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My Cloud Home: Media Streaming Best Practices


Follow the recommendations listed below to resolve poor media streaming experiences when using a My Cloud Home.
Media playback resolution can be lowered to reduce buffering and pausing in low bandwidth environments.
To reduce video resolution during playback, please refer to Answer ID 15289: My Cloud Home: Video Display HD Button



My Cloud Home


Streaming Limitations

Do not exceed the hardware streaming limitations of the My Cloud Home.
Exceeding the streaming limitations can result in a poor user experience.


Product Streaming Support
My Cloud Home 1 real-time stream
My Cloud Home Duo 1 or 2 real-time streams **

** Depends on the Source Video Codec format and Target
.For more information regarding My Cloud Home Transcoding support, please refer to Answer ID 1755: My Cloud Home: Video Transcoding Support

USB Backups

Ensure all USB Backups have completed before streaming media content.
An USB Backup will result in disk writes, content indexing and thumbnail generation resulting an increase in CPU and memory usage.



Desktop Sync

Ensure there is no content syncing to the My Cloud Home using the Desktop App sync function.
A Desktop Sync will result in excessive network traffic, disk read/writes, content indexing and thumbnail generation resulting an increase in CPU and memory usage.



Data Transfer

Do not transfer data to or from the My Cloud Home when streaming media content.
A data transfer will result in excessive network traffic, disk read/writes, content indexing and thumbnail generation resulting an increase in CPU and memory usage.



Catalog Indexing and Thumbnail Generation

Connect added to a My Cloud Home will be cataloged, indexed and thumbnails generated for media content.
Please allow sufficient time for the My Cloud Home to process the newly added content. "Sufficient Time" could take up to 24 hours depending on content and data type.



Networking


ISP and Internet Connection Speeds

Ensure that your internet connection speeds are sufficient for streaming based on media type. IE: HD, 4k, etc...
For details, please refer to Answer ID 27612: Steps to Test Network Internet Speeds for Video Streaming and Content Buffering


Network Connection (Port Forward)

A My Cloud Home in Port Forward mode will result in a better media streaming experience than a My Cloud Home in Proxy Relay Mode.
The My Cloud Home should be directly connected to a UPnP supported Gigabit Ethernet gateway router. A My Cloud Home connected to a WiFi Router, that is connected to an ISP provided cable modem router is be in a "Double NAT" configuration. A My Cloud Home in a Double NAT environment will default to Proxy Relay mode.


Network Router

Usea Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000) router to obtain best media streaming experience.
A My Cloud Home connected to a Fast Ethernet (10/100) router will result in a poor media streaming experience.


Network Hub or Switch

Use a Gigabit switch instead of a network hub when an extra Ethernet port is required.
Do not use a network hub. Hubs can cause network negotiation issues and packet collisions leading to a poor media streaming performance.


WiFi Networks

Connect laptop computers to the router using a quality Ethernet cable.
If an Ethernet connection is not available, connect to the 5 GHz WiFi band instead of 2.4 GHz especially in condominium and apartment type residential areas.


Dual Band WiFi Router

If there are no devices on the network utilizing the 2.4 GHz band, disabling the band on the router can prevent single splitting and improve network performance.


Distance

Close proximity networked devices will perform better than devices at longer distances.


Details
Answer ID 15290
Published 08/20/2018 02:10 AM
Updated 06/19/2022 11:22 PM

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