Unstable Signal and Dropped Connections to Smart TV

[JoelDubs]

Hello,

I just moved into my new home and got the same previous ISP to hook up the same modem and internet connection. In the previous home all my devices were on the second floor, a few feet away from the router and in general I had a stable connection across the home. In my new home, which is much bigger, the modem/router sits in a small office room on the first floor, the TV is over 30+ feet away across many walls and stairs, and my 2nd computer is on the second floor over 3+ walls and a ceiling away. On the 2nd floor the computer gets 2 bars, to 3 bars at best, meanwhile my new Smart TV sometimes drops out when I play 1080p videos or 4k UHD videos on YouTube or streaming from Netflix - I get about 4 bars, but slightly changing around the room as I measured with the WiFi analyzer app on my phone. The computer upstairs shows the connection speed always unstable; going from 10, 12, 29, 50 mbps, back down every few seconds.

My ISP provides me 25 mbps, upstairs I receive about 14 mbps average, meanwhile on the same floor around 20 mbps. In terms of the modem/router I have it confirmed that this modem/router's range is only about 20-25 ft, and it is only a 2.4 ghz speed. Clearly upstairs range is the issue, but with 4 bars why would I only receive an unstable connection and dropped connections to the Smart TV?

What I want to know is, is range my biggest issue for streaming HD content over Wi-Fi, or is modem speed?

 

[coupdgras]

Hello,

I just moved into my new home and got the same previous ISP to hook up the same modem and internet connection. In the previous home all my devices were on the second floor, a few feet away from the router and in general I had a stable connection across the home. In my new home, which is much bigger, the modem/router sits in a small office room on the first floor, the TV is over 30+ feet away across many walls and stairs, and my 2nd computer is on the second floor over 3+ walls and a ceiling away. On the 2nd floor the computer gets 2 bars, to 3 bars at best, meanwhile my new Smart TV sometimes drops out when I play 1080p videos or 4k UHD videos on YouTube or streaming from Netflix - I get about 4 bars, but slightly changing around the room as I measured with the WiFi analyzer app on my phone. The computer upstairs shows the connection speed always unstable; going from 10, 12, 29, 50 mbps, back down every few seconds.

My ISP provides me 25 mbps, upstairs I receive about 14 mbps average, meanwhile on the same floor around 20 mbps. In terms of the modem/router I have it confirmed that this modem/router's range is only about 20-25 ft, and it is only a 2.4 ghz speed. Clearly upstairs range is the issue, but with 4 bars why would I only receive an unstable connection and dropped connections to the Smart TV?

What I want to know is, is range my biggest issue for streaming HD content over Wi-Fi, or is modem speed?

You may be looking at a channel / noise situation. The easiest and first remedy is to try changing the wireless channel on your router to 1, 6 or 11 as these are truly non overlapping channels in 2.4 GhZ.

 

[adamwinn]

100% guarantee it's the streaming HD over Wi-Fi that's causing the issue. I suggest changing your Wi-Fi settings to be WPA2+AES (no WPA, no TKIP). Assuming it's a Wireless N device, this can increase the peak connection speed.

Use a tool like inSSIDer to look at the network signal and see if there is a lot of 'noise' on the same wireless channel. 1/6/11 are usually the best choices - so if you are on channel 1 and it's 'crowded', switch to 6 or 11.

Other options:
- Upgrade your wi-fi to a model with higher peak N speeds. 150mbps/300mbps are both quite nice.
- Use powerline networking or ethernet cable to physically extend the network and not have to rely on wifi across so many walls