BT SPORT App on AppleTV 4K (Gen 1) Quality Issues

[Popeye13_Official]

I was presented with an update for the AppleTV 4K around a week ago and as usual, installed it, and since then, i've had a constant deterioration of quality out of no where when trying to watch something live.

It now takes an age to go to full HD (Previously it was full HD almost immediately), and then will last around 2-3mins before it plummets into something resembling frosted glass and then fluctuates over less than a minute between quality and never settles. It usually takes a device reboot to stop it, but that doesn't always prevent it. I've had to go Chromecast Ultra to watch BT Sport.

I'm experiencing no issues at all on any other application (Amazon prime 4K & HDR, Now TV 1080p with 50fps, Disney+ in 4K & HDR and non have any issues of any sort with buffering or quality fluctuations)

EE broadband (Fibre Plus) which can and does support multiple devices streaming at once and before last weeks app update, BT Sport wasn't an issue in that mix (Household of two, so its never usually got multiple devices streaming at once, but when it does, its absolutely fine)

(Also just run a speed test on the Apple TV:  Ping 10ms - Download 47.21Mb/s - Upload 7.70Mb/s)

Any help would be appreciated.

[DarrenDev]

I've asked if the Apple TV dev lead can confirm whether there were any changes that could cause this.

In the meantime, could you please send me a DM with your BT ID, so that I can check your account stats?

[Popeye13_Official]

DM sent.

Much obliged, hopefully they can shed some light on this.

[DarrenDev]

I've confirmed with the dev lead that no changes have been made that would cause anything like you're describing.
Checking your account stats, I can see you experienced a drop in quality on Friday evening, but then it was up back to normal again last night. I can only guess it was a temporary glitch or interference on your wifi or broadband?

[Popeye13_Official]

Hi, thanks for getting back to me.

I've not made any changes or moved anything. Its all as it was weeks ago when BT Sport alongside my other services worked like clockwork.

I'll keep a monitor on it and hope it was just a off few days, somewhere.

Thanks again

[Popeye13_Official]

Im getting the quality fluctuations right now, on BT Sport 1 HD, where its dropping to SD and dropping to 25fps. Im the only one on the network tonight, as the Mrs is at work late, so it isn't a bandwidth strangle, and ive not long watched a 4K-HDR movie on Disney+, which was faultless...

I have to reiterate, this has only begun since the last Apple TV update and id say is pretty clear isn't a glitch. (Switched to Chromecast Ultra)

[DarrenDev]

Movies aren't a fair comparison I'm afraid, as the app is able to buffer to full capacity - so any fluctuations in speed would be smoothed over.  Apple TV only keeps up to 24 seconds of live video in the buffer, so can be more susceptible to temporary speed fluctuations.

Also, I've checked your stats for the last 30 days and I see your average bitrate has on occasion been a lot worse than the last few days.

I don't wish to sound argumentative or dismissive, and I can't/won't say that there definitely isn't an issue with either the app or our content, however all signs at the moment point to there not being an issue.  Especially given no-one else is reporting anything, and also we haven't changed anything in the app in this area.  I've also been reassured by the dev lead that we have no control over the streaming or ABR behaviour - Apple manages all this itself at the OS level.

One other thought - could the recent issues possibly coincide with putting up Christmas decorations?  Lights are notorious for causing radio interference.

[Popeye13_Official]

Nothing you say is argumentative or dismissive; your help and time is appreciated in this forum by many as you go above and beyond to help.

Its funny you mention Xmas lights, as i did have a think about that, and as the plug is also a self-contained transformer, its possible thats causing some issues, so i moved it. While it wasn't close to the router or input cables, i moved it anyway, but had no effect.

I went as far as to entirely reset my router (Back to factory settings) and then did the same with my Apple TV, as last night, trying to watch Arsenal West Ham was dire.... I left it a while when it plummeted to frosted-glass quality, but it never tried to back up to full HD, and thats when i went to Chromecast and took the Apple TV back to factory-settings and reinstalled everything again. Been watching The Ashes this morning and been stable but we'll see tonight when Liverpool Vs Newcastle is on. (Speeds are still stable still according to the BT Wholesale website when i run the speed test, so i know whats coming in isn't the issue, its somewhere after that but can't find what, as yet)

Sorry for the essay . . . .

[DarrenDev]

If you were on BT Broadband I'd be able to monitor your line and confirm performance/reliability, however I'm guessing you're not?

From our end, your player looked pretty variable last night:

Time	Speed
18:57:22 - 20:25:59	7.69 Mbps
20:25:59 - 20:26:08	1.86 Mbps
20:26:08 - 20:39:39	7.69 Mbps
20:39:39 - 20:40:25	1.86 Mbps
20:40:25 - 20:40:31	7.69 Mbps
20:40:31 - 20:40:42	1.86 Mbps
20:40:42 - 20:43:23	346 Kbps

Your stats for the cricket this morning show it was pretty awful for the first 7 minutes (worse than above), but then at 9:20 it stabilised and was solid at max speed for the next 2.5 hours.  Can you think of anything that could have changed at 9:20?  Any appliances that turned off maybe?

[Popeye13_Official]

(Broadband is EE)

I can't think of anything. Our boiler wasn't on this morning as it was being serviced at 10am and they needed it cool, so it can't be that (And would have been long before this last week+) There's been no new devices or appliances come into the home or join the network, and both personal laptops don't have bit torrent client's and no games consoles either, all of which can and do devour available bandwidth.

Wondering if this could be a channel crowding issue? (2.4Ghz & 5Ghz broadcast channels from the Wifi)