Categories: Smartphone / PocketPC
OK, so I just spent the weekend giving my mobile sling player a SERIOUS stress test. I just drove from San Francisco to Los Angesles and back and was slinging the entire way! Some dropouts here and there, but overall, I'm very surprised about it's ability to handle very low bandwidth conditions. Nice job guys!
I do have a problem with high bandwidth usage however.
I use my verizon xv6700 with my slingbox in two ways. First, Sling Player Mobile over the verizon EVDO network, I'll call this "mobile" from here on. Second is Regular Sling player on my Win xp laptop using the xv6700 as a modem connected via USB cable (also using Verizon EVD0.) I'll call this "tethered" fromm here on.
Sitting in a stationary location (The desk in my office) if I use the mobile configuration my bandwidth tops out around 200kbps according to the statistics reported by Sling Player Mobile. On the other hand, if I use the tethered configuration, in the same stationary location my bandwidth lingers around 400-500kbps and tops out around 600kbps. Pretty telling. Using the same network and same device for Network access the mobile player falls significantly short.
The kicker here is that I can stream video from other sources (pocketcpvids.com and others) directly to my xv6700 with EVDO and they stream very reliably at high bitrates. So the hardware and EVDO network are capable of more than the Sling Player Mobile software is pumping out. Is this being addressed for future non-beta releases?
Basically it boils down to this: If I have my laptop with me, it is always better to use my xv6700 as a modem rather than use Sling Player Mobile as the video stream will use more than twice the bandwidth and as such be of significantly higher quality. And that makes me sad because I know it is possible to have a full bandwidth stream playing directly on the xv6700.
I have also noticed this to a point. When I am riding in a car I do see the SlingMobile get up to 500kbps but I am standing under a tower. same test at work. I streamed from my notebook tethered to my PPC-6700 at 560kbps and when directly to the mobile player I recieve more like 200-250kbps.
I am sure that this is being addressed. I just hope that they increase the buffer.
Take Care,
-Tony
Slingbox+PPC-6700= So much more...
I've been sling on my Tmobile mda (edge) and it works great. there is occasional drop out but i'm very happy.
hmm, "it works great" does not really tell me anything or further the conversation much. I have no idea what your standards of quality are. You have merely noted an opinion but given no facts to support it.
Care to add some specifics to your post? How "great" does it work? What sort of bandwidth are you seeing when connected to a broadband network?
I would question whether the mobile client is taking full advantage of the available bandwidth as well. Doing speed tests on my 700w, I frequently get readings of 500-700Kbps; however, SlingMobile never shows higher than 300-400Kbps (and it generally hovers around 100-200). In theory, shouldn't the SlingMobile show speeds closer to what my speed tests show? I know the upload speed from my Slingbox is more than adequate (around 1Mbps).
That's what I would have guessed as well. Time will tell with the non-beta versions I suppose.
I too have plenty of upload bandwith (768kbps) and when I'm at my girlfriend's house streaming on her computer I see almost all of that bandwidth realized. I frequently see continuous streams that hover at or above 700kbps...just not with the mobile player :(
Whenever I talk to sling support about this stuff I always get a canned response about "varying network traffic and conditions blah blah sling player is streaming the maximum available blah blah blah." But this has is obviously not the case. I am fully aware of what bandwidth is available and sling player mobile aint using it all.
I have a feeling that the mobile client is throttled. The only reason for this in my opinion, is that you only need so much quality on a cell phone's small screen and it could be they are trying to play nice with the carriers.
The fastest I've seen on my Treo 700 is a little over 300k. Personally I cannot tell the difference in quality once the speed goes over 200k, other than a reduction in drop-outs.
Good observations here.
It's actually not really "throttled" as much as it is the case where your Treo really can't play back higher quality video WHILE using the network and doing everything else it's doing.
As an experiment - try streaming a WMV file encoded at 512Kbps directly to your Treo and see what happens... I have trouble getting my PPC6700 (with a much faster processor) playing WMV files off my SD card when encoded above 384K!
-jt
384k? That would be absolute luxury! As noted here and elsewhere, those of us with 6700s are lucky to see streams over 150k even under optimal network conditions! What's the deal? I know the hardware is capable of more so I'm not buying the whole "the hardware is taxed" bit.
150k! I know it can be better than this. I can stream video from other sources VERY reliably at 300k and it looks great. Sling mobile almost never goes over 150k. 150k! by the way, it rarely goes over 150k.
Did I mentionn it rarely goes over 150k? oh, I didn't? well then I'll just mention that it barely ever goes over 150k (regardless of network conditions so don't feed me that line either)
I'm not trying to be rude, I LOVE my slingbox. This is a playful nudge. I know you guys can do better. I know the hardware can do better. I optimistically await more robust releases.
JeremyT (Sling Media) said:
Good observations here.
It's actually not really "throttled" as much as it is the case where your Treo really can't play back higher quality video WHILE using the network and doing everything else it's doing.
As an experiment - try streaming a WMV file encoded at 512Kbps directly to your Treo and see what happens... I have trouble getting my PPC6700 (with a much faster processor) playing WMV files off my SD card when encoded above 384K!
-jt
Take Care,
-Tony
Slingbox+PPC-6700= So much more...
Ugh! Will no one acknowledge the giant elephant sitting in the room?! Forget 384k! It aint gonna happen currently! 150k is the state of things. (I'm not talking peaks, I'm talking average consistant bitrate.) If the 6700 can play video files nicely at 384k and has reliaable 400-600k of bandwidth via EVDO and can play nice big streamed files from other sources like pocketpcvids.com at 300k, then, well, you do the math.
SLING PLAYER MOBILE SHOULD RELIABLY STREAM CONSISTANTLY AT AT LEAST 300K BUT IT DOES NOT!!!!
Grr!
The "try streaming a WMV file encoded at 512Kbps" is a total red herring! I'm not asking for 512k as I realize that's not feazible. But consistant 300k is well within reason yet so elusive and it need not be.
at 150k we're looking at 15 frames per second jerky video...neat but unsatisfactory.
Noah,
I posted this elsewhere: http://www.slingcommunity.com/forum/t...
We are fully acknowledging that some users are having problems sustaining rates above 150K and are looking into it.
To set expectations: as a benchmark, on a PPC6700, assuming you have a good network at home and on your device, you should be able to sustain ~300Kbps on average. If your device is 'faster' than a PPC6700, expect slightly higher (up to 500K), if it is slower, expect slower (200K?).
When we have more info on the performance issue, I'll let you know.
Best,
Jeremy
Thank you. That is very encouraging and good to know. I would love to see streams at 300k on my xv6700. If that is the benchmark that I can hope to see in the near future, I'm excited as I know how good a 300k stream can look with my slingbox.
Just so you know, my anecdote and the bitrates descibed therein also apply to my wifi network at home which is otherwise rock solid, so I know it is not Verizon throttling my bandwidth when using EVDO or anything like that. The experience is the same regardless of what network I'm connected to.
Oh, and by the way Jeremy, I'm totally at your disposal as far as testing anything. Or if you need more specific info about my usage, or anything I can do to help this process along.
I badly want to see this thing succeed!
With all of this discussion about the mobile client and whether or not it's "throttled" (something about that word makes me laugh...), I just want to add how much I appreciate all the work the guys at Sling have put into the mobile version (as well at the desktop version). It's truly a remarkable piece of technology and I've gotten far more use out of it than I ever dreamed I would. I think we need to keep in mind that the mobile client is still a beta version and will certainly improve with future versions. Hopefully, that will include taking full advantage of the available bandwidth or, at the very least, allowing users to dictate resource allocations, bandwidth usage, etc. Nothing is ever perfect but you guys seem to strive for perfection, and that's really all you can ask of a company.
You guys are doing an amazing job and I'm really looking forward to what the future has in store!
Even when I overclock my PPC-6700 to 624MHz, I don't see better than 150k (occasionally 200kbps whether overclocked or not). When overclocked, the channels change much faster, and it goes to full screen faster. Other than that, it seems to be the same regardless of CPU speed.
Dave
Jeremy, so you're saying the bitrate number is also based on what the processor can decode and the program adjusts download to maintain optimum quality? If so that's pretty clever. I am using an I730 and I've seen sustained speeds over 300k with 30fps with good evdo connections. At those speeds the video only seems just a bit lower quality than movies I have encoded. I do suspect the statistics lag behind the actual throughput or are momentarily not reported properly. Reason is sometimes I get a statistic of 2fps for several seconds shortly after a momentary hickup, but by then the player has recovered.
I also check my data connection with this utility. HTTP://text.dslreports.com/mspeed
BTW, I encoded my movies at 400kbps. Seems it's the best compromise between quality and file size and I can still benchmark at 150%. I guess the 100mhz faster processor really helps, at the expence of battery life.
Samsung SCH-I730
jeremy, no offense, but that is BS. Check out these benchmarks here, on a non-overclocked 6700:
http://www.slingcommunity.com/forum/t...
Hey guys, Chill!! Jeremy relased the beta to the public not to get criticism from you fella, they can well test their mobile player privatly and let you guys whine for a beta. So let me stated one more time CHILL!! let them work out the bug so the final release can work the way it's suppose to.. Phew.. what's wrong with people now days.. you give them 50 and they want a 100..
P.S. I, myself are not satisifed with the performance of mobile player, but hey this player is still in "BETA". so I am willing to wait till they fix and improve the mobile player. Guys please cut out the rude languages.
pekkle, do you know what beta means? it's a build for test purposes to work out bugs. we're talking them out. let me tell you about software testing... do you think that many high-profile software packages are just tested in-house on privately owned equipment? no. you can quickly find bugs and issues prior to release by using a broad spectrum of testers. that's why it's being publically tested by us... to get feedback; not because we whine so much.
words such as 'impossible' shouldn't be in the vocabulary at this point. especially when that 'impossible' thing is, in fact, proven to be possible.
also, calling BS on a statement shouldn't be taken as an offense... i guess you're a yes-man and haven't ever called BS on one of your co-workers.
pcs-dallas... I agree with your statement that beta is for feedback and testing on multiple devices.
BS is not a term most adults would associate with constructive feedback. It's also one you have used in multiple threads. In fact, in any thread related to performance or this device you post the same sort of thing, cross referencing other threads where you again posted the comments that they don't care or you don't agree with them.
Jeremy has already posted, and I know you read it because you responded, that they are investigating exactly what you and others reported, so stop acting like a kid in the back seat asking if we're there yet.
You can always delete the beta and wait until it's perfect. Otherwise, let them do their job and check things out, find and resolve an issue if it exists, test it and then release it.
But the "BS" remarks are, as others posted, inappropriate.
Copyright © 2009
Capable Networks LLC.. All Rights Reserved.
RSS |
Privacy Policy |
Advertise With Us |
Terms of Use |
About Us |
Contact Us |
Site Map
Our Capable Community Network:
DVR playground |
MediaSmart Home |
MotoDash |
My DigitalEntertainer |
My Open Router |
Pogoplugged |
Robo Community |
Sansa Community |
Sling Community |
TechLore |
TiVo Community |
TouchSmartDevZone
Slingbox™, SlingPlayer™, & SlingCatcher™ are trademarks of Sling Media, Inc. SlingCommunity.com is not affiliated with Sling Media or it's parent company,
This Week: Have you tried to set up your Slingbox online? How did it work for you?
Did you forget your password?
You can also log in using OpenID.
Previous Thread
