Local content playback on WiFi

Channels DVR Server Troubleshooting
#1

A big part of the appeal of Channels for us is the ability to quickly tune in to random home videos on a loop (virtual channel) ...we used to do it on Plex by shuffling our library but Plex was so slow.

The most recent of these home videos are 4K HEVC at 60fps captured with iPhones which is a bitrate of about 60 mbps. Played back from wired server to WiFi client they pause for about a second, every other second. This happens whether "Original Quality Delivery" is set to "Direct" or "Stream", whether client is iOS/ATV, whether server is windows or macOS. They play back fine on a gigabit wired connection to ATV.

Classic example of the limitations of WiFi I suppose. I don't really know how to properly test my WiFi network but the Ookla Speedtest consistently shows at least 500 mbps from internet to iPhone. So I'm struggling to understand why the max bitrate I can seem to play from Channels on WiFi smoothly is ~30mbps? Does Channels buffer original quality local content or only live TV?

#2

Test the speed from your iOS device to your Channels DVR server over WiFi.
Connect your iOS device to your WiFi, open Safari and go to http://ip_of_server:8089/speedtest

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#3

Ah thanks I wondered where people were getting those screenshots.

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So it’s higher than the video bitrate. But way lower than I was expecting given the 500mbps wifi speed to outside as measured by ookla… I guess I will poke around the router settings… Orbi mesh with wired back haul.

#4

wired iMac by contrast,

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#5

You definitely have an issue. The jitter is really bad and your latency should be in the single digits. Once you solve that your experience will improve

#6

I’m standing right next to a satellite and the channels speed test now shows a much better connection I think. But the video is still stuttering.

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#7

What are you using for a server? It could be something else like not enough resources if it is transcoding etc.

#8

It could but its a dedicated machine with nothing else going on. Also the video stutters the same way when I run the DVR on the 2020 iMac, also idle

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Edit: also I don’t think it’s transcoding. There’s nothing in the log about transcoding and it’s set to “original quality” so should be direct play right?

#9

Not sure if it has anything to do with the issue, but what are the 8 Network interfaces (your screenshot shows 4 of them)
192.168.86.47
192.168.56.1
192.168.83.1
172.18.16.1

Are any of them WiFi?

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#10

Agreed. If this is a dedicated machine disable every ethernet/wifi adapter that is not being used. Leave just a single ethernet adapter active and connect that to your network.

#11

Thanks guys. Channels says there are 8 network interfaces but only lists four. ipconfig also lists four so I guess this might be a bug.

192.168.86.47 - the one on the home network
192.168.56.1 - an old interface set up by openvpn
192.168.83.1 - an old interface set up by virtualbox
172.18.16.1 - WSL virtual ethernet adapter

I disabled the three others, Channels now says there are two interfaces and lists just the one. No change in playback. Note the stuttering is also happening when served by Channels on the newer iMac which only has the one interface.

Here's what I see when I hover over that section of settings:
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"Ethernet 6" is the name of the interface connected to router which is addressed as 192.168.86.47. Does look like a cosmetic bug, doesn't appear to be affecting playback.

#12

Trying enabling Show Stats while playing and see what it says.
If you start the playback and pause it for 10-20 seconds, then resume does it still stutter?
What does the server display under activity while you play it from the client?
There are quite a few settings on the client to play with also.

#13

No

Do you mean the log? It doesn’t display anything.

I tried playing with “direct” vs “stream” for “original quality delivery” on the client which seemed like the most relevant setting, didn’t make any difference. Is there another setting I should be tweaking?

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#14

I can see the “total cache” grow when I pause it and then watch it slowly go back to zero and then start stuttering after hitting resume. So yeah you’d think the connection just isn’t fast enough. But then I go to channel server speedtest that you showed me and see this:

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#15

you might try submitting diagnostics from a client when this happens and follow up with an email to support

#16

Just a quick update, I happened to change my router to ubiquiti with a UniFi U6 Mesh AP, these 60mbps video streams are still buffering at the exact same rate despite a Channels Speedtest that is consistently >3x the video bitrate. So the problem hasn’t varied in the slightest with:

  • different server hardware
  • different server OS
  • different iPhone clients
  • different routers
  • different APs
#17

Maybe your E: drive is being slow

#18

More likely a WiFi vs Wired connection issue

#19

Yep hardwire your ATVs if at all possible. Alternatively, dump the mesh setup and hardwire each AP to the main switch. I have 6 unifi APs in my house all hardwired to my core switch. I can watch 4k content on my mobile devices just like they were wired. I hardwire my ATVs because it is always better. However, they would work fine on wifi as i consistently get 700mbps to the channels server (Even from my outdoor AP :slightly_smiling_face:)

#20

Right except I don’t know what could be wrong with the WiFi connection. WiFi speed is consistently >3x high the video bitrate. WiFiman shows no issues.

dump the mesh setup and hardwire each AP to the main switch

“U6 Mesh” is just the name of the UniFi AP… it’s PoE hardwired to the UDM similar to your setup.

I can watch 4k content on my mobile devices just like they were wired

4k from cDVR?