A business class Gigabit switch made it all better!

[kd6icz]

I don't use my ETH 6 much. But I decided to add the other 6 tuners of my ETH 6 to my WMC server. I may not leave it that way since having it set up as a 12 tuner configuration causes my internal PCIe 6 to disappear. That's a separate issue in a different thread.

Anyway... Back to my switch-es. I have been using four Trendnet GREENnet TEG-S80G 8-Port Gigabit Ethernet Switches in my network since I built my initial setup over a year ago. I added the ETH 6 to my network this past April when Ceton had the tax day sale.

Every time I would use it I would experience the little annoying data errors in my video stream. I had my WMC PC and ETH 6 plugged into the same TEG-S80G as recommended. But still had issues.

I remembered yesterday I had a Netgear GS-105e 5 port managed gigabit switch stowed away from a work project last year and thought I would put it in place of the Trendnet tying my PC and ETH 6 together.

Sure enough I haven't had one single error in the past 5 hours of watching live TV. So I'm convinced that a cheapo "green" consumer switch can have a negative affect on the overall performance of an ETH 6.

[adam1991]

yeah, streaming video takes more effort and attention than setting up a system for your mom to browse the web on her iPad.

When I designed my system over three years ago, I went the extra mile on a few things--the switch being one of them. I knew a business class switch could make the difference, so I found a Dell on Ebay--and it's served me well during this time. I know I went through a couple of consumer-class switches over prior years, for reference.

I also ensured that I would have enough ports so I wouldn't have to daisy-chain multiple switches. I overbought, but on the other hand I planned for the future. And used, there's no difference between a 32 port unit and a 16 port unit, so I figured if I'm going to overbuy...

I overbuilt a bit because it was my first system (and I'm a Mac guy). I'm happy enough with the i3, but it's a fast i3 Clarkdale (3.2). And I didn't *need* 8GB of RAM, but it was only ten bucks more than 4GB. I see some threads here and wonder if my planning and forethought due to my professed ignorance and desire not to do it all over again didn't save me in the end after all.

If you're going to move big truckfuls of dirt every minute of the day for several years, you don't get a small family pickup.

[woodchuck]

I have a business class switch (Cisco SG-200) for my home and have rarely had issues with my ETH6. I've never used a consumer grade switch with it, so I don't have a comparison, but you may be onto something.

[nxsfan]

For the record switching from a (~$70) ZyXEL GS1100 to a (free after rebate) ASUS GX1005B also fixed my streaming problems with the ETH6.

It seems to me the problem lies in the interaction between the Eth6 and the implementation of 802.3az on certain switches.

(EDIT: Disabling EEE on my NIC also fixed the problem).

[fleanote]

Lets hope so fellas. I thought my issues were solved with a cable booster in front of my ETH6 but it was only temporary. Your theories make sense (internal bandwidth) and I've been asking myself how to increase mine with my current gigabit switches. Someday's my WMC's will change channels instantly, and at other times it can range from 5-25 second delay with all the usual errors (PlayReady, No tuner, Weak signal, etc.) Based on research its gonna take a 'managed' switch that I can set flow control on. I have 2 on the way. I'll post my failure or success, but I have high hopes.

[fleanote]

I think I got it...at least its working perfectly well right now. My plan was to make 3 changes to the ETH6 setup to fix what I believed to be 'internal bandwidth' problems. I never blamed the cable signal because when I had cable boxes they were all lightning quick to change. I never blamed the Ceton because it always worked and the web page diagnostics told me so. I kept thinking...what if the bandwidth in my house was not fast enough? We have 10+ networked devices and they're all always on and always talking - maybe I didn't have enough bandwidth to support LIVE streaming TV?

For my 3 changes - here's what I found on the web, and I hope it helps you as it has helped me.

1. Switch out the ETH6 power supply. I found on a thread that it overheats because its core is not as big. The thread gave a link to an Ebay auction for a replacement. It was only $12. It hasn't arrived yet, I haven't even put it into place.

2. Move over to 'managed' gigabit switches. Those you can set flow control on and give priority to ETH6 traffic. I actually think this will work, but again. They haven't arrived yet. But based on #3 which worked, I think they would have done the trick. I'm not going to bother swapping my switches out now unless the channel slow downs happen again.

3. Worked like a charm - all my Media Center PC's run Windows 7 (Premium or Pro). I found a thread that (for different reasons than TV watching) shows you a couple tweaks to make to increase your bandwidth capacity to your network cards. I'll paste it below but essentially you replace the embedded Windows network card driver with the latest version from the manufacturer (Broadcom, Intel, etc - whatever gives you more config options than Windows' native driver). After installing, disable TCP/IP V6 (unless you use it), 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. That was it.

Not only are my channels changing in under a second, my file transfers between machines have increased. Great tip. Pass it on if it works for you.
https://romaco.ca/blog/2011/01/28/how-t ... etworking/

[golfdude]

im not too familiar with how switches work.. does having the ETH on a switch give it its own set of IP addresses, or will it just take the same set of ip addresses from the router

[cwinfield]

Switch just provides access to multiple ethernet connections. The main difference would be that unlike using a router has more overhead than just connecting devices (web vs. lan) also firewall & wireless duties. The IP addresses would be set by your routers DHCP or by you if using static IP as long a you plug the switch into the router. Ideally you would plug your wired devices into the switch and the switch into the router. Best analogy would be like a interstate and highway and the switch being the less congested road on your way to work during rush hour.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/wind ... =windows-7

[Mpgrimm2]

You can see my layout diagram in this post..

http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/vie ... 881#p79881

[Crash2009]

im not too familiar with how switches work.. does having the ETH on a switch give it its own set of IP addresses, or will it just take the same set of ip addresses from the router

Me neither, but from what I have been able to piece together.... The switch doesn't need to know what the IP address is (Layer 3) because, it >>>forwards>>> based upon the MAC address (Layer 2).

https://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=Ak ... t-418&fp=1

[fleanote]

Sharing what i've learned here. As last posted, I configged the NIC's in my HTPC's to jumbo frames (9K) based on a blog post I found about 'speeding up Windows Networking.' It worked for TV watching, channel changes down to a second or so. But, I had already ordered a bunch of managed switches to try out so I figured I'd put them in tonight and it has made a difference. The key is 'jumbo frame' support on your switches. As luck and chance would have it, I have those same TEG GreenNet switches posted above and was very happy to learn that they natively support 9K jumbo frames. Where I was going wrong were 2 other switches in my house loop. They were gigabit so I assumed they were good enough to support jumbo frames - but that was a bad assumption. I found a set of Linksys SRW2008's on Ebay (which support jumbo frames) and replaced them, now I have 4 switches that support jumbo frames and my channel changes are under 1 second now, no kidding/bragging. Remember being able to have a channel tuned in, then just hit channel up one at a time and watch 3 seconds and keep surfing without waiting for the channel? Those days are back.

I know not everyone has all Win7 machines in their HTPC networks, but I think this IPTV and jumbo frames have a common thread that could help. The random PlayReady update, weak tuner, searching for tuner type messages are all gone. Lets hope it stays this way and I'll get another ETH6. 12 tuners has a nice ring to it.

[woodchuck]

Is there a setting on the ETH6 for it to use jumbo frames?

[fleanote]

No setting on the ETH6 for jumbo frames, your NIC's and switches control that. Tested some more last night and everything is still lightning quick.

[woodchuck]

No setting on the ETH6 for jumbo frames, your NIC's and switches control that. Tested some more last night and everything is still lightning quick.

Yup, I can confirm this to be true. I turned on jumbo frames on my Cisco switch and on my media center NIC and channel changes are much faster. Still not as fast as my old OTA tuners, but about a second or so. Before doing this, it was 3-4 sec. Thanks Fleanote!