Networking/Router Video Streaming issue....

[ChineseGuy]

Hey guys, here's one I can't solve, maybe you guys have some suggestions for me.

My dad wants to watch this news streaming from Taiwan, but he keeps complaining that it buffers every 10 seconds.

http://www.ctv.com.tw/ctv_news/a1.php

I tried troubleshooting, and determined that it was something to do with the router (I thought that was the case)... I unhooked the computer from the router, and bypassed it directly to the modem. Then tried the video stream again, no problem at all. The video didn't have to buffer every 10 seconds.

So I went out and and bought a brand new router, (Dlink DIR-615), and hooked everything back up, thinking that would fix the problem. But the problem came back...

So I called up Road Runner, and had them send a tech out to replace the modem, but that didn't fix anything.

Then I tried putting my dad's computer on DMZ on the router, that didn't make a difference...

Any ideas?

 

[montag451]

Increase the buffer size.

That way, he'll have to wait longer for the video to start, but it won't keep jumping.

 

[ChineseGuy]

Tried that, it will be fine for the first 15 seconds before it starts buffering again...
I fail to see why this happens when I know the bandwidth is there (when it's hooked up directly to the modem), but it seems like the bandwidth isn't there when we introduce a router into the equation.

I still cant pin point if this is hardware or software related. Could Windows Media Player automatically change its setting to "accommodate for the change" when the router is introduced? Thus functioning at a crippled state?

 

[montag451]

Are you streaming using wifi?

 

[ChineseGuy]

Nope, 10/100... I tried switching cat5 cables too...

 

[montag451]

When you are using the router, are any other computers connected to the internet, wireless or cable?

I presume when you use the modem without router, only the 1 computer was connected to the internet ( no clever 'Y' splitters or anything)?

 

[ChineseGuy]

I've eliminated that possibility by having only one machine behind the router. I turned off the wireless feature on that router. Only single cable going out to the machine. When I was behind the modem (w/o router), it was just one single cat5 cable to computer, no clever splitters.

 

[montag451]

It does sound like the router is to blame, but before doing anything harsh, you need to make sure.

Stream the video from another source and see if the same thing happens (youtube etc) with the router connected. Try it out for 10 minutes or so, just check that it catches up with the buffer all the time.
Then, if it does, disconnect router and do the same movies again.

 

[ChineseGuy]

It seems to do it on MMS streams, FLV streaming are alright. I thought it was the router to blame too, but that's why I went out and bought a new router. Unless this one is bad too out of the box... :-\

 

[montag451]

Ok,
Great news.
Most likely not a router problem then, but a problem with the way Media Player handles the stream.
Try VLC (my favourite, but not sure if it does MMS streams - most likely does), ZOOMplayer, or Quicktime or QuicktimeAlternative instead.

 

[ChineseGuy]

I couldnt get the other players to work right. So that's a bummer... But I hooked my original router back, so I could return the new one, and my dad said it works fine now, so I don't know what's going on. Hopefully it will stay that way. Thanks for all your help montag451