Develop Bugs

Home Network Capabilities

So I just moved to a new apartment and haven't hooked up internet access yet. How realistic would it be for me to avoid getting the usual cable internet setup that people in my area normally get and just use an Evo as the network router for all my devices. My home network includes a few laptops, a desktop, a networked hard drive, and a few old cellphones that I use to connect via wifi to play music and browse internet. Does anyone have real world experience to share about how these types of setups have been working with the Evo's hotspot feature. And is it even possible for me to incorporate my networked hard drive into this kind of network as it is not wifi - only ethernet? How could I get it included? Sorry for such a noob question. I would love to stop giving my money to Time Warner and just have one phone/internet bill to pay.
Thanks,
cmus

Well that depends so much on the coverage of your area. If you don't get 4g coverage in your apartment you would be using 3g for all of your devices and that isn't going to cut it for most people. I mean it is fine for surfing the web but not for something like streaming or gaming. Plus your 3g signal could be week and you wouldn't get very good speeds period. You can check coverage maps but even then you won't know exactly until you test it out yourself....

Definitely doable if you're not a gamer and assuming your signal is strong. Its the latency that kills it for you if you are a gamer.

One of the bigger Qs I wonder about is how hot will the device get when trying to supply other devices with 3g/4g.
I know my current WiMo will over heat when doing wmTorrents and I have to take the back cover off and sit it in front of my fan on my desk at work.

currently im using Touch Pro, and when i do wifi teathering the phone gets so hot that it shuts off charging after about 60mins, and then runs on battery power for another 20 mins or so... hopefully evo will handle the wifi-teather load better that this.

frifox said:
currently im using Touch Pro, and when i do wifi teathering the phone gets so hot that it shuts off charging after about 60mins, and then runs on battery power for another 20 mins or so... hopefully evo will handle the wifi-teather load better that this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha I use to turn my touch pro face down and put a glass with ice water on top.
The cool condensation would keep it from overheating and thus ruining my fun.
Ah , the good ol' days. Can anyone tell me why the touch pro could do wifi tethering and not the Evo? Is it android fault or the fault of the phone????

hmm, so this does not sound good. Between possible overheating issues and latency this is not something that most people seem to be excited about doing?
How about the network itself. Does using the Evo as a hotspot allow my laptops to talk to each other via a LAN or does the Evo only share the internet connection with all the connected devices? For example, if I have a hard drive full of music on one computer, can I share that folder and stream it on a second computer if both computers are connected to the Evo?

howdyace said:
Haha I use to turn my touch pro face down and put a glass with ice water on top.
The cool condensation would keep it from overheating and thus ruining my fun.
Ah , the good ol' days. Can anyone tell me why the touch pro could do wifi tethering and not the Evo? Is it android fault or the fault of the phone????
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the evo can do wifi tethering, it's just $30 a month until we get it rooted.

But can he use the phone too?
cmus said:
So I just moved to a new apartment and haven't hooked up internet access yet. How realistic would it be for me to avoid getting the usual cable internet setup that people in my area normally get and just use an Evo as the network router for all my devices. My home network includes a few laptops, a desktop, a networked hard drive, and a few old cellphones that I use to connect via wifi to play music and browse internet. Does anyone have real world experience to share about how these types of setups have been working with the Evo's hotspot feature. And is it even possible for me to incorporate my networked hard drive into this kind of network as it is not wifi - only ethernet? How could I get it included? Sorry for such a noob question. I would love to stop giving my money to Time Warner and just have one phone/internet bill to pay.
Thanks,
cmus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm considering the evo for this very purpose as well, but i am unclear as to whether I would be able to use the phone to make calls at the same time as i am using it as a hotspot. There seems to be a lot of varying opinions on this, does anyone know the real deal?
thanks!

With the over heating issues, again, that why I just pull the battery cover off and sit it on my desk in front of a small 4-5" fan and keep it cool. I have run it for hours that way before as I use wmTorrent.

SMUcane said:
I'm considering the evo for this very purpose as well, but i am unclear as to whether I would be able to use the phone to make calls at the same time as i am using it as a hotspot. There seems to be a lot of varying opinions on this, does anyone know the real deal?
thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
as long as you're on a 4G connection it'll work simultaneously. There's a completely separate antenna(e) for 4g, while 3g is on the same antenna as voice calls causing it to drop to 2.5g

KERKEDAGAIN said:
as long as you're on a 4G connection it'll work simultaneously. There's a completely separate antenna(e) for 4g, while 3g is on the same antenna as voice calls causing it to drop to 2.5g
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that was/is my fear.
if i understand your note correctly; if i am on 3g, i will not be able to use voice and data at the same time, thus rendering the hotspot ability much less useful. I was hoping to use this in my car while driving and get rid of my 3g card that i currently use

Is the wifi radio in this phone wireless-N?

david279 said:
Is the wifi radio in this phone wireless-N?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it is not. At least without root it isn't.
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/HTC-Evo-4G-Teardown/2979/1
Go to step 13 to see what I'm talking about. The chip supposedly is capable of n. Just not right now. Hopefully someone can "unlock" it.

Is there any risk to using Evo home internet connection?

So now that I finally have my phone completely set up and running fast on RvU, I am running a very fast 4g connection in Chicago area and am tempted to tell RCN to shove it (I pay for their 10mbp service and it blows).
Would it be a bad idea to run the 4g tether ragged as an everyday connection?

You might raise some eyebrows if you're consistently hitting your cap. i think for Sprint it's around 5-6gb/mo.

No cap on 4g, use it to your hearts content my friend, make that 10$ we all pay worth it sir!

While there is no cap, do you ever use your connection at home while you're not home, like for downloading torrents? Something to think about if you do since thats obviously not possible if you take your phone with you.
Sent from my Evo 4g using tapatalk

I have been downloaded dozens of torrents in the past couple weeks, via 3g as I can't get 4g at home. I have had no problems.

I remember a topic in the Sprint Hero forum about people using it for their home internet connection. Some got as high as 250gb a month without any response from Sprint. At least there wasn't a response at the time.
Even though it's unlimited, they can still say that "unlimited" is "within reason" and give ya the boot!
For normal internet use, I would give it a go.
I don't suggest using torrents, but I don't recommend torrents for any internet connection. Too many virus's and it's too easy to trace back to you. The producer of the movie The Hurt Locker is suing more than 5,000 people who downloaded/upload the movie via torrents. Newsgroups FTW!

can the hardware take it? i mean the EVO is slick and all, but it is not built or sold as a router replacement. there is a difference between "a lot of use" and "24x7" use. i'm thinking heat related issues, little parts and gizmo's, etc.
i'd be very sad to see my EVO give off a puff of smoke just after i lob a grenade or engage in some 25man raid. and i'm pretty sure that wouldn't be considered a warranty-able issue.

I don't see why it wouldn't be covered under the warranty, since the phone WAS designed for it! Don't forget, for $30 a month you can turn it into a WiFi router just like you can do when you root it!
So I doubt it's going to overheat, and if it does, it'll shut down before it becomes too hot.
Using it as a router though will definitely eat the battery, so best used plugged in.

gthing said:
You might raise some eyebrows if you're consistently hitting your cap. i think for Sprint it's around 5-6gb/mo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sprint does have a data cap for your phone, only wireless cards.

oOflyeyesOo said:
I have been downloaded dozens of torrents in the past couple weeks, via 3g as I can't get 4g at home. I have had no problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I meant, when you leave....you kinda take your phone and your connection with you so you can't just leave it at home to download torrents

lacrossev said:
I meant, when you leave....you kinda take your phone and your connection with you so you can't just leave it at home to download torrents
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sometimes I leave it at home when my girl is home so she has internet. I leave it on overnight for 10 hours each day.

BUMP*** I'd like to hear more about this anyone get the boot for too much data??

IPOD TOUCH wont connect to infrastructure wifi tether

anybody have any issues with this? my laptop sees and can use the hotspot but my ipod touch cannot connect to it. also, even with the evo lying right next to the ipod, sometimes it cant even see the connection. i have to move the phone around for it to catch it. i have tried without a passcode and with a passcode. i have been able to detect both (from time to time) but can never connect to it. its getting frustrating.
Also,
my xbox 360 sees my connection and is able to use it but like the ipod, the connection is really crappy and the bars are really low even when the phone is lying next to the wifi antena. any ideas?

anybody have any insight?

Root and use the wireless tether app would be what I'd try.
I know that touch connects to ad-hoc just fine. That is strange though. I'd blame the ipod before blaming the evo.

well im rooted using unrevoked and pretty much anything can see my signal except ipod or other cell phones.

yeah i wish my zune hd would see my wifitether connection too :-(

why arent they seeing these connections. im serious when is say that due to this i may actually return my evo before july 4th....i need wifi and my touch pro 2 was flawless with it.

mrjeancw said:
why arent they seeing these connections. im serious when is say that due to this i may actually return my evo before july 4th....i need wifi and my touch pro 2 was flawless with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What version of IOS? I have been able to without a problem. You might try resetting wireless on the iPod. Wireless on Apple devices has been a problem. Didn't you see the keynote for iPhone 4? Even Steve Jobs couldn't get it working...

I don't think it has anything to do with the evo. the wireless tether on my g 1 never worked with my zunehd either. although my buddies ipod could connect to it as well as his iphone.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

my daughter has now problem connecting to my evo on her iPod touch. Is your 2gor 3/g?

Freelancerx said:
yeah i wish my zune hd would see my wifitether connection too :-(
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Freelancerx said:
the wireless tether on my g 1 never worked with my zunehd either
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With the Evo and the Wireless Tether 2.0.5-pre2 & higher builds my zHD can see the tether because it's now AP mode instead of Ad-Hoc. That's why the Wireless Tether app on the G1 & Nexus & other phones don't show on a lot of devices (Wii, PSP, PS3, Zune HD, to name the ones I know for sure), since they don't have AP mode tethering.
Anyway, update your Wifi Tether app if it isn't showing still, because it works fine on my end.

trojandnc said:
my daughter has now problem connecting to my evo on her iPod touch. Is your 2gor 3/g?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
to bring this back from the dead...i have the ipod touch 3gs if im not mistaken.

USB reverse tether - how?

I live in the UK. In a couple of months I am going to be travelling in Australia, staying at various hostels. During the course of my travels I am going to have to access various online banking and credit card sites.
I'm assuming data charges are going to be high, even if I get a local simcard.
My choices are:
1. Use a computer at a hostel or internet cafe which I have no control over the security of, and could well have been compromised
2. Bring along a laptop to connect to the hostel internet connection (which I'm considering)
3. Work out how to reverse tether my phone to a computer in the hostel - providing me the security I want, without the added hassle of lugging a laptop and concern of losing/damaging/having it nicked.
I have no idea if there will be wifi, so I want to plan for the worst, and that is that I can only connect hard-wired to a computer.
I've searched for "USB reverse tether" and not turned up a solution, although plenty of people have asked the same question.
Is it possible, and if so, how?
Thanks.

The problem is, setting aside whatever you'd need to do on your phone, you'd also need to setup a driver on the computer to provide the tethering. That's probably not going to be an option.
Wifi is really going to be a lot more common than places with physical computers for you to use anyway. But if you're really worried about only having a physical connection, just bring along a wireless router. You can unplug the ethernet from the computer you're using, plug in your wifi router, and connect to it.

I'm pretty sure Sense has the features you're looking for.
-Nipqer

That's an idea I never thought of! A router is definitely a lot lighter and smaller than a laptop, even the little 12" one I have my eye on on eBay (damn, now I don't have an excuse to buy a new toy )
I guess ADB would be involved in trying to connect my phone to a computer, and you're right, it's doubtful I'd have any admin privileges on a hostel computer....
I also toyed with the thought of just bringing a portable Linux distro on a USB drive or CD to remove any Windows-borne threats. But I don't really know enough about that. I've tried Ubuntu on my laptop before, but gave up when I couldn't get the wireless adaptor to work. I never tried plugging it directly into the router though...
Hmmm, decisions decisions....!!!!

Nipqer said:
I'm pretty sure Sense has the features you're looking for.
-Nipqer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
O rly? Do tell!
I don't know if I could saddle myself with Sense permanently, but that's what Nandroid is for

You could use a sense based rom (I'm using Virtuous Sense at the moment)
It has a USB Tethering option (Share phone's mobile network with PC)
You would probably need to install at least HTC Sync software on the computer you're going to use, to get the drivers. I had an installer come on my sdcard with the phone, so you might have it too.
-Nipqer

Nipqer said:
You could use a sense based rom (I'm using Virtuous Sense at the moment)
It has a USB Tethering option (Share phone's mobile network with PC)
You would probably need to install at least HTC Sync software on the computer you're going to use, to get the drivers. I had an installer come on my sdcard with the phone, so you might have it too.
-Nipqer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, no, this is the opposite of what I want to do. I need to share the computer's network with the phone.

Yes that is also an option in Sense, called Internet Pass-Through.
You'd still need the drivers for it though I think.
-Nipqer

Nipqer said:
Yes that is also an option in Sense, called Internet Pass-Through.
You'd still need the drivers for it though I think.
-Nipqer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, you learn something new every day - I never knew that existed!
TBH I pretty much got rid of Sense in favour of a CM rom as soon as I got the phone, same with my old Desire.
You're right though, looking at HTC's help pages indicates installing HTC Sync on the host computer. So I think what I wanted to do is pretty much a no-go in my situation.
I think maybe the "bring my own router" is looking like the best option.
Thanks for your replies, guys - much appreciated

You can probably get a local SIM for pretty cheap. Check out the data rates. If you only need it for some critical stuff here and there you'll be able to get a low amount of data on the SIM (or a Data-only SIM). If not, I'm sure you'll be able to duck into some coffee shops with free WiFi and hook up that way.
If you really need to get some things done I'd simply bring a laptop and hook up to the net in one of the hostels or some other place with WiFi. I think you're going through too much trouble here.

martonikaj said:
You can probably get a local SIM for pretty cheap. Check out the data rates. If you only need it for some critical stuff here and there you'll be able to get a low amount of data on the SIM (or a Data-only SIM). If not, I'm sure you'll be able to duck into some coffee shops with free WiFi and hook up that way.
If you really need to get some things done I'd simply bring a laptop and hook up to the net in one of the hostels or some other place with WiFi. I think you're going through too much trouble here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're probably right, but I'm just a worrier! I like having a back-up plan for when sh*t hits the fan. Maybe I should just take a chill pill and see what happens
The only reason I'm hesitant about relying on data via a SIM is that I know I'll be tempted to keep checking my email and Facebook/myYearbook all the time - and using up all my data and caning the battery. I'm hoping I can somehow abstain from all that and just use the damn thing as a PHONE (except when absolutely necessary!) :-D

[Q] Internet Speed Discrepancies

In order to get the most out of my FireTV/Kodi setup, last week I switched to Comcast cable for their 105mbps service. The first few days, Speedtest.net showed a download speed of around 50mbps on both my computer and my FireTV. Last night, I was experiencing some buffering issues, which had totally disappeared the first few days with Comcast, so I did some more speed tests. I was excited to see speeds of 125mbps on my computer, but totally bummed to see that my FireTV was only reporting around 7 or 8mbps.
Why would there be such drastic performance differences between my computer and my FireTV? I would think some kind of issue arising over the long ethernet cable, but they were reporting consistent speeds between the two when I first got Comcast last weekend.

Raymondo17 said:
In order to get the most out of my FireTV/Kodi setup, last week I switched to Comcast cable for their 105mbps service. The first few days, Speedtest.net showed a download speed of around 50mbps on both my computer and my FireTV. Last night, I was experiencing some buffering issues, which had totally disappeared the first few days with Comcast, so I did some more speed tests. I was excited to see speeds of 125mbps on my computer, but totally bummed to see that my FireTV was only reporting around 7 or 8mbps.
Why would there be such drastic performance differences between my computer and my FireTV? I would think some kind of issue arising over the long ethernet cable, but they were reporting consistent speeds between the two when I first got Comcast last weekend.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's kind of a drastic drop. I'd suspect the Ethernet cable. Longer cords will slow it down a*bit but more than likely it's a problem with the cable. How is it run? Is it possible it got squeezed?
Hardwired is always better but not always feasible. I bought my own modem and router. I actually get the speeds Comcast promises over WiFi with better range. Saving the monthly fee for Comcast equipment doesn't quite even out--it'll take years but my network is much better after switching.
Btw--have you tried the speedtests over WiFi? Sometimes my WiFi speeds beat hardwired but with WiFi you need to deal with interference.
As for cables and buffering, if there's something wrong with the cable it'll cause issues. It's like a race car going over 200 mph and hitting even a small bump. I use to drive my wife nuts with cables running through the house (I'm not much of a craftsman) But even though buffering is a part of xbmc I really don't experience much. And when I do it's usually fixed through power cycling the router. Of course if we're streaming it doesn't always matter how fast our internet is. If the server it comes from is slow, there's nothing you can do to speed it up.
***when I asked you to test WiFi speeds I assume you have dual band. 2.4ghz is craps imo. Another reason to buy your own router. In my area you only get 5ghz if you rent more equipment from Comcast.

Thanks for the response.
KLit75 said:
That's kind of a drastic drop. I'd suspect the Ethernet cable. Longer cords will slow it down a*bit but more than likely it's a problem with the cable. How is it run? Is it possible it got squeezed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree that it sounds like a cable issue, but would that explain why we were getting mediocre but consistent speeds between the computer and Fire TV, and now the computer speeds are blazing and the Fire TV is limping along? I did the measurements when no activity was going on, so I don't think the initial 50mbps tests were because the computer and Fire TV were evenly splitting the signal. And I haven't touched the cable since it was installed, so I don't know how it could have gotten squeezed between last weekend and now.
KLit75 said:
Btw--have you tried the speedtests over WiFi? Sometimes my WiFi speeds beat hardwired but with WiFi you need to deal with interference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't yet. One thing I did try was using different speed test websites. I wound up getting totally different figures (shown in mbps):
• Speedtest.net: 125
• att.com/speedtest: 27.16
• speedof.me: 40.62
• cnet.com/internet-speed-test: 31.39
• bandwidthplace.com: 37.52
• myverizon.com: 20.79
• timewarnercable.com: 122.58
Plus many more that totally fluctuated. Oddly, all of the upload speeds were consistent at around 12mbps.
Good suggestion to power cycle the router. I'll try that this evening and report back.

Raymondo17 said:
In order to get the most out of my FireTV/Kodi setup, last week I switched to Comcast cable for their 105mbps service. The first few days, Speedtest.net showed a download speed of around 50mbps on both my computer and my FireTV. Last night, I was experiencing some buffering issues, which had totally disappeared the first few days with Comcast, so I did some more speed tests. I was excited to see speeds of 125mbps on my computer, but totally bummed to see that my FireTV was only reporting around 7 or 8mbps.
Why would there be such drastic performance differences between my computer and my FireTV? I would think some kind of issue arising over the long ethernet cable, but they were reporting consistent speeds between the two when I first got Comcast last weekend.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Raymondo17 said:
Thanks for the response.
I wish I could speak more confidently about it but what I've learned is networking is pretty complicated. I was happy to buy a router that was open source ready but what I learned was it's a lot different than having superuser privs on a rooted device. I've learned a lot but
I agree that it sounds like a cable issue, but would that explain why we were getting mediocre but consistent speeds between the computer and Fire TV, and now the computer speeds are blazing and the Fire TV is limping along? I did the measurements when no activity was going on, so I don't think the initial 50mbps tests were because the computer and Fire TV were evenly splitting the signal. And I haven't touched the cable since it was installed, so I don't know how it could have gotten squeezed between last weekend and now.
I haven't yet. One thing I did try was using different speed test websites. I wound up getting totally different figures (shown in mbps):
• Speedtest.net: 125
• att.com/speedtest: 27.16
• speedof.me: 40.62
• cnet.com/internet-speed-test: 31.39
• bandwidthplace.com: 37.52
• myverizon.com: 20.79
• timewarnercable.com: 122.58
Plus many more that totally fluctuated. Oddly, all of the upload speeds were consistent at around 12mbps.
Good suggestion to power cycle the router. I'll try that this evening and report back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Speed tests can be effected by many factors. I find speed test.net to be most accurate. When it comes to networks, it can be a lot more complicated than it seems but most of the*issues I've spent hours or days agonizing over could've been solved by something as simple as a new cable. One time my speed test were fast but video kept buffering. I spent weeks troubleshooting. 2 techs came to my house. The 2nd was smart enough to check the cable outside my house. I live near the ocean and it got corroded. So it would register as fast but it was prone to frequent issues. That's why I always look for the simplest solution.
Also, I don't get too hung up on speedtests anymore. To this day my living room aftv still tests faster on 5ghz than wired but I keep it wired.
One wall away my other aftv is WiFi testing at around 100 mbps while the wired one tests at around 80 to 85. Oh and forgot to mention WiFi antennas aren't all the same either. My Mac is about 30 feet farther away from the router than WiFi aftv and Mac Always tests over 130 mbps.
I could go on but just so you don't get too hung up on figuring this out--keep the troubleshooting basic to start. Then if it's still giving you problems look deeper into it. Good luck!

After another frustrating night of aftv buffering, I sent my wife to bed and started yanking on cables and running speed tests. The simple act of turning off my PS3 and unplugging and plugging ethernet cables seemed to get me up from 8mbps to 25mbps. Swapping out a brand new Monoprice Cat6 cable for a Cat5e cable that Comcast had left behind bumped me up to around 30mbps. Still not the 50mbps I was experiencing when I first switched to Comcast, but better.
Then something KLit75 mentioned about testing my WiFi speed popped into my head, so I gave that a whirl. Speedtest reported 80mbps! I tripled my speed by going to WiFi! :good:
KLit75 said:
To this day my living room aftv still tests faster on 5ghz than wired but I keep it wired.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So why don't you go WiFi? I'm kinda old school, and I learned to always go hardwired whenever possible. But I think in this instance, if the speedtest numbers tell the real story here, I'd be way better off going with the WiFi, no?
I replayed the show we were watching that kept buffering on us earlier in the evening (an episode of Town of the Living Dead), and this time it played smooth as silk. Even the gray progress bar scooted happily along, picking up more and more space ahead of the playhead as the show progressed. I'm psyched!
I do recall during the rooting process that being on WiFi held some danger of Amazon updating my software on me, but since I completed the rooting process successfully and, if I remember correctly, in the process turned off the ability for Amazon to do auto updates in the process, I'm not in any danger of losing my root via an auto-update from Amazon, am I?

You mean "root"? You're good. I believe you're thinking of the root guide. It's easier to get to the registration page with ethernet. But once you're rooted there is absolutely no danger of losing root via WiFi (at last no more so than with Ethernet.)
As for why I don't go WiFi when speed tests are faster...
1. 80mbps, for what I stream is more than fast enough.
2. It's like I mentioned earlier, no interference, provided your cable is in good health.
3. Speed tests aren't always the best way to measure quality.
***I hardwire when I can. That no longer extends to running a long cable through my house. I certainly could but why would I ? I stream fine over WiFi.
But like I said, just because it registers as faster on a speed testdoesn't meaner it's stronger in terms of not getting weakened by external factors.
Before I landed on hardwiring, I made sure I tested 3 different cables. The results actually were different and I just went with the cable that had the fastest speed test result. My rule of thumb--if it's within a few feet of my router I hardwired. And there is one weak spot in my house (my son's room) so I bought him a plugin power line adapter. He only needs it for gaming.

KLit75 said:
You mean "root"? You're good. I believe you're thinking of the root guide. It's easier to get to the registration page with ethernet. But once you're rooted there is absolutely no danger of losing root via WiFi (at last no more so than with Ethernet.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol. Yes, I meant "root," not "boot." I realized my doof, I mean, goof, and edited the post moments before I got your reply. Hey, it was pretty late when I posted, I'm surprised it wasn't more skewed than that.
Right after I posted, I went and checked my speed one more time before hitting the hay. For whatever reason, it was down from 80 to 30mbps, so I went to bed in a bad mood. But this morning I was getting 70mbps, so... I'll try not to let the speed tests drive me crazy. As long as I can get away from the frequent buffering of streaming content, I'll be happy.
Many thanks, KLit75, for your input on this. I really appreciate you takin' the time.

Raymondo17 said:
After another frustrating night of aftv buffering, I sent my wife to bed and started yanking on cables and running speed tests. The simple act of turning off my PS3 and unplugging and plugging ethernet cables seemed to get me up from 8mbps to 25mbps. Swapping out a brand new Monoprice Cat6 cable for a Cat5e cable that Comcast had left behind bumped me up to around 30mbps. Still not the 50mbps I was experiencing when I first switched to Comcast, but better.
Then something KLit75 mentioned about testing my WiFi speed popped into my head, so I gave that a whirl. Speedtest reported 80mbps! I tripled my speed by going to WiFi! :good:
So why don't you go WiFi? I'm kinda old school, and I learned to always go hardwired whenever possible. But I think in this instance, if the speedtest numbers tell the real story here, I'd be way better off going with the WiFi, no?
I replayed the show we were watching that kept buffering on us earlier in the evening (an episode of Town of the Living Dead), and this time it played smooth as silk. Even the gray progress bar scooted happily along, picking up more and more space ahead of the playhead as the show progressed. I'm psyched!
I do recall during the rooting process that being on WiFi held some danger of Amazon updating my software on me, but since I completed the rooting process successfully and, if I remember correctly, in the process turned off the ability for Amazon to do auto updates in the process, I'm not in any danger of losing my root via an auto-update from Amazon, am I?
Click to expand...
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Raymondo17 said:
Lol. Yes, I meant "root," not "boot." I realized my doof, I mean, goof, and edited the post moments before I got your reply. Hey, it was pretty late when I posted, I'm surprised it wasn't more skewed than that.
Right after I posted, I went and checked my speed one more time before hitting the hay. For whatever reason, it was down from 80 to 30mbps, so I went to bed in a bad mood. But this morning I was getting 70mbps, so... I'll try not to let the speed tests drive me crazy. As long as I can get away from the frequent buffering of streaming content, I'll be happy.
Many thanks, KLit75, for your input on this. I really appreciate you takin' the time.
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It's not a problem. If you're experiencing buffering it might be time to consider some advanced settings and unfortunately I'm not the one to talk to. I don't typically have buffering issues but it appears I'm more of the exception there.
There was actually a good thread very recently (last few days) I think it was title adjusting zero cache? Anyway it turns out lots of people set it to zero and that's not good for aftv. Read the entire thread then you might want to go to the org for more specifics.
I think I don't have buffering because I typically don't stream hd movie sources, especially over WiFi. Most of my online sources are tv shows from genesis. The others I almost alwaysuse local files.

KLit75 said:
There was actually a good thread very recently (last few days) I think it was title adjusting zero cache? Anyway it turns out lots of people set it to zero and that's not good for aftv. Read the entire thread then you might want to go to the org for more specifics..
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I'd very much like to read that thread, as I did the Zero Cache routine and it seemed to help for a little while, but then not so much. Was it in this forum, cuz I don't see anything pertaining to zero cache in the title since the start of the new year?

Raymondo17 said:
I'd very much like to read that thread, as I did the Zero Cache routine and it seemed to help for a little while, but then not so much. Was it in this forum, cuz I don't see anything pertaining to zero cache in the title since the start of the new year?
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It's this one. But like I said you might want to read then check related topics at the org. I don't pretend to know much about it but it seems there's not one catch all number to set. It's specific to your network.
In maybe a related topic, adbFire 1.16 was just released and I'm not certain but think the dev*made it simpler to change this/modify cache. If it's what I think it is it MIGHT make it a whole lot easier to play around/test different settings. But as always, do your research. I'm trying to help but it's not something I have experience with. I've been around long enough to understand this MAY be something that'd benefit you.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/fire-tv/help/adjusting-zero-cache-t3016416

KLit75 said:
It's this one. But like I said you might want to read then check related topics at the org.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/fire-tv/help/adjusting-zero-cache-t3016416
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Wow, that thread is exactly what I needed. And double-wow, somehow I was oblivious to this site's AFTV Help & Troubleshooting area, which is where most of my posts should have been placed in the first place, and definitely where a lot of my future reading will take place. Thanks for shoving me in the right direction, and my apologies to all for not posting in a more appropriate location.
KLit75 said:
In maybe a related topic, adbFire 1.16 was just released and I'm not certain but think the dev*made it simpler to change this/modify cache. If it's what I think it is it MIGHT make it a whole lot easier to play around/test different settings.
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Yes, I checked out adbFire 1.16 last night. I was having trouble getting the main window on 1.15 to display at all, so I was using 1.14, which was a little sketchy as well. (I chalk it up to an aging Mac.) But 1.16 seems to be much improved.

Raymondo17 said:
Wow, that thread is exactly what I needed. And double-wow, somehow I was oblivious to this site's AFTV Help & Troubleshooting area, which is where most of my posts should have been placed in the first place, and definitely where a lot of my future reading will take place. Thanks for shoving me in the right direction, and my apologies to all for not posting in a more appropriate location.
Yes, I checked out adbFire 1.16 last night. I was having trouble getting the main window on 1.15 to display at all, so I was using 1.14, which was a little sketchy as well. (I chalk it up to an aging Mac.) But 1.16 seems to be much improved.
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I'm a Mac user myself. Is Mac on WiFi? If so I found toggling from 2ghz to 5 helps with your adbfire problem. Btw--my Mac is white unibody 2010. But I quadrupled the ram from 2 to 8gb and this machine runs Yosemite better than some newer macs I've seen (faster anyway) About an 80 dollar investment paid off big time! Otherwise I would've been looking at at least a grand to buy a new one. Just something to consider and don't go by what apple says! According to them my Mac only supports 4 GB but testers have run 16 GB with great results. Mine has been running 8 for the better part of a year. If you go that route I'd reccomend a clean install from USB to really see the results.

KLit75 said:
I'm a Mac user myself. Is Mac on WiFi? If so I found toggling from 2ghz to 5 helps with your adbfire problem. Btw--my Mac is white unibody 2010. But I quadrupled the ram from 2 to 8gb and this machine runs Yosemite better than some newer macs I've seen (faster anyway) .
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My mac is actually hardwired to the router. I'm realizing this beast is probably about a decade old now! I never used to get more than three years out of a computer. I pretty much maxed out the RAM when I bought it, so I think it's actually time for a new computer. But I will also say that I've got one of the brand new, black trashcan-looking Power Macs at work, and it's a dog. Crashes all the freakin' time. I wish I was still using my silver tower, so new isn't always better.