This topic

TV connection dropping

poppy21 — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 15:02:17 GMT

Hi there,

A few weeks ago my Samsung TV started to lose Wi-Fi connection and now it is happening constantly. I can get it to connect to the hub and it will either stay connected for a few minutes or disconnected immediately.

I called BT and they sent me a new router which I have setup today. This was working fine and I was able to stream Netflix for approx 10 minutes before the connection dropped again and now the same thing is happening.

I don't believe this to be an issue with the TV because I have been able to use my phone as a Wi-Fi hot spot and the connection works just fine.

Can anyone shed any light?

Thanks in advance.

Re: TV connection dropping

poppy21 — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 15:04:16 GMT

Just to add the Wi-Fi signal is strong and the PS4 works absolutely fine as do all my other devices...

Re: TV connection dropping

c64z86 — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 15:07:48 GMT

How far away is the Smart Hub 2 to the Smart TV? Is it close enough that you can use Ethernet instead?

Also how congested are your WiFi channels? Have you tried changing the WiFi channel to one that is free?

Have you made sure it's connecting to 5ghz instead of 2.4ghz?

Re: TV connection dropping

poppy21 — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 15:41:40 GMT

Thanks for your reply, the hub is upstairs and there is no port to plug it in downstairs so I can't try the ethernet cable.

It is connected to 5ghz.

There are no new wi-fi devices nothing has changed in 3 years it has just stopped randomly working. Do you mean to change the wi-fi channel in the hub settings?

Re: TV connection dropping

c64z86 — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 15:57:11 GMT

Yes, I mean try to change the 5ghz channel in the Hub's settings from auto, to one that is not so congested.

You can download a wifi scanner app from your phone's app store to see which wifi channels are free or congested around you.

If they are all in use, just try out the one that is the least congested.

If it doesn't offer up an option to change the channel, try clicking "rescan" instead.

If that doesn't work, I would suggest to try out changing the Wifi mode next:

What is the wireless mode feature on my BT Smart Hub? | BT Help

If none of these suggestions do the trick, please put everything back on auto and the default modes and report back here and we'll see what we can do next. Maybe someone else will have a better suggestion.

Please also note that changing these settings will cause your other wifi devices to disconnect while the new settings are applied.

Re: TV connection dropping

Anonymous — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 17:09:46 GMT

5GHz is faster but has less range than 2.4GHz, so I'd be inclined to turn 5GHz off on the router to force it onto 2.4GHz & how it performs then. The down side is that 2.4GHz is more congested than 5GHz so if still an issue, try a WiFi analyser as suggested above.

Re: TV connection dropping

OldDog — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 17:23:17 GMT

Wow @poppy21

I say Wow, because I was coming online report something that sounds remarkably similiar.
For the last 11 years, my Samsung television hasn't moved, nor has my personal computer or router. The router is in the study, wired to the Fibre Broadband via the standard half metre cable. My PC is wired to the router, using a half metre LAN cable. The TV is in the lounge, with just one wall between it and the router.

It has worked this way for years, without problems. Living in the countryside, we frequently have short power cuts; it happens, we're used to it, but about 10 days ago the power cut did something really unusual.

Since that incident, if someone is playing games on the PC, whoever is watching the TV can't use online apps like BBC iPlayer or Netflix. As soon as the gaming stops, the online apps become available.

I couldn't have expected as quick a reply, but it seems @c64z86 has answered my question, before I even asked it 🤣 I must try this solution, although I still don't understand how a power cut could have instigated the problem!

Thanks

Re: TV connection dropping

poppy21 — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 18:50:06 GMT

@c64z86 Thanks for your tips - I have tried all of these as well as @Anonymous suggestion to disable the 5ghz band and neither have worked. The TV was streaming for about 50 minutes earlier and then everything disconnected again and now it connects a few minutes randomly sometimes up to 10 minutes and disconnects again.

I have used a few mobile wi-fi scanners and all the channels appear congested.

If it is any help when I stream on the Playstation everything works fine and it streams fine.

When I connected the TV to my mobile phone 5G and stream it works fine.

Just not sure what else to try? Any more tips would be so gratefully appreciated.

Re: TV connection dropping

c64z86 — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 19:40:34 GMT

I've got one more suggestion!

Is it's firmware up to date? An option for updating the firmware can usually be found in the system settings of the TV. Are all the apps up to date? You might be able to get a connection long enough to download the updates, if it finds any.

Apart from that, I don't know what else to try, short of trying another router in place of the SH2, I'm sorry.

If you do get another router, and you are sure that you do not live near any radar stations or airports, you could get one that supports the DFS channels. These wifi channels are higher than the usual 5ghz channels you will find on many routers, including the SH2, so they are less congested than those. But even that is not much help if you live near any radar as those channels work in the same frequency. Even then it's not a guarantee as Wifi is just a fickle beast by nature.

Re: TV connection dropping

OldDog — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 19:38:14 GMT

So I've tried switching wireless modes from 1 to 2; tried switching wireless channels on both modes, but to no avail. I can log into a game online, but not play it and the television still works, but as soon as I start playing a game, nope it starts the buffer wheel on the televison. Which in my mind, shouldn't happen with 500Mb Fibre Broadband. I'm totally lost 😫

Re: TV connection dropping

poppy21 — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 19:40:25 GMT

AHH thank you 🙂

Unfortunately I have tried this when I first stared experiencing the issues. I have factory reset the TV and used my mobile as a hotspot to download the latest updates so I don't think it's an issue with the TV as it streams just fine when connected wirelessly to my phone 5G network.

I received replacement router today and it hasn't solved the issue.

I will have to call BT again and see what they say will keep this posted updated incase it helps anyone else 🙂

Re: TV connection dropping

c64z86 — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 19:45:08 GMT

Do you have a laptop? In windows you can create a Mobile hotspot from your current Wifi network.

It won't be as fast as Wifi from a router... but it is a workaround until you get to the bottom of this problem, and you won't have to eat into any of your 5G data!

If you have Windows 11 it should be an option in settings, I think Windows 10 has it too.

@OldDog Maybe you can try this one too?

Re: TV connection dropping

OldDog — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 22:44:23 GMT

I don't have a laptop. I still cant get my head around the fact that someone else had more or less the same problem at the same time. Uncanny!

I tried contacting BT directly. I do not like the text service with the engineer; I told him that. It wasn't a fluid chat where I could read his reply and respond at the same time, it kept flickering from window to window.

I told him the pc was being used for games at the time, it was wired to the the router, and the tv was wireless (it isn't dual band either, only works on 5GHz) and then he asked me if I could move my games console closer to the router... I don't have a games console!! Sorry, I lost the will to carry on with the conversation at that point. It used to be you could talk to an engineer on the phone, from your own area - I loved that service.
On the other hand, talking to someone whose accent I don't understand, when I have hearing issues, is very frustrating - I've been there too in the past.

I spoke to a friend who suggested it might be a bandwidth issue? I'm aware of bandwidth but I don't know enough about it to know if that could be a reason.

The BT engineer tested my equipment before I lost the will to carry on, and said that Host 3 was low. What on earth is Host 3? How do I find that? In the router presumably? I did download a wifi scanner, but Im an old dog, and you cant teach an old dog new tricks - I was lost, past the point of scanning and finding 5 devices - my PC, my printer, my tv and 2 mobile phones - although I couldn't see which was which.

I need a slate, some chalk and an abacus.

PS - Checkin gthe firmware on the Samsung TV was the very first thing I did. The apps work fine, provided the PC isnt being used for gaming

Re: TV connection dropping

OldDog — Sat, 24 Feb 2024 11:59:35 GMT

So I have now reset the router back to factory settings, which has removed all connections and settings, and tried that to see if it worked. The Samsung television still refuses to permit online streaming when the pc is being used, but I can watch BBC iPlayer when the pc isnt being used.

Is it possible that the power cut has in some way damaged the router? It has to be something to do with that power cut, because this has only happened since then.

Re: TV connection dropping

c64z86 — Sat, 24 Feb 2024 15:12:49 GMT

I'm really not sure sorry, this is really at the end of the limits of what I know. I think maybe it could have? Not an actual power cut no, but one caused by a storm maybe.

Can you borrow another router to try? You will need the PPPoE password of bthomehub@btbroadband.com and password BT to use it.

If another router does not work, I really do not know sorry. It might indicate that more than the router itself was damaged during the power cut/overload, and it might be up to BT now to fix it.

If it does work, you might be able to get a new Smart Hub 2 from BT. I would also suggest getting an uninterruptible power supply and plugging the router and your most precious devices into it, so that they do not get damaged in further power cuts.

Re: TV connection dropping

OldDog — Sat, 24 Feb 2024 19:23:42 GMT

I've raised it with BT via a complaint. I have read several forums, followed instructions to the letter; it makes no difference. It's actually getting worse, it's now affecting other devices like the iPad. The iPad runs really slowly unless I stand right beside the router. That suggests to me that something is affecting the wifi, for some unknown reason.

Re: TV connection dropping

poppy21 — Wed, 06 Mar 2024 15:52:29 GMT

Hi,

An update on my issue - having exhausted all options I ended up contacting Samsung tech support. The engineer was over to remote access my TV and not sure what he did but he fixed the issue.

So it turns out it was something to do with the TV not liking BT WiFi - not sure how or why but if anyone experiences similar issue to mine I hope this information is useful to you.

Re: TV connection dropping

OldDog — Wed, 06 Mar 2024 22:12:17 GMT

As it transpires it was nothing to do with my TV! A BT Guide contacted me and despite me having factory reset my router from my end, it seems that when he did it from his end, something changed. It may well be associated with the power cut I had, and whatever I was doing at the time, or it may just have been coincidental, but whatever was reset when BT reset the router, it has worked since.

That maybe doesn't help anyone else to know what caused it though.