The high quality TV video sent between a Media Center PC and a Media Center Extender requires significantly more from home networks than is typically used for browsing the Web, checking e-mail, or for other network related productivity tasks. With high quality TV video, even very minor problems can affect the quality to create a noticeable interruption in the experience.
The convenience and flexibility of wireless networks makes them an attractive option for many people, but even once your wireless network is working well it is still susceptible to occasional interference that can cause temporary reliability problems.
Many seemingly trivial factors can have substantial effects on home networks. The Media Center Extender Network Performance Tuner and this companion document exist to help provide a way to better understand how a home network is performing, and what kinds of things can be done to improve the Media Center Extender experience.
To make it easier to follow the ideas here, it’s a good idea to print this guide.
Imagine a straight line between your two wireless components, every object that exists between them degrades your wireless performance. If your wireless access point or router is hidden behind a potted plant so that it looks nicer, then the plant affects performance. If the antenna on your Media Center Extender is placed in the back of a crowded A/V rack, and the access point it communicates with is located somewhere in the house that causes the signal to go through the other A/V components, this is going to drastically affect performance.
Make small and easy changes to the position of your wireless components or other household items to minimize the number of obstructions the wireless signal must travel through. Metal obstructions including mirrors are particularly important to remove from the path if possible.
Even with no change to the number of obstructions in the wireless path, seemingly insignificant changes to wireless networking components can cause meaningful changes to the performance.
Try moving your components to higher or lower elevations if possible, also try rotating them 45 degrees or 90 degrees from how they normally sit. For example, if your wireless access point or router is on the first floor of your house and your Media Center Extender is on the second floor, try putting the wireless access point or router on a shelf.
The small antennas used in wireless networking devices are extremely sensitive to relatively minor changes in orientation and position. A good analogy to consider is "rabbit ears" antennas that were once widely used for TV reception, an inch one way or the other and TV reception could suffer significantly but there might be one small spot where reception came in fairly good, the same is true for wireless networking antennas.
Sometimes performance works best when the antennas on both components of the wireless network are pointing vertically straight up. In other cases positioning the antennas on all devices at a 45-degree angle yields the best results. Performance usually degrades significantly if the antennas are positioned vertically on one device (for example, your home networking access point/router) and horizontally on the other device (for example, the Media Center Extender). Try different antenna positions while the Network Performance Tuner is running to see how it affects your network.
| Note: Some wireless networking components have internal antennas instead of external antennas; in these cases it may look as if the device has no antenna at all. For devices with internal antennas you can rotate the device to change the antenna reception. |
If you have a completely wired Ethernet network connecting from your Media Center PC to your Media Center Extender, double-check that all networking components support 100 Mbps. Older 10 Mbps Ethernet networking "hubs" are not supported and cause network performance problems.
Wireless networking gear with the "Designed for Windows XP Media Center Edition" logo provides the best wireless home network to support high quality content streaming throughout the home. Networking products with this logo have been thoroughly tested to provide an optimal wireless experience with a Media Center PC and a Media Center Extender device. See the Designed for Windows XP Media Center Edition logo partner list to see if your router has the logo and to see what other products are available.
The software that runs inside an access point or router is most often called "firmware." Manufacturers of these devices often find problems with the software that is originally placed in the device and make updated software available in the support area of their Web sites. Many times updated software for your wireless router or access point can solve problems with performance or other strange behavior such as unexplained disconnects from the wireless network.
Updating the software in your wireless router or access point is often not straightforward for novice users. First you must visit the support area of manufacturer's Web site and find the downloads area for your specific model router or access point. The latest firmware version is usually available there as a download along with instructions for how to install the updated firmware. You must download the latest firmware file from the manufacturer's Web site to your computer. Once the firmware has been downloaded to your computer, you have to visit the Web page administration utility in your router or access point to update it with the new firmware. See the manufacturer's Web site or your instruction manual for more details on how to update the firmware for your specific router or access point.
| Note: Even if you have just recently purchased your router or access point the firmware is often out-of-date. Always double-check that you have the latest firmware regardless of how long you have owned your wireless equipment. |
Within a wireless networking standard such as 802.11g, individual channels exist that enable multiple wireless devices to use different portions of the available bandwidth (for example channels 1 though 11 in 802.11g). Many wireless access points and routers are preconfigured to use a specific channel. If your neighbor has a wireless network, you may both be using the same channel. This can cause both of your wireless networks to slow down because they have to deal with traffic that does not belong to them. Changing to a different channel may improve your performance.
For 802.11g even though 11 available channels exist, only 3 do not overlap. You do not need to test all the channels, checking 1, 6, and 11 should be sufficient to see if you can improve performance with this technique. To change your wireless networking channel you need to use the Web page administration utility of your access point or router. See your wireless access point or router instruction manual for more details on advanced configuration of your wireless network.
One of the difficult modifications to make to your home network can also have the most significant impact on overall performance, network topology changes. For example, you may, want to have a Media Center PC in your living room, a productivity PC in an office or den, and want to put a Media Center Extender in your master bedroom. If your DSL Internet access is coming into your house at your office or den, you may want to have both the Media Center PC and the Media Center Extender connected wirelessly. This type of configuration is not supported because video must travel over wireless twice, and may result in seemingly unsolvable network performance problems.
Consider more complex modifications to your home network such as changing the point of entry for Internet into your house. If you have a phone jack near the Media Center PC in the living room, perhaps the DSL modem and your router can move there and the office PC can connect wirelessly. This configuration change allows the Media Center PC to connect to the router with wired Ethernet and places significantly less stress on the network for TV playback.
Another option to consider is moving your wireless access point or router to a different room in the house that reduces the overall wireless distances or obstructions. Perhaps it is reasonably easy to run a longer Ethernet wire between your Media Center PC and the access point but still get it into another room.
If you cannot solve your network performance problems, one option to consider is setting Media Center to record TV shows at a lower quality level. The lower recording levels for Media Center use less storage, and also require less network bandwidth to watch on your Media Center Extender. Try successively lower quality levels until you get more reliable recorded TV playback on your Media Center Extender.
| Note: Recording shows at lower quality levels does not affect the playback of Live TV on your Media Center Extender. Live TV is always sent from the Media Center PC to the Extender at the best quality level. |
Streaming high quality video over a wireless network is a demanding task for currently available wireless networking products, as a result more restrictive requirements exist for wireless use of Media Center Extenders than for general use. If the Network Performance Tuner indicates that you may have potential problems, first check to make sure that your wireless network meets the following requirements:
- For the best Media Center Extender experience, use a fully wired 100 Mbps Ethernet network between all components. If wireless is required, use 802.11a if possible.
- Imagine a straight line between your two wireless components; in most cases this line can pierce a maximum of 2 walls or floors. In a clear "line-of-sight" path with no obstructions the maximum range is likely around 50 feet (significantly reduced with walls, floors, or other obstructions).
- 802.11b wireless networks are not supported due to inadequate bandwidth.
- 802.11g wireless networks are supported, but not if you also connect other 802.11b devices to the same network (this slows the 802.11g network down for 802.11b compatibility).
- The Media Center PC or the Media Center Extender can be connected wirelessly but not both, regardless of whether you use 802.11a or 802.11g.
- "Ad-hoc" wireless networks are not supported even on 802.11a or 802.11g, your network must be in "Infrastructure" mode.
- If your Media Center PC is connected to the wireless network, it must be connected with an internal wireless networking PCI card or with an Ethernet wireless adapter (bridge). USB wireless adapters are not supported.
When a Media Center Extender is initially set up with your Media Center PC, and after setup is complete, the Network Performance Tuner automatically tests your network to ensure that the current network configuration is capable of delivering a quality TV video experience.
 Tip: You can also access the Network Performance Tuner from the Windows Start menu: |
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On the taskbar, click Start.
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Point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then point to Media Center.
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Click Media Center Extender Network Performance Tuner.
In order to use the Network Performance Tuner, ensure your Media Center Extender is set up successfully and shows the Media Center Start page. To accurately understand the performance of your network make sure no media playback occurs on the Media Center Extender while the Network Performance Tuner is in use (Live TV, Recorded TV, Music, My Videos, or Radio). For best results, turn off your Media Center Extender and restart it before use so that all Media Center Extender resources are cleaned up.
The Network Performance Monitor measures the overall bandwidth between a Media Center PC and a Media Center Extender. The Network Performance Monitor runs the entire time it is displayed; continually showing the results of the testing on a graph displayed on the screen. This utility allows you to make changes to your network configuration, such as changing the location of your access point or modifying the position of antennas, while you can see the results of those changes in real time.
When using the Network Performance Monitor the objective is to make adjustments to your network configuration until you can keep the green graph line consistently above the solid yellow line in the middle of the screen. The higher above the yellow line you can get your network performance the less likely you are to have problems watching TV on your Media Center Extender.
The brief automatic test within the Network Performance Tuner measures the available network bandwidth between your Media Center PC and your Media Center Extender for a short period of time. The test checks to see if video transmitted over your home network would have quality problems that would be noticeable when watching live TV or recorded TV. When the test completes it indicates if any potential problems exist or if the network performance looks acceptable for TV usage.
| Note: Successful automatic testing does not guarantee against future performance problems. The test is only run for a short time and wireless networks are susceptible to occasional interference from a variety of sources including 2.4 GHz cordless phones, microwave ovens, nearby wireless networks, as well as other random influences. |
- Reduce obstructions in the wireless path—Everything in a straight line between wireless components affects performance. Move even small objects such as potted plants. Metal objects or mirrors are particularly bad; make sure your signal does not go though other A/V components.
- Change location and orientation of wireless components—Move your access point to a higher or lower location, even changes as small as 6 inches could affect performance. Try rotating each wireless component 45 degrees or 90 degrees.
- Adjust antenna positions on wireless components—Try positioning the antennas vertically, horizontally, or at 45 degree angles on both wireless components. Very minor changes to antenna positions can have big effects.
- Make sure all wired network components are 100 Mbps—Older 10 Mbps networking "hubs" could cause performance problems.
802.11g wireless networks share their airspace with a number of other devices and technologies that may influence overall performance. The following items might affect your wireless network if in your house or nearby:
- Microwave ovens
- 2.4 GHz cordless phones
- 2.4 GHz baby monitors
- 2.4 GHz analog wireless video senders
- Neighboring wireless networks
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