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In what formats AZBox streams video & audio over LAN - when watching SD MPEG2 & MPEG and HD MPEG4 & AC3 encoded channels with it?

Anyone was able to stream from AZBox content recorded on its internal or connected to it USB hard drive?

Anyone is using wired Ethernet port to stream from AZBox over LAN?

zamar23 said:

Anyone was able to stream from AZBox content recorded on its internal or connected to it USB hard drive?

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Zamar, I will reply to this question first. It is a hard NO. I find no option to engage the streaming function from any recorded content and also not from You-Tube. I even attempted to "trick" it by starting the streaming on a TV channel and then switching to a recorded event. It simply prompts me that the streaming will be cancelled if I wish to proceed. I really wish that I could do this, it would be quite beneficial. But, alas, there does not seem to be any method here.

zamar23 said:

In what formats AZBox streams video & audio over LAN - when watching SD MPEG2 & MPEG and HD MPEG4 & AC3 encoded channels with it?

Click to expand...

The SD MPEG2 channels are the easiest to work with. Using WiFi, they are absolutely fine. Video and audio quality is excellent over the stream and no problems exist.

Escalating up to the HD channels I find the results are virtually unusable / unwatchable via the WiFi connection. They break up badly and most of the screen is pixelated or 1/2 green and the audio is stuttering. Worst of all, when using WiFi with HD channels such as PBS HD EAST / WEST on AMC 21 @ 125°W, the AZBox will actually lock up. You cannot turn the streaming function OFF and you cannot change channels. If you SHUT-DOWN or REBOOT the receiver, it comes back up in the same mode - still streaming and still locked up on the HD channel. It requires several attempts with a hard shut down procedure to cancel the operation.

zamar23 said:

Anyone is using wired Ethernet port to stream from AZBox over LAN?

Click to expand...

This took me a bit of doing, but I managed to get it working. I have trouble with setting up a WIRED connection directly between the PC and the AZBox, but can manage to wrap it (wired) through my router just fine. Using the WIRED connection this way allowed me to stream even the HD channels (PBS HD East and West) without all the trouble that I had when using the WiFi connection. The AZBox does not lock up. The audio is excellent and the video is very good when the action is slow. If there is a lot of action in the video scenes, horizontal streaks or blank stripes appear in certain areas of the screen. However, it is watchable with some slight annoyances, definitely a huge improvement over using the WiFi connection.

If I knew more about it all, I might be able to improve my results. As it stands, I have merely managed to make some things work so that I can state that I did it. Since I honestly have no I.T. training and very few clues as to what I am doing, I feel quite proud that I was able to manage this much! I mean, I at least achieved some positive results.

RADAR

Thanks Radar,

Did you try to SAVE into a file on your PC Hard Drive the SD & HD content streamed from AZBox instead of playing it via VLC? If yes, what was the resulting file format & extension? Btw, you can setup VLC to read and play that partial file while its being gradually saved onto your PC, thus adding sat channel Timeshifting feature on the PC. Ina similar way Network Encoder streams a channel content from Sat PC Tuner to Windows Media Center - its saved first, then played back by WMC while being saved. I think, AZBox OS can have added similar feature - a Network Encoder. I even wonder, if AZBox has the UI option or plugin now allowing to SAVE a streamed channel to a network drive instead of the local one?

zamar23 said:

Thanks Radar,

Did you try to SAVE into a file on your PC Hard Drive the SD & HD content streamed from AZBox instead of playing it via VLC? If yes, what was the resulting file format & extension? Btw, you can setup VLC to read and play that partial file while its being gradually saved onto your PC, thus adding sat channel Timeshifting feature on the PC. Ina similar way Network Encoder streams a channel content from Sat PC Tuner to Windows Media Center - its saved first, then played back by WMC while being saved. I think, AZBox OS can have added similar feature - a Network Encoder. I even wonder, if AZBox has the UI option or plugin now allowing to SAVE a streamed channel to a network drive instead of the local one?

Click to expand...

Zamar,

No, I didn't try saving what was streamed to a file... That excercise may be something for the future, I just hadn't thought of it.

What I would really like to learn is how far my WiFi can reach. If I could take the PC out to the barn or the shop and still stream, that would be excellent! Then, if I could use one of the PC remote control applications to start and stop the streaming and change channels from afar, that would really be awesome!

This all is not something that I really need, but I find it a neat challenge to see if I can make it work.

RADAR

The distance would depend on the Wireless Router model you pick, firmware you use with it (consider DD-WRT) and RF noise level in your area. You can connect your own Antenna to a wireless router instead of its original one that can sharply extend the distance. People reported getting Wi-Fi high speed internet access over large distances with good antennas on both ends.

I asked about saving a streamed by AZBox signal on a PC, since the same trick can possibly be used with OpenBox to save and play 4:2:2 channels on PC, since OpenBox is also Linux based STB.