I have an external hard drive connected to the airport extreme through a usb connection and wanted to watch a tv show which I have on the external hard drive. As i was watching it, every minute or so it would freeze for a few seconds and then begin playing again. this happened several times. Does anybody know why this is happening?? I have several movies and videos on the hard drive and was hoping that i could watch them wirelessly on my laptop, but it seems as though this will not be possible. Am i doing something wrong?
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Airport Extreme Problem!?!?
- Thread starter kashmoney2006
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Are you still having this issue? This is the exact same issue I have with my movies.
However, mine play fine in VLC, but can get choppy using QT.
i havent tried watching any movies lately. but sounds like i just need to use VLC. my mom works for apple in applecare and says apple doesnt support this problem as the base station isnt made to be used like that. although she admits that it makes sense that it should.
You have one cool mom! Yeah, seems like VLC is the way to go. Perhaps streaming a Divx movie just involves too much disk access that airdisk cant keep up? I even occasionally (well, one time when I was testing it) get choppy movies when playing one from the hard drive of a local wired computer on the network... so it may not simply be airdisk.
nemex
macrumors regular
Have you tried increasing the QT streming -> Instant On -> Play delay?, I have some HD movie trailers and videos stored in my Airdisk and they play pretty well in QT, from time to time it got some hiccups but in general nothing serious
Have you tried increasing the QT streming -> Instant On -> Play delay?, I have some HD movie trailers and videos stored in my Airdisk and they play pretty well in QT, from time to time it got some hiccups but in general nothing serious
I played with that also. Have you noticed any difference playing with that setting? Most of the time the movies worked well, but on occasion they would sputter. It was just annoying for me. VLC seems to play them perfectly.
I'm thinking it may be due in part to the macbook airport issues i've been hearing about in leopard that are supposedly supposed to be fixed in 10.5.2...since I can transfer huge files all day long at full speed...it's just the movies that give trouble (especially when a connection is required for hours at a time).
I just noticed that when playing the same movies/shows in the original Divx player they sputter a LOT more than playing in QT. So, it seems like QT is adding some buffering, but perhaps not enough, and VLC is adding even more. The DivX player seems to be just adding little or none...?
nemex
macrumors regular
Yes, in my case it made the difference, but I agree with you this airport issue is very irritating and really hope it will be fixed in 10.5.2. I frequently experience drop outs and some time the wireless connection just stalls 😡
Are you using a macbook? I assume you added MORE delay (slider to the right)? Have you experienced with turning the instant on feature off all together?
nemex
macrumors regular
Yes a MB C2D 1.83GHz 2GB RAM, Airport Exreme n (fast Ethernet), WPA2, 802.11 n only in 2.4G. I tried using the 5G band but the range of coverage goes down quickly. Have you tried switching channels? mine is set to automatic but I know is in channel 11 which no other AP close to me is using. Try iStumbler to find out how crowded are your surroundings and which channels are less used
I played around with the instant on/off feature and it turned out that using instant on and the slider in the 6th notch (the middle one) had the best results for me.
Have you tried changing the 5ghz channel to something a bit more powerful? It defaults to 36, which is a low-power channel. In airport utility, if you hold option and click on the channel drop-down, it allows you to select a channel. I believe a ones in the 149 and up are higher power.
Anyway, I'll try that notch on my MB and see how it goes. I'll even give 2.4 GHZ another try...thanks!
BTW, are you using automatic for the streaming speed or LAN?
nemex
macrumors regular
I'll give the option-click tip a try when in the 5G band to see if this gets better, thanks
Yes the streaming speed is set to automatic
I did change the channel within the 5G band and tried all the 4 available, so far 157 seems best, but have you noticed that your transmit rate goes down dramatically (kinda oscillanting)? some times mine is at 6 other 40 or 54, mainly stabilizes around 40. I believe I have interference from my 5G cordless phone 🙁
Just opt-click you airport icon in the menu bar to find out
Just opt-click you airport icon in the menu bar to find out
I've heard of this before, but am not seeing how this works. I opt-click on the icon (the one in the row with Internet, Printers, Disks, Advanced?) When you click on it, where would it be seen? I'm using utility 5.2.2. I see the rates in the Wireless Clients tab under Logs and Statistics. Thanks!
nemex
macrumors regular
I meant in the Menu bar in Finder opt-click the airport icon, not the one in Airport Uitlity... 😉