Wireless-G or Wireless-N for Streaming Netflix HD

[lotrfan]

Hi all,
Sorry if this has been posted elsewhere. I recently bought a house and am going from wired to wireless. I have the Samsung BDP-2550 and will need to connect that, as well as a Wii to the wireless router (both will be downstairs and computer will be upstairs). Am I better off going with Wireless-N to prevent any stuttering or drop of HD content or would Wireless-G be good enough (as the hardware is half the price)?

I realize that wired is the best as far as signal strength and not dropping, but it is not an option in this case.

[brettallica]

Originally Posted by lotrfan

Hi all,
Sorry if this has been posted elsewhere. I recently bought a house and am going from wired to wireless. I have the Samsung BDP-2550 and will need to connect that, as well as a Wii to the wireless router (both will be downstairs and computer will be upstairs). Am I better off going with Wireless-N to prevent any stuttering or drop of HD content or would Wireless-G be good enough (as the hardware is half the price)?

I realize that wired is the best as far as signal strength and not dropping, but it is not an option in this case.

Yes, wired is definitely the best. Glad we got that out of the way. Hopefully others won't bombard you with "but you should just go wired" posts.

So anyway, I have low-end DSL (384 Kbps - 1.5 Mbps max), and I have a wireless-G spec router. It is not enough for HD-anything; it's not even enough for SD. It just can't push the data fast enough, at least in my experience. For example, when I want to watch DVD rip of Animusic from on laptop that is streamed from my server, even on the same level of the house as the router and server, playback gets choppy and it's just a crappy experience.

That example is with my own internal network with a file coming from a server, so we're not even talking about actual internet data. Imagine trying to get content from the net, then having that pushed through your G network. It *probably* won't work well.

[aramis109]

Originally Posted by brettallica

Yes, wired is definitely the best. Glad we got that out of the way. Hopefully others won't bombard you with "but you should just go wired" posts.

So anyway, I have low-end DSL (384 Kbps - 1.5 Mbps max), and I have a wireless-G spec router. It is not enough for HD-anything; it's not even enough for SD. It just can't push the data fast enough, at least in my experience. For example, when I want to watch DVD rip of Animusic from on laptop that is streamed from my server, even on the same level of the house as the router and server, playback gets choppy and it's just a crappy experience.

That example is with my own internal network with a file coming from a server, so we're not even talking about actual internet data. Imagine trying to get content from the net, then having that pushed through your G network. It *probably* won't work well.

Your DSL has no impact on streaming a file from a server on your own network. You're limited to the speed of either your wired or wireless router as well as the capabilities of the server to properly stream the file.

I use wireless G to stream videos down to my PS3. It works for the most part up to 720 files. At that point the filesizes get too large for my antiquated desktop server to properly serve them up and things start to get choppy.

Keep in mind that the Wii is G only. What are you using to make the Samsung wireless? Or is the router going to be right there and only the desktop running wireless? If that's the case... just try it.

[lotrfan]

Originally Posted by aramis109

Keep in mind that the Wii is G only. What are you using to make the Samsung wireless? Or is the router going to be right there and only the desktop running wireless? If that's the case... just try it.

I planned on using either a wireless media bridge or a wireless access point to the BD player. Since the computer is going to be close to the modem and router, I was going to have the computer wired to the router.

[brettallica]

Originally Posted by aramis109

Your DSL has no impact on streaming a file from a server on your own network. You're limited to the speed of either your wired or wireless router as well as the capabilities of the server to properly stream the file.

I use wireless G to stream videos down to my PS3. It works for the most part up to 720 files. At that point the filesizes get too large for my antiquated desktop server to properly serve them up and things start to get choppy.

Keep in mind that the Wii is G only. What are you using to make the Samsung wireless? Or is the router going to be right there and only the desktop running wireless? If that's the case... just try it.

I'm not sure if you're trying to correct me, but what I was saying was Wireless-G doesn't work well for when I watch video with relatively high data transfer needs when dealing with my internal home network. The example was given so that it could be pieced together that if it doesn't work well for videos on one's own server, it won't likely won't work well if the source of the data is coming from outside one's server; i.e. the internet.

Sorry if that wasn't clear.

[SpoonMaN]

wireless G works fine for all of my streaming to the PS3, N also works for the computers i have around the house. as for netflix, G will be fine due to the fact that unless you have the 50mb fios you will not max it out.

[aramis109]

Originally Posted by lotrfan

I planned on using either a wireless media bridge or a wireless access point to the BD player. Since the computer is going to be close to the modem and router, I was going to have the computer wired to the router.

Might be some latency introduced doing that. Honestly I don't do enough HD streaming to better answer the question.

It also depends on the nature of how Netflix's servers do caching and streaming. I'm assuming they get a decent buffer before starting the movie- if so, there's probably not an issue.

[clarkbar]

Netflix does test your connection to decide what pq to stream, so the better the through out the better the picture in theory. I've only done it with a N router so I can't give real world comparisons, other than to say it works well for me.

[BLindsay]

Basically unless you either are going such a distance that G is not enough or like previously mentioned you have a 50MB FIOS connection then G will be enough.

G is rated for 54mbps, which is more then pretty much any internet connection so chances are you internet connection is gonna be the weak point in the link


the only exceptions are that if you are going such a distance that wireless G would start to lose signal (and thus speed) to such a point that its slower then your connection then that could be a problem and then you would need wireless N

otherwise N is only good for transfering files around your home network alot faster.

[anntong]

At that point the filesizes get too large for my antiquated desktop server to properly serve them up and things start to get choppy.