I have two antennas in the attic combining to one HDHR. (different towers) I am not using amplifiers and get 100% quality and 97-100% strength on all the 4 OTA networks. Using the Signal GH app, the signal stays solid for many hours, but then goes erratic. The signal stays strong, but the quality drops in mini dropouts to ~78%This causes minor, but irritating blips watching live tv through Channels. This is with good consistent weather. I am thinking it is more of a network thing than an actual signal issue. Could this be the case? If so, how do I chase down the cause?
If the signal strength is fluctuating, then that points to a signal issue, not a network issue. Or am I misunderstanding your question?
I can't give an exact reason why this happens as it can be many different things. When I had this issue I discovered that I was getting LTE/4G interference. For me this would happen around the same time every day.
No idea if this is your problem, but if you can't find the root cause to your issues, the filters are under $20.
Search Amazon for: Channel Master LTE Filter or similar.
Since the signal quality is good for a long time period, then starts fluctuating, it makes me think something else is going on. So I am wondering if the network traffic can make the signal quality look bad even if it is good from the antennas. Perhaps not, but I am grasping at straws. I will go back up into the attic and try reaiming based on quality only.
If you see the signal drop in the Signal GMBH that pretty much rules out any issues on the network side. As somebody else mentioned it may be worth trying an LTE filter. Also, for troubleshooting it’s useful to simplify, so you may want to consider going down to a single antenna and see if the issue remains.
While it could be environmental, that doesn't completely rule out network issues. But more along the lines of interference, not with something on your LAN causing the issues. You may want to try physically moving the HDHR tuners to a different location; other electronic equipment has been known to cause issues with OTA signals. (One user even tracked down an issue with their signal regularly being degraded at a certain time each day to using the microwave to heat water on a regular basis for coffee/tea.)
OK thanks! I will isolate and simplify as much as possible and test from there. I will post back on what I hopefully find.
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If you haven't already I'd suggest you post on the SiliconDust Forum in the HDHomeRun Hardware Setup & Troubleshooting section https://forum.silicondust.com/forum/index.php
I can't eliminate network problems as being your issue, But I have had an absurd(20+) number of HDHR tuners recording at the same time without any network issues.
I would suggest everything posted here is worth investigating but LTE interference is probably the culprit.
I would:
- Relocate the HDHR away from possible interference sources - WiFi/Routers, LED lighting, Microwave, Wireless phone equipment etc
- Install an LTE filter
- Power supplies in HDHR units have been known to cause weird behavior. If you have more than 1 unit you can swap. SD replaced more than 1 for me at no charge.
I am going to order a filter. The signal is rock solid for long periods, then the quality suddenly gets glitchy. Seems like interference from something.
But I want to understand the system better. Am I correct in understanding that if I am watching live tv, then the Channels server only acts to change stations, and does not actually do any work with the stream? Instead the client (Firesticks in my case) gets the stream directly from the HDHR? But If I am recording it, the stream goes to the Server and is processed there. And TVE is processed and streamed from the Server?
By default, the clients completely bypass the server when tuning. The client directly requests the stream from the tuner, and the server has no part in streaming.
Of course, that's how it works by default. If your client has enabled Tuner sharing, then the server handles everything. In this setting:
- The client requests the channel from the server
- Then the server requests it from tuner
- The tuner sends the stream to the server
- The server sends the stream to the client
OK thanks for the explanation. That narrows down my thought process for troubleshooting.