# Wi-Fi Problem with TV, ATV and FTV.



## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

I've been seeing random pixellation on devices using Wi-Fi. Only on my newest TV, a Samsung KS 8000. When using my ATV4 (also on Wi-Fi) I see the same pixellation plus weird video pauses (the audio continues, the video briefly stops). When using an FTV1 I see only the pixellation. When using the TV apps I see only the pixellation. I don't see any problems when using my upscaling BD player, but I don't use that for streaming just disc playback.

I've eliminated the devices as problems. It happens to all of them on the 8000. I don't have any issues with the HR24 on the 8000. That's not using Wi-Fi. My son was getting similar issues with his ATV4 downstairs. He got rid of the problem by using a hardwired Ethernet connection. I didn't want to do that, I didn't want a cable running in front of the fireplace.

I originally had all the devices on the 8000 using 5G Wi-Fi. A couple days ago I switched them all to a 2.4 setting. The pixellation appeared less often, but it was still there. I gave up and ran an Ethernet cable. The pixellation and the other issue with the ATV have stopped. I have ordered flat Ethernet cables that I think I can place in a manner where they won't be obvious.

I have two Netgear Nighthawk routers (a 7800 and an 8000), I use the 7800 as an Access Point. I have the house blanketed with Wi-Fi and have constant speeds of around 200+ down. 

Now my question: Why do I get the pixellation when using either 5G or 2.4G on those devices? I can use 5 wireless settings, 3 5Gs and two 2.4s. All of them produce pixellation. I'm stumped.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Aww, I have to amend the OP. I didn't put Ethernet cables on the ATV or the FTV. Yet, no issues last night on the ATV, it's still on a 2.4 wireless connection. Only the TV is connected by a hardwire. I'm gonna try the FTV today, but now I'm thinking the TV is the problem. Or one of the routers, or...I dunno.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

And this just gets even weirder. I now have only the ATV4 on a hardwire and I see no pixellation on either the FTV1 or the TV apps using the Access Point router's 5G connection. I have tried a hardwired connection on the FTV1 and the TV set then put them back on wireless. My son's issues were only with his ATV4. Could the ATV4 I use have somehow corrupted the Wi-Fi signal? I'm gonna leave the setup as it is for the rest of today and see what happens. If no issues appear, I'll take the hardwire off the ATV4 tomorrow and see what happens.

Sound like I'm confused?

Rich


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## Cholly (Mar 22, 2004)

So ATV = All Terrain Vehicle, and FTV = Fox TV, right! You satellite guys talk a whole different language with your abbreviations.


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## MysteryMan (May 17, 2010)

Cholly said:


> So ATV = All Terrain Vehicle, and FTV = Fox TV, right! You satellite guys talk a whole different language with your abbreviations.


If I remember correctly the original DBSTalk site had a thread with all the acronyms defined.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Cholly said:


> So ATV = All Terrain Vehicle, and FTV = Fox TV, right! You satellite guys talk a whole different language with your abbreviations.


Well my all terrain vehicle and my...aww, I'm pretty sure you understood.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

MysteryMan said:


> If I remember correctly the original DBSTalk site had a thread with all the acronyms defined.


I would hope the context of my posts ruled out things like all terrain vehicles. I'm confused enough about my problem.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Speaking of my problem, it got even more confusing yesterday. My son came home from work and we discussed the issues for a couple hours. I ended up taking the Ethernet cable off the ATV (that's an *A*pple* TV* box) and saw no pixellation on any of the TVs in my home when using a streaming box (that's a "box" that allows a stream of content to be displayed on a TV set). I have several FTVs (*F*ire *TV* boxes) and they showed no pixellation. All the streamers are wireless...for the moment. All this while using Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi definitely is key to this. Hardwire is one solution.

Why did the pixellation stop? What changed? The pixellation came back last night while watching a show on NF (that's *N*et*F*lix). After several hours of pixellation free viewing. I also saw the pixellation on Hulu later last night.

I don't think the issue with pixellation is caused by any of the streaming services that I employ. I'm reasonably certain it's not the TV set that's causing the pixies, they do show up on my son's LG LCD set and the plasmas. When watching the ballgame last night (and preceding games on preceding nights) I have seen no pixies (I can't keep typing "pixelations"). I think that proves the TV set/s is/are not at fault. I did, at first, think the TV might be at fault, but I'm pretty sure I've ruled that out. Yesterday I had the Ethernet cable on the ATV most of the day and saw not one pixie. That tells me it's a Wi-Fi problem of some sort. But I saw no pixies while the ATV was hardwired on either my TV apps or the FTV. How could a hardwired connection to one box affect the TV or another box? The only commonality is the HDMI connections to the TV from each box. And the TV is taking the HDMI feeds from the boxes. Is that a clue? I really don't see that as being valid.

Now my son is convinced Optimum (our ISP) is at fault. He thinks there are frequencies "riding" on the coax into the modem which feeds the primary router. I do worry about that boy at times.

I just got the flat Ethernet cables. I'm tempted to put a switch box in back of the TV and just hardwire the feed to the streamers and TV. Seems like settling and I don't like to settle. I need help!

Rich


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## Cholly (Mar 22, 2004)

Lengthy post: I have a few 8 channel gigabit switches connected to my D-Link dual band ac router. Two of the four router outputs go to the switches, one is hardwired to my TiVo Roamio Plus, which feeds two TiVo Minis via a MOCa network and the remaining output goes to a TiVo Premiere in my room. The switches feed other computers, printers and two more TiVo boxes around the house.
The house was prewired with Ethernet cable for phone and network -- The upstairs bedrooms have single cable outlets. The upstairs playroom and "web spot" each have two outlets as do downstairs bedroom, den and family room. Kitchen has one outlet, used by cordless phone base. Distribution is via a patch panel in a downstairs closet, allowing every cable outlet to be either phone or network. There are coax feeds to all bedrooms, den and family room, via a distribution amplifier.
We have Spectrum for cable TV, internet and landline phone through an Arris telephony modem.


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## billsharpe (Jan 25, 2007)

Rich said:


> I ended up taking the Ethernet cable off the ATV (that's an *A*pple* TV* box) and saw no pixellation on any of the TVs in my home when using a streaming box (that's a "box" that allows a stream of content to be displayed on a TV set). I have several FTVs (*F*ire *TV* boxes) and they showed no pixellation. All the streamers are wireless...for the moment. All this while using Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi definitely is key to this. Hardwire is one solution.
> Rich


I'm glad you cleared that up. I had no idea what you were talking about either!


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

I wonder if you have to many devices either to close to each other causing interference between them or they are all trying to use the same channels at the same time. 

Try unplugging power on the two streaming boxes and see what happens if you use the tv apps. Then try only plugging in one of the streamers and maybe even pull it out and set it a few feat in front of the tv. Just a few things to try to see if it can be narrowed it down.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Cholly said:


> Lengthy post: I have a few 8 channel gigabit switches connected to my D-Link dual band ac router. Two of the four router outputs go to the switches, one is hardwired to my TiVo Roamio Plus, which feeds two TiVo Minis via a MOCa network and the remaining output goes to a TiVo Premiere in my room. The switches feed other computers, printers and two more TiVo boxes around the house.
> The house was prewired with Ethernet cable for phone and network -- The upstairs bedrooms have single cable outlets. The upstairs playroom and "web spot" each have two outlets as do downstairs bedroom, den and family room. Kitchen has one outlet, used by cordless phone base. Distribution is via a patch panel in a downstairs closet, allowing every cable outlet to be either phone or network. There are coax feeds to all bedrooms, den and family room, via a distribution amplifier.
> We have Spectrum for cable TV, internet and landline phone through an Arris telephony modem.


I'd love to live in a house like that. Our house was built in the early 60s and it's just not fit for the new technology. And not for air conditioning either. If I had Ethernet connections in every room I wouldn't have spent ~ $500 on the two routers. But, it's paid for and worth a small fortune (to me, anyhow).

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

billsharpe said:


> I'm glad you cleared that up. I had no idea what you were talking about either!


Sorry, I assumed...well, you know how assumptions are.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

inkahauts said:


> I wonder if you have to many devices either to close to each other causing interference between them or they are all trying to use the same channels at the same time.
> 
> Try unplugging power on the two streaming boxes and see what happens if you use the tv apps. Then try only plugging in one of the streamers and maybe even pull it out and set it a few feat in front of the tv. Just a few things to try to see if it can be narrowed it down.


Wondered where you were, you must be laughing your butt off... 

You might be onto something, I kinda think the Apple TV box might be a key to this issue. I only put the FTV box on the TV a few days ago. The pixellation didn't change. What is there in the ATV boxes that would cause the pixies? I don't understand that.

Rich


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

Rich said:


> Wondered where you were, you must be laughing your butt off...
> 
> You might be onto something, I kinda think the Apple TV box might be a key to this issue. I only put the FTV box on the TV a few days ago. The pixellation didn't change. What is there in the ATV boxes that would cause the pixies? I don't understand that.
> 
> Rich


In just thinking its interference of the wifi signals with all of them to close. Not that there's anything actually wrong with any of them.

One other thing it could be is noise in your power. You have them on a power strip? What else is plugged into the power strip? Unplug everything from the power strip except the tv and one box at a time and see what happens. Power as you know can do interesting things especially wall warts if you have any.


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## Cholly (Mar 22, 2004)

Rich said:


> I'd love to live in a house like that. Our house was built in the early 60s and it's just not fit for the new technology. And not for air conditioning either. If I had Ethernet connections in every room I wouldn't have spent ~ $500 on the two routers. But, it's paid for and worth a small fortune (to me, anyhow).
> 
> Rich


My daughter in-law invited me to move down here after my wife passed away. My son and I joined forces and had a home built with two master suites (1 up, 1 down), plus 2 more bedrooms and activity room upstairs and LR, DR, kitchen, den and family room downstairs. We were able to select the wiring options, which worked out great. Initially, we had Dish for TV and Windstream for phone and DSL (ugh). After a few years, we switched to Time Warner for all three.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

inkahauts said:


> In just thinking its interference of the wifi signals with all of them to close. Not that there's anything actually wrong with any of them.
> 
> One other thing it could be is noise in your power. You have them on a power strip? What else is plugged into the power strip? Unplug everything from the power strip except the tv and one box at a time and see what happens. Power as you know can do interesting things especially wall warts if you have any.


I watched a couple NF discs last night and then turned the ATV on. Only used it for an hour, saw no pixies. _I'm gonna relocate the ATV today, get it farther from the TV_. I was just trying out the FTV1 on the new set, it's not nearly as good as the ATV, I think. I do have an FTV2 ordered, I'll put the FTV1 back where I got if from and see what happens. I don't think the FTV has anything to do with the pixies. Right now, I don't seem to be having enough issues to see what helps and what doesn't. I'm gonna take this slowly and try to do one thing at a time. I usually use the "shotgun method" and change many things at once, then I can't tell what helped.

The power line? Without a meter to tell me if I do have a "noisy" line I'm not gonna worry about it until I run out of options. Everything I have (regarding TVs and associated equipment) is on a power strip.

The sentence I changed the size of above lays out what I intend to do today. I'm gonna try to do this one step at a time...then I'm gonna lose my patience and use the new Ethernet cables.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Cholly said:


> My daughter in-law invited me to move down here after my wife passed away. My son and I joined forces and had a home built with two master suites (1 up, 1 down), plus 2 more bedrooms and activity room upstairs and LR, DR, kitchen, den and family room downstairs. We were able to select the wiring options, which worked out great. Initially, we had Dish for TV and Windstream for phone and DSL (ugh). After a few years, we switched to Time Warner for all three.


I'm looking at new homes on Zillow every day. Fruitless pursuit. My wife is never gonna move.

Rich


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

Rich said:


> I'm looking at new homes on Zillow every day. Fruitless pursuit. My wife is never gonna move.
> 
> Rich


Does your wife cook a lot? If so, find one with a great kitchen.. Just sayin, that could be the push. Oh and a room you could make your own home theater room.


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

Rich said:


> I watched a couple NF discs last night and then turned the ATV on. Only used it for an hour, saw no pixies. _I'm gonna relocate the ATV today, get it farther from the TV_. I was just trying out the FTV1 on the new set, it's not nearly as good as the ATV, I think. I do have an FTV2 ordered, I'll put the FTV1 back where I got if from and see what happens. I don't think the FTV has anything to do with the pixies. Right now, I don't seem to be having enough issues to see what helps and what doesn't. I'm gonna take this slowly and try to do one thing at a time. I usually use the "shotgun method" and change many things at once, then I can't tell what helped.
> 
> The power line? Without a meter to tell me if I do have a "noisy" line I'm not gonna worry about it until I run out of options. Everything I have (regarding TVs and associated equipment) is on a power strip.
> 
> ...


Well, one way to help tell if you may have something else on the same circuit causing the issues is if its happening a lot, run an extension cord from another circuit and plug the strip into it. That might help dismiss that as an issue. If it still happens it could technically be something with the entire house, but since none of your other stuff has this issue, I have to believe if its noise related its on the same circuit.

Yeah, I think if its a matter of how many devices are next to each other, you will find no issues when you only have one at a time. And if that is the case, then its not any one devices fault anyway.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

inkahauts said:


> Does your wife cook a lot? If so, find one with a great kitchen.. Just sayin, that could be the push. Oh and a room you could make your own home theater room.


I cook more than my wife does. I do look at the kitchens on every house. I don't want a place that's all electric. I don't like cooking on electric stoves. Just my opinion, not trying to start another argument.

I've had theater rooms for years, not the kind with seats such as you see in theaters tho, nor do I have projectors. Don't think I'd like them.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

inkahauts said:


> Well, one way to help tell if you may have something else on the same circuit causing the issues is if its happening a lot, run an extension cord from another circuit and plug the strip into it. That might help dismiss that as an issue. If it still happens it could technically be something with the entire house, but since none of your other stuff has this issue, I have to believe if its noise related its on the same circuit.
> 
> Yeah, I think if its a matter of how many devices are next to each other, you will find no issues when you only have one at a time. And if that is the case, then its not any one devices fault anyway.


Okay, I moved the ATV to the floor next to the TV stand. Watched a few episodes of shows and saw just a few pixies. I did pull the power cord on the FTV too. Haven't had an opportunity to try the TV apps yet. If just moving the ATV almost clears up the pixellation problem...I can live with "almost".

Now, if moving the ATV is the answer, is that because the ATV is farther away from the TV? I can see a TV set having a really large electromagnetic field, would that field disrupt a Wi-Fi signal? What I'm seeing does look kinda like the picture is "saturated". The pixellation does tend to cover most of the screen at times. I can see how that would affect the TV apps too...I think.

But here's an observation that really puzzles me: I see the pixies and I can click back and see the pixies again. I really don't get that, it almost seems as if the pixies are part of the stream.

Rich


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

Exit and watch something else then go back and watch the same spot again. I believe the atv keeps a buffer kind of like a DVR. 

Have any long hdmi cables? Try testing it with it across the room. Lol. 

And do you have more than one appletv? Maybe swap them and see if the same thing happens. It's always possible something is wrong with the shielding or something. Very doubtful but with your luck wild guesses aren't all that wild.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

inkahauts said:


> (1) Exit and watch something else then go back and watch the same spot again. I believe the atv keeps a buffer kind of like a DVR.
> 
> (2) Have any long hdmi cables? Try testing it with it across the room. Lol.
> 
> (3) And do you have more than one appletv? Maybe swap them and see if the same thing happens. It's always possible something is wrong with the shielding or something. Very doubtful but with your luck wild guesses aren't all that wild.


(1) Certainly seems to have that buffer. I have yet to see pixellation that I couldn't immediately reproduce. If it is only a temporary buffer, and I think it is, it means little.

(2) I do have a couple long HDMI cables. I'll try that. Or not...that would mean another cable in a room where we've tried to eliminate cables. If it's not a permanent fix, why bother? If it works it would be an answer, but not one I want.

(3) We have two ATV4s. My son had similar problems with the ATV he uses. He got rid of those by using a convenient hardwire, I don't have that "convenient" option.

Used the ATV4 last night and saw only a couple pixies. If this remains a constant, I can live with it.

Rich


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

2. Oh I just want to know what the heck the issue is. You did say you use two routers... you have them setup on very different channels? Same or different ssid?


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## Cholly (Mar 22, 2004)

Okay, I'll ask the obvious. Are you using high speed HDMI cables? If not, you might try getting a few from Amazon or Monoprice. Better yet, since you have 4K TV's, get HDIM2 cables and try them.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

inkahauts said:


> 2. Oh I just want to know what the heck the issue is. You did say you use two routers... you have them setup on very different channels? Same or different ssid?


Two routers, one used as an access point (not a true router). Different channels, different SSIDs. I don't think they're part of all this. Doesn't seem to make much difference if the units with the issues are on 5G or 2.4G connections. I have tried both and still got pixies.

I used both the ATV4 and the TV apps yesterday. Saw just a couple pixelations. If it stays this stable, I'll stop looking for an absolute solution, I can easily live with this.

It would appear that, following your suggestion, moving the ATV4 further away from the TV did the trick. I did nothing else and it seems to have worked. I'd really like to know why it worked, but...

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Cholly said:


> Okay, I'll ask the obvious. Are you using high speed HDMI cables? If not, you might try getting a few from Amazon or Monoprice. Better yet, since you have 4K TV's, get HDIM2 cables and try them.


I just did a bit of research about the HDMI2 cables. Since my problem only exists when I use a Wi-Fi connection, I don't see why I'd need them. My other 4K set doesn't have any pixellation issues and all connections to that set are hardwired. The two 4K sets are both Samsungs and they are both Series 8 sets. If you see anything wrong with what I've just written I'm always willing to admit I'm wrong. One more point, I see the pixelations on my TV apps, no HDMI connections for that. I don't see how or why HDMI2 cables would help those apps, but I don't see why the pixies pop up in the first place. Another thing to consider, I have no 4K content on any HDMI connection. The ATV4 only puts out a 1080p feed to the TV set. Do you think I need an HDMI2 cable for that? I'm really not sure.

Rich


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

Rich said:


> I just did a bit of research about the HDMI2 cables. Since my problem only exists when I use a Wi-Fi connection, I don't see why I'd need them. My other 4K set doesn't have any pixellation issues and all connections to that set are hardwired. The two 4K sets are both Samsungs and they are both Series 8 sets. If you see anything wrong with what I've just written I'm always willing to admit I'm wrong. One more point, I see the pixelations on my TV apps, no HDMI connections for that. I don't see how or why HDMI2 cables would help those apps, but I don't see why the pixies pop up in the first place. Another thing to consider, I have no 4K content on any HDMI connection. The ATV4 only puts out a 1080p feed to the TV set. Do you think I need an HDMI2 cable for that? I'm really not sure.
> 
> Rich


If using a hdmi2 cable changed anything then it'd be because the cable you have now is broken. Your current cables are plenty capable and shouldn't be causing this at all.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

inkahauts said:


> If using a hdmi2 cable changed anything then it'd be because the cable you have now is broken. Your current cables are plenty capable and shouldn't be causing this at all.


Yup, that's what I found. I'd still like to know if the ATV is causing the pixies or if the TV is causing them. I have only the ATV and the TV apps hooked up wirelessly now. I was using my other 4K set today, didn't see any pixies on that set...don't have an ATV on that set.

Don't forget, my son had the same issues. His setup is an LG 1080p LCD and an ATV4. As soon as he went to a hardwired connection all his problems went away. Is there any way it could be caused by my Wi-Fi setup? I don't see it, but...

Rich


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

Oh I think it is your wifi setup. Maybe even your router settings. It's just a matter of what exactly it is that is causing it. Do you have any Tvs close to the actual router?


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## Cholly (Mar 22, 2004)

Rich said:


> Yup, that's what I found. I'd still like to know if the ATV is causing the pixies or if the TV is causing them. I have only the ATV and the TV apps hooked up wirelessly now. I was using my other 4K set today, didn't see any pixies on that set...don't have an ATV on that set.
> 
> Don't forget, my son had the same issues. His setup is an LG 1080p LCD and an ATV4. As soon as he went to a hardwired connection all his problems went away. Is there any way it could be caused by my Wi-Fi setup? I don't see it, but...
> 
> Rich





inkahauts said:


> Oh I think it is your wifi setup. Maybe even your router settings. It's just a matter of what exactly it is that is causing it. Do you have any Tvs close to the actual router?


Since your son solved his problem by using a hard wired connection, it seems to me that your easiest solution would be hardwired connection. it might jus be best to replace the second router with a range extender (if range is a problem).


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

inkahauts said:


> Oh I think it is your wifi setup. Maybe even your router settings. It's just a matter of what exactly it is that is causing it. Do you have any Tvs close to the actual router?


My newest TV sits about 8' from the Access Point router. I can move the AP router.

I've been looking for commonalities and I keep coming back to the Wi-Fi thing. Last night I had a couple pixelations that covered the whole TV screen, first time I'd seen that. I'm getting to the point where the easiest thing I can do is run the flat Ethernet cables to a switch behind the TV and hook up the TV, ATV4 and the new FTV2 that should arrive today to the switch. I'll try moving the AP router before I do that...Hmm, just gave that some thought, I don't think moving it is gonna help. My son is on the lower level of the house and he was having the same problems, didn't matter which router he used for Wi-Fi. He went hardwire and hasn't had a problem since.

I followed several YouTube flicks when setting up the NetGear routers and used the settings that were recommended in those flicks. Both routers select the "best" channels automatically. I've tried manually selecting the channels, didn't help. Not sure what other settings I could change. I don't have any problems streaming NF content to my wireless phone or laptop. My son does that a lot more than I do and he has no problems. I dunno, I just dunno what to do...

My new FTV2 just arrived, I'm gonna try that out now. I have had no luck at all with the FTV2s, I hope this one works correctly.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Cholly said:


> Since your son solved his problem by using a hard wired connection, it seems to me that your easiest solution would be hardwired connection. it might jus be best to replace the second router with a range extender (if range is a problem).


Range is a problem (a problem that is solved by the Access Point router), the hardwire is a problem caused by the location of the TV set, there is no simple way to get a cable to it. I'm not gonna dump a more than $200 router for a range extender, I've never had one that worked properly.

Rich


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## Cholly (Mar 22, 2004)

Understood. As mentioned before, I have the good fortune to have had Cat5e cable outlets installed in all rooms that have TV's or computers. I anly have the need for one wireless router, and am able to use switches for multiple feeds where needed. Another possible solution for you could be a powerline adapter. I've used them successfully in the past.
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_17?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=powerline+adapter&sprefix=powerline+adapter,aps,160&crid=PIRC1VILPERP


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Cholly said:


> Understood. As mentioned before, I have the good fortune to have had Cat5e cable outlets installed in all rooms that have TV's or computers. I anly have the need for one wireless router, and am able to use switches for multiple feeds where needed. Another possible solution for you could be a powerline adapter. I've used them successfully in the past.
> https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_17?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=powerline+adapter&sprefix=powerline+adapter,aps,160&crid=PIRC1VILPERP


I've tried just about everything, Charlie. Nothing worked as well as the Access Point method. That works just as I hoped it would, for phones, laptops, tablets and my new thermostat. For the first time I laid in my hammock in my overlarge front yard and got a good Wi-Fi signal to my phone the other day.

Doesn't matter, I ran the flat Ethernet cable today and I'm hoping that clears the pixellation problem up. It worked in my son's quarters, should work upstairs too.

I spent the afternoon playing with the new FTV2 (seems to work correctly, oh goody) and took the ATV4 off the TV completely. It's not the ATV. I'm pretty sure it's not the TV, my son's LCD has had on pixies on it since he went hardwired. I did get some large pixies on the new FTV box. I'm convinced the Wi-Fi is at fault. I'd still like to know what happened to cause the pixellation problems. I just don't know enough about Wi-Fi technology to figure this out.

Rich


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## Cholly (Mar 22, 2004)

I have to confess that I think the second router is the cause of your troubles. Assuming that WiFi is a must throughout the house and your primary router is located in a fixed location and can't be "centrally" located. two things come to mind. Range extender instead of the second router -- I know you have no confidence in range extenders, but they've come a long way. Secondly: powerline adapter, which would allow Ethernet access in a room not having it. Of course, I'm looking at your problem from the standpoint of a person who has cable as his Internet provider and has coverage with a single router and a number of switches that provide service to devices that are hard wired. Also, the only single purpose streaming device I have is a Roku2X in my bedroom. Having TiVo access on all our TV's gives us access to the streaming services (Netflix and Amazon) used by most family members. They don't use Hulu, Vudu, CBS All Access, Crackle, etc. I'm the only one having access to those sites through my Roku 2X. 
With the devices we currently have, cord cutting is not an option.


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

Cholly said:


> I have to confess that I think the second router is the cause of your troubles. Assuming that WiFi is a must throughout the house and your primary router is located in a fixed location and can't be "centrally" located. two things come to mind. Range extender instead of the second router -- I know you have no confidence in range extenders, but they've come a long way. Secondly: powerline adapter, which would allow Ethernet access in a room not having it. Of course, I'm looking at your problem from the standpoint of a person who has cable as his Internet provider and has coverage with a single router and a number of switches that provide service to devices that are hard wired. Also, the only single purpose streaming device I have is a Roku2X in my bedroom. Having TiVo access on all our TV's gives us access to the streaming services (Netflix and Amazon) used by most family members. They don't use Hulu, Vudu, CBS All Access, Crackle, etc. I'm the only one having access to those sites through my Roku 2X.
> With the devices we currently have, cord cutting is not an option.


Honestly, when you mentioned using power line adapters I literally slapped my own forehead. Those things are the most terrible things in the world from my experience. They are three steps below a last resort for getting internet to any place, and even then I wouldn't recommend or use them ever myself. And not just personal experience, I used to sell them and they almost all came back due to any number of issues. They are IMHO junk and I would never even consider one. And it has nothign to do with the quality of the product. Its the nature of the technology and how it works that is the problem. Time cant change that.

While he is using two routers, they aren't both working as separate routers, one is acting like a wireless access point I believe. That is something they are made to do. Heck technically, you could make the argument a router with wifi is a router with a wifi access point built in. His issue is interference between something. Its not because the units are switching back and forth between the access point and the router, since they use different ssid and passwords though. And he said earlier they are on different channels as I recall themselves. It could be channels, but realistically, I believe its the tv and interference from it and all the wireless devices he has in close proximity.

Now there is a possibility its his routers and access point, but not because of what you said, but because they are simply not up to working properly. I know I have had a few weird things happen with my night hawk router as well, and I have already decided this was the last chance for netgear, I have had a few over the years and they have never been as solid as linksys ones for me.


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

Rich, have you cheeked to see if your routers have any firmware updates?

And i have a thought. What Directv dvr do you have hooked up to that tv? How any dvrs are you at again at this point? and how and where are you connected to the internet for your deca cloud? Maybe its time to use a deca (or if the hr44 is there that is even easier) and get your internet to that tv hardwired via your directv internet feed. Heck, if you have an unused coax that could work too, if it goes to where one of your routers is located. I know your house has some strange paths for coax, and don't recall if you ever had dual lines going everywhere from back before swim systems. But that could work to for getting a hardliner Ethernet connection to that tv.


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## Beerstalker (Feb 9, 2009)

If you are only using one of the routers for WiFi, why don't you turn the WiFi off in the other router? That could help clear up some interference.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Cholly said:


> I have to confess that I think the second router is the cause of your troubles. Assuming that WiFi is a must throughout the house and your primary router is located in a fixed location and can't be "centrally" located. two things come to mind. Range extender instead of the second router -- I know you have no confidence in range extenders, but they've come a long way. Secondly: powerline adapter, which would allow Ethernet access in a room not having it. Of course, I'm looking at your problem from the standpoint of a person who has cable as his Internet provider and has coverage with a single router and a number of switches that provide service to devices that are hard wired. Also, the only single purpose streaming device I have is a Roku2X in my bedroom. Having TiVo access on all our TV's gives us access to the streaming services (Netflix and Amazon) used by most family members. They don't use Hulu, Vudu, CBS All Access, Crackle, etc. I'm the only one having access to those sites through my Roku 2X.
> With the devices we currently have, cord cutting is not an option.


I could relocate the primary R8000 router to a more centralized location, but it would cause problems. This house is...just hard to do anything with. I could make my HVAC system work a lot better but that would entail ripping up walls and ceilings. Not gonna happen, I've spent too much money on the house as it is.

Ah well, the pixies are gone, the flat cable is hidden. I did find a "filter" the last cable guy stuck on the modem because he couldn't think of anything else to do. I'm gonna take that off and see if the pixies are still there one of these days. Don't know what else to do.

If the Access Point router was at fault (and I think it is, sometimes) why aren't any of my other devices (laptops, phones, tablets) affected with similar (pixies, video pauses) issues. This whole thing is frustrating.

Rich


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

It also takes seems like a latency issue between the router and the device. I still think it's all about the tv location and the amount of wifi devices next to each other at that location.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

inkahauts said:


> Honestly, when you mentioned using power line adapters I literally slapped my own forehead. Those things are the most terrible things in the world from my experience. They are three steps below a last resort for getting internet to any place, and even then I wouldn't recommend or use them ever myself. And not just personal experience, I used to sell them and they almost all came back due to any number of issues. They are IMHO junk and I would never even consider one. And it has nothign to do with the quality of the product. Its the nature of the technology and how it works that is the problem. Time cant change that.
> 
> While he is using two routers, they aren't both working as separate routers, one is acting like a wireless access point I believe. That is something they are made to do. Heck technically, you could make the argument a router with wifi is a router with a wifi access point built in. His issue is interference between something. Its not because the units are switching back and forth between the access point and the router, since they use different ssid and passwords though. And he said earlier they are on different channels as I recall themselves. It could be channels, but realistically, I believe its the tv and interference from it and all the wireless devices he has in close proximity.
> 
> Now there is a possibility its his routers and access point, but not because of what you said, but because they are simply not up to working properly. I know I have had a few weird things happen with my night hawk router as well, and I have already decided this was the last chance for netgear, I have had a few over the years and they have never been as solid as linksys ones for me.


I've never had any luck with either range extenders or the power line devices, I've had several and none did anything for me. I've been working on our Wi-Fi system for over a year and nothing has worked as well as using a router for an access point.

I'd never buy another NetGear device. Think D*'s CSRs are bad? Try getting to anyone at NetGear that speaks English as a first language. Talk about an act of futility...

Oh, my son has a Panny plasma in his bedroom with an FTV1 on it, he still sees pixellation on that plasma. He's tried all five wireless options and the pixies show up on both 2.4s and all three 5G connections.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

inkahauts said:


> Rich, have you cheeked to see if your routers have any firmware updates?
> 
> And i have a thought. What Directv dvr do you have hooked up to that tv? How any dvrs are you at again at this point? and how and where are you connected to the internet for your deca cloud? Maybe its time to use a deca (or if the hr44 is there that is even easier) and get your internet to that tv hardwired via your directv internet feed. Heck, if you have an unused coax that could work too, if it goes to where one of your routers is located. I know your house has some strange paths for coax, and don't recall if you ever had dual lines going everywhere from back before swim systems. But that could work to for getting a hardliner Ethernet connection to that tv.


Yup, I keep checking for updates. Not gonna change the MRV system now, don't think that would work. I could put an Ethernet cable in back of the TV but it would take a lot of work and if you'll recall I'm really lazy. The flat cable is far less intrusive than I thought it would be and I'll leave that in place.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Beerstalker said:


> If you are only using one of the routers for WiFi, why don't you turn the WiFi off in the other router? That could help clear up some interference.


Long house, one router has never been enough. Been an issue for years.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

inkahauts said:


> It also takes seems like a latency issue between the router and the device. I still think it's all about the tv location and the amount of wifi devices next to each other at that location.


My son has a TV that only has an FTV1 on it, no DVR, not a smart TV. One device, still has pixellation. It's not close to either router.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

I'm gonna try shutting the access point router off and see if the pixellation clears up. Don't remember trying that (shoulda done that...).

Rich


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

Ok more weirdness then. Have you tried changing what channels the two routers are using?

I'd almost consider buying a linksys router (good one) at Costco and seeing if using that changed anything. And if it doesn't it's Costco, so you can easily return it. 

Yes lazy... but I think you like solving puzzles too!


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

inkahauts said:


> Ok more weirdness then. Have you tried changing what channels the two routers are using?
> 
> I'd almost consider buying a linksys router (good one) at Costco and seeing if using that changed anything. And if it doesn't it's Costco, so you can easily return it.
> 
> Yes lazy... but I think you like solving puzzles too!


Well, this puzzle is solved. The R7800 router (the access point router) is definitely causing the pixelations. I finally gave up and shut the 7800 off yesterday and we have seen no pixies at all anywhere.

This just leads to more interesting questions. If I swap the 7800 and 8000 routers, turn the 8000 into an access point and make the 7800 the primary router, what will happen? Should I give up on the 7800? That sucker cost me over $200 and I'm not gonna just throw it away (no warranties left on that, not that I'd try to get NetGear to honor an warranty, I don't have the patience to go thru that) without trying to get some use out of it. Would the 8000 cause pixelations if it's used as an access point? Seems like it's worth a try. I think that would be the easiest thing to do.

I could just give up and use the flat Ethernet cord for everything on/in that TV. That's the path of least resistance, then I could keep the 7800 as the access point...it doesn't seem to affect any other wireless devices negatively, just the wireless devices on a couple TVs. That would give me full coverage in and out of the house.

I can move the 8000 upstairs and get better coverage from that router, haven't tried that but from what I've learned about routers it would appear that the 8000 might give me complete coverage if it was positioned higher in the house. All routers seem to broadcast "down" from where they sit and having one on the bottom floor isn't doing me much good upstairs.

I did take the "filter" off the modem, turns out it's an attenuator. Seemed to solve the problem, but the pixelations came back.

I have to give all this some thought, I'll be back.

Rich


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## Cholly (Mar 22, 2004)

I gave up on Netgear routers a while back. My current router is a D-Link and works well. It would be nice to try it upstairs, but it would be somewhat of a problem, since I don't do stairs.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Cholly said:


> I gave up on Netgear routers a while back. My current router is a D-Link and works well. It would be nice to try it upstairs, but it would be somewhat of a problem, since I don't do stairs.


I get that, I'll never buy another NetGear anything. I tried calling them and had a terrible experience.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

I think, I hope, I have fixed the pixellation problem. I took both the primary router and the access point router offline Friday (today is Sunday) and changed the access router to the primary router and made what was the primary router an access point. The pixellation has (apparently) stopped and the new TV and it's ATV4 and FTV2 are all wireless and pixellation free.

I have no idea why the R7800 router caused the pixellation issues, I have the R8000 in exactly the same location the 7800 was in and it's pumping out ~ 200 Mbps of Wi-Fi. Same as the 7800 was doing in that location. Makes me think "saturation" wasn't in play. Sure wasn't the ATV. And not the TV. I still have no idea why I kept having the pixellation issues. Certainly seems as if the R7800 was the culprit.

If anybody is curious about the NetGear routers here's a couple links to the routers I have: AC2600 - Nighthawk X4S Smart WiFi Gaming Router And: AC3200 - Nighthawk AC3200 Tri-Band WiFi Router.

I bought both on Amazon and a search there will tell you how much they cost.

Perhaps someone who understands Wi-Fi technology will read this and tell us what happened? I'd like to thank everyone who responded to this thread for the suggestions.

BTW, I wouldn't be very surprised if I turned on the TV today and the pixies are back...I don't think I really "fixed" anything.

Rich


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