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Old 11-Jan-2011, 4:41 AM   #4
GroundUrMast
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Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Greater Seattle Area
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It sounds like your TV has internet connectivity, making it somewhat of a home theater PC.

802.11G, A or N should be more than enough bandwidth... My experience however, is that compared to hardwired connections, any wireless link is far more prone to errors and brief disruptions due to signal fade or interference. I run three Silicondust HD Homerun tuners on my home LAN. When viewing from a laptop using a hardwired link, I see virtually no evidence of Ethernet frame loss. However, it's not uncommon to see or hear evidence of Ethernet frame loss when viewing the same channel on the same laptop connected via wireless. For what it's worth, the LAN connected tuner is streaming up to 20 MB/s when tuned to a 1080i program and, the transport layer protocol is UDP which has no provision for re-transmission of lost data. I'm not 100% sure, but Netflix may use TCP instead of UDP, TCP does provide for retransmission of lost data. If that's true, a corrupted wireless Ethernet frame would be detected and retransmitted which could make for more reliable viewing if your WIFI link takes a few hits now and then.

I'm a retired LAN / WAN routing and switching guy. I use wired Ethernet on CAT-5e when ever possible. Especially for the HTPC link to my LAN. It's much more dependable. I can't depend on a wireless link when recording, the tuner is in the basement wiring closet and the HTPC need to be able to connect error free for the entire recording. CAT-6 is overkill unless you have a 10 GB/s LAN.

The industry standard for 100 MB/s Ethernet on unshielded twisted pair calls for cable lengths not to exceed 100 meters. So there is no need to place the cable modem or Ethernet switch adjacent to the HTPC, just with in 100 meters as the CAT-5e runs. Wired Ethernet will not shift speeds the way wireless Ethernet does.

My new(ish) microwave oven leaks enough RF in operation to totally disrupt my 802.11G (54 MB/s) WIFI link. Just another reason I avoid wireless if possible. As usual I'm long winded, sorry. The bottom line, web surfing over wireless will be far less frustrating than watching a movie over wireless.
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Last edited by GroundUrMast; 11-Jan-2011 at 5:18 AM.
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