D-Link Forums
The Graveyard - Products No Longer Supported => Routers / COVR => DIR-655 => Topic started by: sixersclt on February 09, 2009, 06:25:50 AM
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I have DIR-655 v4, firmware 1.21. The only things connected (attempt to resolve issues) are two XP SP1 machines on LAN ports. The video stream is 3 - 5 Mbps (640x480) or H.264 up to 13 Mbps. Both XP machines have the same lastest drivers for everything. All NIC is default - no jumbo frames. The problem is the DIR-655 drops the stream and then picks it back up. Watching the streaming network machine in XP task manager network, the DIR-655 acts like it will not accept the stream when the Mpbs goes to 0. Even when it has it, there is digital dropout through the router to the other machine. CAT6 cables. I can't go back to 1.11 due to v4.
When I switch the LAN to 10/100 (netgear or linksys), the stream is perfect on both 10/100 routers. A netgear WNT3500 10/100/1000 has the same behavior as the DIR-655.
Sure seems like a 1Gb LAN router issue. I have multicast enabled, streaming on UDP 239.255.255.250:1234, the router shows that as a valid multicast, wireless disabled and am forwarding the port from the streaming static ip machine to the other static IP machine. Have also tried the latest beta 1.21 02 with same result. I really like the 655, but am at the end of my rope in keeping it due to this issue.
Ideas?
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What kind of NIC and the most recent drivers installed?
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Both motherboards are Foxconn A7GM-S with Gigabit LAN controller Realtek RTL8111B and both machines have the latest drivers downloaded from Realtek.
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The 1GB lan sends files back and forth fine at ~300 Mbps and up...
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What if you force the LAN ports to 10/100 rather than 10/100/1000?
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Do you use the latest relatek drivers?
Realtek NIC are not very reliable/do not have a good reputation in Gbit performance. You might want to get an Intel Gbit PCI/PCIe card to get solid throughput
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Forced both the Realtek Nics to 100Mbps and it streams fine. I've spent a bunch on wiring the whole house with CAT6, gigabyte DLink 2205 switches for the seven PCs and two XBoxes. I hate to perform another $50+ experiment to get two more Intel Nic cards. Other than the streaming between the two machines, the Gb LAN works perfect.
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I guess you answered your own question... if the NICs stream fine when forced to 100mbit but choke when set to 1000mbit, then obviously there must be some sort of compatibility issue between your NIC (in Gigabit mode) and the D-Link router.
Since you mentioned the Netgear WNT3500 has the same issue, it must be related to the switching chip that they use, perhaps its the same one?
Although I don't know if the "fix" for this would come from Realtek or D-Link. I'm guessing Realtek...
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Forced both the Realtek Nics to 100Mbps and it streams fine. I've spent a bunch on wiring the whole house with CAT6, gigabyte DLink 2205 switches for the seven PCs and two XBoxes. I hate to perform another $50+ experiment to get two more Intel Nic cards. Other than the streaming between the two machines, the Gb LAN works perfect.
Understandable. Have a look on Ebay, there might be some on sale there. Otherwise, you could suggest early X-mas to the wife... ;)
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Another question - if it is the nNICs, why then do file transfers fly around at 300+ Mbps and it can't stream 10 Mpbs? Maybe it is the streaming application causing the problem - DVBdream. Is there a way I can test the Gb ability of the NICs through the router using software?
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File transfer is plain copy, streaming is not copying. The bitrate of the (video) file plays a major role in this. The bitrate determines the number of MB's that need to be sent and possibly transcoded by the streaming application.
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File transfer is plain copy, streaming is not copying. The bitrate of the (video) file plays a major role in this. The bitrate determines the number of MB's that need to be sent and possibly transcribed by the streaming application.
But streaming involves a continuous data transfer too, right, and likely at rates which are less than the maximum data transfer rate (which would be utilized when file copying) - so how can streaming mess up and file copying not mess up?
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The stream varies anywhere from 2 Mbps to up to 14 Mbps.
I did some more testing with the DIR655 and the nics forced to 100M. It does not work on the DIR655 forcing the nics to 100M. Still have stream drop out and come backs in waves.
The report in a prior post was using 100M routers - that stream is fine, continuous and no drop outs.
I can't think of anything else to change in the 655 setup to help?
Does anyone think calling Dlink will yield anything?
Still think it is the NICs?
I think it is the router.
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But streaming involves a continuous data transfer too, right, and likely at rates which are less than the maximum data transfer rate (which would be utilized when file copying) - so how can streaming [exploitive deleted] out and file copying not [exploitive deleted] out?
Are we talking wireless here or wired?
I'm no expert here, but don't miscalculate the continuous datastream required (determined by the video/audio bitrate). Examples from my own collection: a 700k bitrate movie requires at least a clean 5.1 MB/s bandwidth. A standard Divx or Xvid DVD rip already has a total bitrate (picture and sound!) of about 235k. A Xvid 1080i rip has a bitrate of 550k. A x264 encoded Blueray rip (good quality) has a bitrate of at least 2400k.
Taking into account that on wireless there lot of overhead and the transmission is far from continuous, also the buffer in your mediaplayer or PC is not large enough to provide a continuous stream.
In a perfect setup with wireless N this will deliver about half of the 300 mbps, which should in theory enable a gsome playable parts. Gigabit wired on the other hand should work without a problem. Unless the cable is no good OR the NIC has an issue with its own buffers. Unlike files video packets that cannot be send right away and need to be corrected (resend) will cause a hickup :
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It is wired with CAT6. Maybe someone can try one of those 700k bitrate movies at 5Mbps + on a 655 to see if this can be duplicated?
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A regular DiVX should work OK. I have no quality issues whatsoever with HD by CAt5e.
The router is just the guy in the middle. If the NIC does a lousy job and needs to resend a lot of data, just cannot keep up the pace registering and sending (or receiving on the other end) packets OR your PC's CPU or HDD just can't handle the NIC's requests for data you will notice that as very flawed and resetting video image. Only if the router has a defective switch you can blame the router, otherwise there is not a lot that can go wrong since my own experience is the living proof it works well by design.
BT can give a negative impact also on latency in the LAN, by the way. And more LAN latency means...a dataflow that's flawed.
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I'd like to step in here.
I've got a pretty complicated and all GIG network at my home. I've got a media server with 1.5TBs of LEGALLY paid for DVD rips in all SORTS of formats. I'm fully capable of streaming to multiple PC's and XboX's at the same time.
I'm not sure if I missed the point here, (the topic is pretty long) but maybe if you summarize the issue I can relate.
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I'd like to step in here.
I've got a pretty complicated and all GIG network at my home. I've got a media server with 1.5TBs of LEGALLY paid for DVD rips in all SORTS of formats. I'm fully capable of streaming to multiple PC's and XboX's at the same time.
I'm not sure if I missed the point here, (the topic is pretty long) but maybe if you summarize the issue I can relate.
You're the only one I'm summarizing for ;)
Issue: flawed Gb transfer, 100 mbps all well.
Ended up to: why file transfer goes OK at full speed and streaming video does not
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Whats the stream being hosted by and received on?
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H.264 MPEG2 DVB-S transport stream streaming video hosted on and received by XP pro sp2 32 bit machines both with Foxconn A7GM-S motherboards having Realtek 8111 embedded 10/100/1000 nics. Stream is between 3 and 13 Mbps. Both have at least dual core CPUs - neither being maxed out. VLC media streams one end and plays other end. Everything on the LAN works fine except the streaming video when routed by the DIR655. Video then does work when through 100Mbps router.
The suggestion is the nics are the problem at 1Gb with suggested resolution being install Intel PCI nics.
Over 100Mbps LAN router the existing nics are fine with video streaming. Over DIR655, streaming video drops in and out over the LAN either at nic 1Gb or forced nic to 100Mbps.
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hmm,
what hardware version is your 655?
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hardware rev A4, SN F35F489020087
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lets try something, get a gigabit switch and replace the router, then try the stream.
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Here are the H.264 MPEG2 stream test results. MTU 1500, no jumbo frames
1 - Direct PC to PC 1 Gb NIC - no problems, peaks around 13/14 Mbps
2 - Through 100Mbps Router - no problems, peaks around 13/14 Mbps
3 - Through DGS2205 1Gb Switch - stream capped at 10 Mbps at which time it pixelates and sound drops - mostly recovers when stream <10 Mbps, but then stream drops off to 0 Mbps- recovers after a while or not at all
4 - Through DIR655 1Gb - acts same as DDGS2205 switch - 10 Mbps cap, drops out, might recover - or not
5 - Streaming end 1 GB - 10 Mbps cap limited when connected to DIR655 or DGS2205 but no drop outs. No cap or drop out Direct PC to PC or over 100Mbps router.
Thanks for the help
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Just out of curiosity, what are your cable lengths? And of those lengths, what type is each cable?
Cat 5/5e is sufficient for Full Duplex Gigabit; Cat 6/6e is fine and supports up to 10GigE.
Using a cable length of 3' or less can be problematic; try using 6' Cat 5.
My 2˘
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I enabled jumbo frames on the nics at 4k. That seems to have solved everything, but I have no idea why. So the 655 is streaming the 13 Mbps and the DGS2005 switch does as well.
But with the 655 at 1500 MTU, is the router doing jumbo frames? How is jumbo enabled on the 655?
Thanks
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The router's switch (i.e Ports 1-4) is automatically able to handle up to 9k frames. There's nothing to change/enable, it just works.
The MTU is only set on your NIC. The 655 doesn't tell the NIC how to set up its framing; that's why Ethernet is a standard. So if the MTU is 1500, then up to 1500 bytes are present per frame and that's the default anyway. Once a current frame is filled with data & header information, your NIC will put it into a packet and transmit it. Then the next frame is created and the process repeats. (vastly simplified explanation)
The idea behind jumbo frames is to lower a NIC's overhead by having to create fewer, larger frames to accommodate large amounts of data. On a low-end NIC, this results in lower CPU utilization and higher data transmit rates. Higher-end NICS have TOE to lower CPU utilization without having to require jumbo frames but larger frames still increase throughput.
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DVD is around 8mbps so around 800 kb/s
720p blu-ray rip is around 5mbps aka 500 kb/s
1080p blu-ray rip is around 12mbps aka 1,2 mb/s
a 1080i mpeg-2 broadcast capture is around 18 mbps depending on the source thats around 1,8 mb/s
a 1080i h264 broadcast capture is around 15-18mbps so thats around 1,5-1.8 mb/s
a 1080p blu-ray is around 20-40mbps thats around 2-4 mb/s
and add around 10-25% for cache playback depending of the player
i have no problems playing DVD, 720p or 1080i/1080p h264, blu-ray is another story
is the wireless network being used by more than one wireless 11n client?
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Here is my situation and conclusions:
1 - wireless is disabled, everything is CAT6 and everything is Gb nics, switches & router, fw 1.21
2 - when I run the streaming machine through the DLink DGS-2205 GB switch, everything is fine with 4k jumbo frames.
3 - when I run the streaming machine through the DIR-655 router, the router chokes on the stream and drops it, jumbo or not - tried 2,3 & 4k jumbo. Tried port forward, QOS priority, etc and so forth.
Therefore, the router can not handle the stream but the switch can. Any theories?
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Backup your 655's settings and reset it back to factory config.
WITHOUT making *any* changes to the 655 (meaning leave it in its default configuration), try streaming again and see what happens.
If it works better, then it's something you've changed. If it doesn't make a difference, restore the gateway settings.
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Reset it back to factory config. Did not touch a setting and not hooked to WAN. DIR655 still chokes at 10Mbps or greater. Still drops out then back in - over and over.
Other than the niceness o***B LAN, I'm struggling to find a reason to keep this router. I should not have to run the streaming through a Dlink DGS2205 GB switch for the stream to flow properly.
Mod comments please?
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Sorry, I'm coming in late here. I had a coupla thoughts:
Doesn't the fact that you're seeing the problem on a Netgear WNT3500, a D-Link DGS-2205, and a D-Link DIR-655 suggest that they are not the problem?
Other than the Gigabit routers, NICs, and switches, the other "new" thing in your setup is the cabling.
It's possible that somewhere in your new cabling there is something flakey. Not flakey enough to affect 10/100 performance, but enough to cause Gigabit to roll back its speed.
10/100 uses 4 wires in your cabling, whereas Gigabit needs all 8 wires. If any of the extra 4 connections which Gigabit needs are flakey... bingo.
I know it is a PITA, but can you set up the streaming source, destination, and intervening network hardware somewhere where you can easily swap cables to test?
BTW, like several others who have posted, I have no >10Mbps DIR-655 Gigabit streaming problems.
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It's possible that somewhere in your new cabling there is something flakey. Not flakey enough to affect 10/100 performance, but enough to cause Gigabit to roll back its speed.
10/100 uses 4 wires in your cabling, whereas Gigabit needs all 8 wires. If any of the extra 4 connections which Gigabit needs are flakey... bingo.
Very good remark. You might want to check the connector first. If it is home made, there might be a glitch....
BTW, like several others who have posted, I have no >10Mbps DIR-655 Gigabit streaming problems.
Me neither with 1Gbps network.
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I got two new cat6 10 foot cables, connected the 2 pcs through the router and it does the same thing. The sending machine does not drop off the stream. The stream gets dropped in the router.
Run them through the GB switch and it is fine, as it has been once jumbo frames were enabled. The streaming continues to be fine through the Gb DLink switch. The PCs show it as Gb Lan.
I'm out of ideas. Maybe I'll get a different DIR655.
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Hey sixers
This really doesn't surprise me. I've had several dlinks and they all had really really bad glaring issues out of the box.
I've been fighting with reboots, connection drops, poor performance, and confirmed bugs for about a week now (I have mostly got them ironed out, finally).
Anyways, I'm going to cautiously suggest that you try some of the things I've tried, even though you are only having switch troubles.
The first is, I found my router to become VASTLY more stable as soon as I upgraded the firmware to 1.21B02 . I don't have a link for you, and its not the 1.21 available on the support site, but I got the link from this forum so I'm sure with a little searching you'll find it. If you can't, post up and I'll search it out.
I have also heard many many many people praise 1.11 as much more solid than the later firmwares as well, although I have not tried it.
The second suggestion is that you go through the router and turn OFF all enhanced functionality. SPI, mac filtering, QOS, WISH, wireless radio, the "INFO" logging option, etc etc etc etc. We're just testing it as a switch so we want to eliminate the possibility that a hiccup in one of these modules is going to disrupt your data stream.
Anyways, good luck. You may be able to find a way to 'work around' the routers limitations on the PC/nic/etc but that doesn't mean the router isn't the problem. (as you've sortof proved already in one instance).
Cory
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Cory,
Your statement is biased and unfounded. Sixers hardware maybe faulty, or there could simply be an issue with the Nic's in his PC. I have an complete D-link network and it's all GIGABIT based on a DIR-655 and I have ZERO issues. So to state that you believe that it's his router based on current testing is inaccurate.
-Sixers,
Last I checked you were running jumbo frames, and this solved the issue. I was wondering if you could run one more test for me. Please purchase a GIG NIC. make sure you keep the receipt so you can return it. Install it an disable the jumbo frames on it. Tell me what happens. (also you may need two for both PC's)
If this resolves the issue, I'm going to blame the TOE in the driver for your current NIC or just bad handling of the driver in the PC.
Try this also, DPC Latency timer. Run it when your running the stream. See if the driver for your NIC is causing hangs on your system.
Also what hard drives are you using in the machine that your streaming from? please list make and model.
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Hi lycan
All troubleshooting is hypothesizing and testing.
It of course could be almost anything.
However, assuming that it is not the router, even though sixer has shown that in other configurations without the router the problem goes away (in several configurations, actually) is kind of unhelpful. I'm sorry my first statement bothered your sensibilities, I'm not trying to cause trouble I'm trying to help sixer and add a little balance to this thread.
I'm sure you can imagine how frustrating it is to have someone pointing at other equipment despite some (I'll admit, small) evidence to the contrary. It's possible that what you've said about the NIC will be related to the problem. It's also a logical fact that his experiments are pointing in the direction of the router at this point. (Well, to be exact I would say it points to a fault or an incompatibility in some retail network hardware .. but for our purposes we only really care about fixing the router behaviour.)
When one ships a product (like the 655) that crashes and reboots out of the box and otherwise doesnt work in some configurations for some people for such basic things as DNS resolution, or DHCP assignment then I would think it would be more profitable to concentrate on solving the problems than squelching dissent. Maybe I'm wrong. Unfortunately I would also say that puts *that* equipment at the top of the list for being at fault for any other problems until evidence proves otherwise.
I hope you figure out your problem sixer! It might be profitable to see what logging options are available on the switch (if they are different from the router), recreate the problem, and see if anything is reported.
Forcing the router/switch/NIC (if you have the option) to 100/1000/full duplex/half duplex might shed some more light on the problem. Its kind of involved but another path might be to go down the path of etherreal or something similar and do some logging that way.
Cory
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Hi lycan
All troubleshooting is hypothesizing and testing.
It of course could be almost anything.
However, assuming that it is not the router, even though sixer has shown that in other configurations without the router the problem goes away (in several configurations, actually) is kind of unhelpful. I'm sorry my first statement bothered your sensibilities, I'm not trying to cause trouble I'm trying to help sixer and add a little balance to this thread.
I'm sure you can imagine how frustrating it is to have someone pointing at other equipment despite some (I'll admit, small) evidence to the contrary. It's possible that what you've said about the NIC will be related to the problem. It's also a logical fact that his experiments are pointing in the direction of the router at this point. (Well, to be exact I would say it points to a fault or an incompatibility in some retail network hardware .. but for our purposes we only really care about fixing the router behaviour.)
When one ships a product (like the 655) that crashes and reboots out of the box and otherwise doesnt work in some configurations for some people for such basic things as DNS resolution, or DHCP assignment then I would think it would be more profitable to concentrate on solving the problems than squelching dissent. Maybe I'm wrong. Unfortunately I would also say that puts *that* equipment at the top of the list for being at fault for any other problems until evidence proves otherwise.
I hope you figure out your problem sixer! It might be profitable to see what logging options are available on the switch (if they are different from the router), recreate the problem, and see if anything is reported.
Forcing the router/switch/NIC (if you have the option) to 100/1000/full duplex/half duplex might shed some more light on the problem. Its kind of involved but another path might be to go down the path of etherreal or something similar and do some logging that way.
Cory
I would believe that the DIR is causing all kinds of issues by definition if I was also hit by those. But...since none of the issues arises I do not blame the router. Even though it would seem obvious that an error that occurs only with the DIR in the loop can be blamed on the router, this is not necessarily the case. A router does much more than a switch a will therefore confront you with more general networking issues on the modem or the client PC.
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Hey Eddie
I don't want to hijack this thread any further, so I'm going to sign off this tangent with this comment -
Fortunately/unfortunately we all have different equipment/configurations/requirements and received our boxes with different firmwares, etcetera. As an example, I have a linksys VOIP adapter that simply needs DHCP info from the router, but won't get it properly with the shipped or current FW. The beta firmware fixes this problem, and the VOIP adapter worked fine with two other routers ... so the logical assumption is, the DIR 655 was at fault. Other factors (such as the presence of torrent traffic, for example) can also have a big impact on performance and stability (not only with Dlink routers, FYI).
And yes, a router is more than a switch. However, when switching traffic from one inside port to another, I can't think of too many router functions that *should* be involved. Obviously, this may or may not be the case in actuality.
Cory
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Just have a look at the extras a router has compared to a switch. Those are exactly the extra things the router traffic needs to deal with. And about VOIP adapters, phew...had my share of problems with those in the past and all came down to very flakey firmware on those boxes, unpredictable SOB's :D
At least the router issues are not generic, mine is really working flawlessly. No reboots, no wireless disconnects, etc.
Good luck
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I ran DPC Latency timer on both ends and results are both green when hooked through the 655. Average between 20-60 micro sec.
I am streaming live H264 or Std Def Video/Audio, so it never goes through the hard disks. The program streams over UDP 239.255.255.255 which shows as a multicast in the 655.
I picked up 2 Intel Pro/1000 NICs for dirt cheap. Once they arrive, we shall continue…
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I ran DPC Latency timer on both ends and results are both green when hooked through the 655. Average between 20-60 micro sec.
I am streaming live H264 or Std Def Video/Audio, so it never goes through the hard disks. The program streams over UDP 239.255.255.255 which shows as a multicast in the 655.
I picked up 2 Intel Pro/1000 NICs for dirt cheap. Once they arrive, we shall continue…
4 systems are the NIC that are Gig all uses Realtek 3 uses Encore and one is TP-LINK (rates it 2GB) but we now how that goes. I stream over 5GB (mini series) to 7x Hauppauge MediaMVP from my HTPC. Been doing this since 2003 using onboard NiCs VIA Fast 100mpbs. Onboard NICs are not the best way to go. There have been problems reported over the years. I disabled those NICs and use the PCI ones. The PCI-E suppose to be slightly better. I also use VLC streaming over the wireless G and N to wireless laptops no problem there. Gig MPG2 which I record using SageTV then stream though recorded media to 4x HDTVs again no issues. I do find bad switches can cause jitter, shuttering, audio sync problems. I've ordered new switches I go through them like crazy. I going for business class switch for 100mbps side. the one I use now for Gig is a clone of DLINK 8-port it's just metal case 8K mac table/144KB patch buffer memory.
You should look out for Throughput in a switch. You had reported that your NIC was going from 1000mbps to 100mbps. You should replace those NIC as they have duff ports on them. Not DLINK. I had the same issue with one of the Encore. I did everything you could think of and it still did it. Bad NIC. TP-LINK was very cheap but they're ROHS gave it a try. So far no issues.