[mitfry]

Hi there fellow CrackBerry users!

First off, Happy 2013!

So today I received my BlackBerry music gateway 2. I connected it to my surround set and paired my PlayBook with it without any problems. I started by playing some music off the playbook and noticed the audio quality is great!

BUT, a few minutes later when I wanted to try if sounds of other apps would also be streamed through my surround set I noticed my playbook became extemely, yes.. EXTREMELY slow. My PlayBook wasn't even able to play music without hiccups or lagg anymore using a radio app. I've also tried native apps like the browser but even loading webpages didn't work out as it should since it wouldn't stream any youtube video anymore..

My first idea was to pair my parents PlayBook with the Music Gateway instead, both PlayBooks are running OS 2.1.0.1314, but that PlayBook also got slowed down horribly. It doesn't seem to affect my Bold 9900 or my sister's Iphone 4s but the main purpose was to use it with our PlayBooks.

I'm very disappointed and have no clue how to solve this problem.. I hope anyone here on CrackBerry can help me out or has an idea to fix this problem.

I would like to thank you in advance,


Mitfry

[colorwatch2000]

It's strange mine doesn't slow down except if the playbook is away from the music gateway. I mean far away.

[colorwatch2000]

But still working better with my bb

[mitfry]

It's strange mine doesn't slow down except if the playbook is away from the music gateway. I mean far away.

I think my PlayBook is at max 4 meters away from the Music Gateway, I wouldn't consider that far away. But still, you just stated you are able to re-produce the same issue which means there actually is a problem between any PlayBook and the Music gateway in general, not just my PlayBooks and Music Gateway.

Can anyone think of a way to solve this problem?

[lynxs_claw]

So let me see if I understand the problem here. When you play music that's stored on the PlayBook then there's no issue correct? You have a problem with lagging, etc.. when trying to send streaming content to your playbook and then piping the streamed content through your gateway. It may because you're trying to go through 2 wireless connections simultaneously. You have bluetooth between the gateway and the PlayBook and then you're using wifi between the PlayBook and your router. If one of these connections are weak or has package drops then yes you can the lagging or stuttering on your stereo. Have you tried having your phone close to the gateway and close to your router maximizing the signal strength?

[mitfry]

@lynxs_claw

Thank you for your reply.

I do barely experience any stuttering in the sound on my surround system, that is NOT the issue. The issue I experience is that the playbook ITSELF becomes extremely slow as soon as I pair it with the Music gateway. When the PlayBook becomes slow it's unable to properly load a webpage, stream youtube video's or stream music using a radio app.

You are correct though that all the things that get slowed down require a wireless connection to work so it's using 2 wireless connections simultaneously. But let's be honest.. nearly anything on the PlayBook requires a wireless connection thus it shouldn't be any problem to use 2 wireless connections simultaneously, am I right?

[spike12]

You Bluetooth frequency might be interfering with you wifi signal..try changing the frequency on your router.

[mitfry]

@spike12
Then I should notice a slowdown on my bold 9900 as well right, since it's connected to the same wireless network and doesn't get slowed down while streaming simultaneously.

[anon3969612]

Strange...

I stream from my 64G to my music gateway all the time. No issues with browsing or running other apps while streaming. I frequently run a streaming app from the web to my bt gateway while browsing or gaming with no slowdown issues. FWIW, I'm using Rplayer streaming app. I also use the built in media player to run audio to the gateway, all good here.

Now, If you're running a youtube video, the audio will be redirected to the bluetooth out, which will interfere with the streaming audio you already have running. That may be an issue.

[ta2hallm]

I have the original Blackberry music gateway and have paired it with iPods, iPads, computers, my 9300 Curve, and a little bit with a Playbook. People fight over who gets to pair with it during parties. I now have a spare Playbook which I want to use as my primary music player. I have always been very pleased with how well the gateway works. Works awesome for steaming YouTube and also internet radio station, and plays locally stored music as well. I have never had an issue with streaming over the internet and playing audio out the gateway. I can't imagine the Playbook would have issues doing it, I agree it may be some interference thing.

[spike12]

@mitfry: Good point.. I guess its important to figure out is it the bandwidth or the cpu thats being bogged down causing the hiccups.. I had a simliar issue with my playbook and nokia bluethooth stereo headset.. When I streamed music, I would always have problems... one of the software updates helped, I also changed my router from auto select frequency to a fixed one... It might not be the cause, but worth a shot.

[mitfry]

@vorpalz
The PlayBook still runs very slowly, even when the only thing running is the native youtube app or the native browser playing a youtube video.

@ta2hallm
The gateway is working fine with my bold 9900, an Iphone 4s and Ipod. The problem only occurs with both our PlayBooks.

@spike12
About the interference, I will setup another wireless network with different settings on a different router and will post the results here in half an hour or so.

[k_a_s_m_i_t_h]

Ok I'll chime in on this one. I received a music gateway 2 for christmas from my family (great gift! i was super excited). I have also noticed that when streaming either mp3s that are local on the playbook, Apollo (Pandora app) or the Pandora website that if i try to do other things with the playbook at the same time like browning crackberry or other sites, that i get quite a bit of stutter in the audio. I did find that if I do not hold the bottom left corner of the playbook (where the bluetooth antenna is) that i have less issues with the stutter.

Also i find the when streaming music via the native audio player or Apollo (which uses the native player) that playbook gets low on resources (around or just under 300mb of free memor). So when i open the browser which is a memory hog all by itself, it definetaly struggles to browse and stream music efficiently. I have 3 other playbooks at home so I am going to test with my wifes and my kids units to see if I get the same results.

[samab]

This is a wifi/bluetooth "coexistence" problem which is exacerbated by the fact that many people still have 802.11n draft routers with router firmware dating back to 2007. If you have this problem with the Music Gateay --- you will also have the same problem when you pair your Playbook with any bluetooth keyboard.

In between 2007 when 802.11n draft 2.0 routers hit the market to Sept 2009 when the 802.11n spec was finalized --- the standards committee was still trying to solve the wifi/bluetooth coexistence problem.

Re: [802.19] 40MHz 802.11n Bluetooth Sim Pamameters

[mitfry]

@k_a_s_m_i_t_h
I only noticed some stutter in the sound when I was further away from the Gateway than 4-5 meters while streaming, playing games and doing other things at the same time on the PlayBook. Looking forward to see your results with different PlayBooks.

@samab
You could be right, altough.. I have installed a different router and tried the same streaming apps and youtube videos and noticed the same slowdowns like I did earlier this day on the other network using another router so I'm not 100% it has something to do with the wifi/bluetooth coexistence. I have also changed the distance between the PlayBook and Gateway, it's now less than 1 meter. I somehow hope it's a bug in the PlayBook's software and can be patched and has nothing to do with the wifi/bluetooth coexistence since I tried two different branded routers but got the same results, which to me means that getting a newer router is not gonna fix the problem in my case.

I'm running out of ideas.. the Gateway is of no use to me if I can't stream the music of radio apps to my surround set using the PlayBook...

[samab]

What are your wifi router settings? Do you have wide channel enabled in your wifi router? The 2.4 GHz band is already crowded and bluetooth is already interfering with wifi --- something like wide channel shouldn't be used at all.

Are your wifi routers' firmware current (i.e. at the very minimum the firmware should be dated after 2009)? If you have a draft n router with ancient firmware that dates all the way back to 2006/2007 --- it is better to just set the router to G only. If both routers you tried have ancient firmware, then it's a router problem. Trying 10 different ancient routers will still give you problems.

The vast majority of the problems are related to ancient wifi firmware that is predated the finalized 802.11n specification, incorrect router default settings (wifi.org somehow certified a bunch of wifi routers even though the routers themselves incorrectly defaults to wide channel, contrary to the wifi specification itself), incorrect router settings by users... Trying 10 different routers with incorrect router settings also will give you problems as well.

Does your Playbook slow down when playing a massive 3D game that doesn't use wifi at all when you are streaming music via bluetooth to the music gateway? If your Playbook doesn't slow down --- then it is a wifi/bluetooth coexistence problem and nothing to do with bugs in the Playbook.

[ralfyguy]

I once had a problem that may be related to your issue. Bluetooth/WiFi interference exists. I once had a Netgear DGND2000 and whenever I had Bridge enabled, the wifi speeds dropped like a rock. Whenever I took my PB and Phone somewhere else, that didnt happen. Bought a newer Netgear router and the problem went away.

[mitfry]

@samab
Thank you for the explanation. I can confirm the problem only occcurs with apps that are using the wifi connection. I ran all Angry Birds games available for the PlayBook at the same time while streaming youtube AND local music without having lagg in-game.

@ralfyguy
I think I'm experiencing the same drops in speed, I can definitly notice the change of speed when buffering youtube videos as soon as I turn on/off my bluetooth. Unfortunately I cannot entirely replace all the equipment i'm using since I will always be needing a router of my provider, I could connect another linksys router to it, turn the wifi on my providers router off and maybe update the linksys router its firmware if it turns out to be "ancient" as samab described earlier.

[samab]

@samab
Thank you for the explanation. I can confirm the problem only occcurs with apps that are using the wifi connection. I ran all Angry Birds games available for the PlayBook at the same time while streaming youtube AND local music without having lagg in-game.

@ralfyguy
I think I'm experiencing the same drops in speed, I can definitly notice the change of speed when buffering youtube videos as soon as I turn on/off my bluetooth. Unfortunately I cannot entirely replace all the equipment i'm using since I will always be needing a router of my provider, I could connect another linksys router to it, turn the wifi on my providers router off and maybe update the linksys router its firmware if it turns out to be "ancient" as samab described earlier.

If you have a carrier provided cable modem/wifi router (rental), you can return that particular cable modem/router and ask your carrier to give you a newer model --- it's a rental so you are paying the same monthly fee whether you use a newer cable modem/router or not. Since it is a rental, you can't easily obtain updated firmware --- but one thing is certain, if the firmware is dated before the final 802.11n spec came out, you should stick with g (not n).

Secondly, try the most basic wifi router settings first --- g only, WPA2 with AES. If that works with the gateway, then try n only, narrow band, WPA2 with AES. Change only one particular setting at a time.

[mitfry]

@samab
I will call my provider tomorrow to ask if they are supplying a newer router for new customers to find out whether I'm able to get a different one. Tomorrow I will also update my Linksys router's firmware to a release from December 14th 2011 which must be a lot newer than what the router is currently running on. I will let you know my finding tomorrow as soon as I know more.

Thanks a lot for your help so far.

[mitfry]

I have updated the firmware on my linksys router and changed some settings. When our PlayBooks are connected to the linksys router and the gateway at the same time it works without any problems. As soon as I connect it to my provider's router I get the slowdowns again. The only problem right now is that the linksys router isn't powerfull enough to provide our whole house of a good wifi signal strenght.

So.. I'm thinking of buying a new router that is capable of covering the whole house of a very good wifi signal strenght. I'm thinking of a serious router like this Asus RTN12HP. It's probably overkill but atleast I'll guarantee myself of enough signal strenght wherever I am inside the house.

Do you guys have any other suggestions, for example a comparable model from another manufacturer like Linksys or getting another router with removeable antennas and buy stronger antennas for it?

[samab]

You need to isolate your problems --- i.e. change only a single setting at one time.

What settings did you change in your linksys router --- and were these same setting changes made to your provider's router? You should start off your provider's router with the most basic settings --- n only, WPA2/AES, don't hide SSID, narrow 20 MHz channel, auto channel hopping (i.e. don't select channel 11 yourself), wmm on, power save on.

Secondly, you can also try to find a better spot to place your linksys router (if you think that your linksys router doesn't have enough juice). It doesn't necessary have to be seated next to your cable modem on your desk --- place your wifi router up high on the book shelf closest to the door to your house's hallway so that it is up high and in the middle of the house.

PS: Go to various third party web support forums and look at what specific models your cable internet provider are offering. If your provider offers a newer model, don't even ask whether you can have a new model --- just take your old cable modem to your local provider store, tell them it doesn't work and demand for a new modem.

[mitfry]

@Samab
Thank you for returning to this thread.

I have got some updates about the problem. I forgot to tell in my previous post that I've been calling with my provider today for a couple of hours without getting them to send me a new router. I have tried to put the same settings, that are working on my linksys router, on the providers router (for as far as i could) but it's far from as advanced as my linksys router. It doesn't allow me to configure all settings like I can on my linksys router.

Thus.. Since I consider myself a heavy user, and we've got 3 floors to cover with a total of near 20 devices I ordered a kind of heavy router, the Asus RTAC66U. I'll receive it tomorrow and will start by configuring it as basic as I can (like you recommend) and I will place it in the middle of the house. If it turns out not to have enough juice to cover the entire house as much as I want I'll even consider buying 3 9dBi antennas, if I'm able to figure out which ones will fit.

[samab]

Remember the first thing to do with your new router is to --- update your new router's firmware. Your new Asus router has a brand new firmware dated Dec 21, 2012.

[mitfry]

@Samab
Indeed! Can't forget that, thanks Is there any way I can contact you outside of CB, like BBM, Skype or something? Conversations are pretty slow on forums..