Netflix - aaargh!

SamSpade

SamSpade

Well-Known Member
PREMO Member
We have - one - room in the house, among our many streaming devices and TVs for which Netflix OFTEN has a hard time maintaining a link. I have no idea why. We have rebooted the router, the TV, whatever, countless times. It makes just no difference. Sometimes it works fine; sometimes it's useless.

I SUSPECT it may have to do with settings for Netflix and how it expects to get data - I've read that you need a minimum of 15 Mbps continually, or it thinks it's lost a connection, and will pause, buffer or otherwise just stop altogether.

Every time I want to watch Netflix on THAT TV - I might as well roll the dice. NO OTHER STREAMING service gives me difficulty.

Is it - possible - it's the TV? It is a Smart TV - a Roku TV - but it is a bit older than all of the others in the house. To my knowledge, no other devices have as much difficulty connecting to Netflix, as this one. I wondered if the Roku embedded in the TV has anything like a cache that needs resetting, but otherwise - I have no clue. This is our main family TV - it's just - annoying. When we get tired of waiting for Netflix, we just go to any of our other streaming options.

Suggestions? Does this happen to you?
 
O

OccamsRazor

Well-Known Member
I have a bedroom TV (older TCL Roku TV) that has the same issues. Maybe not as often as yours but, it does occasionally hang up or buffer. Always says it has a Very Good internet connection. Have an identical "newer" TCL Roku TV that works perfectly. I have resigned to the idea that it is just because it is an older TV. Also, it could be because that older TV takes longer to download and install updates from the manufacturer
 
SamSpade

SamSpade

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PREMO Member
Grumpy said:
Sounds like a weak cable/signal connection to that TV
Click to expand...
That's partly what I think - but - it's not as though the same router doesn't work for the OTHER services. Like Amazon or Disney or Hulu. Just Netflix - and just sometimes. And no one has trouble with it with other devices they bring to the room.

I do wonder however, if the router just - drops or pauses - from time to time.
 
SamSpade

SamSpade

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PREMO Member
OccamsRazor said:
I have a bedroom TV (older TCL Roku TV) that has the same issues. Maybe not as often as yours but, it does occasionally hang up or buffer. Always says it has a Very Good internet connection. Have an identical "newer" TCL Roku TV that works perfectly. I have resigned to the idea that it is just because it is an older TV. Also, it could be because that older TV takes longer to download and install updates from the manufacturer
Click to expand...
I'm thinking that MIGHT be the cause. We have almost exclusively TCL Roku TVs - about five I think - and none of them have problems. But the one that IS - it is the oldest of the bunch. So old, it can't load AppleTV on it. Just won't.
 
O

OccamsRazor

Well-Known Member
SamSpade said:
I'm thinking that MIGHT be the cause. We have almost exclusively TCL Roku TVs - about five I think - and none of them have problems. But the one that IS - it is the oldest of the bunch. So old, it can't load AppleTV on it. Just won't.
Click to expand...
Since TVs are more and more "computerized," they will probably suffer the same fates as older CPUs and cell phones. The older they get, the slower and more "difficult to operate" they will be :sshrug:
 
SamSpade

SamSpade

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PREMO Member
OccamsRazor said:
Since TVs are more and more "computerized," they will probably suffer the same fates as older CPUs and cell phones. The older they get, the slower and more "difficult to operate" they will be :sshrug:
Click to expand...
I was sort of thinking along those lines - that just MAYBE it's the TV itself -

Well - Amazon Prime Day is coming. Something to consider.
 
SamSpade

SamSpade

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PREMO Member
Sneakers said:
Swap TVs. Move a 'known good' to the poor location and vs versa.
Click to expand...
That's a good idea - for testing. I think I will do that.

If that proves it's the TV, I may get a replacement. The offending TV is one of the biggest in the house. But not overly expensive to replace, and I have lots of Amazon credits.
 
SamSpade

SamSpade

Well-Known Member
PREMO Member
Sneakers said:
Swap TVs. Move a 'known good' to the poor location and vs versa.
Click to expand...
Since I was PLANNING to upgrade the TV anyway - I took advantage of Prime Day discounts and several gift cards I had accrued to get a replacement Roku TV.

It worked. Netlfix has been working seamlessly, no pauses, breaks, crashes. Whatever problem the internal Roku device the last TV had, and JUST WITH NETFLIX - it's fine now. Been several days. No hiccups whatsoever.
 
Kyle

Kyle

Beloved Misanthrope
PREMO Member
SamSpade said:
Since I was PLANNING to upgrade the TV anyway - I took advantage of Prime Day discounts and several gift cards I had accrued to get a replacement Roku TV.

It worked. Netlfix has been working seamlessly, no pauses, breaks, crashes. Whatever problem the internal Roku device the last TV had, and JUST WITH NETFLIX - it's fine now. Been several days. No hiccups whatsoever.
Click to expand...
Do those update like the roku devices?

Might have just needed a firmware update.
 
Clem72

Clem72

Well-Known Member
I have owned Rokus since forever. One thing that has been a constant is that they always eventually fail. They continue to update the software well beyond the capabilities of the hardware. In my experience the Netflix app is often one of the first to get flaky as they update their codecs and supported capabilities the most often (color modes, new dolby formats, etc.)

The issue is that these boxes (or TVs) run on very efficient very small CPUs that are able to do what they do because most of the heavy processing is directly supported in hardware rather than in software. So when they technically support H.264 High Profile and VP9 (at 8-bit color space) then Netflix starts using 10-bit to support "HDR!!!" suddenly the processor can't keep up because it has to do all color-space transforms in software instead of hardware. Same when they switch from a supported audio format like Dolby 5.1 to Dolby VISION and now all audio processing has to be done in software.

So I end up having to upgrade my devices every 3 or 4 years.
 
GURPS

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member
Our Samsung TV hasn't had an update in a number of years and Netflix is more that a bit buggy anymore
 
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