TV keeps pixelating / dropping out / loosing sound

[NickScott44]

EE TV was installed on 2rd October.  The picture keeps pixelating / dropping out and loosing sound.

The sound volume is also poor.    

Disappointed with this situation.  What can be done to stop this happening.

[Alex93_]

The issues are with channels via the EE tv box mainly sport and movies even worse issues in 4k, however noticed issues now with Netflix and Amazon prime via the smart tv app instead of the box

[Midnight_Voice]

@Alex93_ 

Have you got any third party network equipment there - router, mesh, and so on - as this would be the first thing to suspect of pulling your speeds down?

Next time you get pixelation on something on an app on the TV itself, try switching the EETV boxes off at the mains, as a test, and see if things improve.

My logic here is that the EETV boxes use Multicast, which will flood a network in which not all the routing equipment understands Multicast, but if you turn the boxes off, the Multicast will stop; and you can see if this makes things go back to normal; speed, pixelation, etc.

[Alex93_]

Hi thanks for your reply 

there is no other third party equipment in the property, just the EE internet and the EE tv boxes. The thing is if I turn off the ee boxes I can’t view the football or the movies via the box which is where I find the issue mainly occurring. The issues I’m having is through the box channels and then I’m finding streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon prime then have similar issues. I’m getting the right speeds to every room just that Samsung tv is not pulling the signal nor the speeds. As mentioned before Netflix via the smart tv app is getting 30mb and the EE TV BOX is pulling 140mb and the WiFi signal to the tv is showing one bar and then my other TV which is LG pulls full WiFi signal and gets 145mb when testing network through Netflix on the EE tv box, when testing Netflix network speed through the smart tv app on the LG TV I get 50-60mb speeds still a substantial drop. I can see that the EE internet in other properties are showing full signal when the option to connect to these as opposed to mine which shows one bar signal. 

it’s a tough one 😞 

[Alex93_]

@DarrenDev please assist if possible 

many thanks 

[Alex93_]

@DarrenDev  @Christopher_G 

please assist if possible 

many thanks 

[NickScott44]

Hi Alex.  No I have no other routers or mesh.

[David-TVTech · Accepted solution]

Hi @NickScott44 one of the main issues you're having is WiFi congestion, there are approx 21 other Wi-Fi networks on 5GHz detected nearby, at least  10 of which are using the same channel (36) - in essence it's a bit like the M25 at rush hour where everyone is jumping between lanes. The congestion will impact multicast most as it's very time and continuity dependant but even streaming services could begin to ratchet down the bit rate profiles to try and promote connection over quality.

You mentioned PLAs - whilst these have fallen out of favour, if direct wiring is not an option, they remain a good idea in principle provided they're recent models using  HPAV2 standards and using the wired connection will remove the Wifi congestion and reduce the interference (assuming the home electrics are clean) . It also looks like you're using a Smart Hub 2 as your router - getting the latest SH3 would allow a greater range of Wi-Fi access channels to be used, which will mitigate if not eradicate the issue. Worth looking at.

Drop me a line here if there's anything we can do to help,

Cheers

David

[David-TVTech]

Hi @Alex93_ I dropped you message on another thread but if you can PM me your serial number we can take a look at what the box and hub are telling us and advise accordingly. 

Cheers

David

[Midnight_Voice]

@David-TVTech 

What happened to smart channel-hopping on these routers?

They should be able to detect a less congested channel than 36, and switch to it, shouldn’t they?

Or have we got to buy third-party routers than can do this, and hope we don’t then get issues EETV won’t support us with?

[David-TVTech]

Hi @Midnight_Voice 

Great question. Channel hopping works best when the box is not in active use as scanning the additional channels requires the box to drop the active IGMP connection in order to channel scan for a less busy alternative, resulting in an IPC6023 dialog and loss of viewing (or any scheduled recording). It's been a challenge to find the best time do that as the in-home Wi-Fi environment can vary so the most common scan and change times tend to be waking from deep standby or other "inactive" periods.

In Nick's case the CCA and STA info telemetry from the TV box is indicating other channels are as (or more) congested and I can see gateway ping and packet loss counts increasing most days between 4pm and 10pm likely due to other device demands.

Newer EE branded hubs will support 802.11k (as will some 3rd party boxes) and implement beaconing to permit seamless Basic Service Set (BSS) transitions by allowing the Access Points to share and shift the load, allowing much better utilisation overall although with IoT management being a bit like roads, the more you build the greater the traffic!