Pixelated TV image

[Caboose1231]

Hi

 

For some time now, when I'm watching TV, the image gets pixelated for a few minutes before going back to normal quality (which is still quite crappy, but reasonable). I'm watching TV through the official application from my TV provider on my Apple TV 4K (A2843). 

 

My network setup is: Eurodocsis 3.1 (modem, obliged to use by my provider) -> Cat 7 -> two gigabit switches -> Cat 6 -> Linksys EA8300 configured as AP -> Cat 6 -> Apple TV.

 

The problem gets worse when there's heavy traffic on my home network but also appears when there's nothing more than some telemetry signal from a few devices. I have no problem streaming 4K movies from my NAS in the basement to the TV in my living room. The modem's config panel has no QoS settings. Is there something I can do?

 

Thanks in advance!

[emosun]

have you troubleshooted to eliminate variables like just plugging the tv right into the modem or simplifying it's route to the modem or turning other devices off etc....?

 

[Donut417]

9 minutes ago, Caboose1231 said:

Is there something I can do?

Well because it's Docsis service, it could be just an overloaded node. Meaning that too many people in the given area are connected and using the service, so you dont get the best service. The fact it happens when you dont have a heavy load on your network makes me think it's your provider. Do you have any issues with the internet disconnecting? 

 

Also not sure how European TV works. Here in the US we have Over the Air TV channels (free if you use an antenna) and Cable/Satellite TV channels (Have to have cable or satellite service). Now the cable and satellite providers do carry the Over the Air channels (They have to pay the stations to be able to do it). I mention this, because over the air TV is not very reliable. Even on cable TV I've seen the OTA channels cut in and out. 

[Caboose1231]

22 minutes ago, emosun said:

have you troubleshooted to eliminate variables like just plugging the tv right into the modem or simplifying it's route to the modem or turning other devices off etc....?

 

I don't have a practical solution to directly connect my Apple TV to my modem (I don't have an ethernet cable that's long enough to cover the distance between my living room and the modem in my basement). I did however turned off al other devices on my local network off, which didn't help. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

19 minutes ago, Donut417 said:

Well because it's Docsis service, it could be just an overloaded node. Meaning that too many people in the given area are connected and using the service, so you dont get the best service. The fact it happens when you dont have a heavy load on your network makes me think it's your provider. Do you have any issues with the internet disconnecting? 

 

Also not sure how European TV works. Here in the US we have Over the Air TV channels (free if you use an antenna) and Cable/Satellite TV channels (Have to have cable or satellite service). Now the cable and satellite providers do carry the Over the Air channels (They have to pay the stations to be able to do it). I mention this, because over the air TV is not very reliable. Even on cable TV I've seen the OTA channels cut in and out. 

My internet is stable (I get the promised maximum speed by my provider, no packet loss and a stable ping between 10 and 20 ms when pinging to google.com). 

 

In my country (Belgium), until recently, the TV signal was streamed using Coax to 99% of the population. The other 1% is satellite (people living in more remote area's of the country). We're not allowed anymore to install antenna's on our homes (and even if we did, there's no signal to capture anymore; it's been killed off somewhere in the '90's). Nowadays, almost all TV signal is streamed over internet (mostly fiber connections, some Ethernet). The coax signal was stable and delivered reasonable quality (1080p on all channels with an ok image quality). The new internet-based solution seems to throttle very quickly...

 

Thanks for your help!

[Donut417]

1 minute ago, Caboose1231 said:

The new internet-based solution seems to throttle very quickly...

It might be on your providers end if the internet is stable. I have noticed that some time live TV streamed over the Internet can be hit or miss. Netflix had issues during that big boxing event. I would maybe reach out to the provider. It could be a known issue or they might have some troubleshooting steps we are not thinking of. 

 

 

[Falcon1986]

@Caboose1231

 

Does this behaviour occur if you're watching YouTube watching the highest resolution that your connection should be able to manage without buffering?

 

I agree with what was said before about the TV provider probably being the issue. In my experience where ISPs provide TV service, the TV experience is definitely better in quality than say over 10 years ago, but interfaces are slow and you'll frequently get dynamic resolution changes if the speed changes. Fortunately, this doesn't  noticeably affect internet activity since the signal passes through a different VLAN on their gateway device and uses separate authentication on the fiber network.