Buffering on Fire TV Dishanywhere App on Home Network

[rickyinman]

A little background...I have my Hopper 3 connected via wired Ethernet. My network only has Gigabit Switches. My wireless network consists of Unifi AC Access Points. My second generation Fire Stick is connected to an access point that is only about 8 feet away with a very strong signal. That same access point has 3-5 devices connected to it at any given time. I never experience any kind of congestion on my home network.

Knowing all of this, why would my Dishanywhere app buffer at all? I understand when I first tune to a channel, but it continues to buffer every few minutes. Sometimes I get the "circle" in the middle of screen, but the program doesn't seem to be interrupted. This seems to happen every time I use the app. Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[HipKat]

A little background...I have my Hopper 3 connected via wired Ethernet. My network only has Gigabit Switches. My wireless network consists of Unifi AC Access Points. My second generation Fire Stick is connected to an access point that is only about 8 feet away with a very strong signal. That same access point has 3-5 devices connected to it at any given time. I never experience any kind of congestion on my home network.

Knowing all of this, why would my Dishanywhere app buffer at all? I understand when I first tune to a channel, but it continues to buffer every few minutes. Sometimes I get the "circle" in the middle of screen, but the program doesn't seem to be interrupted. This seems to happen every time I use the app. Has anyone else experienced this?

One thing you can try is getting and HDMI extender and using to move the Firestick away from your TV. Truth is, I've had more issues with DA on Firestick when I'm on the road, specifically the DVR, but sometimes watching Live TV on it, too. I just chalk that up to the crappy internet at Hotels

 

[Tommyy2]

Have you disconnected power to the fire tv forcing it to reboot, I cured issues with mine doing that in the past.

 

[TheKrell]

Have you disconnected power to the fire tv forcing it to reboot, I cured issues with mine doing that in the past.

You jogged my memory. I have had to replace the marginal 1A wall wart power supply for all my Fire TV sticks with something that can source more power. Perhaps the Fire TV suffers from the same inadequacy.

 

[rickyinman]

Is there any way this is an Android issue? I am very confident it is not a network issue.

This weekend, I tried something different. I have an Android phone with the DA app installed. On my home network, I still get sporadic buffering similar to the Fire Stick. I tried my Ipad on my home network, and got no buffering after the initial load.

The part that is so confusing to me is the strange "buffering" that happens for a short time every minute or so on my home network using the Fire Stick. The circle that spins in the middle of the picture appears every minute or so, but the video or audio does not skip. If it wasn't for the circle, I wouldn't have any complaints.

Anyone else noticed this?

 

[Tony S]

Have to tried going into your router setup and taking a look at the logs (or router status info)? In my router's setup, I can see the LAN and WAN 'Up Time'. That may help you to see if it is your router that is dropping the connection vs something else.

I bring this up because my new Nighthawk router was dropping connections frequently, and I had the same problem you are describing. I found many others in the Netgear forum with the same issue. I had to join Netgear's Beta firmware test group in order to download Beta firmware that totally fixed the issue (I am not happy that I had to install Beta firmware on a brand new router in order for it to work correctly).

 

[PHXHoward]

Wish someone had a solution for this. DA on Fire TV buffers pretty regularly. Ok fine but what is most annoying is that when the buffering clears and things go back to normal, that spinning circle in the center of the screen will stay there.

The DA app on iPhone almost never buffers. I’m about ready to to toss the Fire TV and just Airplay from iPhone to Apple TV.


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[Ziptied]

Noticed the same buffering situation over the weekend. It only occurs while accessing the Hopper 3 and Hopper w/Sling on my home network. If I access the Hopper 3 at our office, there's zero buffering.

 

[Tony S]

Noticed the same buffering situation over the weekend. It only occurs while accessing the Hopper 3 and Hopper w/Sling on my home network. If I access the Hopper 3 at our office, there's zero buffering.

I have the opposite experience: I don't have any buffering at all when I am at home on my own network, however, when I am away from home, I get buffering when I have poor wifi connection speed.

At home (on my own network) the video bitrate is usually around 8.2Mbps. When I am away from home (over the internet) it is usually around 4mbps (or much less with a poor connection).

 

[HipKat]

I have the opposite experience: I don't have any buffering at all when I am at home on my own network, however, when I am away from home, I get buffering when I have poor wifi connection speed.

At home (on my own network) the video bitrate is usually around 8.2Mbps. When I am away from home (over the internet) it is usually around 4mbps (or much less with a poor connection).

Same with mine no issues at home, but when I travel, forget about it. It's terrible

 

[bchandler02]

Try setting up a dedicated SSID on that particular AP, you can do it in the Unifi controller. Then force your fire stick to that so you know it's on the nearby device. For some reason it may be roaming to a less than optimal signal - I've seen that before.

Also keep in mind Unifi prioritizes stability over speed, so throughput isn't as fast as AC wireless can be, but it should be plenty fast for this. I've never seen my fire stick use more than 8Mb when on my local LAN.

 

[ncted]

Given my issues with my FireStick, I've essentially given up on the device.

 

[Tommyy2]

Given my issues with my FireStick, I've essentially given up on the device.

What version Fire Stick are you using, 4K, previous or original?

 

[ncted]

What version Fire Stick are you using, 4K, previous or original?

2017 (with Alexa) Amazon product ASIN B00ZV9RDKK

 

[Jallen0]

I get this same circle as well. I hit the back button on my remote, the picture steps back 10 seconds and the circle in the middle of the screen disappears. It's an inconvenience but not a deal killer for me. I will say I do not understand it as I have fiber at both locations (home and apartment).

 

[Cypresstree]

I have 5 unifi AP’s in the House with only the 5ghz radios active.

my three firesticks have excellent connectivity (all IOT devices sit on a dedicated SSID). Still get the circle - but no buffering. Not a big deal.


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[mwdxer1]

A little background...I have my Hopper 3 connected via wired Ethernet. My network only has Gigabit Switches. My wireless network consists of Unifi AC Access Points. My second generation Fire Stick is connected to an access point that is only about 8 feet away with a very strong signal. That same access point has 3-5 devices connected to it at any given time. I never experience any kind of congestion on my home network.

Knowing all of this, why would my Dishanywhere app buffer at all? I understand when I first tune to a channel, but it continues to buffer every few minutes. Sometimes I get the "circle" in the middle of screen, but the program doesn't seem to be interrupted. This seems to happen every time I use the app. Has anyone else experienced this?

What is your internet speed and signal strength to the Fire Stick? A weak signal does cause issues. I have 100 down here. 50 on wifi and I had to realign the router for a better signal.

 

[wallyhts]

Have you installed the UniFi controller or gotten a cloud key?


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[Cypresstree]

I have the 1st generation cloud key


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