HDD for media(Plex) External or Internal

Hi,

I know this was brought up many times, i’ve read a lof ot posts but still cant figure out what to pick.

So far i’ve been using my internal ssd and 2 external portable hdd drives(connected when needed) to stream media files from laptop to my TV. I’ve been having a lot of issues with buffering. Sometimes it worked, sometimes not. I am waiting for a new top router, bought Ax88u, had ax68 so far, so i hope this will fix all the issues but anyway i also think about getting one bigger storage for all the media.

I dont think i need NAS type of thing as i use it only for home media. I could set up one of old laptops but also whats the point to have it work 24/7 or even take space somewhere if i’m gonna watch movie like once every 2 days or sth.

Now main question. I am basically considering getting either WD Elements or WD My book drive that will be connected to my laptop but will have external power or just get internal 1TB that will be enough for my needs like Samsung EVO. Will still use other smaller portable hdd drives for stuff that is only needed time to time.

I have gaming laptop, dell alienware. It works as a desktop and basically working 24/7.

What would you recommend? WD external option or Internal SSD? I’ve read some things that this Elemenets/My book are very slow with writing files.

Also will my laptop work in full power when something from external hdd drive will be streamed or thats the problem only with internal hdd drives?

Thanks a lot for all the help

 

From my experience with streaming videos. Internal is always better as the external draws much more power. Also from an external hard drive you still need to stream it from the drive into the laptop and then down the line to your tv. Streaming will never be very satisfying unless it's with specific high end equipment that pushes very very high speed data at large chunks per second.

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

 

This issue with buffering, are you transcoding the videos or is it just streaming the videos to the other system? What are you playing videos on? A faster external drive should be plenty fast enough for streaming, but transcoding may be a different story (then again your old laptop me be the problem there too). The video files themselves also make up a big portion of the performance in streaming/transcoding videos. My 1700x with RX570 struggles to transcode more than a couple 4k h.265 video files at the same time.

 

Not sure what you mean with transcoding. But this is what i basically do -> Lets say i have a movie *.mkv 5GB. I put it into folder that is added to plex library and i watch it via plex app on TV. Thats it. Sometimes it works fine but sometimes its buffering every minute which makes it impossible to watch. There is one big wall between router and TV and distance of about 8 metres. I have Asus ac68u, but as mentioned i just bought more powerful Ax88u. Still 68u should easily handle that i think

If it doesnt matter if its external desktop hdd like WD my book, or external portable one or internal SSD than i would probably just get internal 1TB SSD of Samsung EVO, but really want to finally make it work without any issues. Thought that SSD will be faster, but will require laptop work at full power while stream is on. If its same with My book desktop than i dont see any reason i think to buy it. It will just take some space.

I cant even count how many times my wife was waiting to watch movie while i was basically trying to fix this buffering issues for 20 minutes and had to transfer it to portable hdd and connect it directly to TV to make it work at the end...

 

If you only watch a movie so seldom, why did you even bother with Plex?

Connect an HDMI cable to your laptop and use MPV.

Also, using Plex on a TV there might be indeed transcoding problems, what is your CPU/GPU utilization when you watch something?

Are you sure your TV is able to access your local storage that is shared by the laptop, or is the video file being streamed to Plex servers and then back to the TV, if your internet connection isn't decent it will cause the stuttering..

If you dont want high power usage, grab an Odroid HC2, and a 4/8TB HDD, set it up with OpenMediaVault and run the Plex server in the Odroid .

 

What type of connection does the TV use? N, AC, 5GHz or 2.4GHz?

If you bought the AX88U, did you also buy a Wifi6 (AX) Wifi module for your laptop? Like say the AX200 from Intel.

@Psiwentyl

 

There are two main ways of playing movies with Plex. The first is the device directly plays the movie with its own internal hardware doing the work of decoding the video (basically Plex is a file server). The second way is to have your plex server (your old laptop) convert the video into something that your TV can display. If you want to see what your plex server is doing when playing a video, you can log into the Plex web app, click on the activity button in the upper right corner and then it will show you under "now playing" what it is doing (direct stream vs transcoding). I would look into this as your TV is likely having your laptop transcode the video and it is your laptop that is slowing things down (vs the network). I stream 4k videos with my AC68/AC5300 mesh network all the time without issue. I would try videos that work well for you and videos that don't to give you a good idea of where your limitation is.

If you want some more help with Plex, I am happy to help. My server in the sig is strictly my Plex rig basically. Having hundreds of movies on hand to stream to everything is fun.

 

External shouldnt have any issues with Plex. I use a 5400rpm 5TB drive via USB 3.0 (5Gbps)

Now with AX50 router and AX1650 WiFi module streaming to another laptop over Ethernet (havent installed AX1650 in it yet), I have no buffering at all and have seen up to 550Mbps being sent from my "server".

Its worth noting however that the android app does have trouble keeping up though, if I get a little impatient with it, it tends to crash the app.

I suppose I could try a higher bitrate 4k video but would need to obtain one first lol

 

I watch it via plex on tv's in completely different room, cant be connected via cable. that Cpu/GPU you mean for laptop? My laptop which is used as a desktop is connected to router with lan cable and its streamed from it into plex apps on Tv's.

Also i always liked Plex because i can just put all my movies into folder and have a nice looking library on my TV without need to transfer movie into external hdd and connect it to tv every single time.

No i didint buy that wifi module, what for is it? I guess it can let me use Ax, but to be fair i have home office and laptop and work office are connected via Lan to the router. That module would only work for ax on the laptop right? The problem with buffering never occured on the laptop though, but with TV in the living room.

Also Wanted ac86u and connect my older one via air mesh to increase signal, but i found a nice deal for Ax88u so just went with this one

Its this model UE75H6400AW and its using 5GHz. Router settings are on auto, not sure if thats N or AC

On tv it says Direct playing - "title of the movie". Couldnt find anything else or the option for direct stream/transcoding. On laptop i have never had issues as dont watch anything via plex but on the top right corner its always "original"

Also i have problems with regular 4-5GB movies sometimes. I am sure i wouldnt be able to watch 4k without any issues

 

It looks like that TV has Ethernet though, might be worth to get it hardwired?

Ah just saw your post and how it cant be hardwired.

The Samsung site doesnt mention what WiFi standard is used on their site. Maybe you can look on your router?

 

It sounds like maybe the TV itself can't handle the decoding. It's hard to say. You can force transcoding by changing the quality of the movie to something lower than original quality. That may allow you to stream files if your laptop can keep up with it. You can also look at the plex web page to see what your CPU is running at in your laptop and it may also give you clues as to why it is buffering.

 

Ok, thank You. I will see what happens when i connect new router, will it change anything. @Chastity can you please explain when you have a moment if i need that wifi module at all if my laptop is connected to router via Lan?

Taking in mind everything you guys said i see there wont be any difference if i use external hdd like Wd My book or internal SSD Evo correct? And it wont make any difference to laptop work, like efficiency drop or overheating because with both internal or external it will use its own computing powers and it will basically be same?

If thats the case i'll probably go with Evo as my 2nd drive is just 120GB so can easily upgrade it to 1TB and that will be enough for daily need and for the rest i can still use external portable ones that i have.

Am i right here ?

 

My main concern here before moving to other issues

Is there a difference to either streaming movies to TV or laptop work(overheating, drop in efficiency) if its External HDD, Internal SSD or External portable HDD? Or it will be same with all 3 cases?

 

USB 3 is above the speed hdd can output.

Ssd is a different matter though

 

Not sure what you meant by that in relation to that choice

Anyway i think i'll go with External WD My Book or WD Elements. Not sure what is the difference still looking for it.

From what i found both have same drives and the only difference is that My book is having additional software for backup, hardware encryption etc. But i will use it mainly for movies library. I have EaseUS todo Backup software for backups and also will keep my main data on portable WT my Passport ultra.

Do i need My book, does it have something better vs Elements? Its more expensive.

Thanks,

 

If you are wired, then no. I thought you were going wireless, and wanted the fastest speeds and lowest latency to use with your new wifi router.

 

I bought Asus Ax-88u router. One of the top ones and i am still having issues even though its just few metres. Yesterday had no problem in streaming 18GB movie during day, but then late night it was buffering every 10 seconds. Really what could be the reason. I thought maybe TV but why it can stream without any issues at different hours?

Thanks,

 

Maybe the problem is the fact that more people use the broadband line at night slowing the connection down.

 

What would you suggest? Checking channels and manually picking the one with least usage? I have it on auto in router but assumed it would pick the right ones.

Also with this router i have option to put 160mhz in 5GHZ, but i am not sure if TV can even handle it, does it even make any sense in turning it on?

 

This still doesn't seem like its a network problem..

Start by analyzing the problem instead of throwing money at it..

What is the model of the TV for starters?
Does it even support anything more than 2.4Ghz WiFi?

Is there a way to run a speedtest in the TV itself to evaluate the connection speed?

What codecs(aka extensions) where those two files?
Might be the TV choking on some type of codecs and not others are already said.

 

We used to get that problem too at night when everyone is online and you are on a shared line. It wont matter what freq you change to .

How ever as others mentioned it might not even be that. It could be ISP doing a maintenance or a fault cable along the line. Have you checked when its wired up. Have you looked into plex settings to make sure its ok on both ends

 

I couldnt find exactly what wifi card tv has, but it has 5GHZ and i am connected to it. You cant see possible downloads, but as i mentioned abouve yesterday afternoon i had no issues, everything was streamed smoothly. At midnight i couldnt watch 10 seconds without buffering.

TV model - UE75H6400AW Samsung

Video Resolution 1080p Codec H264 Bitrate 14974 kbps *.mkv

I was putting it either on Direct Stream or Direct playing and as mentioned above i had no issues streaming same movie at 2pm but couldnt watch it at 11pm.

This are the settings for my router and 5GHZ

 

But i have 500 Mb/s and its always like that. Also dont think it matters anyway as movie is streamed from laptop via wifi, so internet connection shouldnt matter right? No drops, no maintanance, connection is in perfect condition anyway. Also nothing was used at the flat on wifi, 2 cell phones connected and basically thats it.

What could i check in plex settings? It was direct stream or direct playing, no transcoding, tried both. I could go in the menus and check other options but still main concern is that when we watched beginning of the movie at 2pm it was perfect. It started within 2 seconds and was running smooth. At night i was waiting like 10-15 seconds for it to load and then it was buffering every 10 seconds.

 

I would make sure that the TV is on 2.4Ghz and not 5Ghz, better range, also, make sure that the TV is running latest firmware, there is an 11/2019 version on Samsung site.

And to rule out that its connection problems, I would temporarily use an Ethernet cable.

I asked because it wasn't clear that it was the same file that played fine and then not.

 

I can try 2.4 GHZ, but its not possible with cable as TV is in completely different room. What i can try though is using my old 68u as AI mesh( i didint plan to use it as i though Ax-88u will give enough range for whole flat) put this 68u as AImesh router close to TV and then connect it with Lan. Not sure if that could work somehow and would it make any sense but i can do it

 

More people using the same channel probably, need to scan the network and look for a somewhat isolated channel I would imagine.

 

I also have to mention that i have no problems at all when i play movies from netflix directly from TV. Those buffering issues occur only with streaming through Plex.

I tried it with 2.4 GHZ and was ok, on 5GHZ had problems. Will see how it is during evening.

 

Is there an alternative? Like sth other than plex where i can play movies on my tv in different room directly from laptop? Maybe there is an option to have it like that without need to use Plex, maybe it will work better?

 

You are having an issue streaming the SAME video at night but it plays in the morning? I am willing to bet it's more of a codec/movie issue than a network issue. You could always pick up a cheap firestick and see if that helps any of the issues. If your videos are all "direct play" then your laptop hardware doesn't matter. Netflix isn't streaming you an 18GB video file, and likely it's in a package that's easy for low end hardware (your tv) to decode.

 

I switched to 2.4 GHZ network lately and didint have problems for past few days. Anyway i am moving out and this TV will go to my office and i will get new ones for living room and bedroom.

Should i look for something specific when buying new tv's like some specs for wifi card(if its detailed at all) so that i will be 100% sure i wont have any issues on TV side? That it will handle all the streaming properly?

 

I wouldn't buy a tv based on it's ability to connect to your network. You can buy a cheap rouku or amazon fire tv and get a vastly better multimedia system.