Emby over local wifi poor performance

[jrwalte 17]

I've started having performance issues with Emby over local wifi for any wireless device I use. Android tablets, Shield 2019 and Samsung TV. I can't seem to have more than a 5-6mbps stream without video freezing. But I do an internet speed test on the tablets or Shield and can get over 300/200 with 8ms ping and 3.5ms jitter and I can wifi stream 4k HDR from online services without issue. I don't think the issue is the capability of my wifi. My Shield 2019 Pro, which is wired, also doesn't have any issues. 

I do not believe it is a transcoding limitation. I'm running Ryzen 1800x with CPU transcoding, and transcode never has issues staying ahead of even 4k UHD. I've tried running direct to wifi devices and get the same pausing issue as when limiting to 15mbps.

I've tried restarting network, all devices and Emby Server. I'm not sure what the issue can be.

I've attached logs of different max bitrates. I ran the test on the Shield 2019 and submitted its log yesterday afternoon 6/12 and user is 'Family'. 

Starting at about 11:20 am on 6/12:

Live tv 13mbps long pauses for 10+ seconds, plays for a few seconds, repeat
Abominable 15mbps long pauses for 10+ seconds, plays for a few seconds, repeat
Abominable 5mbps short pause near beginning then ok
Abominable 10mbps short pauses for only a couple seconds, play for 5-10 seconds, then repeat
Live tv 11:39am 10mbps short pauses for only a couple seconds, play for 5-10 seconds, then repeat
Live tv 11:41am 5mbps short pause near begin and another more than a minute later

ffmpeg logs.zip embyserver 061221.txt

[Carlo 4561]

Hi, if wifi was working fine but all of a sudden stops working the same way it could be new interference from another local wifi network or similar.

Have you tried changing the channel of WIFI broadcasts to something that has less interference?

[jrwalte 17]

Thanks for response. I reviewed the wifi channels around me with a wifi analyzer on my phone. I'm at the end of a cul-de-sac neighborhood, so not too many around me. Channels I picked for 2 and 5 looked good and had no others in range on same channel. I didn't think to look closer at the Wifi since I was able to get 300+ on a speed test over it.

Is there a way to look at if something else might be causing the interference?

However, I tried to transfer a file from server to my PC and something weird is going on. At my PC I will get a wireless link of 780/650 on 5 band and 144/144 on 2 band, but if I try transferring a file from server to PC, I'm jumping 300KB to 2MB. I also see the same issue if I connect to the 2G band. If I do the same thing wired, I hit around 95MB, so it isn't a throughput issue of server or PC. And a speed test on the PC over wifi I get 50MB.

I even tried a 2nd router (it's more central in the home and used for smart devices/security), that is on different channel, and see the same issue. However, it goes through the same Netgear XR500 as an AP.

Looks like I need to post on netgear.

[Carlo 4561]

You may want to check the router for any advanced settings that might need to get turned off.

You could have some type of virus/malware checking, traffic control or network prioritization features.

[jrwalte 17]

I can't find any setting that would throttle local wifi while not also throttling internet throughput. Hopefully I can figure it out on Netgear site. I'm getting sick of consumer routers. Before it was wifi drops or router freezes until reboot on Asus. Then this netgear had constant wifi drops, RMA'd, now this local performance issue. Might be about time to try business grade with Ubiquiti.

[Gilgamesh_48 1240]

36 minutes ago, jrwalte said:

I can't find any setting that would throttle local wifi while not also throttling internet throughput. Hopefully I can figure it out on Netgear site. I'm getting sick of consumer routers. Before it was wifi drops or router freezes until reboot on Asus. Then this netgear had constant wifi drops, RMA'd, now this local performance issue. Might be about time to try business grade with Ubiquiti.

I tried several "High End" consumer routers costing upwards of $250.00 and always had some major/minor issues with WIFI or with the router seizing up at weird times. I tried everything I could think of including installing DDWRT on two of them but nothing seemed to help.

I finally gave up and considered upgrading to some "professional" router but I decided to try one additional thing: I bought and installed a fairly inexpensive router (TP-Link AC1900) that was pretty well reviewed. It seems to have solved most (maybe all) of my WIFI issues. I now have consistent WIFI coverage everywhere in my home and even usable coverage all the way to my mailbox nearly 25 yards from my front door and through an exterior and two interior walls. ( I use channel 11 for 2.4 GHz as it is one that is pretty immune to interference) But, whenever I can I use 5 GHz particularly for my Rokus, Shield TV, Fire Stick and everything else that has the ability to use 5.0 GHz as it is more stable.

Since switching to that router, a little over 3 weeks ago, I have had zero problems.

I always, prior to this router, had all devices that could be connected wired connected that way but, to really test this router, I connected all clients wirelessly. I also briefly tested the server wirelessly but, as expected, that was a horrible idea so I went back to wired for the server.
Note: I did not expect a wireless server to work well but I tested just to be sure.
Note 2: This new router has even sped up wired connections as most of my network file transfers are much faster even between wired devices.

You may want to try the router I suggest or some other inexpensive router before buying one of the more expensive and complex routers.

I have, before this router, connected everything I could wired but, even with my acceptance of wires and clutter, it became hard to keep track and follow each wire. Therefore the reduction of wire clutter that this router allows is a very good thing.

[jrwalte 17]

Thanks. I'd trust it more if it had been 6 mo to a year. The other routers have always been fine for awhile then over time seem to go to crap

Netgear responded that they have a known issue for my series that has poor local wifi performance. They gave me a beta firmware and said to reset the router. I did, and my local wifi is no better, while my wired performance dropped to 70MB from 95 

[Gilgamesh_48 1240]

45 minutes ago, jrwalte said:

Thanks. I'd trust it more if it had been 6 mo to a year. The other routers have always been fine for awhile then over time seem to go to crap

Netgear responded that they have a known issue for my series that has poor local wifi performance. They gave me a beta firmware and said to reset the router. I did, and my local wifi is no better, while my wired performance dropped to 70MB from 95 

The problem with waiting for 6+ months is that then I could not report what I have found in an expeditious manner and therefore would not be of any help. All the other routers I have tried showed speed/connection problems within a few days of installing. Admittedly the problems got worse over time but this router has shown, at least so far, not one of the problems all the others have shown.

I am happy with my new router and I wanted to try and spread happiness to others.

[jrwalte 17]

As a test, I used the wifi from the ATT fiber router. I isolated just my server and my PC and I turned off my main router. Ethernet file transfer exceeded 110MBps. I changed to the wireless, and I experienced the same 4Mbps (500KB) or less limit, while internet test speed could achieve over 500Mbps. I'd steer towards this being an issue of my PC wireless, but I'm experiencing this same issue on all my devices to my Emby server. But how the hell could my server be the issue when it is wired in all instances and it has no problem transferring wire-to-wire. 

So as of now, I'd be reluctant to replace any networking hardware but also dumbfounded as to what it could be. 

[Carlo 4561]

Hi, What is the IP of your Emby Server and the client when using the ATT fiber router?

[rbjtech 5284]

You are on the right track in this diagnosis - but I would get even more back to basics.

Connect just a laptop to the AP (router in wifi only mode) and another laptop - set them all on the same network manually (192.168.1.x) and then do a file transfer.  A better testing tool is something like iperf3 which will only take a few seconds to setup.

Try both frequencies and multiple channels - try reducing it back to 802.11a/b/g etc - if they are all poor and you are certain nothing else is using these bands - then I would suspect the wifi equipment or some sort of broadcast storm causing havoc on the wifi channel you are using (laptop/pc issue).

 

Edited July 21, 2021 by rbjtech