Dubai Forums Dubai Tech Discussions Dubai high tech talk

Ok,

I hooked up Slingbox at home (amazing stuff)....

But now that I watch it in Dubai there a "situation". If I watch it and it is streaming at about 250 kbps there is no problem. Once in a while it goes down to 10 kbps and the there is a pause in the video. Actually sometimes the little window says that it is streaming at 300+ kbps but I am still in the hold mode.

My question is this: (well before that, I am a cheap bastard) would it make any difference if the "speed" on my internet connection is increased? By that I mean, even if I go up to 1 or 2 MB speeds (which cost and arm and a leg/testicle) would I still face the problem of the streaming being reduced to 10 kbps some times. In which case it would not be worth it.

Speaking of dummies *bowing down 3 times* I know that you guys (Sage and Arniegang) are almighty and can move this thread to the "high tech" forum but the reason I placed it here is because the 8 people that frequent the forum nowadays are not likely to visit there. But since you will likely "show me off" just because you can and will "show me off" then I'll continue there. But then maybe you won't move it in order to show maturity and restraint. But then....

Anyway, thanks in advance to the responders (that reminds me I should watch ConAir again)...

If changing my Itisalot account to 1 MB speed will elliminate that then I'll do it but if the same problem will still exist I would rather donate the money to a worthy cause.

It depends on where the bottleneck is occurring.

The benefit of the higher speeds is not just the downstream, but the upstream is also increased. Sometimes if your upstream is clogged, it slows your downstream down markedly.

It's also a question of caching. If you have a higher bandwidth you can cache more quicker, therefore the cache can fill up quickly, and recover quickly from other snags which might temporarily impact your bandwidth.

Finally, it comes to your provider as well. Etisalat has been noted to give terrible speeds at times. On the XBox forum you will see how many XBoxers have laggy connections, another device dependent on speeds, and faster connections do alleviate this somewhat, but not totally.

Want to test? Bring it over to my place and see what difference a 1 meg connection makes. If you're happy with the results, up your bandwidth.

I suspect though you won't see too much benefit from the increased speed.

Another question though is do you have anything else running on the connection whilst watching? Even an incoming email might slow your connection down.

^ian^ wrote:Want to test? Bring it over to my place and see what difference a 1 meg connection makes. If you're happy with the results, up your bandwidth.

I suspect though you won't see too much benefit from the increased speed.

Precisley (however that is spelled) the answer I was looking for. Do you live in Dubai. Let me know and I will be right over.

this forum is very useful for slingbox owners - hope it helps

http://www.slingcommunity.com/

Ian is totally correct and i can only expand by one further point. The importance of an "upstream" @ a min of 250k is crucial for slingbox.

Even here in the UK, even though we can download at lightening speeds up to 24meg, our "upload" speeds arn't that great. People automatically assume because they have a fast download line the same goes for uploading, but this is very often not the case.

I have a 16 meg line but still have probs at times with slingbox.

Maybe worth a call to home or a mail to your provider in the US to check what your upload speed actually is.

arniegang wrote:Ian is totally correct and i can only expand by one further point. The importance of an "upstream" @ a min of 250k is crucial for slingbox.

Even here in the UK, even though we can download at lightening speeds up to 24meg, our "upload" speeds arn't that great. People automatically assume because they have a fast download line the same goes for uploading, but this is very often not the case.

I have a 16 meg line but still have probs at times with slingbox.

Maybe worth a call to home or a mail to your provider in the US to check what your upload speed actually is.

But is it the "upload" speed here (Dubai) or at home that matters, or both? I used slingbox at home (remotely but in that part of the world) and it worked without a hitch. That's why I am wondering whether the "speed" in Dubai would make a difference. I'' do the testing suggested by Ian.

Concord wrote:But is it the "upload" speed here (Dubai) or at home that matters, or both? I used slingbox at home (remotely but in that part of the world) and it worked without a hitch. That's why I am wondering whether the "speed" in Dubai would make a difference. I'' do the testing suggested by Ian.

Both matter to a degree. Your upload at home in the US needs to be sufficiently high enough to ensure smooth transmission, but I am pretty sure it is fine, and the problem lies here.

There is an overhead with transmission of packets that needs to be sent back upstream for every downstream packet, which is one reason why it's rare to ever actually hit your true connection speed.

I also have checked out the plans and the Etisalat plans are actually pretty awful in terms of upload, half of what they should be.

The 512k plan only has 64k upload which definitely could be an inhibiting factor, and the 1 meg plan only has 128k! Du's offering is actually a lot better in this respect.

Etisalat
512 / 64
1024 / 128
2048 / 256

Du
512 / 128
1024 / 256
2048 / 512

Best bet is to try it out on someone with a 1 meg Etisalat connection as well as the Du connection.

The last thing to consider is this shit just happens, with the internet packets travelling halfway across the world, there's going to be hiccups.

Concord wrote:Speaking of dummies *bowing down 3 times* I know that you guys (Sage and Arniegang) are almighty and can move this thread to the "high tech" forum but the reason I placed it here is because the 8 people that frequent the forum nowadays are not likely to visit there. But since you will likely "show me off" just because you can and will "show me off" then I'll continue there. But then maybe you won't move it in order to show maturity and restraint. But then....

oh well, It was moved...(the power is amazing). But in fairness it could have been the other dummy...

^ian^ wrote:I also have checked out the plans and the Etisalat plans are actually pretty awful in terms of upload, half of what they should be.

The 512k plan only has 64k upload which definitely could be an inhibiting factor, and the 1 meg plan only has 128k! Du's offering is actually a lot better in this respect.

Etisalat
512 / 64
1024 / 128
2048 / 256

Du
512 / 128
1024 / 256
2048 / 512

When I am watching the video and it is streaming there is a wachamacallit thingy reading the "speed" 300kps (or whatever number and constantinly changing) at the bottom of the screen. Now, is that the "upload" speed and if so, is it the upload here in Dubai or at the original destination outside Dubai? How do I check it?

Thanks.

Concord wrote:
When I am watching the video and it is streaming there is a wachamacallit thingy reading the "speed" 300kps (or whatever number and constantinly changing) at the bottom of the screen. Now, is that the "upload" speed and if so, is it the upload here in Dubai or at the original destination outside Dubai? How do I check it?

Thanks.

This is the speed of the incoming stream, i.e. the download speed in Dubai. Whilst it is affected by the upload speed at the other end, if it is more than 512 kbps it should be fine. By 512 I mean the connection in NY, not what slingbox is showing as download.

The other issue is not bandwidth but another factor called 'latency' which is the time between the hops, not necessarily the size of the data. Etisalat is known to have high latency (bad) to the US.

this is also quite useful for info

http://www.frequencycast.co.uk/slingbox.html