So after reading a bunch of information here in the community, I decided to give Raspberry PI 4 a try. Works pretty well with the Amazon Firestick 4k Max to run the channels APP. but I still get some buffering when changing channels and when adding a second device, like a kindle with the channels APP, I got more buffering and Picture in Picture got stuck on the screen a few times.
So with this modest amount of use, I am thinking the RP4 will not handle my 3 TV's in my house watching live and also running recordings as well.
I'm OK with spending the money to test, The RP4 can be used for something else if it comes to that.
I already know how the performance is on a windows Laptop with an older slower CPU. About the same as the RP4.
Thinking of giving the Nvidia shield as a server vs going with a more powerful PC or Mac Mini, since those two are easy enough to aquire and I likely have a PC somewhere that would work well. But I really want it to be more of a device that does not have all the Heavy OS of Windows or Apple. What is the minimum version of NVidia Shield that I should look for, probably used on Ebay or FB Marketplace?
There are a lot of issues with the Nvidia Shield and its version 9 release. It breaks plex and channels DVR. I believe there are work arounds but I don't think that is what you would want to do right off the bat.
Here is some light reading.
https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/forums/shield-tv/9/481434/shield-experience-upgrade-90-hotfix-image/
With that statement, I feel you should take a close look at your network. it may not be up to the task of streaming that many sources.
What type of wireless are you using?
What speed do you get from your clients to your server?
Dose your server have a wired connection? If not, that's the first thing I'd try
Good luck,
Morris
I have a wireless router Netgear NIghthawk r8000 and using the 5G band.
DK how to measure speed from client to server.
Server has a wired connection to the router.
Router connected to Cable Modem that is bridged.
How would I measure the speed between client (Amazon Fire Stick 4k Max) and the Channels Server (Raspberry Pi 4 )
Try this
How can I test the network speed at my TV?
On Android TV or FireTV, go to the DVR settings tab and use the Test Speed to DVR Server button
I know that anything less than 100 Mbps causes me issues with fast fast forwarding through a pre-recorded show. (Also have a couple of cameras sending data over it which would lower it further for throughput.) Once in a while my ports between the two switches negotiate down from 1 gig to 100 if I get a power outage/blip. 5G connections are only great if you are close to your router. They drop off really fast the further you get from them. Where 2.4 will travel a lot further but the starting value will be lower.
Make sure your channels server is hardwired in any scenario. If it were me I would get a 5yr old PC and install ubuntu server on it, you can't go wrong in that config