Help : Plex Server and Apple TV 4K

Plex Players Smart TVs
,
1

Server Version#: 1.16.1.1246
Player Version#: 2.3 for Apple TV

Hello,

I have been using Infuse for almost a year and I decided to set up a Plex server in order to gain storage and simplify access to content…
I noticed that it was difficult for me to watch movies in 4K and some REMUX 1080p. During the launch of the film, I have many “buffering” that disturbs the smooth running of the film with Plex Player AND infuse…

Network
I use an Apple TV 4K connected in RJ45 to my box, I have a fiber subscription with 300mbps symmetrical, by making speedtests, I have the speed for which I pay my subscription.
I performed some iperf testing from my MacBook Pro to my Plex server (a dedicated server), I also have the 300Mbps in symmetric.

39
39958×522 136 KB

I came to the conclusion that the network part does not seem to be a problem.

Hard disk
So I did some writing and reading tests on the server, I thought maybe the hard disk was a little tired.
With the following two commands:
$ hdparm -t -T /dev/sda
and
dd if=/dev/zero of=/tmp/test.data bs=1M count=1024 conv=fdatasync
EDIT :

disk%20lect
disk%20lect1000×102 11.3 KB

disk%20writ

I come to the same conclusion as for the network…

During a test, for no good reason, I decide to use infuse on my iPhone X and use Airplay to watch movie via the TV.
And now, miracle! It works.
With an iPhone connected to Wifi I am able to watch REMUX 1080p and 4K movies… despite some image jumps for the 4K, the movies can be watched

On the Plex side, I had to decide to watch bandwidth information when running a movie on my Apple TV or iPhone…

Two attached captures show the bandwidth used by two different devices.

iphone
iphone999×384 110 KB

apple_tv
apple_tv992×421 427 KB

For the same movies, we can see that the phone uses, on average, 80mpbs and that the Apple TV uses 30mpbs…
Can this “limitation” on the Apple TV side be the cause of my buffering?

Any idea ?

Have other people ever had this problem?

Thanks for your help

2

First, it would help if you shared the results of the two tests you ran. Stating you ran them but not providing the data doesn’t help.

I have 3 ATV 4K devices in the house. Two are wifi and one wired. The LAN switch is an HPE (Aruba now), 24 x 1GbE fed by 10 GbE from the QNAP (PMS and data storage). I have no difficulties whatsoever. I can also, concurrently, pull 290 MB/sec to a USB 5GbE adapter

[chuck@lizum scripts.237]$ dd if=/vie/uhd/Apollo\ 13\ \(1995\)/Apollo\ 13\ \(1995\).mkv of=/dev/null bs=1M
44185+1 records in
44185+1 records out
46332351616 bytes (46 GB, 43 GiB) copied, 159.77 s, 290 MB/s
[chuck@lizum scripts.238]$

While this was running, I launched two other films over wifi, one PMS and one Infuse, without noticing.

You are citing average bandwidth. This sounds like one of the following (in no particular order)

  1. The NAS/PMS host cannot keep up with the disk demand
  2. The core network is 100 Mbit, based or limited, somewhere in the main data stream flow.
  3. The core / main switch is limited in the amount of data it can pass independent of its link speed.
3

First of all, thanks for your answer !
I edited the previous post to add results about the test I had performed.

So, I agree with you, about the problem, come from the network but, where ?
To an another Forum, Infuse forum support, ask me to test with a wifi connectivity…

So, the result in following image :slight_smile:

52
52946×358 334 KB

So, the conclusion is that : the issue comes from my private ethernet network.
And I focus my investigation on my switch allow me to connect my Apple TV and my access provider equipment.

I will post a update to explain my research.

Thanks

4

Thanks for updating with that result.

This chart is showing a peak traffic level of 150 Mbps.
It doesn’t mean the peak demand is 150. It only tells us the peak traffic output is 150 Mbps.

One of the most common sources of bottlenecks I’ve seen is the ISP-provided modem/router./switch.

The LAN connection can be Gigabit but the device itself only needs to pass some value above what the subscribed rate is.

As prime example, I will use my own:

  1. ActonTec T-3200 Bonding VDSL modem.
  2. Internal WiFi (2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz @ 300 Mbps)
  3. 4x 1GbE ports (switching
  4. Subscribed service level 50 Mbps (All I can get here. If I lived 100 yards down the street further, I would have 250 Mbps because of where the fiber drops)

Turning attention to the Modem/Router

  1. The switching capability is not the best. about 500 Mbps peak. 4 ports x 1 Gbe should be 800 Mbps but isn’t.
  2. The best thing anyone can do is bring a single line off their modem/router and into a distribution switch which is designed for it. At 8 ports, the switching speed of an 8x 1GbE switch is 16 Gbps. A far cry from the 500 Mbps of a modem/router.
  3. Now add - WiFi only allows one device to transmit at a time. Wired is full duplex. WiFi is half duplex. Either receive or transmit but not both.
5

Thanks for all the information, and I fully agree with you…
I was shared this chart for show that my “limitation” to 30Mbps was no longer a problem.

I have to find which network element on my LAN cause my problem

6

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