[mythtv-users] Wireless Frontend

Chris Isip cmisipster at gmail.com
Sun Apr 15 15:44:55 UTC 2007


I've always thought that it helps to have the wireless router hooked up to
your mythbackend via wired ethernet and your frontends connecting via
wireless.   The reasoning being  that a backend and  frontend communicating
with each other  wirelessly  through a router would  have the  wireless
bandwidth  effectively halved.

I have been using 802.11g in my house with SD content and while some days,
it works perfectly without any hiccups, other days or times (environmental
perhaps, weather etc) it gets choppy.  I use  a   Netgear WG311T Wireless
PCI Adapter on all my frontends with a WGT624V3 router in G mode only (Turbo
mode seems to cause a lot of stutter for some reason) with madwifi drivers.

Sometimes, the choppiness may be unrelated to wireless bandwidth as well as
I've found out that daily optimization of mysql database and a recent update
of my mythtv software has improved performance significantly (got rid of the
problem where a mysql query is executed at the start of the recording which
caused mythbackend to drop some frames as stated in the ivtv forums) .
Also, turning off my vncserver seemed to increase performance quite a bit.

In the future I want to investigate a few possibilites to increase bandwidth
and I was wondering if anybody has tried them or if they are even possible:
1> Putting a wifi card in the backend and setting it up as a wireless router
with a humongous antenna.
2> Putting 2 wifi cards in a frontend and bridging them for double bandwidth

Also, does anybody know if WPA decrease wifi bandwidth?  I currently use WEP
which I know is next to no security at all but I need to secure my mythbox
as it does other server duties as well.

One feature that would be nice to see in mythtv would be automatic
adjustments of video quality according to available bandwidth which is what
slingbox claims to do.   I would prefer a momentary drop in quality over a
pause in playback.  So far as I know, there is no support of anything like
this in any linux streaming software.


On 4/14/07, brian <turbo at talstar.com> wrote:
>
> Charles H. Chapman wrote:
> >  > I'm using wireless 54g just fine... for SD. I doubt 54g would do HD
> >  > for you but that's just a hunch.
> >
> > This is a myth (so to speak) that I've been trying to dispel without
> > much luck.  802.11G has more than enough bandwidth to do HD -- I use it
> > in my house without so much as a hickup.
>
>    One isolated incident of 802.11G working in one house does little to
> help you dispel what you term as a 'myth'.
>
> > The key is to set up the access point for a little less than the maximum
> speed of 54 MB/s.  Force
> > it to use something less, like 48 MB/s or 36 MB/s, so that retries will
> > not be necessary.  The other key to using wireless it to not use
> > encryption for controlling access -- that adds overhead (and thus
> > decreases bandwidth).  Use MAC address filtering instead.
>
>    Another key might be to locate one's residence (or whatever location
> their 802.11G implementation might be installed) outside of the
> influence of any deliberate or incidental radiators that may interfere
> with and/or impede the optimal operation of their 802.11G devices.
> These things include, but are certainly not limited to:  commercial
> radio towers, cellular towers, commercial paging systems, commercial or
> residential security systems, short-range two-way paging systems,
> microwave repeater systems, electrical sub-stations, railway yards,
> various industrial manufacturing facilities, airports, public safety
> substations, cordless telephones, doorbells, baby monitors, faulty
> insulators on overhead electric wires, garage door openers, proximity
> triggered automatic doors, neighbors who *also* are running 802.11G
> equipment, etc;  all of these things (and many more) can and do
> interfere with the optimal operation of any RF-based device, 802.11G
> networks included.
>
> > I think the
> > people on this list who complain about wireless not working have not
> > tried these methods.
>
>    I think the people on this list who complain about those who complain
> about wireless not performing well may not have considered the many
> numerous environmental factors that might negatively affect the
> performance of wireless network equipment in a given situation at a
> specific location.  There's a bit more to the equation than simply
> determining if the maximum bits/sec that you wish to transport falls
> within the optimal performance parameters on the wireless product's
> specification sheet.  Those numbers tell you the theoretical maximum;
> the practical maximum may be significantly less.
>
>    In short.. I'm glad 802.11G is working for you, streaming HD content
> and all.  :)  That situation, sadly, is probably closer to the exception
> than the rule... and in ten minutes, a week, or a year, things over
> which you have no control may very well negatively affect your wireless
> network performance, degrading it to point where you cannot effortlessly
> stream HD content across it.
>
>   - brian
>
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