I am trying out Limelight to stream games from my PC. I am hard-wired to a gigabit network on both my PC and the Fire TV. I am seeing hardware latency of about 66ms. Are you folks seeing about the same numbers? Any tricks to get it lower? I am currently running Gefore Experience 2.2.0. I know that going to a lower version might help a bit.
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Has anyone checked the bandwidth used on the fire tv .. especially netflix.
Mine is not working to my satisfaction, netflix on my PC on the same network streams at 3000kbps consistently while on fire tv it stays at 1000kpbs leaving it looking second rate at best.
Is there a trick to make it work or is it just not a very good device for netflix.
jarayn said:
Has anyone checked the bandwidth used on the fire tv .. especially netflix.
Mine is not working to my satisfaction, netflix on my PC on the same network streams at 3000kbps consistently while on fire tv it stays at 1000kpbs leaving it looking second rate at best.
Is there a trick to make it work or is it just not a very good device for netflix.
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You using a netflix app? Maybe it doesn't do the better connection.
For example, the UFC app say it's sending 800kbs streams to my AFTV, but it's not, the crap is so blocky I think I'm watching an illegal streaming of some UFC matches . My guess is that it think since it's a mobile app, no one needs a decent 720p stream, and like the UFC app, I'm getting around a 240p stream, if that.
I assume your AFTV is running a wired internet connection? Like the PC? If not, then you might want to also check that nothing else is using the wifi connection at the same time, because that can mess up wifi speeds.
nyder said:
You using a netflix app? Maybe it doesn't do the better connection.
For example, the UFC app say it's sending 800kbs streams to my AFTV, but it's not, the crap is so blocky I think I'm watching an illegal streaming of some UFC matches . My guess is that it think since it's a mobile app, no one needs a decent 720p stream, and like the UFC app, I'm getting around a 240p stream, if that.
I assume your AFTV is running a wired internet connection? Like the PC? If not, then you might want to also check that nothing else is using the wifi connection at the same time, because that can mess up wifi speeds.
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Thanks, I am using wired connection yeah, same router as PC. Using the netflix app that came with the fire tv.
I have been using XBMC on my FTV that is hardwired and also have a FireTV Stick connected to 5Ghz band on my router. I was playing a 720p MKV of Interstellar. It would cause the FTV to buffer especially at the scene around 3 minutes where the cornfields are shaking from the winds.
I then play the same file wirelessly on the FireStick and it has no problems playing this same scene.
Is the video processor on the stick better than regular FTV?
I think something is wrong with your fire tv or connection.. I just watch interstellar 1080p 15 gig mkv file without any buffering issues on a wired line.
try switching to wifi.
The fire stick is much much less powerful in video and processor speed.
There are issues with the FireTV hardwired connection that makes it SLOWER than wireless. If you did wireless on your FireTV, it would work better.
Speed tests have consistently showed 5ghz to be faster than wired on my network, but I keep it wired because it's generally stronger with less interference, plus my speeds are more than fast enough for 1080p.
I'd try different Ethernet cables (simplest solution first.) I did that and found a discrepancy of over 20 Mbps.
Sizzlechest said:
There are issues with the FireTV hardwired connection that makes it SLOWER than wireless. If you did wireless on your FireTV, it would work better.
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OMG Thanks! I didn't every think to try the wireless on my FTV. This fixed the buffering on Intersellar MKV I was getting when I was hardwired.
That is so weird that the hardwired connection is slower than wireless?
How did you find out about FTV being slower hard wired?
yazyazoo said:
OMG Thanks! I didn't every think to try the wireless on my FTV. This fixed the buffering on Intersellar MKV I was getting when I was hardwired.
That is so weird that the hardwired connection is slower than wireless?
How did you find out about FTV being slower hard wired?
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It's been a known issue, but it's not totally common knowledge. There's other tidbits like you should probably use SPMC vs. Kodi and how to create an advancedsettings.xml that can improve performance, too.
Sizzlechest said:
There are issues with the FireTV hardwired connection that makes it SLOWER than wireless. If you did wireless on your FireTV, it would work better.
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My testing has shown the opposite. On multiple different network setups in different locations. In some network setups that could possibly be true. But I wouldn't attribute it to the FireTV.
Wow, I never heard of wired ethernet performance issues. Good to know if I ever run into issues, and good to know if I upgrade my wifi I can reliably wifi stream everything I already do. Personal experience with live TV through XBMC (MythTV + HDHomeRun backend), my hardwired FTV is flawless, but my older 802.11n 2.4Ghz connected FTV stick has buffering/stuttering issues with some of the stations. Not a true comparison to a 1080p H.264 mkv, but it sounds like if I buy a new 5ghz wifi router I might be able to get live tv working better on my stick.
Never used this on the FireTV/SPMC, but works very well @ OpenELEC:
http://kodi.wiki/view/HOW-TO:Modify_the_video_cache
I just said cache _any_ source to RAM, like 150MB (watch out as 150MB cache means *3 = 450MB RAM usage) and never had any issues after that, even on an unstable connection. You can also set how aggressive the cache should work etc, very handy tool.
Hi folks
Got a Fire TV Stick there and have XBMC/Kodi sideloaded. I also have a QNAP NAS which is hardwired to my Virgin Superhub 2 router. When I play most of my MKV's, which are stored on the NAS, the playback is kinda sluggish/low frame rate.
Is there anything I can do to sort this for smooth playback? Does the stick just not have the power to play the MKVs? Is it the network?
takkischitt said:
Hi folks
Got a Fire TV Stick there and have XBMC/Kodi sideloaded. I also have a QNAP NAS which is hardwired to my Virgin Superhub 2 router. When I play most of my MKV's, which are stored on the NAS, the playback is kinda sluggish/low frame rate.
Is there anything I can do to sort this for smooth playback? Does the stick just not have the power to play the MKVs? Is it the network?
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Mine plays mkv from smb shares with no problems. Are these really large files? Id suspect its a network issue. How good is the signal in the room with the stick? Maybe do a speedtest or if possible move the stick to a tv closer to the router.
KLit75 said:
Mine plays mkv from smb shares with no problems. Are these really large files? Id suspect its a network issue. How good is the signal in the room with the stick? Maybe do a speedtest or if possible move the stick to a tv closer to the router.
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They range from 2-4GB in size. The router is right beside the TV, so dont think it would be a range issue. I'll check the router setting this evening to see if I can maybe change the signal frequency to get faster speeds.
But the Fire TV Stick should play MKV files smoothly, even if they're around 4GB?
Press O on a Keyboard in Kodi, while a video is playing to see both the CPU stress (in percentages), as well as the cache fill rate, dropped frames, ...
You guys are all treating this problem like you were banging on a black box. Just use the obvious diagnostic tools baked into the platforms. Act like you weren't part of the Smartphone generation that is seen as being too dumb to do any kind of problem solving using diagnostics. Start by RTFM.
harlekinrains said:
Press O on a Keyboard in Kodi, while a video is playing to see both the CPU stress (in percentages), as well as the cache fill rate, dropped frames, ...
You guys are all treating this problem like you were banging on a black box. Just use the obvious diagnostic tools baked into the platforms. Act like you weren't part of the Smartphone generation that is seen as being too dumb to do any kind of problem solving using diagnostics. Start by RTFM.
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Click to collapse
This may be dumb, but how do you press O without a keyboard?
The little problems you have to solve...
Because I've leaned myself out of the window in other topics so recently - I'll just name the solution in here -
If you have an Android Phone (or tablet), or an iPhone (or iPad), or access to someone who has - install the FIre TV Remote App (or any similar app) on it and it will provide you with an on screen keyboard that can also be used to send "O" to Kodi.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.amazon.storm.lightning.client.aosp&hl=en
In fact - amazon notifies you, that this App exists in the setup process of the Fire TV if I am not mistaken.
If you have only access to a PC, or Mac - there are other solutions out there. Look for them in the Kodi Wiki (xbev).
---------- Post added at 05:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:13 PM ----------
edit: it is even possible to send the O command via adb -
adb shell input text o
Next time, you try to find one of the solutions yourself, promised? Maybe even share them. Like if this place would be something else, different to a consumer product support infrastructure.
harlekinrains said:
The little problems you have to solve...
Because I've leaned myself out of the window in other topics so recently - I'll just name the solution in here -
If you have an Android Phone (or tablet), or an iPhone (or iPad), or access to someone who has - install the FIre TV Remote App (or any similar app) on it and it will provide you with an on screen keyboard that can also be used to send "O" to Kodi.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.amazon.storm.lightning.client.aosp&hl=en
In fact - amazon notifies you, that this App exists in the setup process of the Fire TV if I am not mistaken.
If you have only access to a PC, or Mac - there are other solutions out there. Look for them in the Kodi Wiki (xbev).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many thanks for the info. I completely forgot about the app, as I've just been using the remote. I'll give that a whirl later to see what it says.
Hi all,
I am rooted on version 5.0.4 and I seem to be having a lot of issues with video buffering. no matter what app I use whether Kodi, Prime Video, or streaming from my NAS drive the video seems to buffer a lot. Even from the NAS drive it seems to stop for a second or two on every movie no matter what the format is. Not sure if it has to do with the fact that Fire TV 2 is connected to a powerline adapter. Even though the Fire TV 2 internet speed test is much lower on the powerline adapter than it is connected direct to the router I still get speeds of 16 mbps. I am wondering if it is actually an issue with certain apps on lollipop. Anyone else having weird streaming issues. Also it was the same when I was on rooted 5.0.3.1
Any hints to what it might be would be appreciated. I was hoping streaming would be improved on the Fire TV 2 because of the new hardware specs, but my Fire TV 1 blows it away.
Edit: Did some further tests and it seems this Fire TV 2 does not like the powerline adapter. Connected directly to my router and internet speed tested at 51 mbps which is what it should be. Also tested a few movies and no stuttering or buffering??? weird.
I just purchased on Fire TV 2 on Prime Day and have been trying it out as my main streamer. The Roku 3 that I used to use as my primary is now on the bedroom TV. The problem that I'm noticing is that while my wife streams Hulu on the Fire TV I get pretty incredible lag (high latency) while playing Dota 2. This was not an issue with all else being equal when she streamed Hulu on the Roku 3. However, this has always been an issue with streaming Netflix. I can only assume that for whatever reason the Fire TV is hogging much more bandwidth than the Roku 3 did on the same app. Any ideas why this might be? Is there anything that can be done at the device level to try to reduce the amount of bandwidth it saps up? I would appreciate any thoughts on this issue.