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Actiontec MI424WR - a cheap MoCA bridge for all! - Page 8

post #211 of 1141
10/8/09 at 8:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by xnappo View Post

You need to run 'iperf -s' (server) on one computer and 'iperf -c ' on the other.

xnappo

Okay, in the main link that you had provided, when I click on Iperf, it looks like it is not available. I tried downloading iPerf from a different site (http://sourceforge.net/projects/iperf/). It downloaded a file ending with '.gz' (iperf-2.0.4.tar.gz). Not sure how to open this file. I am sorry, but these are a little new to me. Have I downloaded a wrong file? Do I need other software to run this?
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post #212 of 1141
10/8/09 at 8:52am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by npradeepkumar View Post

Okay, in the main link that you had provided, when I click on Iperf, it looks like it is not available. I tried downloading iPerf from a different site (http://sourceforge.net/projects/iperf/). It downloaded a file ending with '.gz' (iperf-2.0.4.tar.gz). Not sure how to open this file. I am sorry, but these are a little new to me. Have I downloaded a wrong file? Do I need other software to run this?

Try here:
http://www.noc.ucf.edu/Tools/Iperf/

xnappo
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post #213 of 1141
10/8/09 at 9:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by xnappo View Post

Try here:
http://www.noc.ucf.edu/Tools/Iperf/

xnappo

Okay, I downloaded the exe file from here. I double click on it. It looks like it launches a window, but it vanishes. What is it supposed to do? Is it supposed to launch a cmd window or some other kind of window? or does it just run in the background somewhere?
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post #214 of 1141
10/8/09 at 10:20am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by npradeepkumar View Post

Okay, I downloaded the exe file from here. I double click on it. It looks like it launches a window, but it vanishes. What is it supposed to do? Is it supposed to launch a cmd window or some other kind of window? or does it just run in the background somewhere?

It is a command line program - you need to run it from Start->Run->Cmd..

Or you can try to find Jperf which is a GUI for it.

xnappo
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post #215 of 1141
10/8/09 at 3:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by npradeepkumar View Post

Thank you. This is great to know. How do you know which one is Bi-directional and which one is not. I have ordered one of these, but I want to check the others that I am using in my home, just to be sure.

Not sure...I had that problem too so I just went and got new ones for every one I needed.
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post #216 of 1141
10/8/09 at 3:45pm
Only problem I am having now is the cable modem will cut out every once in a while because of signal dB strength. I believe I will need an amp because of all the splitters/devices that I am using in my house.
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post #217 of 1141
10/8/09 at 5:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by xnappo View Post

It is a command line program - you need to run it from Start->Run->Cmd..

Or you can try to find Jperf which is a GUI for it.

xnappo

Okay great, thank you. Finally I have been able to run this. I had the server run on my desktop connected to my main router in my office upstairs. I ran the jperf with the iperf mode set to client and the ip address as the ip address of my desktop upstairs from my laptop connected to the actiontec downstairs. The results look decent and I am getting speeds of 66 to 72 MBPS. I think this should be sufficient to view High Def content from my Windows Media center upstairs using my XBOX 360 as an extender downstairs. I am not sure why I keep seeing that 'Network Issue' with a little bit of a stutter while playing back the recorded programs. Any thoughts?
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post #218 of 1141
10/8/09 at 6:15pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by npradeepkumar View Post

I am not sure why I keep seeing that 'Network Issue' with a little bit of a stutter while playing back the recorded programs. Any thoughts?

Sorry - not sure. Your performance is more than enough to stream just about anything out there...

xnappo
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post #219 of 1141
10/9/09 at 7:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by xnappo View Post

Sorry - not sure. Your performance is more than enough to stream just about anything out there...

xnappo

That is what I thought. Is there a way to dynamically measure this bandwidth while I am playing some content or something. I am wondering if the bandwidth does not remain constant since the stutter comes and goes and is not constant.
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post #220 of 1141
10/9/09 at 7:59am
I tried to check the Iperf / Jperf while watching the program and when the stutter occurs. So far, the least I have seen the bandwidth go to is around 41 MBPS. I still think that this should be sufficient to watch the content that I am watching. So, not sure why I am getting this stutter. Is there any other way to measure this or is there any other content that I can play to know if there is some problem with my content? So far, I have tried playing different episodes from different channels and I have run into this issue for all of them.

I am so excited that this is all up and running and I am really hoping that I can get this resolved as this looks like the ultimate solution for me.
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post #221 of 1141
10/9/09 at 10:47am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by npradeepkumar View Post


I am so excited that this is all up and running and I am really hoping that I can get this resolved as this looks like the ultimate solution for me.

Sorry - out of ideas... You are just watching TV HD video streams? Or streaming BluRay?

xnappo
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post #222 of 1141
10/10/09 at 11:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by xnappo View Post

Sorry - out of ideas... You are just watching TV HD video streams? Or streaming BluRay?

xnappo

Yes, I am just watching HDTV recorded on my media center from my antenna (local channels) using the XBOX 360 as an extender to the media center. No Blu-rays involved here. Someone suggested to update the Network driver on my desktop. I just did that. There seems to be not much change so far. Thanks for all your help. But if you come across anything or hear something, please do let me know.
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post #223 of 1141
10/10/09 at 10:40pm
I know that this solution has worked for a lot of people here. Are any of you using this to stream Media from a Media center pc (Vista) to an extender like I am trying to do? If so, how successful have you been?
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post #224 of 1141
10/10/09 at 11:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by stanglx View Post

Ok.. update. What I found was that this actiontech bridge (new device) does not detect the port properly. It was setting the port to 100 Half Duplex... Once I forced in the Actiontech to Full duplex I was getting about 85 - 90 Mb/s from 65 Mb/s

BUUUUUTTTT.... Unfortunately it still didnt help the issue. The stuttering was almost non-existent with H.264 but again VC1 was stuttering too bad to watch.. better but not perfect.

I tried everything even removing my Gigabit switch from the equation (gigabit switch bridged to my fios router) my server is now directly wired into my FIOS (main) router... didnt help... I did find that going from MOCA to fios router to gigabit switch definitely made things worse..

The best combination was -Server to fios router- Fios (MoCA) router to actiontech bridge - actiontech bridge to PC.. What I can say is WOOOW.. I was hitting 85 - 95 Mb/s under this condition... Also what was also important was to disable TCP Offload.. this helped to gain about 5Mb/s..

I am still perplexed as to why I am getting the stuttering as I now have ample bandwidth and now full duplex!!

I ran out of time but my next test is going to be 100 Mb Ethernet to 100 Mb Ethernet going through my fios router. I need to change some wires to get that done to the same machine.. no biggy though... Since they play fine through my Gigabit switch then I have to deduce that its the FIOS actiontech router OR the actiontech bridge OR MoCA just cant hold its own as a 100 Mb/s switch OR its a setting I have not found.



Stay tuned...

Can you please tell me how you forced the actiontecs to full duplex and disabled the TCP offload. I would like to try it to see if it can help me.
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post #225 of 1141
10/22/09 at 4:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by npradeepkumar View Post

Can you please tell me how you forced the actiontecs to full duplex and disabled the TCP offload. I would like to try it to see if it can help me.

Okay, I figured this out, but this also did not help me. I put every actiontec in my network on full duplex (100 MBPS) and the network card on my Desktop also on the same one. This made the situation worse and even the network speeds in my media center dropped to below standard def levels. I also went ahead and changed my main router. I replaced it with a Linksys by Cisco WRT610N. This being a gigabit router, I followed the steps in the microsoft support article available at the following link.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929707

From this article, I basically enabled the flow control and did not set the full duplex setting. I also went under Power Management on my network card (on my desktop) and disabled the option 'Reduce link speed during standby'.

These were various things that different people had tried. Initially even this did not fix the issue. I then restarted all of the components on my network and it looks like it worked. For the past few days, I have had no stutter when viewing HD content over my network and I am hoping this will continue. I am really happy that this worked out for me and am hoping that this will continue to work. When I check out the speeds, the speed is still around 50 to 55 MBPS, but I do not see any stutter.

A VERY VERY BIG Thanks once again to Xnappo for putting out this article and giving step by step instructions on how to use this.
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post #226 of 1141
10/23/09 at 3:14pm
npradeepkumar and xnappo,

I'm REALLY REALLY interested in setting up a MoCA network to stream Audio/Video/etc. like Media Center .wtv files, etc. from Windows 7 Media Center PCs to Extenders (Xbox 360 and Linksys DMA-2200).

I also have FIOS, with an Actiontec MI-424WR Rev E Router.

I've been looking on Ebay at the Actiontec MI-424WR routers. Is there a specific Rev I should look to purchase?

I've scoured the Net looking for someone that's said "Hooray" in streaming HD video and provided solid procedures for setting this up, but haven't found any.

Would you guys mind posting the links and/or writing up the procedures to configure the Routers and PCs? This would include:
1) xnappo's original post's 16 step procedures
2) anything else?
3) The last support.microsoft.com link for configuring the PCs' network card to change/force the link speed to 100MB full duplex & enable flow control in the transmit (Tx) direction.

Thanks a ton in advance,
Stockton
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post #227 of 1141
10/23/09 at 4:44pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stockton View Post


Thanks a ton in advance,
Stockton

Hi Stockton - the rev doesn't matter - other than rev A. is ugly but cheaper (if you can hide it, it doesn't matter I suppose).

I am not sure what exactly fixed npradeepkumar's problems - I did not have any issues. I think it is important to make sure that your router has decent throughput.

I still recommend this solution - I think you will be happy with it, and we/I will help if you have any issues.

I certainly suggest looking up Iperf/Jperf so you can test your connection speed...

xnappo
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post #228 of 1141
10/26/09 at 7:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stockton View Post

npradeepkumar and xnappo,

I'm REALLY REALLY interested in setting up a MoCA network to stream Audio/Video/etc. like Media Center .wtv files, etc. from Windows 7 Media Center PCs to Extenders (Xbox 360 and Linksys DMA-2200).

I also have FIOS, with an Actiontec MI-424WR Rev E Router.

I've been looking on Ebay at the Actiontec MI-424WR routers. Is there a specific Rev I should look to purchase?

I've scoured the Net looking for someone that's said "Hooray" in streaming HD video and provided solid procedures for setting this up, but haven't found any.

Would you guys mind posting the links and/or writing up the procedures to configure the Routers and PCs? This would include:
1) xnappo's original post's 16 step procedures
2) anything else?
3) The last support.microsoft.com link for configuring the PCs' network card to change/force the link speed to 100MB full duplex & enable flow control in the transmit (Tx) direction.

Thanks a ton in advance,
Stockton

Agreed, I think most people here on this forum have been able to stream content successfully without any problems. I might have run into this situation, just because of the way I was trying to use this. I was trying to stream from a media center to an extender (linksys, xbox 360). But Xnappo has been extremely patient and helpful in trying to get this resolved for me.
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post #229 of 1141
10/26/09 at 10:47pm
So, can media center extenders be used with the MoCA Actiontec from Fios with a Fios system?

Also, can they stream ATSC over the extender?
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post #230 of 1141
10/27/09 at 4:34am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by AnthonyB View Post

So, can media center extenders be used with the MoCA Actiontec from Fios with a Fios system?

Also, can they stream ATSC over the extender?

So it sounds like you have FIOS, and Actiontec router and a media center extender?

Adding a second Actiontec to your coax and connecting it to the extender will give you the same functionality as running a CAT5 cable from your main router to the extender. No more, no less.

xnappo
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post #231 of 1141
10/27/09 at 5:24am
Awesome.. Thanks for the quick reply
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post #232 of 1141
10/27/09 at 6:57am
Can I just say that using these MI-424WR routers as bridges worked awesome for me. I got three more of them from eBay and set them up at my three TVs with my three Tivos and it is screaming fast. I was using wireless and powerline networking at those locations and their speeds simply don't compare to MoCA.

I actually ended up with a version A, C, & D routers to add to my original E version. They all played together nicely. I also upgraded the version A firmware to match the C & D routers. A, C, & D use the some firmware.

Nice to have essentially a fully functional ethernet switch at each TV for additional future Network expansion.

I think MoCA alone is reason enough to switch to FIOS if it is in your area.
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post #233 of 1141
10/27/09 at 9:07am
Why not just buy some Motorola NIM100 Cable Modem's off eBay that don't require anything but plug-n-play?
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post #234 of 1141
10/27/09 at 9:14am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wryker View Post

Why not just buy some Motorola NIM100 Cable Modem's off eBay that don't require anything but plug-n-play?

- Hard to find
- More expensive
- Only one port
- Doesn't double as a wireless bridge

I do mention them in my first post...

xnappo
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post #235 of 1141
10/27/09 at 9:27am
Quote:
Originally Posted by xnappo View Post

- Hard to find
- More expensive
- Only one port
- Doesn't double as a wireless bridge

I do mention them in my first post...

xnappo

Missed the part about a wireless bridge. Not sure why that's important when what you're looking for is a wired connection. You can get them right now on eBay for $49 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWAX:IT) I use the one port to simply add an ethernet switch to get 8 more ports!
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post #236 of 1141
10/27/09 at 9:31am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wryker View Post

Missed the part about a wireless bridge. Not sure why that's important when what you're looking for is a wired connection. You can get them right now on eBay for $49 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWAX:IT) I use the one port to simply add an ethernet switch to get 8 more ports!

Yes... Or you can buy an actiontec for $10-$25(http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=act...work&_osacat=0)...

Anyway either NIM or Actiontec is a great solution... If you don't want to mess with configuring the Actiontec and don't mind paying a bit more, by all means go with the NIMs.

xnappo
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post #237 of 1141
10/27/09 at 9:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by xnappo View Post

Yes... Or you can buy an actiontec for $10-$25(http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=act...work&_osacat=0)...

Anyway either NIM or Actiontec is a great solution... If you don't want to mess with configuring the Actiontec and don't mind paying a bit more, by all means go with the NIMs.

xnappo

Ah -good point - the ~$50 you have on your first post refers to buying two. I bought @4-5 of the NIM's back in May. If I was starting over I just might go with the Actiontec's to save the $$.
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post #238 of 1141
10/27/09 at 10:39am
Do I need a special splitter for MoCA? Ve rizon only put a two way in.
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post #239 of 1141
10/27/09 at 12:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wryker View Post

Missed the part about a wireless bridge. Not sure why that's important when what you're looking for is a wired connection. I use the one port to simply add an ethernet switch to get 8 more ports!

Well, in some cases you're setting these up in a place where you don't have good wireless access and it's nice to be able to use the bridge to get wireless. For the extra LAN ports, sure you can add an Ethernet switch, but that's more connections, power cables, etc.
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post #240 of 1141
10/27/09 at 2:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by AnthonyB View Post

Do I need a special splitter for MoCA? Ve rizon only put a two way in.

One brand that kept popping up in my searches was Antronix. They are readily available on eBay. Thats what I bought for my two-way splitters I needed to change to three-way.

I suspect pretty near anything that was a clean 5-1000MHz splitter would probably work fine for FIOS.
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