Pixelation and Freezing During Live Playback with TiVo Stream 4K

Channels Android TV
#1

This may not be the best forum, but it's a bit of an odd scenario. I have a TiVo Stream 4K and a current-model AppleTV 4K. They are both connected via 1Gb ethernet to my network, and the TiVo is using one of the recommended USB adapters. Both devices have the Channels app on them. The Channels DVR server is configured to use an HDHomeRun PRIME CableCard tuner as its main source.

My issue seems to be that after watching a live channel on the TiVo for ~5-10 minutes, it begins to stutter and eventually freeze, and there's a message stating there are network performance issues. What's odd is that the AppleTV does not have the same issue. It can stream the same channels for hours without issue. I have tested with multiple channels, and the TiVo behaves the same every time. Since I am using 1Gb ethernet for everything, I have a hard time thinking the issue is actually network-related. I have also tested by streaming some of the channels on a MacBook Pro using WiFi, and it doesn't have any issues either.

I turned off the networking scanning feature in the TiVo prefs, but that didn't help. I don't see any other settings that might be related. Thoughts? I found some semi-similar threads, but nothing that mentioned a solution.

#2

The hardware resources (ram, cpu, etc.) and software are all different between the TS4k and Atv, so it is probably a resource difference on that device or it could be an issue with the App on Android TV devices.

  1. How much of the TiVo stuff did you remove? The TS4k is known to have some resource hogs built in.
  2. Did you try changing between hw and sw decoding? I haven't played with this myself but this could identify if there is a decoder issue.
  3. I know you said that it behaves the same way every time, but have you tried an SD channel? That would significantly reduce the load.
  4. If you have a decent WiFi connection to the area, I would also try WiFi instead of Ethernet to eliminate an issue with the adapter/drivers.

Hopefully this might help you narrow down your issue.

#3

The TS4K's USB-C port is only USB2. The maximum throughput you'll get will be ~230Mbps, less than 25% of full GbE. Your adapter may support full GbE, but the port itself does not.

Also, if you have anything else attached through that port, such as an external drive to increase your live buffer or additional storage, then that network bandwidth will be further reduced, because everything will be competing for the meager resources of that single USB2 connection.

EDIT/ADDENDUM: If you have good WiFi in your home, you might be better served by connecting the TS4K wirelessly, which could give you 350–450Mbps. And since you're using a Prime and MPEG-2 streaming over WiFi isn't the greatest, you can alleviate any issues this might bring by enabling Tuner Sharing. That way the route from the tuner to the server is hardwired, but you get the benefits of extra speed to the client device.

#4

Thanks for the replies. In hindsight, I probably should've tested via WiFi before posting this question. Switching to WiFi seems to have resolved the issue. It was 100% reproducible via ethernet, but I haven't had a single issue while watching multiple channels today via WiFi.