NAS, Boxee, Blu-Ray and switch

[proliance]

I picked up a Synology DS411j NAS last week to store my movie collection on. It connects to a switch then to a Boxee Box that is hooked to my TV.

It plays DVDs perfectly, but will not play a Blu-Ray in .iso format from my NAS. It pauses and then restarts after about 3-4 seconds.

After hours of troubleshooting I found the problem to be my Netgear gigabit switches. These should work with no problem since a 100 MB switch should carry HD programming. (The Boxee Box has a 10/100 ethernet port.) But after switching out all cables (they're CAT5e) and narrowing things down, its the switch.

Blu-Ray from NAS straight to the Boxee Box plays perfectly. Put a switch in between and the problem appears.

I have three Netgear switches, an 8 port GS108 Prosafe, a 5 port GS605 v3, and an 8 port GS608 v3. I tried them all and they all cause the Blu-Ray movie to pause.

I need to have a switch in order to connect my NAS to my home network and allow an Internet connection to my Boxee Box.

Please tell me that Netgear makes an affordable gigabit switch that actually works.

[proliance]

On a hunch, I picked up a gigabit router from another manufacturer. It works great, the signal passes unimpeded from my NAS to my router and the blu-rays play flawlessly.

It makes no sense that three different Netgear gigabit switches would prevent me from playing a blu-ray over my network, but that's what happened. Since this is a Netgear forum I'll hold back on the brand of switch that works properly and my true opinion of Netgear switches.

[proliance]

To be fair, the Netgear switches worked fine when I watched blu-rays from my pc to my Boxee Box.

Its only when I watch from my Synology DS411j that the problem occurs. The issue is that the switch and the NAS can't be used together. At this point its not possible for me to figure out why.

[fordem]

Does the NAS have a gigabit port?

You mentioned CAT5e cables, where did those cables come from, did you make them yourself?

Gigabit networks are more susceptible to interference, and a cable that works flawlessly in a 10/100 environment can cause problems in a gigabit one.

I'm not saying this is the problem, but it is a possibility - it's also possible that the switch & the NAS do not properly autonegotiate the speed/duplex settings - your switches are unmanaged, so you cannot change the settings there, but you may able to change them at the NAS side.

Be warned - do not "force" the NAS to a gigabit setting unless you have a gigabit equipped computer, or you may lose connectivity to it, and end up in a situation where your only option is a reset to factory defaults.

[proliance]

I do make my own cables, but I replaced them with store-bought cables just to test them. The cables were fine.

I have always bought Netgear equipment and have never had an issue prior to this. Its really stange, but my system is working great with different brand switch.

I think I'll leave well enough alone since all my wires are tie-wrapped and hidden now. But it would be great to know what is causing this.

[Umpa]

I know this is an old thread, but I have the Boxee and have found it to be the Boxee at fault, turns out that Boxee has a problem playing some BD .iso images usually the ones with fancy menus.