HD Channel LAG!!

[ronjnewt]

So I just got Uverse installed and everything is working on point except the HD channels.  When I am channel surfing thru SD channels there is no problem but once I get to the HD channels it becomes very slow.  Every HD channel I select the TV screen goes black or very distorted for at least 60 seconds often longer.  After the at least minute wait the HD channel loads up perfectly and works great until I change the channel.  Again this only happens with the HD channels, every HD channel.  Has anyone experienced this problem?  I have only had uverse for 2 days and really like it but no way am I going to pay for this to continue.  Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks-

[aviewer ACE - Wizard]

Over the last couple of years I have  not experienced anything like this. Nor, have I seen anything reported in either forum..

Could be your tv, STB or HDMI. Or, maybe the port at the VRAD. The only thing you can do is swap components. Then you should call customer service to have a tech visit. CS will probably have you reboot everything.You could try that before calling.

Sounds like you have only one TV/STB. You don't say you have the problem on only one.

If you are using HDMI try component cables  to connect between the STB and the TV.

Sounds like the higher bandwidth required for HD is giving some device heartburn.

[ronjnewt]

Yea the Install guy was at the house for about 6 hours last night trying to figure it out with no luck.  I have not tried to switch from HDMI to component cables but will tonight.  Yes i definitely have 2 TV's(Plasma and LCD) with DVR and HD hooked up and the "HD channel loading problem" is happening on both of them.  I agree with that higher bandwidth causing problems, that is exactly what it seems to be doing, like the HD channels have to load or buffer before showing up....

[aviewer ACE - Wizard]

If it is the same on both tvs, it is probably not the STB TV or connection between the two.

Are you coax or cat5.? If COAX it is more opportunity for a problem & harder to change by yourself (diplexer between NID and RG?)

If you have a direct connection between the NID and RG , you can try to eliminate your TV side of the network by disconnecting the outputs  at the RG and connecting one STB/TV to the RG by a short cat5.

Do you have pair bonding? - There is indications in the forums of problems with pair bonding. Since this is a previously unreported problem, it may be the cause.

You did not say if the tech swaped the RG

[ronjnewt]

Yea since i have only had this for 2 days i am not exactly familar with all the terms you are using.  I have a coax and a cat5 coming from my wall into my RG(the vertical box with all the blinking lights) from there another cat5 runs into my STB.  I am not sure what "Pair bonding" is so i can not comment on that.  But yes the tech switched the RG and STB multiple times last night.  One thing i did notice after checking my AT&T site was that i am on the lowest internet plan 3mbps i believe, when i definitely ordered the 12 mbps.  Would this affect the TV at all or is it just used by my computer??

Thanks again for all the help.

[aviewer ACE - Wizard]

Pair bonding uses two copper pairs instead of one to reach customers beyond the "normal" limit. I believe that this arrangement does not have an RG. The is built into the NID.

So, I guess my question now is - does the cat5 that goes into the wall feed the other TV or a PC.

You say you have a PC - How is it connected? Wireless?

So, lets say your PC is wireless. You have two TVs each with their own cat5. And, the RG to NID is a direct coax. Any possibility this coax has a splice or splitter?

In the sprit of double check everything, here are the only things you can do -

Check all your connections to be sure they are tight and do not have shorts.

Turn off the wireless

Disconnect the cat5 at the RG one at a time & see if the one connected works correctly.

There is a signal  analysis program for your PC, go to 

http://www.uverseusers.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=2

You will see the u-verse realtime application. You can try that. There are folks on that forum that can help you with it.

When you find the answer please be sure to post so others can benefit from the info.

[ronjnewt]

I am going to try to make this as un-confusing as possible so please bear with me!

So I have a green cat5 running from the wall into the vertical box. I also have a black cat5 running from that vertical box to the STB on my "primary" TV.  My bedroom TV has a coax running from the wall to the STB and then a HDMI from the box to my TV.  My computer is wireless, I only use wifi when on the computer. 

That link you sent me seems to be only pc, I have a Mac, do you know if there is a Mac version?

[Diamond_Jim]

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james_eastfield wrote:

I am going to try to make this as un-confusing as possible so please bear with me!

So I have a green cat5 running from the wall into the vertical box. I also have a black cat5 running from that vertical box to the STB on my "primary" TV.  My bedroom TV has a coax running from the wall to the STB and then a HDMI from the box to my TV.  My computer is wireless, I only use wifi when on the computer. 

That link you sent me seems to be only pc, I have a Mac, do you know if there is a Mac version?

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The green Cat5 is probably coming in for the NID (the box on the outside of your house). The vertical box with all those nasty flashing green lights is the RG (Residential Gateway).   Think of it as a fancy router.  If it is powered off nothing will work.  I'm betting your problem is from using HDMI cables.  They have given a lot of people problems.  The ATT equipment just doesn't want to play nice with them.  Disconnect them and use component connections.  It took me almost a year to finally get my setup to work well enough to keep me from going back to DirecTV.  I can use HDMI for my PS3 and other equipment but I had to use component for the TV.  Hang in there, we'll try our best to help you (even if you are a Mac user )  I don't think SomeJoe has a Mac version of his program yet.

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[aviewer ACE - Wizard]

There is only a PC version. I too have a MAC.

Based on the desc of your wiring I believe you have the  green cat5 from the NID to the RG.

The COAX connects only to the other TV.   Therfore you could disconnect the coax at the RG, reboot the RG and the STB connected with the black cat5 and see if it is ok. If it is ok then your problem is in the coax connection.

[ronjnewt]

Jim-

so come to find out I am already hooked up via component cables from the STB to my main TV so I do not think that is the problem...

Since it is only the HD channels that seem to have to "load" it really seems like a bandwidth/internet speed issue. I just went online and up-ed my internet speed from 3 Mbps to 12mbps I am not sure how long or how to tell when it changes but hopefully that will fix the issue...

Also if I use the green cat5 cable from the wall to the RG is there a point of having a coax cable running from that same wall to that same RG?  That is the way the tech left if from last night but based on what I am reading on here it seems that you would either have on or the other..?

[Diamond_Jim]

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james_eastfield wrote:

Jim-

so come to find out I am already hooked up via component cables from the STB to my main TV so I do not think that is the problem...

Since it is only the HD channels that seem to have to "load" it really seems like a bandwidth/internet speed issue. I just went online and up-ed my internet speed from 3 Mbps to 12mbps I am not sure how long or how to tell when it changes but hopefully that will fix the issue...

Also if I use the green cat5 cable from the wall to the RG is there a point of having a coax cable running from that same wall to that same RG?  That is the way the tech left if from last night but based on what I am reading on here it seems that you would either have on or the other..?

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You need to leave them both connected.  The green Cat5 is probably the signal coming in from outside to the RG.  The coax is probably the signal going out to your TV's from the RG.  If you disconnect the coax from the RG you should loose the picture to both TV's (or it will freeze).  As far as checking your internet speed you can use any of the free services for that.  Just Google "test my internet speed" and pick one.  I started out with 3Mbps and didn't have the problem you have.  If the issue isn't the use of HDMI cables I'm stuck.  I believed it was a "handshake" problem with the cables, but with component cables the handshake problem goes away.

Idea - can you borrow a Windows laptop from a friend or someone so you could run SomeJoes diagnostic program?

[ronjnewt]

Alright so i unplugged the coax cable from the wall to the RG and the picture on both tv's still work just fine, but the HD channels still take about 2 minutes to load and the only thing from the wall to the RG is a green cat5 cable (although it is plugged into a phone jack not a RJ-45 on both ends). From the RG is an ethernet cable to the main STB and from there component cables to the TV.

I found a PC..i will upload the stats in a few minutes

[ronjnewt]

on 2nd check the picture does not work in both rooms! Just the guide does! I am plugging back in the coax to the RG!

[ronjnewt]

[ronjnewt]

[aviewer ACE - Wizard]

Based on what you say the signal is coming from the NID on your old phone wires into the cat 5.

The problem should be upstream of the RG (i,e, your phone wires, the NID, the drop, the cables from the VRAD, the port in the VRAD).

You need AT&T to fix it.

I believe the reason the guide still showed on the disconnected tv is that it was in the memory.

The reason I wanted you to disconnect the coax was to see if the connected box became ok. You did reboot the RG and the STB with the coax disconnected??

The people that understand the output of the PC program are on the other forum. You should post your pictures there. Pictures do no show up until the moderator approves them.

[trparky]

We'll take a look at the images once the moderator approves your images.

[aviewer ACE - Wizard]

I have seen posts where people that are close to the VRAD have too powerful of a signal & AT&T has to add attenuation. Maybe you need to ask them to try that.

[mibrnsurg ACE - Geek]

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aviewer wrote:

I have seen posts where people that are close to the VRAD have too powerful of a signal & AT&T has to add attenuation. Maybe you need to ask them to try that.

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That's if you're close, not the 1300', the OP is at.  I'm at 400' and have no too strong signal problems.

Chris

________________________________________________________________________

Please NO SD stretch-o-vision or 480 SD HD Channels
1-866-465-1496 for direct TS to avoid Mr. Voice recognition
Your Results May Vary, In My Humble Opinion
I Call It Like I See It, Simply a U-verse user, nothing more

[mibrnsurg ACE - Geek]

The screenshots show nothing wrong, a very good bitload.  The problem is in the time it's taking the request for the channel, at the VRAD or VHO.

I'd do a hard reboot of the RG by unplugging power for 30 seconds and plug back in the RG.  Let us know if this worked for you, good luck.

Chris

________________________________________________________________________

Please NO SD stretch-o-vision or 480 SD HD Channels
1-866-465-1496 for direct TS to avoid Mr. Voice recognition
Your Results May Vary, In My Humble Opinion
I Call It Like I See It, Simply a U-verse user, nothing more

[ronjnewt]

So last night I up-ed my internet speed from 3 mbps to 12 mbps and when I woke up this morning all the HD channels were working just fine! 

Now comes the fun part of explaining to uverse that I am not paying for this price difference since their programming will not work properly with the slower speed, wish me luck and thanks for all the assistance!!

[texasguy37 ACE - Champion]

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james_eastfield wrote:

So last night I up-ed my internet speed from 3 mbps to 12 mbps and when I woke up this morning all the HD channels were working just fine! 

Now comes the fun part of explaining to uverse that I am not paying for this price difference since their programming will not work properly with the slower speed, wish me luck and thanks for all the assistance!! 

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That information is not correct.  There is no relationship between your internet package and the speed at which the HD channels change.

[ronjnewt]

Hey man it doesn't make any sense to me either, but every HD channel I have would take anywhere from 60-120 seconds before I would get a picture on my screen yesterday.  I went online and upgraded the internet speed from 3 to 12 last night and when I woke up this morning all the HD channels work perfectly fine...what else would it be??

That being said that was this morning lets hope its still working once I get home from work...

[texasguy37 ACE - Champion]

As I said, there is not relationship between which internet package you subscribe to and the speed at which the HD channels change.  Something else would be causing your slow channel change.

[ronjnewt]

Do you think internet speed would affect On Demand?

Yesterday when I would watch On Demand it would play for like 5 seconds, lock up for 5 seconds, play for 5 seconds and so on.  If I would pause it for a minute then it would play for about a minute before it froze again.  Exactly the way a online video would perform with a slow connection and exactly the way the HD channels seemed to buffer before showing up on the screen...

[mibrnsurg ACE - Geek]

No, your internet speed has nothing to do w/On Demand or regular programming.  The only thing affecting it possibly is your profile, 19/2, 25/2 or 32/5.

Chris

______________________________________________________________________

Please NO SD stretch-o-vision or 480 SD HD Channels
1-866-465-1496 for direct TS to avoid Mr. Voice recognition
Your Results May Vary, In My Humble Opinion
I Call It Like I See It, Simply a U-verse user, nothing more

[texasguy37 ACE - Champion]

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james_eastfield wrote:

Do you think internet speed would affect On Demand?

Yesterday when I would watch On Demand it would play for like 5 seconds, lock up for 5 seconds, play for 5 seconds and so on.  If I would pause it for a minute then it would play for about a minute before it froze again.  Exactly the way a online video would perform with a slow connection and exactly the way the HD channels seemed to buffer before showing up on the screen... 

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No, your U-verse internet package has no affect.  Internet service is not even required in order to have U-verse TV.

[ronjnewt]

Well whatever is was I increased my internet speed and now everything is working great.

Problem solved!

[SomeJoe7777 ACE - Geek]

My wild guess here is that your box was sent an incorrect / improper / corrupted provisioning setup when your service was first installed that was causing these problems.

By changing your package, the computers at AT&T re-sent the provisioning commands to all your equipment, and they received a proper provisioning setup this time.  So now it's working properly.

My hunch is that if you subsequently downgraded your internet speed back to 3 Mbps, everything would still work properly.