Poor quality recordings over internet

[Hennypenny18]

Using the BT Box I have recently noticed bad pixelation and sound skipping occasionally on live TV and on some recordings, so bad as to be unwatchable. I've tried rebooting the router and also resetting the Wi-Fi connection with the BT box - this seems to temporarily solve the problem but it recurs. I often notice this around 5pm but this might be co-incidental. I can be streaming Netflix via the BT box and lose internet connection. However as we have an android TV with its own apps, I can change input and continue watching Netflix through the TV itself. This makes me wonder whether the temporary loss of Wi-Fi is only on the 5gHz band, as the TV and other iOS devices don't seem to be affected at the same time.

Last week I called BT and their solution was to send a replacement EE box which is now set up, but the problem remains the same.

We have Full Fibre 500 Complete Broadband. The router is in the hall about 8m away from the BT Box in the lounge room and the BT box says the Wi-Fi signal is moderate. 

Would the picture and recording quality be stabilized by connecting the EE box by ethernet cable to a BT Wifi extender? I also wonder about splitting the 2.4 and 5GHz bands on the router (as I believe I should now be able to do) but when logged into the Hub Manager this option is not available to me.

I would appreciate advice from an engineer and feedback from other members.

[rbz5416 · Accepted solution]

First thing to try is a temporary wired ethernet connection. Whilst inconvenient, it will prove beyond doubt whether the issue is the the WiFi. If it is, you can then look at methods of resolving it. First of which would probably be to disable automatic channel selection for the 5GHz band & move away from channel 36.

If you have the SH2 then SSID's can't be split.

[Hennypenny18]

Thanks for the advice, I'm on Amazon now to look for a long ethernet cable - would a cat 6/ 6a be advisable? I don't want to spend a load of money on what might be a one-use item but want to make sure that the ethernet 'test' result is valid and doesn't fail due to the wrong cable.

[rbz5416]

Even a lowly Cat 5 (100Mb) would be sufficient, as I doubt the Pro Box has a gigabit connection because it could never use it. But a Cat 5e or above probably best for future use.

[Siwalker75]

Exactly the same issues here. Doesn't matter if tv box is connected to wireless or wired connection.

It's so bad at times that I've given up watching on the box and using the app instead.

[Hennypenny18]

To update, while waiting for the Ethernet cable I moved some things around and respositioned the EE Box as near and as unobtructed as possible in respect to the router. I can tentatively report an improvement in a couple of recordings since, but not evidence enough to close the issue. I will monitor and try the cable if the problem remains. 

[Midnight_Voice]

@Hennypenny18 

Also ensure to use well insulated cables to and from the box, aerial, HDMI, etc., and/or keep them well separated, so the signals in one cable can’t interfere with the signals in another.

[Hennypenny18]

On Saturday and Sunday this weekend just gone, my partner twice complained of the EE Box picture / sound breaking up and on both occasions I had gone upstairs to play guitar through a Bluetooth amp (Katana air) - I don't usually practice on the weekends when other people are at home. I had previously assumed from advice I found online that since the amp was in another room on another floor (away from both router and EE-Box) that it could not be the cause of the TV disruption... and I couldn't manually replicate the problem when I experimented using the amp and guitar in the same room while the TV was on.

As of today the EE box is now wired, I set it to record a program while I practised guitar just now and have found a pristine non-pixelated recording. 

I've just done a very specific search regarding Katana Air and Wi-Fi interference and and found a few posters asking the same question i.e. why do they seem to lose Wi-Fi after playing guitar? While this amp does connect to other devices via Bluetooth to e.g. stream music, apparently the transmitter that plugs into the guitar jack in lieu of a cable is 2.4 ghz and I guess this is what might be interfering - but why would it affect only the 5ghz signal / EE box? 

I am interested in the experts' knowledge of this phenomenon and whether there are any solutions (other than simply not using the Katana amp) that mean I could put the EE box back to Wi-Fi - it's not impossible but will be a bit of work to route the ethernet cable around the door and walls from hallway to TV box.

[rbz5416]

My Xvive wireless setup has a number of different channels but I can't see any option for that on the Katana, so it looks like that's fixed.

You didn't answer as to whether or not you have a SH2. If you don't, the splitting the SSIDs would be worthwhile. Either way, try changing the WiFi channel of the 5GHz band. It's probably set to auto & defaulted to channel 36, so it would be worth experimenting with different channels.

Another option to possibly explore would be connecting the Box to the Hub via powerline adapters.

Worst case is you stop using the Katana's transmitter & revert to ye olde cable.

[Hennypenny18]

Thanks Guru - yes I do have the SH2 - just logged into it now and can see that the 2.4 and 5ghz are currently set to 'SMART' 1 and 44 respectively. I may end up sticking with the ethernet cable to hopefully ensure a better quality connection / picture but otherwise will experiment with different channels on the router.

What still confounds me is that if the Katana transmitter uses a 2.4ghz signal why only the EE box on the 5ghz wifi is affected. 

Anyway, thanks all for the advice, I will leave open for a few days while I monitor now that the box is connected via ethernet and hopefully then can close this issue as resolved.