Wireless Streaming with AC66U_B1

[medwatt]

I am trying to stream games from my PC (Thinkpad P50 Laptop) to my TV (LG UH850v) using Steam in-home streaming.

Here's how things are setup at the moment:

1. Laptop is connected directly to the router (AC66U_B1) via ethernet.
2. Android box (Minix U9-H) is also directly to the router via ethernet.
3. Controller (XBOX 360) connected via USB to the Android box.
4. TV is connected to the Android box via HDMI.
5. TV's picture mode is set at "Gaming Mode" for lowest input lag.

Basically, I launch the steam app on the Android box, connect to steam on my laptop, launch a game and see it streamed on the TV. Everything works fine at the moment except one thing; noticeable input lag.

While trying to find out the reason for the input lag, I placed my laptop side-by-side with the TV. There is clearly a 200 to 300 ms lag between the two. Even though the controller is connected directly to the Android box, I get no noticeable lag if I focus on the laptop screen. It's when I focus on the TV that I notice the input lag. I've tried all sort of things to see if I can reduce the lag. I know there's always going to be some lag, but the lag shouldn't be as much as 300ms.

I've tried asking for solutions on Steam forums and they suggested this might be something to do with my router. I've tried different stream qualities, from 360p, all the way up to 1440p, but the lag was the same. This proved that the issue is not from my laptop, otherwise the lag would have gotten worse as the GPU would be working harder to keep the stream. In fact, Steam reports no dropped frames during the entire session. To eliminate the possibility that the lag is from the TV, I connected the laptop directly to the TV via HDMI and didn't notice any lag.

This brings us to the last component; the router. Could the problem be from the router and, if so, what can I do to eliminate that ?

 

[stormy13]

Way too many connections going on. How about just connecting the laptop to the TV via HDMI and setting the TV as the primary display while gaming.

 

[medwatt]

Way too many connections going on. How about just connecting the laptop to the TV via HDMI and setting the TV as the primary display while gaming.

The point of this all is to be able to play games on the big screen without having to move the laptop, disconnect everything, move the charger, put the laptop in an uncomfortable position, etc etc. Besides, what about if it was a desktop ?

Streaming to the TV is something that is viable at the moment and most people are enjoying it without having to spend money on a dedicated gaming station that resides in the TV room.

As I've already mentioned, everything works well at the moment except that I am getting some lag. I've eliminated all possibilities of the issue except the router; hence, why I'm asking for help here.

 

[indark]

here are 3 factors that can affect it
encoding on computer
-make sure you have hardware encoding setup properly on the laptop and make sure it's using the right GPU.

transmit from computer to android box
-can try to swap to different port/ethernet cable, make sure they are running at least @ 100 Full Duplex, i think AC66U_B1 has gigabit port? and test with minimum network usage possible.

decoding on android box
-i dont know how good that android box is
However, you mentioned it makes no difference from 360p to 1440p.
I would think it has more to do with the android box's ability to decode.

the easiest way is just to pick up another router with better hardware and test
but I think 66u_B1 should be decent enough to handle it, unless there is really heavy usage on the network?