HP x5401 Additional information

Media Center Extender

Improving Your Network Performance

Last Updated: June 24, 2004

Quick Tips
Introduction
Basic Troubleshooting
Advanced Troubleshooting
Using the Network Performance Tuner

Quick Tips

Introduction

The high quality TV video sent between a Media Center PC and a Media Center
Extender requires significantly more performance from home networks than is typically
used for browsing the web, checking email, or for other network related productivity
tasks. Many problems with network performance can go unnoticed with these types of
activities since the network is not in constant heavy use. With high quality TV video, even
very minor problems can affect the quality such that there is a noticeable interruption in
the experience. The convenience and flexibility of wireless networks makes them an
attractive option for many people but the downside is that their performance is much
more difficult to optimize. Even once wireless networks are working well they are
susceptible to occasional interference which can cause temporary reliability problems.

Many seemingly trivial factors can have substantial effects on home networks. The Media
Center Extender Network Performance Tuner utility and this companion troubleshooting
guide 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.

Printing this guide is recommended so that it is more easily available during
troubleshooting.

Basic Troubleshooting

Reducing Obstructions in the Wireless Path

Imagine a straight line between your two wireless components, every object that exists
between them will likely degrade your wireless performance. If you’ve hidden your
wireless access point or router behind a potted plant so that it will look nicer, that’s going
to affect on 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 house that caused the signal to go through the other A/V components,
that’s going to drastically affect performance.

Think if there are relatively small and easy changes you can make to the position of your
wireless components or other household items which will 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. Use the Automatic Test or
the Bandwidth Monitor to see the effects of changes.

Changing Location or Orientation of Wireless Components

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 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 up on a shelf. Use the
Automatic Test or the Bandwidth Monitor to see the effects of changes.

Modifying Antenna Positioning

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 which 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 at 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 (i.e.
your home networking access point/router) and horizontally on the other device (i.e. the
Media Center Extender). Try different antenna positions while the Bandwidth Monitor is
running to see how it affects your network performance.

NOTE: Some wireless networking components have fixed internal antennas instead of
external antennas; in these cases it may look as if the device doesn’t have an antenna at
all. For devices with internal antennas you can rotate the device to change the antenna
reception.

Fully Wired Networks

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 will cause
network bandwidth problems.

Advanced Troubleshooting

Elements That May Cause Wireless Network Interference

802.11g wireless networks share their airspace with a number of other devices and
technologies which may influence overall performance. The following are things to
consider which might affect your wireless network if they are in your house or nearby:

● Microwave oven use

● 2.4 GHz cordless phones

● 2.4 GHz baby monitors

● 2.4 GHz analog wireless video senders

● Neighboring wireless networks

Solving these types interference problems can be challenging. If a significant interruption
occurs for a short period of time someone may be using a microwave oven nearby.
Consider replacing your 2.4 GHz cordless phones or baby monitors with 900 MHz
models if that’s feasible. See “Changing Wireless Networking Channels” below for