Playback Issue

[Fisher Dodson]

I'm running Windows 11, Ryzen 7 7800X3D, 3070 founders, the server folder is on a Samsung 860 EVO 500GB but the actual media files are on a standard HDD, cant remember if its my WD Black or my super old one... 32Gb DDR5-6000 ram...
I run my system off a WiFi card, an Intel WI-FI 6E AX210 module, I can't run Ethernet to my PC in my house.
The lag is buffering. The show will take about 10-15 seconds to actually start playing, then it will run for 3 seconds, then it will buffer. It will stay buffering for 5-15 seconds depending and then play for another few seconds, rinse and repeat.

[TheDreadPirate]

What kind of client device? Does this happen on all devices? Just this device? How is that device connected to your network?

Or is this being viewed on the same device running Jellyfin?

[Fisher Dodson]

The issue is mainly on my Android TV client, but it happens on my other devices too (MacBook running jellyfin media player). Both devices are also connected via WiFi. There is no issue when played from my host device.

[TheDreadPirate]

Are you able to do a speed test from the server? Since ALL clients are affected, this tells me this is a network performance issue for the server.

[Fisher Dodson]

I don't know how to remove marked as solution, but this was NOT the solution... I had bad upload speed but I have since resolved this and the issue persists.

[TheDreadPirate]

Indeed, since uploading is what the server is doing to send video to your clients.

[Fisher Dodson]

Well shit, guess I need to shill out for a new WiFi card... Too bad. I bought this one with my PC upgrades and it had some issues with stable connection as a separate piece of hardware so I installed it where my old preinstalled integrated motherboard card was and it worked well... until now. Do you have any experience or recommendations? I will mark your answer as the final solution, thank you for your help.

[TheDreadPirate]

Something with an Intel WiFi chipset is my only recommendation. I'm not super familiar with WiFi cards, except that Intel seems to have the most reliable adapters. It doesn't need to be made by Intel, but WiFi adapter makers will specify which vendor makes the chipset. And, in my experience, and the experience of many others, Intel chipsets are consistently good.

[Fisher Dodson]

Quick update, I bought a new card (I will be keeping it, its killer) but it was not the issue. Apparently WINDOWS DEFENDER was killing my upload speed. I disabled real time protection and it shot from 3Mbps to 40Mbps. Interesting... Anyways... real bad news. Nothing has been fixed. The exact same buffering issue persists. unfortunate.

[TheDreadPirate]

Is 40Mbps the max upload for your Internet connection? If your Internet connection can handle more than 40Mbps, than this is still problematic. If your max sustained upload on LAN is 40Mbps, that doesn't take into account that modern codecs and encodes are variable bit rate. Spikes in bit rate would still cause buffering.

If 40Mbps IS your Internet connection's max upload, then we'd have to setup a local to local speed test.