Splashtop configuration to achieve best connection!
Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2013 10:47 pm
I didn't find a very informative thread on optimizing streamer HMD's utilizing tablet and phone hardware for apps like Splashtop, Kainy, LogMeIn, Team View etc.
*This will be more tailored to Nvidia type gpu's as splashtop streamer is my choice for quality and latency related remote desktop sessions.*
I'll post some software that I found useful to get the best experience and access to pc related internal processes/configurations.
Please feel free to add your experience with different settings, software, hardware!
System Gpu tools and hardware monitors
NvidiaInspector
This has a vast array of settings related to your Nvidia gpu with the
capability to set profile configurations to load when game or software is
started. (What you find in Manage 3D settings with many more options)
Nvidia Performance
Can be found on nvidia's website (adds performance tab to Nvidia control panel)
this enables modification of gpu clock's to overclock/underclock in a simple manor.
*Caution as it is suggested to find what setting's work best for your gpu*
{Every GPU is different in what it can handle and I extremely suggest versing yourself in the science of what the stock default and potential stable clock frequencies you can safely achieve}
CPU-Z
Very simple hardware monitor that can accurately tell you your current clock freq as
well as other motherboard specifications.
HardwareMonitor
Found this useful for temperature readings when running applications.
*Has a average, minimum, and max temperature log so you can tell what your
gpu/cpu was getting to during heavy use cycle*
There is more than likely better software to use yet I found this simple and lightweight.
My gpu (gtx 260m in asus g71gx) had issues with underclocking due to power settings so its good to check with CPU-Z what your current clock is: Fixed this with PowerMizer Switch as the default windows power settings throttled my performance during certain conditions.
Achieving best possible connection for highest data transfer/lowest latency.
When first using splashtop I was displeased with the performance as my image was badly macro-blocked/pixelated and the fps were on the lower end with very noticable lag.
My connection type was a ethernet-to-router then phone connected with routers WiFi.
Next I tried Virtual Router software called Connectify to create a WiFi hot spot with my pc's internal WiFi adapter and phone then connected directly to the laptop. This netted me a much better connection and instantly the macro-blocking (example: http://www.hifi-writer.com/blog/graphic ... ocking.jpg) was gone and latency much better but not the best.
(My phone = Htc One X)
The next method is to Tether your phone to the Pc with usb cable and enabling within the phone settings (Settings - Wireless & Networks - More - Mobile network sharing - USB Network Settings - Internet pass-through) it should automatically connect within internet device adapters. After that you should be getting much better performance with the splashtop app, for me there is a 1:1 fps desktop and video playback, games have little lag which is only really noticeable with the HMD in-front of the PC screen and the image quality is much better.
There are a few optimizations that you can change within the registry for splashtop client optimization such as: https://support-splashtop2.splashtop.co ... lashtop-2-
Specifically this:
HINT: If you run Splashtop Streamer on a computer that is not very powerful (i.e. Core-2-Duo) and don't want to consume much CPU so that you can run more applications, you can reduce the streaming frame rate by importing the registry file attached to this article.
For Windows:
Download the attached file to your local drive (fps.txt). The frame rate default in this file is 5 (DWORD in Hex is 00000005). You can modify the value to be '3' if you want the CPU to consume less. Or higher for better FPS.
Rename the file to be fps.reg.
Double-click on it to import it to your system. This may trigger a system warning message; if so, please agree to proceed.
Close the Streamer and manually launch it again to make it take effect, or simply restart the computer.
Try to connect again to see if it works better in your environment. Adjust this value up or down to fit your personal case (in Hex).
NOTE: This hidden feature conflicts with Smooth mode. Therefore, please keep video mode in Sharp mode when you enable this feature.
One last thing I tried was a tether app called EasyTether but I could not connect to the splashtop streamer from phone app. Oddly my connection speed under status in internet adapters showed 1 gbps with a usb 2.0 port, does anyone know how or why? my guess is windows is not very good at detecting connection speeds.
The reason this method provides better performance is because WiFi with a typical router has a theoretical connection speed of 300mbs and USB 2.0/3.0 has a theoretical connection speed of 480mbs-1.0gbps. Although this is not the actual speed you can see that usb tethering is slightly faster and handles the stream more stably *also note that for some reason the connection speed shown in phones WiFi settings could only get up to 65mbs*.
*This will be more tailored to Nvidia type gpu's as splashtop streamer is my choice for quality and latency related remote desktop sessions.*
I'll post some software that I found useful to get the best experience and access to pc related internal processes/configurations.
Please feel free to add your experience with different settings, software, hardware!
System Gpu tools and hardware monitors
NvidiaInspector
This has a vast array of settings related to your Nvidia gpu with the
capability to set profile configurations to load when game or software is
started. (What you find in Manage 3D settings with many more options)
Nvidia Performance
Can be found on nvidia's website (adds performance tab to Nvidia control panel)
this enables modification of gpu clock's to overclock/underclock in a simple manor.
*Caution as it is suggested to find what setting's work best for your gpu*
{Every GPU is different in what it can handle and I extremely suggest versing yourself in the science of what the stock default and potential stable clock frequencies you can safely achieve}
CPU-Z
Very simple hardware monitor that can accurately tell you your current clock freq as
well as other motherboard specifications.
HardwareMonitor
Found this useful for temperature readings when running applications.
*Has a average, minimum, and max temperature log so you can tell what your
gpu/cpu was getting to during heavy use cycle*
There is more than likely better software to use yet I found this simple and lightweight.
My gpu (gtx 260m in asus g71gx) had issues with underclocking due to power settings so its good to check with CPU-Z what your current clock is: Fixed this with PowerMizer Switch as the default windows power settings throttled my performance during certain conditions.
Achieving best possible connection for highest data transfer/lowest latency.
When first using splashtop I was displeased with the performance as my image was badly macro-blocked/pixelated and the fps were on the lower end with very noticable lag.
My connection type was a ethernet-to-router then phone connected with routers WiFi.
Next I tried Virtual Router software called Connectify to create a WiFi hot spot with my pc's internal WiFi adapter and phone then connected directly to the laptop. This netted me a much better connection and instantly the macro-blocking (example: http://www.hifi-writer.com/blog/graphic ... ocking.jpg) was gone and latency much better but not the best.
(My phone = Htc One X)
The next method is to Tether your phone to the Pc with usb cable and enabling within the phone settings (Settings - Wireless & Networks - More - Mobile network sharing - USB Network Settings - Internet pass-through) it should automatically connect within internet device adapters. After that you should be getting much better performance with the splashtop app, for me there is a 1:1 fps desktop and video playback, games have little lag which is only really noticeable with the HMD in-front of the PC screen and the image quality is much better.
There are a few optimizations that you can change within the registry for splashtop client optimization such as: https://support-splashtop2.splashtop.co ... lashtop-2-
Specifically this:
HINT: If you run Splashtop Streamer on a computer that is not very powerful (i.e. Core-2-Duo) and don't want to consume much CPU so that you can run more applications, you can reduce the streaming frame rate by importing the registry file attached to this article.
For Windows:
Download the attached file to your local drive (fps.txt). The frame rate default in this file is 5 (DWORD in Hex is 00000005). You can modify the value to be '3' if you want the CPU to consume less. Or higher for better FPS.
Rename the file to be fps.reg.
Double-click on it to import it to your system. This may trigger a system warning message; if so, please agree to proceed.
Close the Streamer and manually launch it again to make it take effect, or simply restart the computer.
Try to connect again to see if it works better in your environment. Adjust this value up or down to fit your personal case (in Hex).
NOTE: This hidden feature conflicts with Smooth mode. Therefore, please keep video mode in Sharp mode when you enable this feature.
One last thing I tried was a tether app called EasyTether but I could not connect to the splashtop streamer from phone app. Oddly my connection speed under status in internet adapters showed 1 gbps with a usb 2.0 port, does anyone know how or why? my guess is windows is not very good at detecting connection speeds.
The reason this method provides better performance is because WiFi with a typical router has a theoretical connection speed of 300mbs and USB 2.0/3.0 has a theoretical connection speed of 480mbs-1.0gbps. Although this is not the actual speed you can see that usb tethering is slightly faster and handles the stream more stably *also note that for some reason the connection speed shown in phones WiFi settings could only get up to 65mbs*.