I didn't know where to put this, because I did not setup PlexConnect yet and there is no forum for the ATV3 without PlexConnect. Please move it if I am wrong or there is a better Forum.
Yesterday I got my first ATV and I wanted to try if my WiFi and Plex Media Server on my iMac (Mid 2011) are capable of streaming my content flawlessly before I setup PlexConnect.
So I tried to send a 1080p mkv file via the iOS app to my ATV3 and after around 30 seconds the video stops and its buffering and buffering and buffering ...
It is working perfectly when I set the stream quality in the iOS app to very low.
But here is the thing I don't understand:
It is working in best quality without any problems on the iOS app itself (over WiFi) AND it is working on the ATV3 in best quality if I connect it through ethernet to my router (but my iMac is still connected through WiFi).
So there seems to be a problem of the WiFi connection just between my ATV3 and router.
What can cause this?!
What can I do to increase the speed between the ATV and the router?
Am I right to assume that it makes no difference if I start a playback through the iOS app or through PlexConnect in regards to how strong my WiFi an Plex Media Server are?
I decided to install and setup PlexConnect with OpenPlex because it seemed a lot easier to do ;)
I finally got it to work. But I had to change the IP-Address OpenPlex showed me in the Hijack tab (127.49.0.1) to the IP-address my PMS is running on for setting up my ATVs DNS settings and adding the .cer-profile.
If I start the playback of a video file (.mkv) it is taking up to a few minutes to get it to actually play. Is that normal?
Apart from that it's working I think! :)
I still have to test if it is running smooth for a whole movie though.
Do you have any advise in general to improve the playablity if I encounter any stuttering/buffering during playback?
Thank you!
// Oh and could you ELI5 where the big difference is between starting playback from the iOS app and starting playback over PlexConnect? Just curious ...
Depending on the OS X PMS/PlexConnect host transcoding speed (since the file in question is a .mkv) and connection of the PMS host and aTV client (Wifi=slower // Ethernet=faster). When I have used the iOS Plex app I notice some congestion on my network when airplaying with my current wireless N routers/access point's/Airport expresses etc. A lot of things can improve your experience:
Faster PMS host (or hardware for example more memory), ethernet on aTV and PMS host instead of wifi, covert files from .mkv to .mp4 or .m4v to directplay content on your aTV (no transcoding from PMS to aTV).
What is your current setup from aTV to router and Mac to router? What hardware is your Mac exactly (cpu memory etc).
Okay, of course I want to keep it as simple as possible. So I want to keep the WiFi on the aTV and PMS and I do not really want to convert all my .mkv files (this would be the last thing I would do to improve the performance if necessary).
My PMS is running on an iMac Mid 2011 with 10.10.3 installed.
- 3,4 GHz Intel Core i7
- 12 GB 1333 MHz DDR3
- AMD Radeon HD 6970M 2048 MB
The files are not located on a SSD.
I do have a 16 Mbit/s connection and my Wifi is protected with WPA2.
Mixed 802.11b/g/n is set for 2,4 GHz connections and 802.11n is set for 5 GHz connections.
Both is set to a band width of 20/40MHz.
I still do need the router to send 2,4 GHz because there is one device that cannot handle 5 GHz.
Sadly I cannot check what channels are used by other WiFis near me in my router which is a EasyBox 904 xDSL. So I chose a random channel.
Hardware wise you should be fine. Since both the aTV and PMS are on wifi it more then likely creating a bottleneck from transcoding the .mkv to your aTV. Any chance to hardwire your PMS/PlexConnect host with a ethernet cable or powerline over ethernet converters to speed your streaming a bit?
