OK so first off, my setup:
(squiggly line is a 5ghz wifi-n signal; other straight lines are Cat5e or Cat6 cables)
So basically, when I have the network setup this way, I get flawless streaming of HDTV and other sources to the xbox but the menus are slow and studdery and actually when I browse my recordedTV folder it actually freezes up pretty regularly to the point of the Xbox 360 losing connection to the WMC desktop and having to reconnect. Now, I've tested the ping times and throughput across this wireless bridge pretty thoroughly and it can push about 80-95 mbps pretty regularly (more than enough for an HD stream at around 12-20mbps). Also, the latency isn't bad by any means. I have of course used the network tuning option in the Xbox and the graph is maxed out and doesnt drop at all.
Put these facts together and I cannot understand why the Xbox struggles when browsing menus and lists of media.
The next piece of the puzzle is that when the Xbox is connected via built in Wifi directly to the router (only via 2.4ghz) it has no problem at all browsing menus and such, however that link is succeptible to interference on the 2.4ghz band and isn't dual channel so it doesn't do so well when streaming HDTV. But in this case the menus scroll easily and fluidly and do not freeze up the connection.
Right now, as a work around, I have replaced the wireless bridge with a good old fashioned cat5e cable running at 100mbps. It's not pretty but it works of course.
So I'm pretty much at a loss about why the menus freeze up over the bridge, but not over an obviously slower wifi link.
Some questions that, if answered, might shed some light on this problem (I think)...
I know that the extender works through remote terminal services somehow. Is it possible that the Xbox knows if its connecting via wifi or hardwire based on the connection the Xbox is physically using and adjusts parameters accordingly?
Also, if the wireless bridge, as tested, is close to the same performance as the 100mbps, why would the Xbox be disconnecting from the media center only when using this wireless bridge?
Any help would be much, MUCH appreciated by both me and my lovely fiancee (she doesn't like the wires, but is putting up with them for now... what a sport!)
