Speedy streaming over LAN

esfergus

Estimable
Apr 13, 2015
2
0
4,510
I have a shared hard drive on my home wi-fi network and stream movies/tv shows to my television using Kodi on an Amazon Fire TV. Even though it is a local connection, I am having buffering issues with the video. I have an Airport Extreme router. How can I configure my LAN to prioritize or otherwise improve the streaming from my hard drive to my television? Thanks!
 

kanewolf

Judicious
Moderator
What is the hard drive connected to? The router? Standalone network disk with wired connectivity?

WIFI streaming of HD content is hit or miss. Especially if you are in a crowded WIFI environment (apartment/condo). Use 5Ghz if possible or use a wired connection.
 

esfergus

Estimable
Apr 13, 2015
2
0
4,510


Thanks kanewolf! The hard drive is currently connected via USB 3.0 to a desktop computer and shared on the network. I had tried connecting it directly to the router, but I have a hardware issue there as the formatting of the 5tb Seagate drive I have isn't supported by the Airport router. Would upgrading to a NAS server such as the WD My Cloud EX2 make much of an impact?
 

kanewolf

Judicious
Moderator
You can test the READ speed of the USB3 by copying a large file to the internal disk on the PC. Are you sharing this as a folder or are you using something like Plex or Windows Media Player to stream ?

How near to the router is the TV you are trying to stream?

Depending on the router you might be able to use QOS to prioritize the streaming. Most people on this board are trying to do just the opposite, prioritize gaming traffic OVER streaming.