TV buffering problem

[Scottintexas]

I have a Vizio E70-C3 TV.

We have it connected with WIFI and watch amazon and Netflix on it. Usually Netflix runs ok.

On Amazon we are experience a lot of buffering, low bandwidth notices and blurring picture that is making it frustrating to use.

It shows either three or four out of five bars for connection.

I checked the TV connection test via the menu option and it shows from 20-350 kbs with a high sometimes of up to 900 kbs. sometimes with 300kbs it will be a fantastic picture and other times it will be very blurry.

I ran a speed test on my laptop on the same network sitting next to the TV with 4 bars and had 16 mbps down and 8 mbps upload.

Google hasn't helped me, Any ideas to look at?
@Ronnie this is your TV also, do you use it wireless?

 

[swatski]

I know our amazon cloud service (at work) was just going through some issues, don't knwo if that could be a source of problems for amazon users at home?

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[Scottintexas]

It's been happening for the last month

 

[Bruce]

Does your TV display the wifi signal level? I am guessing that it has a weak WiFi signal. If so you could use a wifi repeater near the TV.

 

[Speedling]

The TV's always have a cheaper and inferior wifi card. I know my vizio runs on "b" even though there are much faster now. Hard wire that thing!
Or, as @Bruce suggested, a wifi extender or repeater with a hardline out to your tv.
I use a wifi repeater and get good signal across 90% of my acre which is plenty good for me. The one i have by netgear forces a log name so that one end of the property has a different name than the first. Wish my phone could just link back and forth quicker while i mow for the music and such.

 

[Ronnie]

I don't use the wireless function on my tv so I don't have any value to add in this situation, sorry.

 

[djsquid]

I looked up the specs on your TV and you have an Ethernet port near the 3 HDMI ports on the "bottom". Do yourself a favor and run a CAT6 network cable from one of the Ethernet ports on the back of your router direct to your TV. You may need to tap an electrician buddy to help you run the wire but it will be well worth it.

 

[Scottintexas]

I would love to hard wire it but it's on the first floor of a two story with 3 walls in between so I don't think it will be as easy as dropping in and don't have an electrician capable friend of calling in a favor,

so I bought this wifi extender
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/linksys-ac750-boost-wireless-range-extender-white/4580700.p?skuId=4580700

It definitely increased my signal strength, now receiving all 5 bars on the TV display and lap top.

The TV is working much better and has only had an occasional freeze/pane but audio keeps going but definitely I can live with it.

I'm still confused as when I run the TV test connection off the menu screen it still only shows 300-800 kbps.

I did confirm with Spectrum I have 30 Mbps download (which tested good at the modem) and off my lap top wifi was 16 Mbps.

 

[Bruce]

It would be interesting to move the TV to a location where you can plug it in and see how it works and what the speed tests as.

My experience is that Netflix HD content needs a consistent 5 Mbps. DirecTV HD streams need 10 Mbps. I have not checked the usage on Amazon streams. If you are able to stream HD Netflix content you are certainly getting more than 800 kbps.

 

[Scottintexas]

I just found about 150ft of Ethernet cable at my office,

I'll be testing it tonight (and probably hearing "you're not planning on keeping that wire laying on the floor forever, ARE YOU??)

 

[djsquid]

Some day (sooner than you think) you may get a 4K SUHD TV which I recently did. Netflix and, surprisingly, Youtube have some solid 4K content, other streamers (amazon/hulu) are beginning or working on 4K.

Anyway, my router is 2 floors and several walls away from my new TV. Streaming was frustrating and nearly unusable until I went through the extreme measures of running the line. Now buffering is a thing of the past. So, the wifi streaming can be a band-aid solution but be looking forward to hard wire as soon as is reasonable.

By the way, a few rolls of gaffers tape will keep your family from tripping on the wires running all over the floor. You may not want to give it up once you try it. Try to get tape that matches the color of your carpet or floor and maybe your wife won't kill you.

 

[Gym]

Another thing to consider @Scottintexas is bandwidth sharing. If sombody else in the house is using another wifi device, while you are watching your tv, your speed will be reduced. What service are you using? For instance, Comcast is a shared service. You are actually sharing bandwidth with your neighbors so when they get home from work and log on your speed drops. Verizon FIOS is not affected by this due to the greater bandwidth of fiber optic. Is it possible to move your router downstairs near the tv in order to hard wire? Is it possible to run exterior wire mold to the second floor to get cat 6 up there? Just a few thoughts...

 

[JetPowered]

Try power line Ethernet adapters I have used them with great success in houses that have a hard time with wifi and you can't run Ethernet cable. You do need to set them up with encryption because it can broadcast your data out over your power line, but this is no different than wifi. You can then wire thereby between it on the devices you need. Also use it to add another wifi access point on that area.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01H74VKZU/?tag=thewire06-20&linkCode=xm2&ascsubtag=WC30800

 

[Scottintexas]

thank you for everyone's responses,

We have Charter/Spectrum and receive the internet through the cable system.

We had noticed when other devices were using the wifi the pixilation seems to increase.

Yesterday I hooked up some old Ethernet cable directly to the router/TV, made sure the TV acknowledge the new connection and still only received 600-800 Kbps during the test from the TV menu screen.

I tried to hook the Ethernet cable directly to the cable modem to bypass the router but the TV never acknowledged it being connected.

I guess the "test connection speed" from the TV menu is just reading a different set of parameters than what we normal think of when we do a speed test ??

It's working at an acceptable level now with the wifi extender so I'll wait to see if more problems come up,

 

[Julian]

thank you for everyone's responses,

We have Charter/Spectrum and receive the internet through the cable system.

We had noticed when other devices were using the wifi the pixilation seems to increase.

Yesterday I hooked up some old Ethernet cable directly to the router/TV, made sure the TV acknowledge the new connection and still only received 600-800 Kbps during the test from the TV menu screen.

I tried to hook the Ethernet cable directly to the cable modem to bypass the router but the TV never acknowledged it being connected.

I guess the "test connection speed" from the TV menu is just reading a different set of parameters than what we normal think of when we do a speed test ??

It's working at an acceptable level now with the wifi extender so I'll wait to see if more problems come up,

So I gather the hard wire didn't show any visible improvement over the wireless? (ie...the TV's kbps display was or wasn't accurate)

 

[Scottintexas]

correct, the visible picture was acceptable with no pixilation or freezing screens,

the TV menu connection speed test ran in the same area of 300-800 Kbps whether hard wired or wifi, ( I made sure when it was hard wired that the TV acknowledged the wire and disconnected the wifi)

 

[motorboater]

correct, the visible picture was acceptable with no pixilation or freezing screens,

the TV menu connection speed test ran in the same area of 300-800 Kbps whether hard wired or wifi, ( I made sure when it was hard wired that the TV acknowledged the wire and disconnected the wifi)

The TV is probably reporting Kilobytes rather than Kilobits which would put it in the 2.5-6.5 megabit range the janky NIC processor in that TV is capable of. Its possible the manufacturer has a firmware upgrade available to help increase throughput.

 

[motorboater]

Or order a Roku and HDMI cable rather than spend time trying to update the TV firmware.

 

[Bruce]

I have found that $50 Roku sticks are way better than the smart TV systems that I have tried. They plug directly into a HDMI port, use a USB port for power, have a nice remote and can be controlled from an app on your phone.