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Started By
Message
Not happy with my Fire TV so far
Posted on 1/2/15 at 11:10 am
Posted on 1/2/15 at 11:10 am
I just got it in this week after reading a lot of good reviews here and elsewhere, but I must say I'm not very happy with it at this moment. I'll preface this by saying many of my problems are likely due to bad internet connection, as I get internet from a restaurant downstairs (not stealing, they offered), but with that being said, none of my other devices (laptop, tablet, phone) have any problems streaming media with the internet connection, so I'm wondering if Fire TV simply needs a better signal or has weaker receiver.
Anyway, opening apps and streaming is quite slow currently. I can play shows and movies from Netflix and Prime but I get occasional lag and bad picture quality at times. I also have a Kindle Fire, which made me even more excited to get the Fire TV, but they don't link up as seamlessly as I initially thought. Granted it is the cheaper kindle (HD 6), but it's not any better than using my droid phone. I played some Spotify on NYE and it sputtered out and lagged up multiple times. I ended up using my phone a lot.
I also downloaded TVMC on it from the recommendations I read here, and although I see the potential of it, it just runs too badly on mine to be enjoyable. I get script errors, can't play movies, and just have buggy issues with it constantly it seems. Again, this could all be due to bad internet connection, but last night I ran XBMC on my laptop connected to the TV, and watched a movie flawlessly. No lag, no issues, and great quality, and my laptop was in the same exact spot as the fire TV.
And lastly the remote, although easy to use, seems buggy. It routinely switches multiple spots on the screen when only clicking over once, which makes typing a pain. This could just be a bad remote, but not a good first impression. The voice search works good, but it only works for Prime movies and shows, which really just makes it useless if you use Netflix, Hulu, and other apps the majority of the time.
I have a WiFi range extender coming in this weekend, and am hoping I can just plug an Ethernet cable straight into the fire TV from that to improve the connection, but I have my doubts. If that doesn't work then I'll probably just send the fire TV back and use my laptop as my media hub, which sucks because I was really excited about this.
Anyway, opening apps and streaming is quite slow currently. I can play shows and movies from Netflix and Prime but I get occasional lag and bad picture quality at times. I also have a Kindle Fire, which made me even more excited to get the Fire TV, but they don't link up as seamlessly as I initially thought. Granted it is the cheaper kindle (HD 6), but it's not any better than using my droid phone. I played some Spotify on NYE and it sputtered out and lagged up multiple times. I ended up using my phone a lot.
I also downloaded TVMC on it from the recommendations I read here, and although I see the potential of it, it just runs too badly on mine to be enjoyable. I get script errors, can't play movies, and just have buggy issues with it constantly it seems. Again, this could all be due to bad internet connection, but last night I ran XBMC on my laptop connected to the TV, and watched a movie flawlessly. No lag, no issues, and great quality, and my laptop was in the same exact spot as the fire TV.
And lastly the remote, although easy to use, seems buggy. It routinely switches multiple spots on the screen when only clicking over once, which makes typing a pain. This could just be a bad remote, but not a good first impression. The voice search works good, but it only works for Prime movies and shows, which really just makes it useless if you use Netflix, Hulu, and other apps the majority of the time.
I have a WiFi range extender coming in this weekend, and am hoping I can just plug an Ethernet cable straight into the fire TV from that to improve the connection, but I have my doubts. If that doesn't work then I'll probably just send the fire TV back and use my laptop as my media hub, which sucks because I was really excited about this.
5
Posted on 1/2/15 at 11:29 am to rintintin
quote:
I'll preface this by saying many of my problems are likely due to bad internet connection, as I get internet from a restaurant downstairs
you could have stopped there. you gotta be able to feed the beast.
Posted on 1/2/15 at 11:31 am to GEAUXT
quote:
you could have stopped there. you gotta be able to feed the beast.
He also didn't take any of the real suggestions in the "how to speed it up" thread he has...Dumbing down the already slow wifi is not the solution
Posted on 1/2/15 at 11:41 am to rintintin
TLDR- The streaming quality is only going to be as good as your internet connection allows
This too
This too
quote:
He also didn't take any of the real suggestions in the "how to speed it up" thread he has...Dumbing down the already slow wifi is not the solution
This post was edited on 1/2/15 at 11:49 am
Posted on 1/2/15 at 12:12 pm to GrammarKnotsi
quote:
He also didn't take any of the real suggestions in the "how to speed it up" thread he has
What were the "real suggestions"? I got a range extender, which is basically all I asked about in that thread. I may just get my own internet, but I'm waiting to weigh the advantages of doing all of that for the sake of the Fire TV versus just using my laptop with no extra costs.
I'm wondering why the Fire TV requires that much more of a better signal than my laptop and other devices.
Posted on 1/2/15 at 12:24 pm to rintintin
quote:
What were the "real suggestions"? I got a range extender,
quote:
rintintin
Do WiFi extenders actually work?
quote:
guedeaux
Not really.
quote:
Bayou Teche Bengal
I went to Best Buy and was recommended the Powerline 500 by Netgear. It works great.
quote:
rintintin
Yeah I wouldn't want to do all that.
Shall I go on..
Posted on 1/2/15 at 12:25 pm to rintintin
Do you not realize that a big flatscreen tv (assuming that is what you have) requires a much higher resolution than a tablet for the picture to look good.
This is like complaining about why your tv won't run off of 2 AA batteries. You need power. In your case, you need bandwidth.
This is like complaining about why your tv won't run off of 2 AA batteries. You need power. In your case, you need bandwidth.
Posted on 1/2/15 at 12:33 pm to SUB
quote:
Do you not realize that a big flatscreen tv (assuming that is what you have) requires a much higher resolution than a tablet for the picture to look good.
Posted on 1/2/15 at 12:54 pm to SUB
quote:
Do you not realize that a big flatscreen tv (assuming that is what you have) requires a much higher resolution than a tablet for the picture to look good.
This is like complaining about why your tv won't run off of 2 AA batteries. You need power. In your case, you need bandwidth.
Posted on 1/2/15 at 1:01 pm to GrammarKnotsi
quote:
Shall I go on..
So one person said they don't work, while others said they work fine for them. So I proceeded to buy one that allows me to set it up remotely without the need of walking in the restaurant and asking to plug into their router. Not sure what point you're trying to make.
Posted on 1/2/15 at 1:05 pm to SUB
quote:
Do you not realize that a big flatscreen tv (assuming that is what you have) requires a much higher resolution than a tablet for the picture to look good.
I wasn't reallg talking about my tablet, streaming from my laptop to my TV has HD quality video using the same internet connection. I'm not a tech whiz, but I find it strange that can be accomplished through my laptop and not the Fire TV.
Posted on 1/2/15 at 1:08 pm to rintintin
quote:
streaming from my laptop to my TV
You mean via an HDMI cable..?
ETA: I have a followup based on your answer
This post was edited on 1/2/15 at 1:09 pm
Posted on 1/2/15 at 1:41 pm to GrammarKnotsi
Yes
Posted on 1/2/15 at 1:50 pm to rintintin
quote:
Yes
Could be as easy as your laptop having a stronger connection to the network..Laptop could be AC, and FTV is N...Too many variables that you cannot control
Posted on 1/2/15 at 2:03 pm to GrammarKnotsi
Gotcha. And yeah that's what I was wondering. My laptop is nothing fancy at all, a 5 year old Gateway, and I was just puzzled why it could pull a better connection than the FTV.
Posted on 1/2/15 at 7:04 pm to rintintin
stop being poor and get your own internet.
my AFTV is hard wired to my modem and it flies. thing runs XBMC like a dream. stock UI is a little sketchy though.
my AFTV is hard wired to my modem and it flies. thing runs XBMC like a dream. stock UI is a little sketchy though.
Posted on 1/2/15 at 8:38 pm to rintintin
quote:
my AFTV is hard wired to my modem and it flies. thing runs XBMC like a dream.
Posted on 1/2/15 at 9:49 pm to IPlayedGreatTonight
quote:
top being poor and get your own internet.
I'm a cheap frick. But you're right, at this point I'm probably better off just getting my own internet. Always trying to save a buck if I can.Posted on 1/2/15 at 10:01 pm to rintintin
nah bro i get it.
if you were trying to just do some web browsing and whatnot it'd be a good situation.
but if you're trying to run a streaming media center you're pretty much fricked.
if you were trying to just do some web browsing and whatnot it'd be a good situation.
but if you're trying to run a streaming media center you're pretty much fricked.
Posted on 1/2/15 at 11:03 pm to rintintin
I know you were told that a wireless range extender/repeater would not help. But, those folks might be wrong in this instance. If you are getting a poor signal to the Fire TV from the router you're leaching, it may be because the Fire TV has a single antenna, one spatial stream, low power. Those streaming boxes with internal antennae generally have pretty crappy WiFi adapters, designed for the typical home environment where the router is, at most, on the other side of a modestly sized home. Laptops, by contrast, generally have more 'roamer friendly' reception.
If the problem with your Fire TV lies with signal strength, you're probably getting very low throughput and/or connection drops that causes the video interruptions and distortion.
When you add a wireless repeater to the network, it takes whatever throughput it can get from the available signal from the source router (the signal, and therefore throughput, should be stronger than your Fire TV and possibly even your laptop) and amplifies it. This doesn't increase speed, just reliability of signal (assuming it can get a reliable signal from the source router). It will, in fact, cut your available throughput in half. However, it doesn't cut the WAN to LAN throughput in half (i.e., internet), as it is independent of 802.11 standards. So, if your fire TV can theoretically pull 75mbps from a router with full signal, it may barely be getting 1-2mbps in bursts because of the poor reception. The repeater may be able to manage 20mbps per spatial stream, in which case your fireTV will get around 10mbps. If the internet connection you're leaching is only 5mbps, this doesn't matter. If it's 25mbps, you obviously will get under 10mbps of it in this case (Again, these numbers are all hypothetical). You really don't need more than 1mbps for standard definition streaming, and maybe up to 5-ish for 1080P (less for some services. Depends on the compression level of the content).
If the problem with your Fire TV lies with signal strength, you're probably getting very low throughput and/or connection drops that causes the video interruptions and distortion.
When you add a wireless repeater to the network, it takes whatever throughput it can get from the available signal from the source router (the signal, and therefore throughput, should be stronger than your Fire TV and possibly even your laptop) and amplifies it. This doesn't increase speed, just reliability of signal (assuming it can get a reliable signal from the source router). It will, in fact, cut your available throughput in half. However, it doesn't cut the WAN to LAN throughput in half (i.e., internet), as it is independent of 802.11 standards. So, if your fire TV can theoretically pull 75mbps from a router with full signal, it may barely be getting 1-2mbps in bursts because of the poor reception. The repeater may be able to manage 20mbps per spatial stream, in which case your fireTV will get around 10mbps. If the internet connection you're leaching is only 5mbps, this doesn't matter. If it's 25mbps, you obviously will get under 10mbps of it in this case (Again, these numbers are all hypothetical). You really don't need more than 1mbps for standard definition streaming, and maybe up to 5-ish for 1080P (less for some services. Depends on the compression level of the content).
This post was edited on 1/2/15 at 11:04 pm
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