[jasper2]

Hi,


I just replaced my trouble prone D-Link 624 router with a Buffalo WBR2-G54. So far the buffalo is working much better, however I am still not seeing the full 1.2MBps or so transfer speed even over a wired connection. Instead it seems to be topping out at about 540kBps. What tricks are there to increase the transfer speed? I've downloaded the Sveasoft firmware (4.0GS) but I haven't flashed the router yet as I'm not sure what the benefits and risks are yet. Any other suggestions?

 

[j.m.]

Quote:

Originally posted by jasper2 Hi, I just replaced my trouble prone D-Link 624 router with a Buffalo WBR2-G54. So far the buffalo is working much better, however I am still not seeing the full 1.2MBps or so transfer speed even over a wired connection. Instead it seems to be topping out at about 540kBps. What tricks are there to increase the transfer speed? I've downloaded the Sveasoft firmware (4.0GS) but I haven't flashed the router yet as I'm not sure what the benefits and risks are yet. Any other suggestions?

DO NOT flash a Buffalo with the Sveasoft firmware, especially the Satori 4.0 version. It won't work and may brick your router. There has been some success getting the as-of-yet unreleased Alchemy versions running on a Buffalo, but even that is iffy. Even if it worked, it would not make a difference in speed. For the average user, the Buffalo firmware is as good as, and better than, the Sveasoft firmware in many ways. The main benefit of the Sveasoft firmware is bandwidth shaping (QoS), which comes in handy if you send a lot shows via IVS and/or have VoIP.


As for your problem, here are two suggestions. First, DVArchive limits transfers from ReplayTVs to a user configurable rate. The setting can be found at File | DVArchive Properties | Downloads tab. The default is around 300KB/s for new users and around 600KB/s for those who upgraded from DVA 2.1. If you want to get 1.2MB/s, you must disable/raise that cap. Please note that these caps are for your protection. Removing them can damage your ReplayTV and/or cause it to be unresponsive during transfers.


Second, in order to get the maximum speed from a ReplayTV, you must turn it OFF (i.e. blue light off) during the transfer. When it is turned off and nothing is recording, an uncapped ReplayTV 5xxx will max out at around 1.4 to 1.5 MB/s regardless of your network equipment. That is a limit of the ReplayTV itself, and nothing can be done about that.

 

[SeeSpotRun]

What was wrong with the D-Link 624?


-SeeSpotRun

 

[jasper2]

Quote:

Originally posted by j.m. DO NOT flash a Buffalo with the Sveasoft firmware, especially the Satori 4.0 version. It won't work and may brick your router. There has been some success getting the as-of-yet unreleased Alchemy versions running on a Buffalo, but even that is iffy. Even if it worked, it would not make a difference in speed. For the average user, the Buffalo firmware is as good as, and better than, the Sveasoft firmware in many ways. The main benefit of the Sveasoft firmware is bandwidth shaping (QoS), which comes in handy if you send a lot shows via IVS and/or have VoIP. As for your problem, here are two suggestions. First, DVArchive limits transfers from ReplayTVs to a user configurable rate. The setting can be found at File | DVArchive Properties | Downloads tab. The default is around 300KB/s for new users and around 600KB/s for those who upgraded from DVA 2.1. If you want to get 1.2MB/s, you must disable/raise that cap. Please note that these caps are for your protection. Removing them can damage your ReplayTV and/or cause it to be unresponsive during transfers. Second, in order to get the maximum speed from a ReplayTV, you must turn it OFF (i.e. blue light off) during the transfer. When it is turned off and nothing is recording, an uncapped ReplayTV 5xxx will max out at around 1.4 to 1.5 MB/s regardless of your network equipment. That is a limit of the ReplayTV itself, and nothing can be done about that.

Yikes! Glad I asked first! As for the transfer setting I did try raising it to 1.2MBps to see if that would help. It still seems to be limited, but it's a bit faster now, running at ~600kBps. The Replay has been off the entire time and no recordings have been scheduled during transfers. I'm curious though, what damage can occur to the replay if the transfer speed is too high?


The 624 has a problem that seems to be common among this line. The router hangs several times a day and must be rebooted to resume operation. I e-mailed Dlink support (who got back to me within hours BTW) but their suggestions did no good. I'm going to return the unit to them and see if I can get a fresh one. Maybe I'll start a collection of these things...

 

[SeeSpotRun]

I have a DI-624 and it works great. I used to have a Linksys and that one locked up all the time.


What Firmware version do you have on the 624?


-SeeSpotRun

 

[jasper2]

I flashed it to the latest official version, v2.42.

 

[jasper2]

I think I figured out the problem! This morning I tried downloading shows on my desktop via the wireless connection and volia, the transfer speed was about 1.1MBps. This is in spite of a difference in brands between the components - the router is a Buffalo and the PCI card is a D-Link DWL-G520.


My initial testing had been performed using my laptop hardwired to the router to unload the shows from my RTV unit. This was done because it was much more feasible to hardwire my very portable laptop to the router than run a 50' cable from the router to my desktop in another room. Unfortunately my laptop is almost out of room on it's internal HD. I have a new one on order but as a stopgap measure I hooked up an external HD (not a flash drive) drive via the USB port. It's a USB 2.0 drive but the laptop only has a USB 1.1 port. This morning after I found the desktop was capable of achiving the max transfer speed I hooked the external drive up to it, assigned it as the target drive in DVarchive and tried downloading a show. The transfer speed was very similar to the previous values on the hardwired laptop even though my desktop has a USB 2.0 port. I don't know if the problem lies in the USB interface or in the design of the external hard drive but I have learned something interesting in all of this.


Anyway thanks for all your help, Now I'm REALLY glad I didn't flash the router

 

[SeeSpotRun]

Quote:

Originally posted by jasper2 I flashed it to the latest official version, v2.42.

Mine has the original v2.37 that it came with and I haven't had any problems so I'm leaving it alone. BTW, I hear they are up to 2.5.


-SeeSpotRun