Streaming BR over Network

[Rob_NYC]

Is this something that can be done? I have run out of room on my HTPC 500MB hard drive and started putting copies of my BR discs (via ISO) on my WD My Book World Edition II Network drive (2TB). When I went to play back last night, the video was stuttering. The HTPC is connected to my network via ethernet. DVD's play fine this way. But I'm wondering if BR is just too much bandwidth. If that is the case, how the heck do people stream BR discs from a network drive? Given how big the files are, I have to imagine that's the only feasible way to securely store these ripped files while benefit from playing them back electronically.

Any input is appreciated.

[Blazkowicz]

What's your ethernet speed?
Do the BRs play fine when on local HDD?

[GregiBoy]

As Blaz said, it depends on two things:-

Your ethernet speed & the bitrate of the media file.

Do not forget that there are also overheads on any ethernet connection.

If you are using wireless, I would definitely say that that is the problem and go hard-wired.

If you cannot hardwire, have a look at the Ethernet over Power adaptors as from Netgear.

[Rob_NYC]

Thanks guys. I am hard wired on the htpc. As far as speed, do you mean from a speed test or just in general, i.e., 100Mb/s. We're in a new condo and I assume they wired it with a basic ethernet cable. I can run a test if that's what you're suggesting.

The BR plays fine from my BR drive on the HTPC.

I'm not familiar with what you mean about overheads on ethernet connections. Can you explaing further?

Thank you.

[Blazkowicz]

I have no problems when streaming with 1 Gbps.

[Racem22]

Well, I'm sure a gigabit network, i.e. 1000Mbit, would be perfect for streaming BDs but I would think that 100Mbit would be alright as well, but not sure. As long as you're wired, that's a step in the right direction. I would test it out and see how it works for you. If it stills seems choppy/slow then you might have to switch to gigabit, which might just be as simple as replacing all the cables with CAT6(I think) cables if everything else is up to par. Make sure you have a gigabit router/access point, and all other ports and cables are certified for it.

[Rob_NYC]

Blazkowicz, when you say you have no problems when streaming with 1 Gbps, is that 1000Mbit versus 100? I think my issue is that I have 100. If that's the case, it sounds like my solution is to do as racem22 suggested, i.e., replace my existing cables with Cat6, although I'm not sure how "simple" that is. But it certainly seems like a bandwidth issue. In fact, I copied the same ISO file to my HTPC hard drive, and it played back fine. So that leads me to believe that the issue is the streaming over the network.

What if I bough a high capacity USB drive that connected directly to my HTPC? Is that a faster transfer than going through the hard-wire ethernet?

Could the problem also be the ISO playback via virtual drive versus playing the native BR files via something like VLC? Would that make a difference? I'm just trying to exhaust my options before I go tearing into my walls to replace wires just so I can watch digital copies of my BR discs (versus simply playing them through my BR player...what a novel idea!)

[GregiBoy]

There is another constraint that I think we have all missed which is the storage and how fast it can supply the data.

I had a similar problem years ago dragging AVI media files from old Netgear SC101's and the just couldn't serve the media fast enough.

[Niqtec]

I stream BluRay almost every day over my wireless G network using a external 5400 HD. Most of the time it is flawless occasionally it will get jerky. If I use a cable to connect is is perfect the TV hard wire connection is 100mbs

[Rob_NYC]

GregiBoy, I have a WD My Book World Edition II Network drive (2TB). Obviously this is a new piece of hardward from WD, so I would assume it would be up to par for what I'm trying to do, but I'm also not naive enough to think that IS the case. The trouble is where do you start with the troubleshooting. It's not a simple/cheap process to start replacing wires, replacing network drives, etc. This whole technology seems like too much trouble for the benefit, but the geek in me wants to make it work.

[Rob_NYC]

Btw, I just got off with Verizon Fios and increased my internet speed to 35/35Mb/s from 25/15. I guess this is the download/upload speeds, so I don't know if that will effect streaming across my network. I got a promo and so it doesn't cost me anything for six months and can choose to go back to 25/15 if I'm not satisfied with speed.

It will be turned "on" tomorrow afternoon so I'll report back if it fixes the stuttering.

What does everybody think, will this help?

[Complication]

Your internet speed will have no effect on the internal network.

The most likely cause of the problem is that the WD My Book is not designed for the up to 40Mbs found on BDs. It is designed to be cheap and large but not necessarily fast. Hooking up an additional hard drive to the HTPC is probably your cheapest option.

[IPopov50]

GregiBoy, I have a WD My Book World Edition II Network drive (2TB). Obviously this is a new piece of hardward from WD, so I would assume it would be up to par for what I'm trying to do, but I'm also not naive enough to think that IS the case. The trouble is where do you start with the troubleshooting. It's not a simple/cheap process to start replacing wires, replacing network drives, etc. This whole technology seems like too much trouble for the benefit, but the geek in me wants to make it work.

Rob_NYC,
your WD network drive is fine, your CAT5 wire is also fine and capable to handle stream.
what you should pay attention to is router - make sure it's a 1Gbit router, not 100Mbit.
Every piece of the way have to be 1 Gigabit: router, modem, NAS, etc. whatever else is in your network.

[Rob_NYC]

Thanks Complication, that's helpful. For the additional drive, can it be via USB? I think it has to on my machine, because it's a Viewsonic "mini", which won't allow for another hard drive in its case. And if I get an external usb drive, is there a particular one that is faster so I don't run into a similar issue as my WD WorldBook? Or does that not really matter since you're not going through ethernet?

Also, for network drives, if I wanted to replace my WD Worldbook, maybe use it as non-BR storage, would there be another NAS product that is recommended to handle the BR file sizes?

[Rob_NYC]

Thanks IPopov50, I will look into the 1Gb requirement and see if I need to replace something. That sounds much more manageable then some of the other directions it was sounding like I may need to go. I'll report back. Thanks again.