[musicmafia]

Not trying to do anything too complicated, would just like a consistent HD signal to watch movies (and listen in 5.1)....I have the fastest internet available from my ISP (which isn't saying much) and my TV is a Sony 55HX929. The TV is @ 25 feet away and down an open set of stairs. I contacted Cisco/Linksys and they said I needed a more powerful router than my 300 and convinced me to buy the EA4500 saying that would solve my problems. Nope. Sometimes it does work in HD but 3/4 of the time it looks even worse than a standard SD signal. Does anyone know the answer to my problem? I saw some "range extenders" online. Is that what I need and if so, will any brand/type do the same thing or do I need one that meets certain specs or has some special compatibility with my EA4500?


PS Cisco/Linksys won't provide customer service unless I give them $30 but they will gladly sell me yet another router LOL. What a joke.


Thanks for your help! M

 

[Matt L]

Optimally, hardwire. That is the only sure way of getting a solid dependable feed to your equipment. If that is not an option try powerline adapters, these do what they sound like, connect to your house wiring and use it to feed network content. They can be a bit touchy too depending on the quality of your wiring. If you have coax in the walls you are not using you can use MoCA adapters and it will work well.

 

[amesdp]

What data rate do you see reported on the screen when you play "Example Short 23.976" from Netflix?

 

[Alx330]

Powerline adapters if you cannot run a real ethernet cable are your best chance at addressing it. You must plug powerline adapters in at the wall socket for the best quality signal.


You could use an ethernet to wireless bridge also, a dedicated box might perform better with wireless then the limited wireless antenna built into the TV. An Apple Airport Express is a good performing device that works as a bridge also.

 

[musicmafia]



Quote:
Originally Posted by amesdp  /t/1518048/help-streaming-hd-from-netflix-amazon-to-tv#post_24364130


What data rate do you see reported on the screen when you play "Example Short 23.976" from Netflix?

when I play on computer it slowly goes from 560 to 3K, on my TV the data does not display...

 

[musicmafia]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt L  /t/1518048/help-streaming-hd-from-netflix-amazon-to-tv#post_24363881


Optimally, hardwire. That is the only sure way of getting a solid dependable feed to your equipment. If that is not an option try powerline adapters, these do what they sound like, connect to your house wiring and use it to feed network content. They can be a bit touchy too depending on the quality of your wiring. If you have coax in the walls you are not using you can use MoCA adapters and it will work well.

hey matt, hardwire is not an option....are powerline adapters same as range extenders that plug into wall outlets? im pretty new to streaming so first time with this kind of setup.

 

[musicmafia]

I see many adaptors online...do I need one with certain specs to meet my needs? how many mbs? do I just plug it in to a wall outlet near the TV downstairs and then what? will I have to code it to the router? will I have to run a cable between the adaptor and the tv? sorry for all the streaming newb questions and thanks to all for your help!

 

[Matt L]

The powerline adapter has 2 components. One is placed near your router and is connected to it via CAT5 and then plugged into the wall. The other is plugged in near your equipment and a CAT5 cable is plugged into that equipment, in this case your TV. I'd stick with name brands and buy from places that allow returns. Many report that one adapter did not work well while others do. A lot depends on your wiring, and one outlet may work better than another depending on which side of the electrical feed it connected to. Ideally both units should be on the same side of the electrical panel feed.

 

[musicmafia]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt L  /t/1518048/help-streaming-hd-from-netflix-amazon-to-tv#post_24367069


The powerline adapter has 2 components. One is placed near your router and is connected to it via CAT5 and then plugged into the wall. The other is plugged in near your equipment and a CAT5 cable is plugged into that equipment, in this case your TV. I'd stick with name brands and buy from places that allow returns. Many report that one adapter did not work well while others do. A lot depends on your wiring, and one outlet may work better than another depending on which side of the electrical feed it connected to. Ideally both units should be on the same side of the electrical panel feed.

so one adaptor is plugged into the router upstairs and one is plugged into the TV downstairs and they both need to be plugged directly into wall sockets (further away) or can they be plugged into power strips closer to the hardware?


once connected I presume I will have to reset my tv network connection to wired and go through the setup / passwords again?

 

[Matt L]

I'd avoid power strips and such as they can have components in them that might interfere with the network signal. Yes, you will have to reset your Tv to "wired" and redo the setup, but afterwards all should work well.

 

[amesdp]

The powerline ethernet adapters are no faster than a decent wireless connection, but they tend to provide more stable streaming as they are more immune to outside interference. For various reasons you may have to try different wall sockets at each end to get the best connection between them, but they come with a PC utility program that monitors the powerline adapters and reports their current connection speed, so you can just experiment with the wall sockets while checking the reported speed until you find the best combination. There are several standard speed generations, most notably 11 mbps, 85 mbps, 200 mbps, and 500 mbps, and the adapters of different brands are normally compatible within the same generation and backwards-compatible since they all use the same chipsets made by the same few manufacturers. Don't expect anything like the rated speed - performance drops off rapidly with distance, especially with the later higher-speed models. Realistically with a 200 mbps pair you might get a best connection speed of 100 mbps between two floors of a house, and the actual throughput would be more like 50 mbps. Moving up to a "500 mbps" model might get you 25% more actual throughput.

 

[musicmafia]

Thanks for all the help! I ordered this one, which appeared to have great reviews and hopefully no compatibility issues since my router is also Linksys: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D4SOF3S/ref=ox_ya_os_product_refresh_C


Thanks again, M

 

[Matt L]

Looks like a good choice, post when you get them up and running and give us a report.

 

[musicmafia]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt L  /t/1518048/help-streaming-hd-from-netflix-amazon-to-tv#post_24373233


Looks like a good choice, post when you get them up and running and give us a report.

received the Linksys PLEK500 Powerline Network Adapter and finally found the time to set them up....finding available wall outlets was the hardest part

but I do have a question about security.....I basically plugged them in and wired them up and it connected to my TV plug-n-play. Havent had any video issues and so far I seem to be getting HD signal each time I connect, although when there is a lot of fast movement in the streaming content, such as action or sports, I am still seeing a lot of digital artifacts, usually around the edges of the parts of the image that are moving, such as people....anyway, back to my security question:


I was never prompted to enter a code or pw so I was concerned about network security...I found an advanced security option, which was basically pushing a button on the 2 adaptors...they blinked for a while and now are working again but I still was never prompted to enter a pw and find that odd as I expected I would be able to set up my own pw for security...any thoughts?


PS I was on hold for Linksys tech support...finally got a rep who barely spoke English, she was rude and eventually I became mysteriously disconnected. Stellar support from Linksys as always.

 

[amesdp]

When you buy a pair of powerline ethernet adapters, they are set to the same security code. If you want to change the security code, or add another adapter and set its security code to match, you use the utility program that runs on your PC. Didn't you get a software CD from Linksys? If not, you'll need to download the utility from their support site. Even if you don't use the security-code setting function, the utility is helpful because it shows you the speed of connection between the two adapters. You can sometimes get better speed by moving the adapters between different wall plugs, as long as you can see the speed in the PC utility.

 

[Matt L]

I hope you do install the utility, I'd be curios to see what kinds of speeds you are getting since you seem to be getting pixelation.

 

[musicmafia]



Quote:
Originally Posted by amesdp  /t/1518048/help-streaming-hd-from-netflix-amazon-to-tv#post_24399395


When you buy a pair of powerline ethernet adapters, they are set to the same security code. If you want to change the security code, or add another adapter and set its security code to match, you use the utility program that runs on your PC. Didn't you get a software CD from Linksys? If not, you'll need to download the utility from their support site. Even if you don't use the security-code setting function, the utility is helpful because it shows you the speed of connection between the two adapters. You can sometimes get better speed by moving the adapters between different wall plugs, as long as you can see the speed in the PC utility.

oddly enough the CD only contained a 2 page pdf setup guide, nothing else....will grab a link from their site