InfiniTV 6 ETH - Extremely Slow Channel Changes

[shadow6934]

Hello Forum!

I am looking for some additional ideas for solving my slow channel changes (example changes in video form here: http://goo.gl/BN0e6B).

Equipment: Asus RT-AC66R router, D-link DGS-2208 switch, Cat6 wiring, InfiniTV 6 ETH (fw: 14.10.3.163), and two HTPCs (one system is AMD FX8350 and the other is Pentium G3258); the HTPCs and the InfiniTV are all plugged directly into the switch

Problem: the InfiniTV installed okay on each HTPC and after a phone call with Verizon got all green check boxes in the Ceton Diagnostic Utility. Channel changes take anywhere from ~4 seconds to 20+ seconds. The 20+ second changes often end in a 'Subscription Required' message before finally tuning in the channel. It has made television almost un-watchable.

Ceton help: I have a support ticket open with Ceton, but they haven't yet provided a solution. I sent them diagnostic files from each PC and the aforementioned videos. Their first suggestion was to make some tweaks. Mainly, both machine's have the latest Windows Updates, network controller driver, installed hotfix kb2746119, the NIC has been disallowed from powering down, IPv6 has been turned off, the network has no QoS or power save features enabled, and I've never run the network tuner wizard on either machine. Next suggestions was to use MS Security Essentials instead of Avast, however, MS Security Essentials is installed on one of the two PCs - the PC experiences slow channel changes just as the computer running Avast; this was documented in one of the movies and diagnostic file previously sent. lastly, I have advised them that the network itself is quite fast. When transferring files between the two machines I have achieved speeds of over 100 MB per second.

If anyone has had similar problems and/or have suggestions on how to fix I would greatly appreciate it. I'm guessing Ceton support won't say so directly, but what are your thoughts about a faulty unit causing the problems?

Thanks in advance,
ace

[fleanote]

Might help, might not. But it helped me.
http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/vie ... 235#p80235

[STC]

If you have extenders jumbo frames may impact on their performance. It did with my setup

[shadow6934]

Thanks for the replies. I tried jumbo frames and they did not help, so I reverted back to standard. Additionally, I do use 1-2 extenders (currently 1, but likely 2 in near future).

Some additional information: my signal strength seems to be on the high side (Verizon FiOS direct from ONT); reading is 9.4 dBmV and signal to noise is 38.6 dB. Temps are around 50C per the Ceton's internal website.

Any other thoughts or suggestions?

-ace

[mdavej]

I think you may be onto something with the signal strength. I have heard of Fios customers installing attenators to fix that.

[shadow6934]

So, I have had the attenuator installed for a couple days and there is no change in channel change times.

Ceton support says that the problem lies within Windows/the network of each machine as "the channel change to only a 1 second for the InfiniTV." They do not believe a new CableCARD would fix the issue.

Here are my issues: the network is fast. Everything is gigabit and all cables are cat6. I never had an issue like this with my PCIe 4, so I'm hard pressed to blame Windows. They have my diagnostic logs, but don't bother to pinpoint any third party software that could cause problems.

Anyone have any other suggestions?

[cwinfield]

D-link DGS-2208 is a green switch and might be the source of your woes. On your NIC driver on HTPCs in device properties disable 802.3az EEE. Next thing to try, I would plug directly into the router to see if your switch is slowing you down. Next thing to consider would be a non-green switch with larger buffer (more memory).

[shadow6934]

Thanks for the suggestions. Just before your reply I was reading some other threads and have since made the following changes to the NIC:

HTPC 1 - disabled EEE (they are wired, so it was simply listed as EEE and not 802.3az)
HTPC 2 - disabled EEE and Green Power

At first it appeared to help. I've been timing a five-channel change sequence. I've had results from anywhere from 25s to 1m25s to change/tune five channels. The sequence was down to ~20s, but when done I tried to tune back to one of the channels in the sequence (to actually watch ESPN) and the change took north of 10s. And just now flipping channels it went all the way to the 'subscription required' message before finally tuning in in over 20s.

I will try plugging everything directly to the router as my next troubleshooting step. I'll see if I can borrow a different switch from a friend to try and rule that out. I read in another thread about changing the Ceton power supply. Do you think this is necessary?

[cwinfield]

I read in another thread about changing the Ceton power supply. Do you think this is necessary?

Doubt it, that I believe was due to reboot issues mostly.

[shadow6934]

I just had some time to troubleshoot the network. I removed the switch from the system, plugging the Ceton and the two HTPCs directly into the Asus router. After rebooting the Ceton and the HTPCs, I performed my typical 5-channel change sequence. It jumped back up to an unreasonable number - 40s to change five channels. This is completely ruining the TV experience - wife is not a happy camper.

Any other ideas?

[EZEd]

Do you have a tuning adapter and using SDV? If so it could be the TA causing the slow down.

[shadow6934]

Thanks for the idea, but nope, on Verizon FiOS with no TA.

[STC]

...40s to change five channels. This is completely ruining the TV experience...

40s to change five channels is about right. Sometimes they come in quickly, other times not.
I would recommend not using an infiniTV for liveTV channel surfing. Tune to the channel you want to watch or focus on watching recorded shows.

[shadow6934]

Wait, what?! Do you really believe 8s to change a channel is normal? I've never owned an HDHomerun Prime, but it sure looks like 2s is the average channel change time (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdDalFHModA)

And, there's no way I would buy a product to replace my cable boxes that was not able to handle live TV surfing. Ceton built their company and reputation on replacing your set top boxes and DVRs with their tuners and extenders. What's the value in replacing your equipment if the tuner becomes a constant struggle?

Still hoping it's something I can work out, any other suggestions?

[cwinfield]

Are your HTPCs using SSDs? Also you should try the newest beta firmware http://www.cetoncorp.com/downloads/ceto ... _152.IMAGE, people have noticed quicker channel tuning. Also I would still try a non-green switch, a 5 to 8 port is like $20-30 on ebay http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R4 ... h&_sacat=0.

[STC]

Wait, what?! Do you really believe 8s to change a channel is normal?

Pretty much with Ceton tuners yes. My ETH is usually a bit quicker than 8s, sometimes as quick as 3s, averages about 6s. The tuners actually lock on really quickly (try yourself manually and see). It's what happens in between the pipeline to WMCs display that lags for some reason. It's as though something is out of sync and it all has to shuffle around a bit. If you really want to channel hop liveTV a lot, the Ceton isn't for you IMO. For recorded stuff (how I watch) it's totally fine.

[JohnW248]

My ETH's average around 4 to 5 seconds on channels changes except for the first tune on one system in the morning when everything has to wake up. One big factor is the buffer drive. Since there is no such thing as live tv, the channel has to be tuned and sent to media center which buffers it before it sends it to the display. The PCIe6 tuners are very fast since all that stuff is in the same case/host and tunes within a second or two.

The SD tuners seem to be just a second or two faster than the ETH, don't know why but maybe it has less operational overhead to deal with being a three tuner device.

[STC]

^ I have been playing with a TiVo Roamio of late: 1 second changes. Pretty much Cable Co. STB/PVR speed.

[wreels]

Hello Forum!

I am looking for some additional ideas for solving my slow channel changes (example changes in video form here: http://goo.gl/BN0e6B).

Equipment: Asus RT-AC66R router, D-link DGS-2208 switch, Cat6 wiring, InfiniTV 6 ETH (fw: 14.10.3.163), and two HTPCs (one system is AMD FX8350 and the other is Pentium G3258); the HTPCs and the InfiniTV are all plugged directly into the switch

Problem: the InfiniTV installed okay on each HTPC and after a phone call with Verizon got all green check boxes in the Ceton Diagnostic Utility. Channel changes take anywhere from ~4 seconds to 20+ seconds. The 20+ second changes often end in a 'Subscription Required' message before finally tuning in the channel. It has made television almost un-watchable.

Ceton help: I have a support ticket open with Ceton, but they haven't yet provided a solution. I sent them diagnostic files from each PC and the aforementioned videos. Their first suggestion was to make some tweaks. Mainly, both machine's have the latest Windows Updates, network controller driver, installed hotfix kb2746119, the NIC has been disallowed from powering down, IPv6 has been turned off, the network has no QoS or power save features enabled, and I've never run the network tuner wizard on either machine. Next suggestions was to use MS Security Essentials instead of Avast, however, MS Security Essentials is installed on one of the two PCs - the PC experiences slow channel changes just as the computer running Avast; this was documented in one of the movies and diagnostic file previously sent. lastly, I have advised them that the network itself is quite fast. When transferring files between the two machines I have achieved speeds of over 100 MB per second.

If anyone has had similar problems and/or have suggestions on how to fix I would greatly appreciate it. I'm guessing Ceton support won't say so directly, but what are your thoughts about a faulty unit causing the problems?

Thanks in advance,
ace

go to the network cards properties and find the Advanced option for 'Jumbo Packet' and change it from disabled to its highest setting which hopefully is 4088 or higher. Lastly, go to Add/Remove Programs and click on 'Windows Features' and uncheck/disable the 'Remote differential compression' option.

Hi shadow6934, I did these steps that fleanote suggested in another thread and now WMC is able to change and tune channels from my two InfiniTV 6 ETHs devices in 2-3 seconds - which is lightning fast compared to the 8-15 seconds it was taking before I made the changes! Note also, my Trendnet GREENnet TEG-S81g supports Jumbo Frame technology. Looks like your switch does too... Can't hurt to try.

[cybrsage]

My first channel tuning after a reboot is slow. After that, I am around 2 seconds per change - unless I do a lot in a row, then they start to take longer and longer until they fail.