Page 1 of 1

Ethernet bridge vs. Internet for video streaming

Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 10:09 pm
by DeeGardiner
Our stake is just starting to provide Internet to each ward clerk's office. One of our long term goals is to stream stake conference video from the stake center to a nearby building that has a clear line-of-sight.

We are evaluating the pros and cons of using a wireless Ethernet bridge to extend the stake center LAN to the other building, versus just having another ISP connection to that building. The bridge avoids an additional monthly fee and should provide higher bandwidth and less interfering traffic. But it also introduces support issues. It complicates the LAN and makes one building dependent on another.

Browsing through the various posts I have seen stakes that have used both approaches. I would appreciate comments on the pros and cons of each strategy - as well as any recommendations.

I am hoping that our inter-building network will provide sufficient bandwidth to eventually stream HD video in order to get great quality. We will probably start with standard def, but want some growth options for the future.

Our stake center is connected to the Internet through a Family History Center using Comcast cable. I measured about 1.5 Mbps upload bandwidth. Qwest (we are in Sandy) indicates that we can get up to 3 Mbps download at the target building, but I don't see why we would pay for more than 1.5 M. Is 1.5 Mbps of WAN Internet bandwidth sufficient for quality video?

What else do I need to know before making an ISP selection? (I am not seeking video streaming info in this post - just network info)

Thanks.

Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 10:04 am
by cannona-p40
A quick look in Windows Media Encoder would seem to indicate that you will need at least 1 Mbps for DVD video (640/480, 30FPS) and at least 5 Mbps for HD (1080/720, 30FPS). So, I guess it depends on how much resolution you want. Also, you might be able to ring a little more quality out of your bandwidth by playing with the settings.

Of course, I would leave yourself plenty of headroom; don't count on always getting 1.5Mbps all the time.

I can't comment on much else in your post, as I lack direct experience.

Good luck.

Aaron

streaming in Utah County

Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 9:49 am
by eyoungberg-p40
DeeGardiner wrote:I am hoping that our inter-building network will provide sufficient bandwidth to eventually stream HD video in order to get great quality. We will probably start with standard def, but want some growth options for the future.

We have this capability now, and have been streaming for a couple of years. We are located in Utah County and have a conference coming up Sept 7. You are welcome to come see the system in operation if you'd like.

Once the installation issues were fixed, the transmission system became very reliable. Our next goal is to get a permanent camera installed, and replace the Windows Media Encoder with a dedicated encoder.