Can't Stream 1080p Video Using Single R500 Unleashed AP

[chiper_chips]

Hi All,

Looking for some advice on real world performance from a single Ruckus R500 Unleashed AP.

Attempting to stream 1080p video from a physically cabled Mac mini (running plex) to a Roku Wireless Streaming stick. Have also tried streaming to a Raspberry PI 3, MS Surface Pro 3 and iPhone 6s.

The video stream requires at max 20Mbps of continuous bandwidth. Monitoring shows the stream averages around 6-10Mbps.

The property is a residential two story town house and the AP is located upstairs mounted vertically on the wall (not upside down).

The Roku streaming stick is plugged into a 55" Samsung TV wall mounted downstairs.

As the devices are downstairs I am running them on the 2.4Ghz band. I tested wifi performance using the SpeedFlex app on both my iPhone and Surface Pro 3 and both achieve 160Mbps.

Note unlike other installations I have done which typically hit their max speed and then stay their continuously for the length of the test. This r500 jumps wildly from around 130Mbps to 220Mbps and lands on an average of 160Mbps. It can't seem to hold a continuous speed. Is this indicative of interfereance?

Things we have tried
- turn 5ghz radio off
- 2.4ghz radio channel/channelisation set to auto
- 2.4ghz radio channel set to 1 (least saturated)
- 2.4ghz radio channelisation set to 20
- 2.4ghz radio channelisation set to 40
- 5ghz radio turned on
- tested stream to iPhone upstairs on 5ghz
- SpeedFlex test to iPhone upstairs on 5ghz (160Mbps)

We mostly focus on warehouse wireless deployments so don't have much experience with video but this is the home of our biggest clients CEO :(

Been pulling my hair out for a couple of weeks trying to work out why the wifi can't support a single 20Mbps stream when it can achieve 160Mbps?

I'm also a little surprised that even on the 5ghz band with 80 channelisation and channel 132 the max speed both my iPhone and Surface Pro 3 can achieve when 2m from the AP and clear line of site is 160Mbps? Never used R500 before but I know the r600 can easily achieve 760Mbps to my iPhone using the SpeedFlex app... It is 3x3 though so possibly that's why?

Would appreciate any advice.

Thanks,
Don

[john_d]

I would be concerned about the viability of streaming 1080p video via 2.4GHz, if any of those devices depend on 2.4GHz. 2.4GHz in 1x1 or 2x2 configs will offer less than 100mbit of real world throughput, and in more congested environments, offer even less at range.


Note that small form factor devices like streaming sticks don't have the best wifi antennas on their end, so the infrastructure really has to make up for it. Some of them don't even offer great throughput due to architectural limitations, and even the best wifi network can't make up for it....

I would highly recommend deploying an AP closer to the location where the Roku Streaming Stick is, to see if that could improve performance. If not, honestly, it may be time to look into another streaming system with better wireless performance, like a full-sized Roku box, or a new generation Apple TV with the plex client. Both in my experience have far far better wifi implementations capable of hundreds of mbit like your phone.

[max_o_driscoll]

Agree with John, the Roku stick is almost certainly the weak spot.

[chiper_chips]

Thanks for the input, however, it ignores the fact that streaming doesn't work to my iPhone or MS Surface even when on the 5ghz band? In fact, those devices don't work when situated 2m from the AP so it does seem to be something to do with the wireless architecture.

160Mbps from both iPhone/Surface on the 2.4ghz and 5ghz bands should be ample for streaming a 20Mbps 1080p video.

To be constructive could others please advise what type of performance they are getting from R500's on the various bands?

I can't understand why the iPhone/Surface when 2m from the AP and on the 5ghz band can't achieve greater then 160Mbps? I should be getting at least 700Mbps!

This just seems odd. I'm also concerned about why the speed tests jump around so much as I have never seen this on any of the wireless systems we have deployed.

I'll open a case with Ruckus also but would like to compare real world performance with others so I have a benchmark to work with.

Looks like we have another week of pulling hair ahead of us... Will report back once solved...

Happy Easter all!

[sander_groen]

Hi, at home I have 3 x r500 and a ZD 1200 controller. My iPhone 6 will get around 600mbps when using the zoneflex app. Strange to see you aren't getting those results but then again I am using a zonedirector controller. You should check the airtime of the AP and how often it does a background scan.