Glitchy signal similar times each night

Channels DVR Server
#21

thanks everyone for the help here! so just to only try one thing at a time ( to know what works, what doesn't ) i found i was a few firmware versions behind on our HDHomerun quatro. was good for a couple of days but tonight went all crazy again on us so no luck there

So i know when tested the signal before adding the distribution amp we had signal issues and adding it back in fixed it (at least when i checked). Knowing that boosting a strong signal can add issues like you all said, it sounds like the next step is to move that distribution amp on the other end so its right by the antenna, right? only problem there is i dont think i have an outlet up in that attic for the amp. I did submit another diagnostic report from our shield app a few min ago so maybe support can see something?

#22

As close to the source as practical is where you want the distro amp. That said sometimes you don't have a choice where to put it.
Same goes for the LTE filter. The LTE filter should be in line between the antenna and the cable running to the home.
You could as a test use a different antenna hooked direct to the HDHR - this may or may not work depending on your location.
You may have seen this:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-54239180
Having done all the suggestions you may be in a situation like that described in the article - Just not as severe.

#23

u can get amps that use power over coax. so u can plug in the power adapter to a wall outlet, and run another coax line that is the "power cord" to the amp at its install location.

#24

So interesting observation...... We see this happen a lot at night when we watch the news (really the only thing we watch live.... Everything else is a recording). So I set the news to record and then watched it live. It glitched on us a handful of times (gets pixelated and sounds robotic for a few seconds and when it recovers the audio/video is off by a second or 2). Anyways I made a note the spots when it did that and went back to play the recording ( thinking of it IS the signal or antenna, the recording would have the same blips right?). The recording was perfect so that leaves it down to the client (nvidia shield, network or live player /app). Any ideas what to try next? I've submitted a handful of diagnostics but never hear anything back so not sure what to do next

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#25

Plug the client in with ethernet and try it.

#26

It is already actually ( I have a Google WiFi AP right next to it and have had it hardwired into the bank for a while now since the shield has WiFi issues... And if course have wifi disabled on it to be sure it's using ethernet

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#27

I have a Google WiFi AP right next to it

How close? It's not out of the realm of possibility that interference would be in play - if it's literally inches away, try moving it to a foot or more.

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#28

This is most likely the cause - too close to the WIFI. -EMI- Can you move the client or the WIFI? As far away as possible. Try a different room if possible as a test. I had this problem with 2 different routers. One about six feet separation solved the issue. The current one had to move the router to a different floor. The radios in the newer routers are more powerful/broader footprint.

#29

thats a good idea! so i'm somewhat limited if i'm going to hardwire it since i have to use a Google Wifi AP on the shelf (no way to run a cable to where it is). right now its w/in 6 inches to the Shield so hopefully thats it. I am able to move the AP up 2 shelves (so it would be about 2 1/2 - 3 ft apart and a couple wooden shelves separating them) so i'll give that a try and see if it helps. I do see the Shield lets you pick which wifi band you want to use now which i believe was part of its issues w/ a mesh system (since you couldnt control that originally) so i could fall back to trying that again too. would support have any way to validate if this IS a network issue from the support diags i sent in to let me know if i'm on the right track?

#30

In my case with the first router about 6 feet was the distance needed. With the second router 6 feet wasn't enough, 12 feet wasn't enough so I finally ran a second network cable up to the living room (to use as a return to the switch) and moved the router to behind the TV up there - problem solved. It may be even less than 12 feet but the physical layout puts it 6-8 feet over and 3-6 feet up from where the tuners are.
As a test you could switch back to WiFi on the Shield, if that fixes it I would find a way to provide ethernet to the Shield at that or similar location/distance.
I am not familiar with Google WiFi - on my router I can turn off the WiFi via settings. That could also work as a test if you have that ability.
If your recordings don't show this interference I don't see it being a network issue.
Also the device your viewing on (TV?) could be the victim of the interference - I would definitely start with the Shield and go from there. HDMI cables can also be a victim of interference - I had a real head scratcher trying to find out why a brand new TV&Shield blinked out when a ceiling fan was turned on or off/on/off damn HDMI cable!

#31

thanks for the ideas again! well i guess i'll start w/ this and if it happens i'll try the wifi w/ 5ghz band next (the main router is only 20ft away from the shield so coverage isnt an issue....its something messed up w/ wifi on the shield and mesh wifi setups (or at least in the past it was). really hope its not the HDMI cable since that has to be routed behind a wall :slight_smile:

#32

i should also mention that the shield is only running the channels app for playing content from a different desktop/server that runs channels dvr. so the recordings are not on the shield but actually on the server. so watching a recording is just streaming from the server but live tv must be doing something slightly different

#33

If you haven't changed the defaults, live TV by default is streamed directly from the HDHomeRun to the client, completely bypassing the DVR server. To change this, enable Tuner Sharing on your client device, and live streams will all go through the DVR server first.

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#34

We did not have Tuner Sharing on as you suspected so i'll try turning that on tonight. Moving the AP did not help as we had issues last night again. So on the Tuner sharing, to make sure i'm understanding correctly w/that off right now the Channels app on the Shield is talking directly to the HDHR and doing all its work on the Shield to transcode (bypassing the DVR server completely ) correct? and if i turn Sharing on, the Shield would be pulling that stream from the DVR server instead (which gets it from the HDHR of course first)? i'm not sure if any transcoding or anything needs to happen but maybe the server would handle that then?

#35

Yes, that's mostly correct. Except, no transcoding is happening. (I'm assuming that your Streaming setting for Home is set to Original, which just passes the original stream directly through, no modifications of any sort.)

By default, Tuner Sharing is set to off. This means that each time a live TV stream is requested by your client, the client directly talks to the HDHomeRun tuner, and the HDHR sends the stream straight to your device; the DVR server is bypassed. In fact, the DVR server doesn't even know that your client is watching a live stream.

Correct. Tuner Sharing means that all HDHomeRun streams are directed through the DVR first. This has a disadvantage of introducing an extra hop: whereas before the stream would go from tuner to client, it now has to go from tuner to DVR to client. But, that extra hop can be a benefit down the road:

  • If multiple clients want to watch the same channel live, one a single tuner is used. Without tuner sharing enabled, each client would consume a distinct/extra tuner to view the same channel; but with tuner sharing, only a single tuner is used to feed the DVR, which then shares that single tuner with all of the clients.
  • You can use a single tuner to view a channel live that is currently being recorded. If your DVR is set to record a program, but you want to tune in to watch it live on a client, then the DVR server will send the stream to your client using the same tuner that it is recording from. Without tuner sharing, you client would contact the tuner and request a second/additional stream of the same channel.
  • Visibility in the DVR server. On the DVR server's main Settings page of its web UI, there is an Activity section under the disk usage. Without tuner sharing, this remains blank when you are streaming live TV to a client. But with tuner sharing enabled, the DVR server has knowledge of all streams, so all live streams will be listed. Each client will be identified by its IP address, and which channel number/station is being watched.

No transcoding is necessary, unless you have changed the default streaming quality from Original. But yes, if it is necessary, that would be handled by the DVR.

#36

great thanks! alright so i'm still on a hardwired connection to one of the AP's (3ft away) and switched tuner sharing on and seeing how that goes before i go back to wifi as the next test.

#37

ok another update here.....had the same issues so i removed the AP and went to just Wifi (5ghz) and same thing again so running out of ideas here other than Channels Live TV is the only thing that seems affected (channels pre-recorded content is fine, never has a hiccup, plex live tv is fine, other streaming services ok too)

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#38

Can I have some more diagnostics?

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#39

Sure no problem. I sent in a couple of them at different times so I'll have to try again when it happens again. Should I report here to you after or what's the best way to make sure you know I sent them?

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#40

Yes post here after they're uploaded.