Android Subsonic works on wifi but not 3g

[slamgauge]

My settings were working before just fine, I suspect that after an update I can no longer connect when not on wifi. I have double checked that my ports are forwarded properly and that I am using the current android version (2.0) and the current server version (4.2 (build 1946)).

Any help would be appreciated.

[GJ51]

I'm on 4.2 and 2.0 with everything running. Have you tested on a different server?

[slamgauge]

I don't have another server to test with. My friend can get on with 3g but both my phone and my wife's can't anymore. Wifi works fine with all the same settings, the same settings I Yvette been using for months without any problems.

[lunged]

I am having the same problem. WiFi works but 3G doesn't.

[slamgauge]

I just tested the demo server on 3g and that works. I have double checked my ports and subsonic itself says it is forwarding fine. I also setup dyndns and that acts the same way. This is just really weird.

[GJ51]

EDIT: Similar symptoms in another instance were solved by UNINSTALLING the Android client and then rebooting the phone and reinstalling the latest version.


Most of these issues are fixable, but it may take some troubleshooting.

1st: The current Android client is now 2.1

Subsonic versions 4.1 and 4.2 are both very stable when properly set up.

The fact that you can connect to the demo without problems indicates that your problem is most likely on the server and not the phone. The demos server only has 128kbps music on it, so to be sure test your phone(s) on my server at http://maplegrove.subsonic.org username and password guest. look for some tracks that are 256kbps of higher to make sure your phone works with higher bit rate music.

Assuming your phone tests well, you then need to focus on the server setup. What version of SS are you running? Do you have the latest version of Java installed? On systems with 64 bit browsers you want both 32 & 64 bit Java properly installed. If you suspect that Subsonic is not properly installed, shut down the service, remove the SS directory , and reinstall the latest version.

If a clean SS install still doesn't solve the problem, the issue most likely lies in the network/firewall configuration. I always recommend that the server be assigned a static ip on the network, prefferably at the upper end of the range, e.g. 192.168.1.254, so that it is out of the way of router DHCP. Once you've defined the static route in the router, define the same ip settings on the NIC of the server.

Next check the port number used bu SS. Never use port 80 as many isp's either block it or use it for remote management of the gateway device. 8080, 8081, etc. usually work fine. The final step is to define the port forwar in the router to SS. Make sure that in the settings/network section on Subsonic that the first box "Automatically configure your router to allow incoming connections to Subsonic (using UPnP or NAT-PMP port forwarding)" is UNCHECKED. Although I'm sure some have used the auto setup successfully, I never depend on uPNP to do the setup. Most often it doesn't work, and more importantly, you need to understand the network settings to effectively maintain your network. Good luck, let me know if you run into trouble.

[lunged]

Thanks for the help! I was at work, so I couldn't check anything and kept forgetting when I was home...
I forgot that I updated my router's firmware over the weekend which seemingly changed a few settings. All is well now, though. Thanks for the test server (Glad/Freedom Rider was my song of choice)!

[slamgauge]

Ok so here is my set up.
I have a WRT-54g with DD-WRT set as my main router. I have port forwarding and UPNP set up properly, I have checked a number of times. From there I have a bridged SMC N router that my subsonic box connects to. The SMC does nothing more than act as an access point, all the DHCP and routing is handled by the WRT-54G. The subsonic box is the only computer that connects to SMC access point. Before I added the SMC access point for my subsonic box the android app worked on 3g just fine. I added the access point and now it only works on wifi. It works on any wifi, mine, my friends, work. Just not 3g on any network, sprint, verizon, t-mobile.

I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling the server app and the android app. I have tried changing to a number of different ports. I am hesitant to revert back to my previous single access point set up because subsonic is the only thing that does not work quite right. I think I have exhausted any troubleshooting options I might have. Any other suggestions.

[GJ51]

You will always get better performance having the server connected to a wired connection to the router rather than over a wireless connection. 3G signal strength and performance has a wide range of variability even at the same location. Sometimes when I test at home over 3g, I can get my phone to playback 720p quality video at 1mps over 3g, an hour or two later it has trouble with low res mp4 at 200kbps. That's the kind of variability you deal with over 3g. I almost never have any trouble with music playback over 3g unless I lose a signal.

My servers are connected via gigabit lan and thenetwork is connected to the internet over 35/35Mbps FIOS. Point being, that upload speed from my servers is never the limiting factor. When analyzing Subsonic performance issues, you have to isolate each step in the chain and find the weakest link to determine the problem. Is it upload speed, transcoding load on the server, connection speed of your carrier, etc.? You have to look at everything that's going on from point to point and figure out what's holding the process back.

[bushman4]

It really sounds like your port is not really open to the rest of the world... are you sure that the port forwarding is working correctly?

From the server itself, navigate to http://www.canyouseeme.org/

Enter your subsonic port number in the box and check if it reports that it can see the port open.

Then, verify that you are using the IP address shown and the port you checked to connect to your Subsonic server over 3G.

Let us know,

Glenn

[slamgauge]

Yeah I know a wired connection would be much better and I will do that once I get around to building a new media center box, but for the time being that is all I have to work with.

It really sounds like your port is not really open to the rest of the world... are you sure that the port forwarding is working correctly?

I wish it was that simple, un/fortunately the port is forwarding. At this point I am pretty sure it is just a matter of my wireless N access point not playing nice. I don't think there is anything I can do other than take the box off the wireless.

[GJ51]

Just as an aside, streaming really taxes a wireless router and generates a lot of heat in the router. I find that my router needs to be replaced every couple years as the heat just starts to get to them over time and the performance degrades. You usually see it as increasing frequency of dropped connections and problems during video playback. I have a brand new WND3700 Netgear which seem to perform well, but lately it's losing the connection when I watch Netfilx through my wireless Blue Ray player connected to the TV. Dragging out the 25ft CAT 6 cable and wiring it in fixes the problem. It's also about 10 degrees outside and believe it or not, even humidity will affect wireless performance. It always works better in the summer when the humidity is higher.