Signal breakup, sluggish wireless Joey

zim2dive

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Mar 8, 2006
669
21
Cary, NC
We've had a wireless Joey for ~6 months.. I really don't remember this happening much until the last few weeks... I see frequent picture freeze/artifacts, and the menu operations are very slow. I've rebooted both the Hopper and WJ...

The broadband signal meter always shows green (bouncing between 56 and 61). In the case where it was happening today, there was only a single tuner in use (the one I was watching).. ie. it's not like the hopper was hard at work doing anything else.

anyone else seeing this? Any cure? It's starting to get annoying enough that I may call for service.
 
The Joey being sluggish is a known situation. I have not noticed picture problems.
 
Watching bball tonite on a local channel (WRAL)... constant breakups/freezes when viewed from the wireless joey (signal strength always in the green)... went to watch on the Hopper.. 0 freezes (ie. ruling out the chance it was a dish pointing issue).
 
Zim... How many hoppers do you have? Is bringing enabled? My guess is you may have two ip connections and aren't aware of it.

I have a single Hopper and 2 wireless Joeys, but I can certainly check the settings.. where is the bridging setting? (or does it even exist with a single Hopper?).. I just did a quick run thru of the network/WholeHome/etc menus and didn't see it.

thanks,
Mike
 
Check the broadband menu. Can you select ethernet top or bottom? Do green OKs appear? Check the same for the WiFi and post the results

The Hopped says I'm on ethernet bottom and bridging is enabled. I don't see an option to change to "ethernet top".. and I have 3 green OK's. I don't see a "wifi".. but on the wireless Joey area I have green ok's.. nothing about bridging.
 
OK, so no USB WiFi adapter plugged into it? Good...
Can you try disabling bridging and see if it stops acting up? You may want to reboot after

I've disabled and happy to try for a week or two.. I think this means the Joey's won't have internet access (ie. no pandora, etc?)
 
Go to Joey location. Hit menu button on remote. Choose settings. Choose network setup. Choose wireless joey access point. Look at signal strength reading. Anything under 40 will cause the problems you describe. Even 40ish could be problematic because it's more vulnerable to interference. Even a person walking across the signal path can create a 5+ point swing.

If you're concerned with the reading being low try to move the WAP (wireless access point - that's the router looking thing that's connected to the ethernet port on the hopper). Also move the wireless Joey around a bit. Sometimes when the WAP or Joey get stuffed into an entertainment center all the shelves and electronics tend to interfere with signal. Try to have them as open as possible and make sure they're standing upright. If you still can't get signal higher then you may need a tech. There are ways to relocate WAP closer to Joey with a HIC (Hopper Internet Connector). Some people will just get an extra long Ethernet cable and just move the WAP closer to Joey location although having a 25 foot Ethernet cable running across a room kind of defeats the purpose of being "wireless".

If the signal is high (60s, 70s or above) and you're still having issue you should observe the Hopper. If Hopper is freezing up as well it could be a signal problem from Dish to Hopper. If that's not it it the only other thing I can think of is a defective Joey and/or Hopper
 
Regular Joeys can be connected wirelessly but it's not a company approved method so in that sense it is a known issue because it'll never work right.

Wireless Joey problems are a known issue in the sense that the wireless signal is not infinite. The further apart you move the Joey from the WAP the weaker the signal becomes. Then you add variable of what stands between the WAP and Joey. The floor between basement and ground floor is especially problematic because there's so many vents and ducts and pipes in the way which are often wrapped in foil and other materials.
 
I've been using powerline Ethernet adapters with my Joeys for a year and a half with no problems. I do have a dual band wifi router, but I use the powerline adapters for equipment that doesn't move around.
 
for everyone asking about signal strength and location of the WAP vs. WJ.. refer back to the OP :) (this is the reading from the wireless Joey) (they are separated by 1 floor up/down and maybe 20' side to side)

The broadband signal meter always shows green (bouncing between 56 and 61).

In a few limited tests, when the WJ is flaky, I am able to watch on the HWS with 0 issues.

In their infinite wisdom, the WJ does not appear to have a wired ethernet port.. so while I'd happily switch to powerline.. I can't.

Has anyone hacked in some antennas, either on the WJ or the WAP? :)

I'm planning to watch some BB on Wed night and see if the issue is any better with bridinug turned off (not much time to watch TV with 2 young kids)
 
filestream.ashx
 
My HWS was already on the house network via powerline (instead of wireless).. for now I have removed that and switched it to wireless for it's connection.

The HWS also has the ethernet cable running over to the WAP.

now ignorance questions.. can I add the Wireless Joeys to my house powerline network? or is the network from HWS to Joey need to be separate? Do the WJ's really do anything with the HWS? or could they hang directly on the network without an HWS even being on the network?

thanks,
Mike
 
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