Dodgy_Geezer
Prominent Member
Morning all,
I've just bought an IPTV box that connects directly to a Belkin wifi router using ethernet. The streaming IPTV works great and requires a minimum 2Mbps connection which is amply provided by my 10Mbps Virgin broadband service. The Virgin connection is throttled to 2Mbps during the day if you exceed the download threshold of 3GB (1.5GB in the evening ) although we haven't noticed any degradation in picture quality, even when using a laptop at the same time for casual browsing.
The IPTV box is also capable of outputting true HD quality (it has a HDMI socket) but stutters on anything over 720 resolution so I've configured it to the lowest setting of 480 which works just fine and suits us better anyway since we don't have a proper 1080 HD TV. I'm guessing that setting the IPTV box to 480 will also use far less bandwith.
I've got three related questions around this setup and would be grateful if anyone can help:
1. I'd like to monitor just how much data is being streamed and used by the IPTV box. It doesn't need to be pinpoint accurate, a rough estimate of the ballpark figure would suffice. Both my laptop (via wifi) and desktop (via ethernet) are connected to the same Belkin router so I think I need to install something there.
However, I've tried several tools such as SolarWinds and PRTG but these all require a router with support for SNMP that my lowly Belkin doesn't have. Other apps such as Networx (great tool BTW) are useful for monitoring bandwith from the host client only.
The reason I'd like to monitor the amount of data being used by the IPTV box is twofold; to measure the total amount of bandwith used by the IPTV box over a given period (say 30 minutes) so I can see if it's likely that the threshold would be exceeded (and thus the broadband speed throttled) and ...
2 ... to determine which speed Homeplug I need! The router is in the study and the IPTV box needs to be in the lounge. For this, I want to use Homeplug but am unsure which speed I need. The IPTV box requires a minimum of 2Mbps for streaming and I'm thinking that the 85Mbps homeplugs will be more than adequate for this since my Virgin broadband has a maximum speed of 10Mbps anyway.
Can anyone advise whether 85Mbps Homeplugs will do the job of streaming video at a minimum of 2Mbps using a 10MB broadband connection? Even with excessive noise on the mains line, surely an 85Mbps Homeplug would be capable of streaming at least 10Mbsp?
3. I've read the FAQ about Homeplugs and it advises against using an extension lead but I won't have any choice as there's just a single spare socket in the study. Because of this, the Homeplug in the study will be connected to a 6-gang extension lead as the first device nearest to the wall socket. Unfortunately, all the other plugs will also be used plus another extension hanging off of this too
In total, there are 10 devices hanging off a single extension
I just wanted to ask if having more devices "downstream" on the extension, i.e. more extensions and plugs connected after the Homeplug, would affect the speed of the network? Or does it make no difference because the Homeplug is as near as it can be to the mains ring? Also, is the speed between the two Homeplugs reduced if both are on an extension or if only one (either the source or the access point) is? The Homeplug in the lounge can be put on a mains socket but I won't bother if it won't make any difference in speed because the source Homeplug in the study is on an extension.
Thanks in advance for reading through this long post and also for any help and guidance!
I've just bought an IPTV box that connects directly to a Belkin wifi router using ethernet. The streaming IPTV works great and requires a minimum 2Mbps connection which is amply provided by my 10Mbps Virgin broadband service. The Virgin connection is throttled to 2Mbps during the day if you exceed the download threshold of 3GB (1.5GB in the evening ) although we haven't noticed any degradation in picture quality, even when using a laptop at the same time for casual browsing.
The IPTV box is also capable of outputting true HD quality (it has a HDMI socket) but stutters on anything over 720 resolution so I've configured it to the lowest setting of 480 which works just fine and suits us better anyway since we don't have a proper 1080 HD TV. I'm guessing that setting the IPTV box to 480 will also use far less bandwith.
I've got three related questions around this setup and would be grateful if anyone can help:
1. I'd like to monitor just how much data is being streamed and used by the IPTV box. It doesn't need to be pinpoint accurate, a rough estimate of the ballpark figure would suffice. Both my laptop (via wifi) and desktop (via ethernet) are connected to the same Belkin router so I think I need to install something there.
However, I've tried several tools such as SolarWinds and PRTG but these all require a router with support for SNMP that my lowly Belkin doesn't have. Other apps such as Networx (great tool BTW) are useful for monitoring bandwith from the host client only.
The reason I'd like to monitor the amount of data being used by the IPTV box is twofold; to measure the total amount of bandwith used by the IPTV box over a given period (say 30 minutes) so I can see if it's likely that the threshold would be exceeded (and thus the broadband speed throttled) and ...
2 ... to determine which speed Homeplug I need! The router is in the study and the IPTV box needs to be in the lounge. For this, I want to use Homeplug but am unsure which speed I need. The IPTV box requires a minimum of 2Mbps for streaming and I'm thinking that the 85Mbps homeplugs will be more than adequate for this since my Virgin broadband has a maximum speed of 10Mbps anyway.
Can anyone advise whether 85Mbps Homeplugs will do the job of streaming video at a minimum of 2Mbps using a 10MB broadband connection? Even with excessive noise on the mains line, surely an 85Mbps Homeplug would be capable of streaming at least 10Mbsp?
3. I've read the FAQ about Homeplugs and it advises against using an extension lead but I won't have any choice as there's just a single spare socket in the study. Because of this, the Homeplug in the study will be connected to a 6-gang extension lead as the first device nearest to the wall socket. Unfortunately, all the other plugs will also be used plus another extension hanging off of this too
In total, there are 10 devices hanging off a single extension
I just wanted to ask if having more devices "downstream" on the extension, i.e. more extensions and plugs connected after the Homeplug, would affect the speed of the network? Or does it make no difference because the Homeplug is as near as it can be to the mains ring? Also, is the speed between the two Homeplugs reduced if both are on an extension or if only one (either the source or the access point) is? The Homeplug in the lounge can be put on a mains socket but I won't bother if it won't make any difference in speed because the source Homeplug in the study is on an extension.
Thanks in advance for reading through this long post and also for any help and guidance!