Network/NDS Issue

Posted by: IanG on 03 July 2014

My set up is as follows :

 

Front Lounge

 

QNAP NAS running Twonky

Ethernet from NAS into a Netgear GS108 switch

Netgear router into same switch.

Ethernet cable out of switch around the house into a rear lounge

 

Rear Lounge

 

Ethernet in from front lounge into Netgear GS 105 switch

Ethernet from switch to NDS (and various other e.g. Sky box)

 

This has all run fine for 12 months. Recently though and almost randomly, n-Stream becomes very slow connecting to Twonky, selecting an album to play etc. Once it's playing, the buffer will drop to zero at the end of a track and take a while (3-5 secs) to refill and start the next track. It isn't the gapless playback issue of last year though, my NDS firmware is up to date.

 

it seems to me to be NAS or network related as it just seems to be very slow getting the data to the NDS or scrolling through albums on n-Stream etc.

 

What seems to fix it is a NAS reboot and shut down of the whole network e.g. Switches.

 

Now, and this is why I said "almost random" above. Once cleared, all seems fine for around a week and then I have to go through the routine again. It is rapidly becoming irritating.

 

Has anyone had any similar experiences recently or have any ideas what the issue could be ? As I say, it doesn't seem like the NDS.

 

I'm thinking NAS issue or issue with my switches but can't seem to find any fault with them and the rest of the home network seems fine.

 

Perhaps the only other point of note is I have recently updated both the NAS firmware and Twonky to the latest versions.

 

All help/thoughts/opinions are welcome.

 

Posted on: 03 July 2014 by IanG

Perhaps I should also note, I've just tried iRadio on BBC 6 Music (128 Kbps feed) and the buffer doesn't quite get to 100% but flickers between 90 - 100. I don't use iRadio much so Im not sure if this is normal.

Posted on: 03 July 2014 by nbpf
Originally Posted by IanG:
What seems to fix it is a NAS reboot and shut down of the whole network e.g. Switches

You could try to only reboot the NAS and let all other components running. If this (temporarily) solves your problem, the NAS is likely to be the culprit and you focus the attention on it: log messages, running processes, cpu usage, etc. If not, you proceed to reboot other components one by one. Hopefully you manage to find a single component that is responsible for your problem. If not, things become (combinatorially) more complicated. Good luck, nbpf

 

Posted on: 03 July 2014 by Bart

There is a saying around here -- "Twonky is wonky."  As a first step I'd get a different server package running on your nas, and see if that settles it.  There has been a ton written about servers that run on QNap so you'll be able to find another option.

Posted on: 04 July 2014 by Fokkelman

Perhaps a stupid answer, but did you try to clear the UPnP cache of n-Stream?

Posted on: 04 July 2014 by IanG

Yes. I've tried all the usuals.

 

I've been in touch with QNAP as I'm pretty certain it's a NAS problem. They've responded to say "the temp file has run out of the cache" ????? That is the reason the NAS reboot clears the problem. They've suggested I update the NAS firmware but, the NAS web page is telling me I've already got the most up to date version. I'm waiting for QNAP to get back to me with further instruction.