beelink GT mini2, and yes under Kodi it plays all the HD audio codecs, just like CoreELEC. Also, using the arfd system app, I get automatic frame rate adjustment, again just like CoreELEC.
If you look at the website where I showed you, you will see lots of Amlogic boxes that are supported.

[clarkss12]

My only complaint with these Amlogic boxes, is that they do not support the VC-1 video codec. That includes every single box that has an amlogic CPU.
A lot of my Blu-ray rips use that stupid vc1 codec. So they are unwatchable using Kodi. I have to use either Emby or Plex servers to watch them, since those servers transcode them on the fly to a different video codec.

[MrCrispy]

Project Slimbox has created an ATV ROM for most of the Amlogic boxes that DOES support the HD audio codecs under Kodi.  He also includes Afrd for automatic framerate switching..... I prefer his ROMs.

https://forum.xda-developers.com/android...x-t4152049

Interesting. Have you tried this? I don't see any mention of hd audio on Xda. Also seems to support only very specific boxes. But this is great work, thanks for the link.

I am running it on my Beelink GT mini2, and yes under Kodi it plays all the HD audio codecs, just like CoreELEC. Also, using the arfd system app, I get automatic frame rate adjustment, again just like CoreELEC.
If you look at the website where I showed you, you will see lots of Amlogic boxes that are supported.

Thanks, thats great to hear. So do you now use Android rom or do you still boot into CoreElec?
Was thinking of GT-King but its not in supported list and in the thread someone else asked about it but no replies.