Apple TV connectivity issues with Smart Wifi Pro

[TraderTravel]

First up I should state that I have reported the issue posted below to EE Customer Services, but I thought it worthwhile posting here in case others are searching.

I have a new service connected (1.6gbps service) with a Smart Hub Pro and multiple Smart Wifi Pros. I thankfully have an ethernet network plumbed in, so all the Smart Wifi Pros are connected via ethernet directly back into the Smart Hub Pro.

What I have noticed is that if you connect an Apple TV to the Smart Hub Pro via the second ethernet socket on the Smart Hub Pro, you will experience connectivity issues and speed issues (speeds drop down to 100-150mbps when measured using the SpeedTest app). Connectivity issues range from apple authentication issues to a few other odd gremlins. If I place a switch inbetween the Smart Hub Pro and the Apple TV, the speeds go back up to maximum (1gbps), and the connectivity issues disappear, so the software/firmware issue seems to be directly correlated to having the Apple TV directly connected to the Smart Wifi Pro using ethernet.

I have been able to replicate the issue with multiple Apple TVs and multiple Smart Hub Pros, so the issue definitely seems to be a software/firmware related issue - it is not a hardware issue. Plugging an Apple TV directly into the router (Smart Hub Pro) does not exhibit the issue, so it is only via the extenders.

Hopefully the issue will be fixed in a future update, although it does make me wonder whether any other devices experience issues when connected to the Smart Wifi Pro via the ethernet socket.

[norwoody]

Just adding my 50p worth. I recently got a new M4 Mac Mini and I'm noticing the same issues. When it is wired to one of the Smart Wifi Pros (the extenders) I get ridiculously low speeds (20mbps down / 60 up), whilst I get ~400mbps down ~100 up connecting over wifi. I've swapped ethernet cables plenty of times too.

I'm on the standard 900 down / 100 up package. I'd also noticed the EE TV mini box was cutting out a fair bit in my second bedroom but putting 2 & 2 together it's likely down to the same issue (it's hardwired to an extender as a workaround to other issues with not behaving correctly over wifi)

[TraderTravel]

Agree 100% with you. I've also swapped cables and checked ports and I am able to reproduce the issue. Definitely not surprised your Mac is affected if Apple TV has similar issues.

Interestingly I am using my Mac Laptop with a 2.5gbps dongle and I have no issues at all, but that is obviously not using the built in ethernet adapters and instead is using a USB connected ethernet chipset (Realtek based).

There is another thread here with slightly different issues which I suspect might also be related:

Smart Wifi pro wired backhaul issues - The EE Community

Regardless, I would definitely get in touch with customer service so that these bugs can get squashed. I'm very certain a firmware update can resolve this.

[norwoody]

Thanks, off the back of what you said I just tried with two spare dongles I had lying around (10/100/1000) one from Anker and another from uni and the anker one seems to behave normally from both ports of the hub. 

After checking, it looks like the Anker dongle has a ASIX chipset, while apple uses Broadcom and my other dongle uses Realtek. Strangely only the ASIX seems to be working reliably.

I'll get in touch with customer services, thanks. I have seen posts elsewhere that suggest there are newer versions of the firmware available than what I'm running, but unfortunately updates are entirely under EE's control.

[TraderTravel]

Be aware it is not just a speed issue. I think there are general issues with packets as I was experiencing a lot of login issues for Apple services, so this is not just a matter of not getting the speed you are paying for.

Curious to see if you are seeing this on the Mac as well, although I suspect a Mac application might be a little more tolerant of connectivity glitches compared to an Apple TV.

[JimM11]

@TraderTravel You seem to have conflicting information posted or just not explained well!

You wrote one statement ""What I have noticed is that if you connect an Apple TV to the Smart Hub Pro via the second ethernet socket on the Smart Hub Pro, you will experience connectivity issues and speed issues (speeds drop down to 100-150mbps when measured using the SpeedTest app). Connectivity issues range from apple authentication issues to a few other odd gremlins. ""

Then followed up with "" Plugging an Apple TV directly into the router (Smart Hub Pro) does not exhibit the issue, so it is only via the extenders.""

Think you are meaning what?

[TraderTravel]

The issue is only with the extenders (Smart WiFi Pro). Apologies for the mix up. EE’s naming in hardly friendly.

[norwoody]

Yep,

I had a strange problem after transferring data from my old macbook to the mac mini the other day where logging into my apple account  gave an "unknown error". I spent a while googling it and randomly unplugged ethernet only for the apple account login issues to go away... So that does sound like something funky going on with packets.

Networking has never been my forte at the best of times, but these Smart Wifi Pro extenders don't lend themselves to much investigation.

Update:

Now it seems like it's happening even while on wifi. I'll try restarting all of the extenders and the hub to see if that makes a difference.

[JimM11]

@TraderTravel No problems, i got what you were trying to put across, easy is just not in the vocabulary but it does make you workout the brain!

[JimM11]

@norwoody Would just try a disconnect with the wireless wi-fi connection on the device and straight back on again about 30 seconds later, if it does not work, would be looking at the wireless wi-fi signal strength to start with.