What I would like to have hear whether the wifi on Samsung players is sufficient to stream Netflix efficiently. I have an "n" network, so the pipe should be big enough, but I don't know how well it will handle things on the receiving end.
The bottleneck in most people's home Internet connections is not on their home network, it's the ISP connection. Even 802.11b is still fast enough to keep up with most peoples' home Internet connections with bandwidth to spare.
Where you begin to worry about wireless is (1) latency, which for buffered streaming is irrelevant, and (2) interference, which can cause the wireless connection to slow and/or drop packets.
Interference and latency are the big problems facing WiFi integration on home theater gear. Just because the FCC says that your TV won't emit an excessive amount of radiation doesn't mean that a WiFi connection is a good idea. If you have ONE TV with ONE STB, it may be okay, but how many EngadgetHD readers have that? This is why Dish Network has adopted HomePlug on their receivers to compliment the ethernet port. I'd rather see Ethernet-over-Coax widely adopted than see WiFi embedded on everything under/next to my TV.
Incidentally, isn't 802.11b net throughput (11Mb/s) barely faster than full-bitrate DVD video (up to 10Mb/s)?
Thanks, guys for your thoughts. That is interesting about my "n" network possibly being "overkill" if my pipe is not that big anyway. But, as you say, buffered streaming makes that less of a worry, and the Netflix does fine on my computer's "watch instantly" feature. I would assume, then, that the wireless network should send that through sufficiently, at least as far as bandwidth goes. But those lost packets could be a problem.
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What I would like to have hear whether the wifi on Samsung players is sufficient to stream Netflix efficiently. I have an "n" network, so the pipe should be big enough, but I don't know how well it will handle things on the receiving end.
Has anyone seen any analysis of this?
The bottleneck in most people's home Internet connections is not on their home network, it's the ISP connection. Even 802.11b is still fast enough to keep up with most peoples' home Internet connections with bandwidth to spare.
Where you begin to worry about wireless is (1) latency, which for buffered streaming is irrelevant, and (2) interference, which can cause the wireless connection to slow and/or drop packets.
Interference and latency are the big problems facing WiFi integration on home theater gear. Just because the FCC says that your TV won't emit an excessive amount of radiation doesn't mean that a WiFi connection is a good idea. If you have ONE TV with ONE STB, it may be okay, but how many EngadgetHD readers have that? This is why Dish Network has adopted HomePlug on their receivers to compliment the ethernet port. I'd rather see Ethernet-over-Coax widely adopted than see WiFi embedded on everything under/next to my TV.
Incidentally, isn't 802.11b net throughput (11Mb/s) barely faster than full-bitrate DVD video (up to 10Mb/s)?
Thanks, guys for your thoughts. That is interesting about my "n" network possibly being "overkill" if my pipe is not that big anyway. But, as you say, buffered streaming makes that less of a worry, and the Netflix does fine on my computer's "watch instantly" feature. I would assume, then, that the wireless network should send that through sufficiently, at least as far as bandwidth goes. But those lost packets could be a problem.