6meg vs 10meg vs 25meg Internet

Over the past 60 days, I have tested three Internet TV boxes at various RTC Internet speeds.  (6, 10, and 25 meg)  With the 25meg connection, the program guide and videos would display and stream almost instantly.  Everything felt "snappy" which fueled my need to view, search, view, search, and repeat for content.  For the most part, the roku and Xbox360 were waiting for my next move.  When content was in a HD format, I had no stutters only excellent image quality just like watching HDTV but over the Internet.

Here is the Xbox360 loading Zune movies.

At 6meg, there was an immediate difference.  Everything now felt "sluggish" which made me think more about exactly what I wished to watch in order to avoid the wait times associated with thumbing around the remote control..  If I hadn't already experienced the "snap", I would probably blame the slow down on the hardware itself.  However, I already know these devices can perform.  Indeed, the Internet speed is to blame.   Also, netflix and vudu services would no longer give me HD.  It looked more like DVD quality on the screen.

Here is the Roku box interface.

So, I had the guys at RTC turn up my connection speed to something more middle of the road.  10meg.   The "snap" is back just like before.  Also, my HD video quality is back.  10 meg seems to work just fine for over the top video.  Here's the exception:  my daughter was watching a movie on netflix, my wife was uploading pictures on facebook, and I was downloading some music online.  Suddenly, I heard my daughter yelling, "Daddy....my movie is messing up will you come fix it?"  Come to find out, all this net activity was causing a buffering issue in my daughter's movie.  So, I paused my download and it cleared up the movie situation.  But some how I was hoaxed into making home made popcorn while I was at it.  :)


In sum, if you wish to bring Internet TV to your living room, have a robust Internet connection and consider the other Internet devices in the house.  Do you need a 50 meg connection?  Probably not but I would advise something more than the minimum plan from your Internet service provider.

In my next post, I plan on posting some pictures, links, and articles so you may "see" Internet TV in action!  Stay tuned!

Xbox360

Been testing the Xbox360 as an Internet TV device for a week now.  With the Xbox Live Gold Membership, you can interact with Netflix, last.fm, facebook, twitter, etc.  The Netflix interface is better than the Roku although the search isn't as good.  The Netflix interface on the Xbox is more 3d and has a quicker response time.  I believe this due to the more robust platform.  The xbox360 is basically a computer including a 3 core CPU @ 3.2ghz, 500mhz graphics processor, and 512mb of GDDR3 ram.  All this allows the Xbox to do so much more than the little Roku.  For example, if you are running a PC running Windows Media Center, you may "extend" it to your Microsoft friendly Xbox360 by a simple plug-in install.  Once setup, which took me about 10 minutes, you now have Windows Media Center on your TV/Xbox setup just like on the Computer.  So why should I care?

Well, do you have any .avi, mpeg, .mkv, divix, xvid, .vob files you'd like to play on the TV set so everyone can enjoy?  What about pics from the digital camera, mp3 music, or a file from your old DV camera?  MediaCenter can play these files no problem.  That said, I did experience a problem playing back 720p and 1080p files from the wireless G network.  It just didn't work smoothly.  However, this was fixed by hooking the xbox up straight Ethernet connection.  Music, pics, and lower resolution video will work just fine wireless G.  It would be interesting to test wireless "N" but I don't have a router that is capable.  The Xbox360 will support "N" though so high def. movies may work.

In sum, I really like the Xbox360 as a Internet TV device.  It is powerful.  It is a great home media center.  It does well with Internet TV especially when using an wireless remote control instead of the standard game controller.  However, it still is more of a gaming platform than anything else.  Internet TV is more secondary at the moment.  I would like to see it have more Internet TV capabilities like the Roku.  If you want a "do all" box meaning gaming, media center, and some Internet apps, the xbox360 is an excellent choice.  If you simply want a Internet TV box, you could do better and save some cash in the process as the Xbox is $200+.

My next assignment is to see how these Internet TV boxes do with 6meg, 10meg, and 25meg connection speeds.  Stay tuned.