michail77's profile

Guru

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497 Messages

Saturday, October 2nd, 2010 4:47 PM

Each receiver playing for 5 seconds after channel change then freezes

I'm on day two now.  Yesterday was fine but I started having a problem today with the receivers.  They play for a few seconds after a channel change and then freeze.  If I change channels it then works for a few more seconds.  This only happens on my two non-DVR STBs.

 

My internet connection is fine, getting a solid 23/3 mbps without any packet loss, 20 ms first hop ping.  That's tested using the same CAT5 lines the receivers are on.

 

I also rebooted the DVR.

Guru

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497 Messages

13 years ago

At this point I don't think it's an internal network issue or a WAN issue.  I can stream HD on-demand to the two affected STBs without problem.

 

I'll give support a call but am worried about hoop jumping. 

Guru

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594 Messages

13 years ago

If you haven't contacted support, please see the following thread...
http://utalk.att.com/t5/The-Lounge/my-contact-thread/m-p/142490#M26475

Or if you have called Technical Support and things aren't fixed yet... please send an email to uversecare@att.com. Simply send an email explaining the situation as best as possible with your uVerse account number, a good phone number to be called at, and a good time to be called at as well. If you have any past trouble tickets that you are aware of, include them as well; any extra information is going to make David and Matt's job easier.

Guru

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594 Messages

13 years ago

I believe that On-Demand uses Unicast data packets since the data stream is for you and you only.  So yes, in your case... On-Demand would work.  The normal channels use Multicast data streams whereas On-Demand doesn't.  So this explains why you can watch On-Demand and it works fine.

Guru

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497 Messages

13 years ago

Just got done with level 1 support and am on hold with level 2.

 

We did a disaster recovery and  firmware update along with some basic checks.  

Guru

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497 Messages

13 years ago

It was my own fault :smileyhappy:

 

I had accidentally double hopped the Netgear Gigabit switch through my D-Link DIR-655.

 

I noticed there was some multicast data in the D-Link's stats and remembered what Tom had said about multicast.  I disabled multicast in the D-Link.  After that the STB started to work but with very poor video to the STBs.  That got me to thinking I might have crossed the wiring between the two devices as my intention had been to bypass the D-link for the STBs and use the Netgear gigabit switch only.

 

I'll take this to mean the DIR-655 can't handle the multicasting for U-verse STBs or a combination of it and the switch.

Guru

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594 Messages

13 years ago

It is recommended that if you are to do a complex setup like this, keep computers and STBs separate if at all possible.

 

I know it would be a PITA but if you have more than three STBs (including the DVR), run an Ethernet switch directly off of the RG and plug those STBs into that.  Then, get another Ethernet switch and plug that into the RG and plug only computers (and other wireless access points, like DIR-655) into that.  The idea is to try and keep the STBs and computers on different segments of the network.

 

Yes, most SOHO network switches and routers handle the multicast data that uVerse uses for video very poorly.

Guru

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497 Messages

13 years ago

It was an interesting lesson.  These installations can be so sensitive.  I wonder how many people go go bashing the product without properly diagnosing issues.  TV used to be so simple :smileyhappy:.

 

The setup you described is what I thought I had.  I must made a wrong connection at one point.  Given my setup it was hard to trace and was working good last night.  

 

The Netgear switch appears to be doing a good job.  

 

What is the advantage of multicast?

Guru

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497 Messages

13 years ago

OK, just read up a little.  I guess it sends the data to all the receivers, kind of like an IP broadcast?  

Guru

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594 Messages

13 years ago

Essentially yes, all the STBs in the house receive the same data but only pick out what they want.  So that's why it's sort of important to try and keep STBs and computers on separate segments, a bandwidth crunch can really come about if you don't.

Tutor

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4 Messages

11 years ago

Sorry...wrong thread.

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