topic Insufficient wireless signal strength, apparently in Other TVs

Insufficient wireless signal strength, apparently

lithoartist — Wed, 11 Jun 2014 20:09:15 GMT

My Sony TV model is KDL-32EX653. I have fibre broadband that shows a regular 37.5Mb/s with an ethernet cable connection between my router and desktop PC. My television sits in a room directly below my router. Trying to play iPlayer always ends with the screen going blank (as though the TV has been powered off) after five to ten minutes. I have tried numerous broadband speed test checkers on the TV that do not require Flash. I could get only two to work at all due to the way Sony internet works and only one of those two (Bandwidthplace) gave me any sort of result. At best that was 2Mb/s. I was astonished at the result. I wonder if that is reasonable. Are other makes of TV likely to be any better? Could there be an issue with my TV? What alternative solutions are there?

Re: Insufficient wireless signal strength, apparently

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Jun 2014 21:13:10 GMT

Hi there

From your description, it certainly appears to be a Wifi issue - You could confirm this by plugging in a LAN (ethernet) cable to the TV from the router - but as the TV is downstairs, it would mean lumping it upstairs to do so.

However, the solution will be probably be in the form of "Homeplugs". They are available on Amazon : HERE - this will provide a "wired" solution.

Cheers

Re: Insufficient wireless signal strength, apparently

lithoartist — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 07:19:40 GMT

Quinnicus

I thank you for your reply. My ISP suggested a few things I could try such as changing channels and disabling power reduction. My instinct is they would not make the necessary difference. I read many reviews of the Powerline adapters to which your link pointed me and have ordered a pair.

Re: Insufficient wireless signal strength, apparently

lithoartist — Tue, 17 Jun 2014 18:23:43 GMT

Further to my previous post, I have received and tried the Powerline adapters. The broadband speed tests were no better. I took the television into the same room as the router. The speed registered wirelessly was still between two and three Mb/s. Finally, I connected the TV to the router with an ethernet cable. Lo! and behold, the speed was the same! The television had been taken to a repair company who say on-demand TV could be played without cutting out when connected to their router. I had always felt there was something amiss with the TV. Now, I wonder, is it possible my broadband is at fault, though I can't think why?

Re: Insufficient wireless signal strength, apparently

Anonymous — Tue, 17 Jun 2014 18:33:52 GMT

Hi there

When you connected the powerline adapters to the TV and Router - Did you goto the network settings of the TV and set it up again - When doing so, did you choose WIRED instead of wireless??

Also, have you updated the firmware on the TV.

Also, on your PC, goto http://www.speedtest.net and do a speed test of your internet connection - this should indicate how fast your getting.

Cheers

Re: Insufficient wireless signal strength, apparently

lithoartist — Wed, 18 Jun 2014 07:59:49 GMT

Quinnicus

I thank you for your constructive reply.

1. I had not changed the TV setting to wired. I went through Settings>Network>Network Set-up>Set up network connection>Custom>Wired Set-up. The connection was established. The speed test immediately following returned 2.87 Mb/s, however. This is in the same two to three Mb/s range as all previous tests.

2. I checked the software update through Settings>Product Support>Software Update. "Newer version not detected" displayed. The software version is PKG2.100EUA-0002.

3. I used the link you provided for the speed test. It returned 31.19 Mb/s download speed for the connection to my PC. http://speedtest.btwholesale.com/ returned 37.54 Mb/s, consistent with all my previous speed tests since I switched to fibre in January.

Re: Insufficient wireless signal strength, apparently

Anonymous — Wed, 18 Jun 2014 10:24:35 GMT

Hi there

Can you explain how you are doing the speedtest on the TV. I remember someone else had an issue with a web-based speedtest via the TV, and was reporting in-accurate (ill see if I can find that thread again) - is this the case...(see below)?

Can you try using some of the applications like iPlayer, YouTube and various others. Are you experiencing problems playing back video considering that your on a highspeed connection, you shouldnt be experiencing 'buffering' etc.

Cheers

EDIT: This is the thread I was refering to:

http://community.sony.co.uk/t5/televisions/kdl42w829b-slow-download-speeds-using-ethernet-amp-wireless/td-p/1641837

Re: Insufficient wireless signal strength, apparently

lithoartist — Wed, 18 Jun 2014 14:43:00 GMT

Quinnicus

The thread to which you provided the link is interesting. The first part seems so similar to my own situation but differs in the second regarding iPlayer.

1. I had to find broadband speed test checkers that do not require Flash, in order to be able to use them on the TV in the first instance. BandwidthPlace, SpeedOf.Me and Tracert are ones I have used, and BandwidthPlace most of the time.

2. Playing iPlayer is where this all began, as I reported in my first post. I tried iPlayer again yesterday when I had the ethernet cable attached from my router to the TV directly and when the speed test result was still between two and three Mb/s. The screen went blank after five minutes just as it has done always.

I have taken the trouble this afternoon to disconnect my TV once again, carry it upstairs and try it connected by ethernet cable to the router, checking that the Network settings report a wired connection and that it is 'OK'. The result is the same two to three Mb/s. The rotating dots in the upper right corner of the screen with a progress bar below seem to be ever-present, almost.

I have tried both iPlayer and Demand5 this afternoon with a wired connection through the Powerline adapters. iPlayer lasted eight minutes before the screen went blank and Demand5 five minutes before "Whoops! The programme you are trying to watch isn't currently available. Please try again later." appeared.

Re: Insufficient wireless signal strength, apparently

lithoartist — Thu, 19 Jun 2014 13:16:03 GMT

Update

John Lewis, from whom I purchased the TV, arranged for a TV Engineer to attend today. He changed the Primary DNS in Network Set-up from 192.168.1.254, I believe, to 8.8.8.8, Google's server, citing the problem is probably caused by the various servers involved not talking to one another properly. iPlayer did play longer than on any previous occasion but quit after 21 minutes and 28 minutes in the two attempts I made. I am told now by the engineer's company a motherboard might be ordered to replace the existing one.

I see from BandwidthPlace that the server is now Amsterdam, NL instead of London, UK. The latest speed test returned 0.3 Mb/s!

Re: Insufficient wireless signal strength, apparently

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Jun 2014 13:38:05 GMT

Thanks for the update Lithoartist.

Interesting turn of events - I wouldnt have picked a hardware fault to be honest, but it certainly is looking that way.

Good luck with everything, and please post back, as I am interested in knowing how it all turns out.

Cheers

Re: Insufficient wireless signal strength, apparently

lithoartist — Thu, 19 Jun 2014 17:31:56 GMT

Quinnicus

I appreciate your continuing interest.

I know so little about these matters but my feeling is the same as yours. I omitted to write in my previous post that the TV had been taken away by another repair company and returned with no fault found when using its internet connection. That is what prompted my original post because it had been suggested by someone else it could be a signal issue. I asked this second repair company if it could bring a smart TV. I felt that might shed light on the matter. The engineer telephoned a moment ago and told me it would not prove anything unless it was the same or similar Sony model. He is going to 'Q and A' Sony to determine whether it has any knowledge of this issue.

Re: Insufficient wireless signal strength, apparently

Anonymous — Fri, 20 Jun 2014 10:50:12 GMT

HI Lithoartist

Out of curiosity - What type of Router do you have? Is it a standard ISP one (which ISP and which router?) , or ??

One other thing : Try this DNS address : 213.138.101.252 (its UK based from http://www.opennicproject.org/ )

Try it on both wireless and wired and see what happens.

Cheers.

Re: Insufficient wireless signal strength, apparently

lithoartist — Fri, 20 Jun 2014 12:40:52 GMT

Quinnicus

My ISP is Plusnet and my router is TG582n FTTC.

I thank you for your suggestion: I shall try the DNS address you provided and inform you of the result.

Re: Insufficient wireless signal strength, apparently

lithoartist — Fri, 20 Jun 2014 20:49:07 GMT

Quinnicus

Results with the Primary DNS you suggested were 20 minutes wired and 23 minutes wireless before the screen went blank.

Re: Insufficient wireless signal strength, apparently

Anonymous — Sat, 21 Jun 2014 09:17:41 GMT

Oh well - thats a shame.

Unfortunately I have no other idea's im afraid. The only suggestion I have is for you to report the TV as a hardware fault. You said that JL engineers might replace one of the boards - contact them again.

Cheers

Re: Insufficient wireless signal strength, apparently

lithoartist — Mon, 23 Jun 2014 18:57:07 GMT

Quinnicus

Update

I received a telephone call today from the company handling my TV repair who had received a response from Sony. Sony is aware of the issue, apparently, which can be caused by a change in the interface? It is working to produce a software 'over the air' update by week ending 30th June to all affected televisions. The person who spoke with me was not sure whether this might be done through the aerial so that I would not know specifically when it had been updated, or by a conventional software update message on the screen.

I apologise if I do not have all the terminology correct.

Re: Insufficient wireless signal strength, apparently

Anonymous — Mon, 23 Jun 2014 21:22:50 GMT

Thanks for the update - interesting indeed. However at least you now know where you stand, and that its a known problem, and a fix is due shortly.