Sorry if this has been asked before - couldn't seem to find the right search terms that would have brought up something like this.
So last night I was watching a film in 1080p via AirPlay on the Plex iPad app and it hitched up every now and again to buffer. It wasn't unwatchable by any means, but there was occasional hiccups that just meant that I had to stop the film, let it buffer a little ahead of where I was up to and then carry on.
Now this could be incredibly tenuous logic to justify a purchase of a Raspberry Pi, but could those hiccups be due to the fact that I was streaming in kind of a roundabout way (Plex Desktop -> iPad -> Apple TV)? Would I be better off Rasplexing out a Pi and cutting out the middle man so I was just streaming from Plex Desktop -> Raspberry Pi?
(Bearing in mind there was no one else using the network, no other downloads etc. etc. so I've eliminated the router or the network as a possible explanation - though this might also be part of me creating tenuous logic to justify a Pi purchase...)
Sorry if this has been asked before - couldn't seem to find the right search terms that would have brought up something like this.
So last night I was watching a film in 1080p via AirPlay on the Plex iPad app and it hitched up every now and again to buffer. It wasn't unwatchable by any means, but there was occasional hiccups that just meant that I had to stop the film, let it buffer a little ahead of where I was up to and then carry on.
Now this could be incredibly tenuous logic to justify a purchase of a Raspberry Pi, but could those hiccups be due to the fact that I was streaming in kind of a roundabout way (Plex Desktop -> iPad -> Apple TV)? Would I be better off Rasplexing out a Pi and cutting out the middle man so I was just streaming from Plex Desktop -> Raspberry Pi?
(Bearing in mind there was no one else using the network, no other downloads etc. etc. so I've eliminated the router or the network as a possible explanation - though this might also be part of me creating tenuous logic to justify a Pi purchase...)
Thanks!
When "airplaying" the stream goes direct from your PMS to the ATV. (but you should buy a Pi anyway :) )
@Trudge: Well that settles that then! Really feel like I should have known that already...
@f00b4r: The ATV is connected via wi-fi, and I'd connect the Pi via wi-fi too - cable isn't really an option for me, which is annoying because I know cable would probably solve the problem quite decisively.
Have you thought about using homeplugs, you would not need anything above the 200Mbs ones for any HD media (it could be that you could get away with less but i am not sure and the 200Mbs ones are really cheap for a pair now).
It might also avoid any pain from using wifi on the PI if you did decide to change (would stop USB bandwidth and power being sucked away).
I have used the Plex app on my iPhone 4s and iPad r4 apps over Airplay for months with an Apple TV 3. If your plex media server is <5 years old and your wireless network is fast (ideally set to the right channel to avoid noise and dual band) then you should have no problem.
Personally, I have been able to watch 20GB mkv files over aiplay from an iOS device without any problems. Perhaps the older Apple TV has trouble. I haven't tried. Maybe older iPhones or iPads have trouble over Airplay. I couldn't say.
I have to say that iOS with PlexApp over Airplay to an Apple TV (or Raspberry Pi using Rasplex) is one of my favorite ways of consuming media.
Rasplex might be the solution for you but know that your existing setup should work.
