[sjdean]

Hi


I bought a DSM-510 the other day. I was intrigued by the 330 but I wanted more than DivX playback - my source material is MPEG2 and I don't want to go through the laborious process of converting from one lossy format to another and getting a less quality video with a long wait.


The DSM-510 is connected wirelessly via Wireless G. I've reported these problems to a newsgroup and got a roasting for "not following the instructions" and basically having a poor computer and downloading large files at the same time, which are completely incorrect assumptions.


Computer is Windows Vista Business, a separate 500 Gig SATA2 300 HDD for Media, AMD 64 X2 4800+ on nVidia 590 chipset and 2 Gig RAM with 2xnVidia 7600GS Gfx cards.


Problems Im having are:


1) DSM-510 won't even see the WMP - never mind stream from it.

Yes, I've followed the instructions and spoke to the useless indian tech support. I've turned off Windows firewall, seen the device in Media Sharing, Allowed it and added items to the library. But still no go.


To get around this, Im currently using Twonkyvision.


2) Slow Menus


Ridiculously slow. My wireless N95 doesn't have a problem connecting to Twonky and retrieving all menus.


3) Ridiculously slow photo thumbnail generation. Seems I have to use 640 x 480 photos to get any decent speed?


4) MPEG2 Playback is stuttery. This is only 8 Mbps peak, 6.4 Mbps average, standard definition, recorded from Hauppauge WinTV. Yes it is Wireless, but this is supposed to be one of the core features of the box. The box will just stop playback and rebuffer and do this regularly.


I changed my network from b/g to g-only wireless which gave some improvement, but not perfect.


5) Random disconnections to the server


Yes, sometimes it won't even see the server. I'll go back to the server screen and it's greyed out. Is this a problem with the server? I don't think so, as at this time, my N95 still sees the Twonky server. This has happened a few times in the 24 hours I've owned it.


6) Box Crashing


This sometimes happens when fast forwarding an MPEG2, at some point trying to press play, nothing happens. Then it loses connection to the server as above.


7) Unresponsive


The thing will just end up becoming unresponsive for thirty seconds at times then it will just go through all the commands on the remote control you pressed.


Anyone have any ideas?


The way Im feeling at the moment is that there's a fault with the device and Im going to send it back. I can't be putting up with crashing of a peak 8 Mbps MPEG2 Standard Definition file. I have an otherwise excellent wireless network.


Trust me as well, while Im running these tests, I have nothing else running on my PC and no one else is connected wirelessly.


I think at this rate, I'll wait another couple of years for the technology to mature. How the hell can it be slower than my phone?


Cya

Simon

 

[ablevy]

Streaming video via wireless is always problematic. Too many things can interfere with the signal like phones and microwaves. First thing to try is to connect via a wired connection and see if the problem goes away. If it does, the problem lies in the network.


Alan

 

[sjdean]

Havent quite got around to testing out the ethernet first. I would be extremely annoyed if I had to do that given how wireless it's supposed to be.


I did do some bandwidth testing, from a wireless laptop in the same location, I get a steady 25 mbps download from a wired computer in the house. The phone still continues to see all servers without a problem.


I wouldn't mind if this was just a problem with wireless streaming - it might almost be expected. But Im now trying TVersity and the DSM just does not see the device. It doesn't even see my N95 anymore. Even after a reboot it sees no devices in the server section. I tried Orb earlier. Took around 10 minutes for the DSM to see it, then wouldn't access anything. It just froze up when trying to access a folder and it hasn't seen the network since - despite several reboots.


My N95 is just sitting here nice and solidly seeing everything on the server, flying through without an issue.


i'll try the cable tomorrow and let you know.


Cya

Simon

 

[sjdean]

Whoo. Got it.


Ok, as I said previously, the wireless laptops work flawlessly. We get 25mbps steady throughput. Wirelessly, even with the device sitting right next to the router, we get rebuffering, unresponsive, crashing, slow menus, slow photos, server disconnections.


Wired, it works flawlessly. It even plays 9.6mbps peak MPEG2 flawlessly. Wired, this thing is a delight to work with. Smooth controls, fast menus, rapid thumbnail generation.


As I say, my N95 doesn't have a problem connecting to any UPnP AV Server but the DSM does. I even have a ghost server that won't go away when the box is connected wirelessly.


Then it hit me how I can prove a networking fault with the DSM itself. Pings. And what I discovered, I didn't expect:


Ping to the wireless DSM-510 wirelessly:


Ping statistics for 10.0.0.28:

Packets: Sent = 125, Received = 111, Lost = 14 (11% loss),

Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:

Minimum = 1ms, Maximum = 315ms, Average = 4ms


Now that was the second time I did it. First time, I had 15% packet loss.


Ping to the Wireless Nokia N95:


Ping statistics for 10.0.0.97:

Packets: Sent = 182, Received = 182, Lost = 0 (0% loss),

Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:

Minimum = 13ms, Maximum = 346ms, Average = 174ms


Wired DSM:


Ping statistics for 10.0.0.94:

Packets: Sent = 264, Received = 264, Lost = 0 (0% loss),

Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:

Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms




Shall I say on average 12% packet loss? Do you think that explains all the errors? I think it does.


Im going to see if I can get a replacement.


Cheers

Simon

 

[sjdean]

Even 2 feet away from the router the DSM would break up and rebuffer, had slow menus, lost connection to the server. I even experienced a new symptom. I had a ghost server in the server list.


So I finally tried a cable.


Ethernet Cable turns this box into a different beast. Fast, reliable, quick photo display, quick menu display.


Then it struck me how I can prove a network issue, so I ran a ping test.


True enough, I ran a ping to the wireless DSM-510, and had between an 11 and 15% packet loss. Response times were around 1ms.


Pinging my N95 resulted in high response times of around 150ms, but no packet loss.


Pinging the cabled DSM resulted in