Connectivity issue

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I’m not really sure what the problem is, or if there is one. Good start? I have a Cisco Linksys E2500 router with four hard wired ports which also includes wifi access. The router is upstairs in an open balcony office, I have my desktop, landline and printer connected to it via ethernet wires. My living room is below and, for information, a bit south as well of the balcony. I have a Sony Smart TV and Sony Blu Ray player wirelessly connected to the router. It works fine with them, both update themselves quickly and easily over wifi. The problem I’ve run into is with Netflix – I got that about a month ago, had tried Amazon Prime and that worked perfectly, but sometimes with Netflix, the program will start reloading and then hang. The message usually says you are not connected to the Internet – though on the top row of the screen the wireless indicator says I am. I have found that going back to the menu, moving down the options list, then back up and resuming the show fixes the problem. It has never happened more than once in an evening. Until last night. My iPhone works perfectly down there, I can connect to Safari, BTN2GO, anything with no problems. But last night, Netflix hung up again, and this time none of the usual “apps” that came preloaded were showing up either. Could not restart it. Though the network itself was fine as my phone worked and all that.

So, I don’t want to go completely wireless – I have Xfinity highest internet speed, using speedtest.net download averages 93.11 MBS, upload 12.22 MBS. On average that is faster than the T1 line I use at work. I like the security of hardwired routers (and that may just be my own prejudice or because I have never had completely wireless internet at home) and want to keep that as long as I can. Store salespeople are knowledgeable but also interested in selling, I would like less biased opinion(s) about what to do. First, what might have caused the TV’s preloaded apps to disappear? I confess I have rarely used them. I set up a browser when I first got the tv 15 months ago, but didn’t use any apps until Amazon Prime in early October, for just a couple weeks, then Netflix since then. Do I need a new router with a stronger wifi capability? This one is only a couple years old. Would a wifi extender fix the issue? The distance from the router to the tv is about 30 feet, I live in a townhouse, so the balcony is open to the living room with like a half wall in between. Since everything in my phone works fine, I am puzzled as to why the TV doesn’t. Though, in fact the TV is hardwired cable too, and its update features (just did one) and Blu Ray update features have always worked perfectly. Before I go out and buy a new router, if I can even find a hardwired one anymore, I’d appreciate any thoughts the experts here, all of you, have. Thanks! :^)

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Ideally you could do with checking the wireless signal strength and broadband speeds downstairs.

If you have a friend with a laptop, perhaps you could get them to bring it over, connect to your SSID and do a speed test from http://www.speedtest.net and you can check the signal strength using a program like inSSIDer3 http://www.techspot.com/downloads/5936-inssider.html

Alternatively, on the laptop open a command prompt and enter this cmd which will give similar info but with the signal strength as a % rather than a RSSI value as inSSIDer3 does.

netsh wlan show networks mode=bssid

And it should be >=65% – inSSIDer3 should be max low 70s – 75 or more will give you connectivity problems.

Changing channels in the router could also help if you are co-sharing a channel with other users or are adjacent to any with similar signal strengths to yours, but it will be worth checking that the router’s channel setting is on a specific channel and not set to Auto.

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I will try the laptop idea, thanks. Last night, the same thing happened with Netflix, but this time it said it just couldn’t show that particular item, so I tried another and it worked perfectly, then went back and the first choice did too. Might be a Netflix issue more than connectivity.

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So is this a Netflix issue? This hang up occurs on multiple wifi devices? [Which seems most likely, therefor Netflix support.]

An area issue? The Netflix hang up occurs in the downstairs location only. Wouldn’t explain why Amazon Prime works and Netflix does not.

Or a device issue? Netflix hangs on your iPhone (using wifi, not 4G).

Or combo: Netflix hangs on iPhone only when downstairs.

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I think it is probably a Netflix issue. Nothing hangs on my iPhone downstairs, but then I don’t watch movies or anything on it either, other than YouTube and occasionally BTN2go or ESPN streaming. Only the tv and only Netflix – which does isolate it pretty much. Though I will check wifi speed down there later on a laptop.

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I think it is probably a Netflix issue. Nothing hangs on my iPhone downstairs, but then I don’t watch movies or anything on it either, other than YouTube and occasionally BTN2go or ESPN streaming. Only the tv and only Netflix – which does isolate it pretty much. Though I will check wifi speed down there later on a laptop.

I have a very similar issue with Netflix only on a web-enabled LG Blue-Ray player.

If you have a laptop with WiFi, set it next to the TV and connect to Netflix via your browser. It will probably work like a champ. I have no issues with connecting to Netflix, searching, or launching content on my PC. It takes FOREVER on my Blue-Ray player.

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As it only seems to occur with Netflix then it probably is on their end, but if your router’s channel setting is auto and not to a specific channel, while being coincidental, you could have picked the wrong moment to stream from there if the router was changing channel at that time.

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Well, I don’t have a laptop. Have never needed one. I still have a desktop hardwired to my Cisco router upstairs, along with my printer and a “landline” phone. I do agree when I run things through the Blu Ray player it is slower. The tv is a Sony 65 inch smart tv I got 16 months or so ago when they dropped below $1000 – should have waited, they’re a lot cheaper now. But both the Blu Ray player and the TV are connected wirelessly and both notify me when there’s a firmware or software update and then update very quickly. I’ve an iPhone 6 which I sometimes stream ESPN3 or ESPN or BTN2Go on with no problems down there.

I’ve just never had need of a laptop. The one I have at home is one I have from work. And when that boots up, it automatically boots to the work network. I did run speedtest.net on it and it was at 28.8 MBS downstairs, just over 5 MBS upload down there, which is a lot slower than the hardwired desktop upstairs, but behind the company firewall, even the T1 line is slower than my home machine, a lot. I thought about getting a laptop but then thought what would I use it for? I don’t take one with me to coffee shops or anything, if I want to look something up, I use my iPhone or one of its apps. I figured that the only time I’d use it would be downstairs, but I’ve got the iPhone there too and the tv and Blu Ray player both already connected, with a browser on the TV too. So spending money on a laptop just never made sense to me.

Maybe after I retire I would use it, though I don’t know where or why, but to get one just for the sake of having one doesn’t make sense to me. :^)

So I’ve been looking at WiFi range extenders but am not entirely sure how they work, and there are a ton of them. I don’t want to go completely wireless, I like the ethernet connection for my laptop and landline and printer, though probably the printer would do just as well on wireless. Range extenders have such a huge “range” of prices, some seem easy to hook up, others sound like an algebra book to me. I don’t know if putting one upstairs makes sense and if I put it downstairs it would still be 20 feet from the upstairs hardwired router and 10 feet from the tv. Is getting one for that 10 feet really going to make a difference? I measured it because originally I planned to use that one open port on my router to string an ethernet cable from the router to the tv but the longest cable Best Buy had was 25 feet and I need 30. Maybe they have a longer one now. It is just me at home so I don’t mind cables hanging around. That would still leave the Blu Ray player wireless and HDMI connected to the TV as is the Xfinity box. I have to use the tv remote to run the tv apps as they are outside the Xfinity box anyway. So, I’m still a bit twisted up in figuring out what to do and why. And it still seems to be only Netflix. I read an article the other day that said they have most of the outside cable streaming business and do much more than Amazon, so it may be their resources which are stretched, not mine. :^)

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ut the longest cable Best Buy had was 25 feet and I need 30. :^)

Try Monoprice or Amazon, 50″ should be available.

Just because you don't know where you are going doesn't mean any road will get you there.

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Well, I don’t have a laptop. Have never needed one.

My apologies! I meant that you should test wireless connectivity and accessing Netflix wirelessly from a laptop. I didn’t mean to suggest you use the laptop to access Netflix instead of accessing it from the TV

So, I’m still a bit twisted up in figuring out what to do and why. And it still seems to be only Netflix. I read an article the other day that said they have most of the outside cable streaming business and do much more than Amazon, so it may be their resources which are stretched, not mine.

You can verify whether Netflix is just slow at your location by accessing the site from your desktop upstairs. I believe it will be quick to connect to the site, and quick to load content. If it is, you can assume that the Netflix application on your TV is slow (the same as the Netflix application on my Blue-Ray player is slow).

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You can verify whether Netflix is just slow at your location by accessing the site from your desktop upstairs. I believe it will be quick to connect to the site, and quick to load content. If it is, you can assume that the Netflix application on your TV is slow (the same as the Netflix application on my Blue-Ray player is slow).

I have done that and you’re right from my desktop it is as fast as everything else. And as is so often the case Occam’s Razor is at work here too. I took Wavy’s advice and ordered a highly rated 50 foot cable from Amazon, since I have Prime, it will be here tomorrow and I’ll plug that into the LAN port on the back of my tv directly from my router. I expect that will take care of that. Thanks for all the help, I’ve learned a great deal from this experience! :^) gene

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You can use powerplugs which plug into the mains power sockets as range extenders but they have different sizes as well.

When you click on the WiFi icon in the Taskbar of the laptop, it should see your SSID which you can connect to, to run a speed test on that.

You may need to disconnect from the works one but will need the password to reconnect for work.

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You can use powerplugs which plug into the mains power sockets as range extenders but they have different sizes as well.

When you click on the WiFi icon in the Taskbar of the laptop, it should see your SSID which you can connect to, to run a speed test on that.

You may need to disconnect from the works one but will need the password to reconnect for work.

The business laptop uses Net Motion as its connectivity, it automatically goes wireless when not docked unless an ethernet cable is plugged in which I do when working from home. When I ran speedtest on it, I bypassed Net Motion, but was still behind the company firewall. I’m not sure there is a way around that. Though I do recall when we got these, a couple years ago, trying out the WiFi at a Caribou and connecting to it, I don’t get that option at home to connect to my wireless network, I “think” I may have done that a while back but am not entirely sure. So, there’s no WiFi icon on the taskbar other than Net Motion, I suppose I can try bypassing that, but the only way to fire up the machine at boot is ctrl-alt-delete which automatically logs into the company network and keeps me behind that firewall. Not to mention running a whole host of business processes that I don’t use on my desktop at all. I tried running speed test on Safari but speed test requires flash and Apple doesn’t allow flash on its equipment. I feel like I’m wandering a maze… :^)

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Drag a friend with a laptop over then

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The 50 foot cable I ordered is Cat6, I noticed in the TV manual after I ordered it, that they recommend Cat7 – but from what I read the difference is little and many routers can’t handle the new speed anyway, mine might be one of those an E2500 Linksys from Cisco, I got maybe three years ago. Another oddity, I use a Phonak streaming device (hearing aids) often while watching anything other than sports, and it used to mute the tv sound automatically when in use and on WiFi, but for some odd reason, it doesn’t do that while LAN connected, and I can’t access WiFi connections while LAN connected. I may have to reset to WiFi and look at those settings again before plugging the ethernet cable back in as I can’t find anything in the TV settings or the Phonak manual about that. I do vaguely remember doing something about it when I got the smart TV 20 months or so ago, but it is smarter than me, I didn’t write down what I did. :^)

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The 50 foot cable I ordered is Cat6, I noticed in the TV manual after I ordered it, that they recommend Cat7 – but from what I read the difference is little and many routers can’t handle the new speed anyway, mine might be one of those an E2500 Linksys from Cisco, I got maybe three years ago. Another oddity, I use a Phonak streaming device (hearing aids) often while watching anything other than sports, and it used to mute the tv sound automatically when in use and on WiFi, but for some odd reason, it doesn’t do that while LAN connected, and I can’t access WiFi connections while LAN connected. I may have to reset to WiFi and look at those settings again before plugging the ethernet cable back in as I can’t find anything in the TV settings or the Phonak manual about that. I do vaguely remember doing something about it when I got the smart TV 20 months or so ago, but it is smarter than me, I didn’t write down what I did. :^)

The beauty of the “twisted pair” cable standards is backward compatibility. If your current hardware doesn’t support the benefits that Cat7 can give you, the data transmission will still happen! If you upgrade your hardware, the Cat7 cable will support the newer standard. You would have to be sure to upgrade ALL your hardware – network adapters, routers, switches, tin foil hats, etc.

I had never heard of the Phonak streaming device. I’m just guessing here, but the device probably uses Bluetooth to talk to the hearing aid, and Bluetooth may be part of the WiFi adapter on the TV – and that is likely a different chipset than the wired network adapter. Worst case scenario is that you’ll need to manually mute the TV sound (hopefully that won’t affect the Phonak) when using the TV.

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Cat7? I must be behind the times, I though Cat6 was the new stuff :p
:cheers:

I would say if you are running cable thru walls go for the highest rating, you don’t want to do that twice. For other applications I am sure Cat6 will suffice. I see Cat 7 supports 10 GB Ethernet, I don’t think we are there yet in consumer products.

Just because you don't know where you are going doesn't mean any road will get you there.

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I did find Cat7 cables on Amazon, about $6 more than the 50 foot Cat6 cable. As I read more though, they are talking about multiple GB speeds and like Chris says, we aren’t there yet with home equipment. The Phonak device came with the hearing aids from the VA, it is Bluetooth, it plugs into an audio out port on the tv, I wear a little device around my neck, which can be a remote control and also answer cell calls – though I’ve never set that up nor intend to – the user manual is 60 pages only the first 10 have anything to do with what I use it for – surround sound in my hearing aids. I can’t mute the sound on the tv as that turns it off completely, but I can set it to zero or 1 or 2 and hear perfectly, much louder and you have that echo as there is a latency factor of a second maybe. So it works, just not perfectly, but it did solve the main issue which was the WiFi dropping the Netflix signal, that’s gone. There is some compromise in just about everything. :^)

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I did find Cat7 cables on Amazon, about $6 more than the 50 foot Cat6 cable. As I read more though, they are talking about multiple GB speeds and like Chris says, we aren’t there yet with home equipment. The Phonak device came with the hearing aids from the VA, it is Bluetooth, it plugs into an audio out port on the tv, I wear a little device around my neck, which can be a remote control and also answer cell calls – though I’ve never set that up nor intend to – the user manual is 60 pages only the first 10 have anything to do with what I use it for – surround sound in my hearing aids. I can’t mute the sound on the tv as that turns it off completely, but I can set it to zero or 1 or 2 and hear perfectly, much louder and you have that echo as there is a latency factor of a second maybe. So it works, just not perfectly, but it did solve the main issue which was the WiFi dropping the Netflix signal, that’s gone. There is some compromise in just about everything. :^)

Thanks for the update. I’m glad it’s working sufficiently for you.

I had never heard about Phonak. That’s a great idea – my father-in-law uses wireless headphones for TV, because his wife doesn’t like the loud TV

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