Playback Video Stuttering / Choppy

Channels DVR Server
#1

A couple of months ago, I began having problems with playback of recordings. They stutter off and on. I haven't found any issues with my home network. With Speedtest, my WAN speed from the Channels server is between 300 and 400 mbps and the upload speed is 60 to 100 mbps. When pinging the Channels server, I see 1 and 2 ms replies (mostly 1ms). Home Streaming Quality is set to Original. Resources in use are relatively nil. Little CPU, Disk, Memory or Network is being used.
Suggestions are welcome. If I left anything out, I'll try and provide the information.

OS=Windows 10
CPU=i7-6700
Memory = 16GB
Channels Version=2025.01.18.0528
Clients=3 Apple 4K and 1 Nvidia Shield

I'm planning on moving from Windows to Linux running on a Lenovo workstation with a seventh generation i7. I plan on rsyncing the files over but I haven't begun yet.

Thanks!

#2

What client are you using?

#3

Thanks for asking.
Playback is behaving this way on 3 Apple 4K boxes and 1 Nvidia Shield.
I also updated my original post to show this.

2 Likes
#4

What does your network topology look like? Not interested in the WAN connection just your intranet (local network)

#5

The lower level of my house is hardwired through an unmanaged switch. The switch is fed by an AX10000 TP-Link router connected to a T-Mobile gateway on the floor above. Both Plex and Channels servers are on the hardwired leg.
The WAN speed test from the server would tell me if there’s a bottleneck to the T-Mobile gateway or router but not which one was at fault. If the bandwidth was terrible, I would suspect the LAN.
Anyway, the Nvidia box is hardwired but the Apple boxes on the floor above are WiFi. Speed test doesn’t show a bottleneck.

#6

Use the Channels Client integrated speed test which measures speed and latency between the Channels Client and the Channels Server.

#7

Here are the Channels' speed test results for one of the Apple TV boxes that is experiencing this issue.
ϟ 3.6ms
↓ 475.7 Mbps
↑ 255.5 Mbps

#8

Definitely OK

#9

Not that it will help, but I will add this. My Channels DVR drive is exported to my Plex server which runs on Linux. My programs playback just fine even given the overhead of the remote mount. So, when my videos start getting choppy, I open up my Plex app and watch them there.

#10

Have you tried changing the Delivery method DIRECT and STREAM ?
https://getchannels.com/docs/apps/usage/streaming/

#11

Delivery method was already set to DIRECT. I changed it STREAM. I saw no issues. I then changed it back. Again, I saw no issues. It's frustrating to troubleshoot a problem that's intermittent. Thanks for the suggestion and I'll continue to monitor this.

1 Like
#12

Sounds like an intermittent issue on your network. Could be a bad wire or switch, or a malfunctioning device flooding the network.

You can use PingPlotter to measure latency over time and see if there are spikes.

#13

Thank you. I’ll do that.

#14

Shortly after I posted my last message last week (27 Jan), this problem disappeared without me changing any settings or the DVR schedule. I'll continue to be vigilant and if it comes back, I try PingPlotter.

#15

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