Unusable Remote Playback

[Digilec]

Hey everyone,

Finding the usability of remote video playback really bad. were finding that the video is skipping lots of frames and were missing crucial points within a video. I have a scenario where two vehicles drive across the field of view and on playback we only see one of them appear and disappear at the last few frames that it was in the FoV. after exporting the video clip we have smooth playback and can see both vehicles without issue although this isn't ideal as we don't want to wait for exports to download to be able to playback video for investigation.

Also had some scenarios where an object disappears like magic during playback without seeing the person walk over and pick it up.

Onsite with direct LAN connection we have no issues at all with smooth playback.

We're also finding that were unable to playback video on safari (direct LAN and cloud) and have to use Firefox instead. Not sure if some browser settings need to be changed? using a MacBook Pro 

2.6 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i7

[cmr]

What is the available bandwidth between the camera and the playback device?  This will be critical for smooth playback.

[PhilipDAth]

If it works while on site via direct LAN connection and not remotely over the Internet - it will be an issue with one of the two Internet connections being used.

Perhaps try enabling low bandwidth mode.

https://documentation.meraki.com/MV/Advanced_Configuration/Restricted_Bandwidth_Mode_for_MV 

[Digilec]

Thanks guys, I will try low bandwidth mode, I have set it up at two different sites and had the same issues at both, one had only 3/4Mbps upload and the other site 20Mbps, viewing locations have had 60-150Mbps download.

it just seems odd that even when the video loads on playback it sometimes plays smoothly right up until the point of motion, it then buffers again and replays, missing the main event. is there any documentation on the interval of I-frames and P-frames for these cameras?

[schasegleason]

I have seen issues with high web browsers utilization. I.E. If you have 20+ tabs open on maybe several other video streams. 

I have even seen this issues when direct streaming and when using cloud proxy the problems get exasperated.

I would recommend using Firefox or Chrome and limiting the usage to just the Meraki Dashboard for best performance.  

[tobyroberts]

I feel this is a Meraki compatibility with Safari issue, not an internet connection issue.

I am reviewing footage from home today, does not work on Safari 13.1.2, does work on Firefox 80.0.1, on Mac 10.15.6

[BlakeRichardson]

@tobyroberts  said there seems to be issues with playback using Apple Safari, Firefox for me works fine both for live view and playback.