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Bandwidth of Remote Connection

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K1ESE
K1ESE Member ✭✭✭
edited March 2022 in Remote Operation (SmartLink)

Does it reduce latency if I reduce the amount of data that is sent to and from a remote radio?

The activity is CW contesting. I use a 6300 remotely. I also use VNC to mirror the screen of the remote computer on my home computer. I use RemoteRig boxes for audio and CW keying. I have Display settings of AVG=80, FPS=14, Fill=100, Weighted Average=OFF, Gain=0, Black=auto, Rate=0.

Does it reduce data and improve latency if I -

Run SmartSDR on the remote computer compared to running it on my home computer?

Run SmartSDR on the remote computer but run the Maestro at home in Control mode?

Run only the Maestro at home?

Any other thoughts?

Best Answers

  • Mike-VA3MW
    Mike-VA3MW Administrator, FlexRadio Employee, Community Manager, Super Elmer, Moderator admin
    Answer ✓
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    Hi

    I don't think any of the above reduce latency unless you start to max out your upstream bandwidth.

    1 slice with FPS and RATE set to 100% is about 1.6mb/sec upload. This controls the waterfall and the panadapter data streams, however, neither of those are super critical in a contesting state. Very handy, yes.

    RemoteRig is pretty efficient for audio as long as you have the Radio end of RR connected to the back of the radio. This will be your fastest audio in each direction and change over from RX to TX and back. I am very experienced with using RemoteRig.

    So, what I do and recommend for your situation is to run SmartSDR locally to you (SmartSDR or Maestro). Run N1MM on the PC local to the radio and view that via VNC (or similar).

    So, here is what I would recommend that limits the amount of data moving through the internet and your best experience.

    • RemoteRig for your TX Audio, RX Audio, and PTT for the Operator
    • N1MM running local to the radio on a Local PC
    • Smart Control on the Maestro and SmartSDR on a PC (or MAC)

    I think that will give you a well balanced station.

    I hope that helps. It sounds like you are the right track.

    73

  • K1ESE
    K1ESE Member ✭✭✭
    Answer ✓
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  • TimothyDilks
    TimothyDilks Member ✭✭
    edited March 2022 Answer ✓
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    I HIGHLY recommend PingPlotter (https://www.pingplotter.com/). While doing a normal ping can be give overall latency, pingplotter will actually show where your latency is both internal to your network and externally, and also where there are bottlenecks. There are both a windows and iOS (iPhone) version. It is helpful for instance when I am troubleshooting my home (shack) VPN.

Answers

  • K1ESE
    K1ESE Member ✭✭✭
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    Mike

    Thank you for an excellent and detailed answer. I will keep it as a reference.

    As far as changes to my setup, the main things will be to move the RemoteRig audio connection from the front of the 6300 to the back Accessory plug and to play with the FPS setting to see how low I can set it and still have a quality panadapter.

    One of the things that I don't see discussed much is the quality of the internet connection. I am presently working with two ISPs at my home. The remote station is 25 miles away and uses the Consolidated Communication ISP. Here's what I find using PingPlotter 5 -

    Spectrum Internet

    Speed 100 down 15 up

    Jumps to remote 15

    Round trip latency 60ms

    Consolidated Communication DSL

    Speed 23 down 1.5 up

    Jumps to remote 5

    Round trip latency 17ms

    It's not all about speed. Thanks again for an excellent answer!

  • Mike-VA3MW
    Mike-VA3MW Administrator, FlexRadio Employee, Community Manager, Super Elmer, Moderator admin
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    Ping is a great go/no go tool, but since IMCP packets (the key part of Ping) are not treated with a high priority, you really can't use it for a latency test.

    About the only good tool that I find is actually operating and see if you are getting what you expect. Also, the pipe speed/latency can vary by the hour.

  • John KB4DU
    John KB4DU Member ✭✭✭✭
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    As mike said speeds on the internet can vary, just like on the interstate hiway, a shared resource either way. Heavy traffic=congestion=slower speeds.

  • K1ESE
    K1ESE Member ✭✭✭
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    As I understand it, Cable is shared and DSL is not.

    We always had trouble using cable in a contest Saturday and Sunday evenings when people were streaming shows over the cable connection.

  • John KB4DU
    John KB4DU Member ✭✭✭✭
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    True for the local loop, but it all gets merged at the higher tiers.

  • K1ESE
    K1ESE Member ✭✭✭
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    I agree! PingPlotter has shown me bottlenecks with other setups. I could tell the ISP which relay in the fiber network was losing packets. Unfortunately, they reported they leased a share of the fiber network and there was nothing they could do. I changed ISP.

    I would not have been able to pinpoint the problem without PingPlotter.

  • K1ESE
    K1ESE Member ✭✭✭
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    #John KB4DU

    I think you have hit on it. The remote site is 25 miles away. With cable between home and the remote radio, it is two different ISPs. With DSL it is the same ISP. The connection with DSL may not get to the 'higher tiers' you mentioned.

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