[SOLVED] Is my network at fault

cgott42

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I'm having an issue with streaming - that I THINK(?) is due to my networking setup -
My setup is below, and the issue is during sports - there is EXTREME motion blur (not nitpicking here - w/o exaggeration it can look like a 1990's video game. When the action stops - the picture is crystal clear, when it moves it's blurry
However, when there is 4k sports (e.g. Youtube, or occasion Fox game) - there is no problem

To narrow down the cause:
TV/Projector - I have tried a Bomaker Polaris trichoma laser UST projector and returned it thinking the projector was at fault, then bought a Sony A8H OLED which people say has a great processor- and same issue.
Streaming Device - I've tried using the Apple 4k TV (2017) and the built in apps on the Sony - same thing
Internet - Optimum gigabit - with the streaming and TV wired ethernet connections, I've done Ookla speed tests and it's usually 800+ Mbps, and at least 500Mbps, jitter is between 2.0-3.5, and ping is about 4ms (sometimes 10)
Apps- Same issue on NBA, NFL, YoutubeTV apps

I have a Arris CM8200 Cable Modem --> wired connection to deco M9 + router --> wired connection to switch --> wired connection to TV, Apple 4k , etc
All cables are cat 5e gigabit or cat 6
I also tried bypassing the switch - same issue (Arris CM8200 Cable Modem --> wired connection to deco M9 + router --> wired connection to Apple 4k)
I've also tried various motion compensation settings on the Sony and Polaris on/off, low/high and same issue

Any idea - I'm desparate??
 
Solution
If I read this correctly you are streaming something from the internet directly to the display device. You are not for example using a pc to get the data from the internet and then trying to send that to a display device.

In general speedtest is very good but it in someways can mislead you since you can get different results testing to different servers. Your number though indicate that your connection is very good. I would try some other servers rather than letting the program pick them. It is not so much the speed but you are looking to see if there is
more jitter or if you see actual stalls in the download graph.

Although I doubt it will make a difference try to remove the router completely and hook to the modem. You...
If I read this correctly you are streaming something from the internet directly to the display device. You are not for example using a pc to get the data from the internet and then trying to send that to a display device.

In general speedtest is very good but it in someways can mislead you since you can get different results testing to different servers. Your number though indicate that your connection is very good. I would try some other servers rather than letting the program pick them. It is not so much the speed but you are looking to see if there is
more jitter or if you see actual stalls in the download graph.

Although I doubt it will make a difference try to remove the router completely and hook to the modem. You might have to reboot the modem since it tends to lock the very first mac address it sees after a power cycle. This is to eliminate the router as the cause. I suspect you will see no difference but these mesh routers tend to have more issues because they have many more features and tend to have more bugs.

This is made more complex to troubleshoot if the device you are using are all "smart" tv devices. They are very limited compared to a PC in their ability to run tests. Do you have the same issue when you use a PC. I assume if you put some kinda of video on a USB stick and then play that it works fine ?
Can you play media directly from your pc to the tv using say a HDMI cable.

What this looks like if it really is a network problem is maybe you are getting packet loss but only when it is under load. You have more than enough bandwidth, streaming video actually uses very little, most time well under 50mbps. Your latency is ok assuming you are not trying to watch video from another country.
You could try to leave a constant ping run to some ip like 8.8.8.8 while the video is running and having problems. If the ping command is consistent with no very large spikes (like over 100ms) and no loss then it looks like your network is ok and it is more complex than say the line to your house is taking errors.
 
Solution

cgott42

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If I read this correctly you are streaming something from the internet directly to the display device. You are not for example using a pc to get the data from the internet and then trying to send that to a display device.

In general speedtest is very good but it in someways can mislead you since you can get different results testing to different servers. Your number though indicate that your connection is very good. I would try some other servers rather than letting the program pick them. It is not so much the speed but you are looking to see if there is
more jitter or if you see actual stalls in the download graph.

Although I doubt it will make a difference try to remove the router completely and hook to the modem. You might have to reboot the modem since it tends to lock the very first mac address it sees after a power cycle. This is to eliminate the router as the cause. I suspect you will see no difference but these mesh routers tend to have more issues because they have many more features and tend to have more bugs.

This is made more complex to troubleshoot if the device you are using are all "smart" tv devices. They are very limited compared to a PC in their ability to run tests. Do you have the same issue when you use a PC. I assume if you put some kinda of video on a USB stick and then play that it works fine ?
Can you play media directly from your pc to the tv using say a HDMI cable.

What this looks like if it really is a network problem is maybe you are getting packet loss but only when it is under load. You have more than enough bandwidth, streaming video actually uses very little, most time well under 50mbps. Your latency is ok assuming you are not trying to watch video from another country.
You could try to leave a constant ping run to some ip like 8.8.8.8 while the video is running and having problems. If the ping command is consistent with no very large spikes (like over 100ms) and no loss then it looks like your network is ok and it is more complex than say the line to your house is taking errors.
Is there a way to plug the TV or streaming device directly into the modem (and bypass the Deco mesh router to see if that's the issue)?
I tried simply plugging the TV/Streamer ethernet cable directly into the modem and it didn't work. Would this direct connection work if I rebooted the modem?
 
It should. The tv does not really know if it is hooked to your router or the ISP router...behind the modem.

It is highly likely just rebooting the modem will make it work. You should be able to reboot the cable modem and the very first device you plug in will get a IP address. You will have to reboot it again when you go back to the router.
 

cgott42

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rebooted (held the reboot button for 3 seconds, waited for all of the lights to flash)and after the reboot plugged in the cable which is connected to the Apple tV - no internet connection on the Apple TV
 
Last edited:
That is very strange. Can you see on the tv what IP you were given if anything.

Now lets assume that you have the same problem connected directly to the modem. That would imply that the problem is more likely with the feed. Does it only do it on live feeds or will it also do it on something like netflix or some 4k youtube videos. Live feeds the problem could be on the transmitter side. Maybe try one of the gaming live feeds on twitch or youtube if those work with the tv. Those are somewhat different because there is a couple second buffer so what is see is delayed. Live sports tends to not delay it as much but that makes the quality not as good. This though depends a lot on where the feed is coming from they all work
a bit different.
 

cgott42

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That is very strange. Can you see on the tv what IP you were given if anything.

Now lets assume that you have the same problem connected directly to the modem. That would imply that the problem is more likely with the feed. Does it only do it on live feeds or will it also do it on something like netflix or some 4k youtube videos. Live feeds the problem could be on the transmitter side. Maybe try one of the gaming live feeds on twitch or youtube if those work with the tv. Those are somewhat different because there is a couple second buffer so what is see is delayed. Live sports tends to not delay it as much but that makes the quality not as good. This though depends a lot on where the feed is coming from they all work
a bit different.
I rebooted and connected it to the TV (instead of Apple TV streamer) and it connected
Unfortunately - same issue - ruling out issues with the router or switch (I even tried a different cat 5e cable to rule that out)
In addition I tested with another TV - (TCL 75" 4k 75S434 ) - same issue (making it 3 TV's showing the same issue)
and retested turning off all motion settings - same issue
I also tried you tube (i.e. a non live feed) and same issue
  1. that leaves the ISP or modem
  2. I'd like to test with a USB file - how do I download / obtain a sports clip 1080p file?
 
This is very strange if a youtube video does this. When you watch a pre recorded video it is already rendered to optimum frame rates since they can take as long as they need between frames while they are making the video. After it is done it is a very simple stream of data that is in effect copied off the storage media and sent over the network. In addition there is a buffer that can be actually be minutes in length so if some packet it damaged it can resend the data well before it needs to be displayed. The actually could allow you to completely download the file since it is really just a file transfer but they don't want to make it easy for people to steal the videos.

This is very different than live video especially sports that is very hard to get good encoding between frames because of the fast motion and not having to skip frames. In addition most people do not want a extra 5 minute delay added to ensure data can be re transmitted if it is damaged in transit.

I don't know where you can get a sports clip. There are places you can download 4k movie trailers. There likely is other test video. Partially it is going to be finding files that your tv supports. I have not done it with modern tv but it was very common to rip blueray dvd since blueray tends to be the least compressed and best quality you can get.

Still this does not make a lot of sense. Did you do a ping test to see if you are getting packet loss. The loss would have to be huge to affect a pre recorded video because of the buffer it uses.