Vodafone TV - new Gen2 box

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17 posts

Geek

#2369870 7-Dec-2019 00:49

The VTV gen 2 box is sold as a device capable of providing the service through wifi. Even in the VF store they promoted the device as being capable of being taken and used anywhere there was a wifi connection. To have to go through so much drama to get it to work in my home is not the experience one expects when purchasing a product. I posted the fix that VF eventually came up with (use a specific channel on my VF supplied router instead of auto) in the hope that it would help others in a similar situation.

That still means though that the STB using wifi is not as portable as VF claimed, try getting any changes to routers in hotels, motels etc.. So the gen 2 STB wifi is still flawed.

A $6 ethernet cable would and did get the service going but did not address the wifi problem. Nor in my situation did it provide a permanent fix.

MikeB4

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#2369916 7-Dec-2019 06:40

IvanPiacun: @MikeB4 I assume you have checked that any static IP addresses you have set on your network are outside of the range of IP addresses managed by your DHCP server on your router in order to avoid transient IP address conflicts which could also cause similar symptoms to what you are encountering.

Ivan Piacun CITPNZ

I do not have any static IP addresses set

MikeB4

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#2369918 7-Dec-2019 06:45

IvanPiacun:
NH3Engineer: [
Ughhhh... Face it... We are Beta testing for Vodafone. I wonder when they will want us all to stress test their servers 🤣🤣🤣

I disagree. Beta testing is done by members of a seperate forum. What we are now encountering here is user environment specific home LAN and WAN problems due to configuration of devices on the network encountered by a consumer device some of which may be able to be handled by additional processing by or changes the firmware of the consumer device and some that may require configuration changes to other devices on that network. VTV Gen2 is an evolving product which I see as having a lot of potential. Sky was a similar product but it had less interactions with other devices to consider. I think we should give VTV Gen2 a chance to evolve including the future evolution of a scrubber which will hopefully sort out the rewind and fast forward problems yet to be sorted out for channel viewing.

Ivan Piacun CITPNZ

NH3Engineer is not meaning we are official Beta testers he is saying that the device is in a Beta state and should probably been sold as such. Would you accept your TV, Microwave, stereo to evolve?

alasta

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#2369923 7-Dec-2019 07:02

I'm definitely with Mike on this. In my case I have to fight the device just to turn it on, despite the fact that it is being used with a Vodafone router with out-of-the-box configuration.

It would be interesting to test this against the CGA. I'm pretty sure the consumer would win.

eracode

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#2369928 7-Dec-2019 07:25

The ‘beta’ testers are really alpha testers. The public owners are the beta testers. This can hardly be denied when it is widely acknowledged that the device is still ‘evolving’ in public hands.

I just feel sorry for the average-Joe owners who do not have the tech knowledge to fight the device or access to this thread. There must be a bunch of them who are extremely frustrated and angry that they can’t get it to work consistently as described on the box. It would be interesting to know how many have actually taken it back.

I suspect the majority of users have probably had no or few problems - ours is largely fine - just occasional glitches requiring a re-start. But even if there’s only 10 or 20% experiencing some of the issues being discussed here, that’s not good enough.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

freitasm

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#2369931 7-Dec-2019 07:45

Under this view I should have returned my Amazon Fire TV when it didn't talk to my Amazon Echo until its firmware was updated.

Or return my computer because every month they send out updates with fixes. Or my smartphone because every month there is a security update.

Things evolve because people find some stuff is broken or because new features are added.

MikeB4

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#2369932 7-Dec-2019 07:56

freitasm: Under this view I should have returned my Amazon Fire TV when it didn't talk to my Amazon Echo until its firmware was updated.

Or return my computer because every month they send out updates with fixes. Or my smartphone because every month there is a security update.

Things evolve because people find some stuff is broken or because new features are added.

With respect @freitasm I believe you are wrong here. This is a retail product being sold either directly by Vodafone or in retail stores. It is not being sold as a "developing" product it is being sold as a plug and play appliance. Therefore this product comes under the guidance of the Consumer law in NZ and as such must be ...

fit for their normal purposes
acceptable in finish and appearance
free from minor defects
safe
durable.

This product has had faults from day one and not from updates being issued. Meek acceptance of substandard products is what allows telecos/tech companies and in particular Vodafone to see faulty goods. This is the third or fourth time Vodafone has released a TV product that is not fit for purpose and falls way short of the above CGA requirements.

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NH3Engineer

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#2369933 7-Dec-2019 07:57

freitasm: Under this view I should have returned my Amazon Fire TV when it didn't talk to my Amazon Echo until its firmware was updated.

Or return my computer because every month they send out updates with fixes. Or my smartphone because every month there is a security update.

Things evolve because people find some stuff is broken or because new features are added.

I guarantee you would be returning your comp or smartphone if you had to do a hard reboot or pull the plug every day. You are comparing apples with oranges. This box should never have been released as a plug and play device without a warning saying by the way this device may or may not actually work.

Kiwifruta

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#2369936 7-Dec-2019 08:09

RayHall:
The VTV gen 2 box is sold as a device capable of providing the service through wifi. Even in the VF store they promoted the device as being capable of being taken and used anywhere there was a wifi connection. To have to go through so much drama to get it to work in my home is not the experience one expects when purchasing a product. I posted the fix that VF eventually came up with (use a specific channel on my VF supplied router instead of auto) in the hope that it would help others in a similar situation.

That still means though that the STB using wifi is not as portable as VF claimed, try getting any changes to routers in hotels, motels etc.. So the gen 2 STB wifi is still flawed.

A $6 ethernet cable would and did get the service going but did not address the wifi problem. Nor in my situation did it provide a permanent fix.

You most likely had channel interference from one or more of your neighbours’ WiFi signals. The 5GHz channel randomly (automatically) chosen by your router happened to be a channel that a neighbour’s router also chose. So there was interference. I see this regularly. The solution, as the tech did, is to manually set the channel to one not used by your neighbours’ routers.

The VTV can only try and connect to the channel as dictated by the router. Client devices cannot dictate what channel a network runs on, only the router (or access point) can do this.

If you have an Android device, you can install a ‘WiFi Analyzer’ app to see what channels used by your router and your neighbours’ routers.

The Spark website has a good overview of things that can cause issues for WiFi https://www.spark.co.nz/help/internet-data/manage/all-about-wifi-at-home/wifi-interference/

eracode

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#2369937 7-Dec-2019 08:09

freitasm: Under this view I should have returned my Amazon Fire TV when it didn't talk to my Amazon Echo until its firmware was updated.

Or return my computer because every month they send out updates with fixes. Or my smartphone because every month there is a security update.

Things evolve because people find some stuff is broken or because new features are added.

Maybe you could have returned the Fire TV under those circumstances. That’s similar to the VTV situation.

However your computer and your smartphone most likely worked perfectly from new out of the box and updates are simply enhancements to a working product. The difference here is that in some cases VTV is not an acceptably working product and updates are necessary to get it into an acceptable state.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

NH3Engineer

18 posts

Geek

#2369938 7-Dec-2019 08:18

Kiwifruta:
RayHall:
The VTV gen 2 box is sold as a device capable of providing the service through wifi. Even in the VF store they promoted the device as being capable of being taken and used anywhere there was a wifi connection. To have to go through so much drama to get it to work in my home is not the experience one expects when purchasing a product. I posted the fix that VF eventually came up with (use a specific channel on my VF supplied router instead of auto) in the hope that it would help others in a similar situation.

That still means though that the STB using wifi is not as portable as VF claimed, try getting any changes to routers in hotels, motels etc.. So the gen 2 STB wifi is still flawed.

A $6 ethernet cable would and did get the service going but did not address the wifi problem. Nor in my situation did it provide a permanent fix.

You most likely had channel interference from one or more of your neighbours’ WiFi signals. The 5GHz channel randomly (automatically) chosen by your router happened to be a channel that a neighbour’s router also chose. So there was interference. I see this regularly. The solution, as the tech did, is to manually set the channel to one not used by your neighbours’ routers.

The VTV can only try and connect to the channel as dictated by the router. Client devices cannot dictate what channel a network runs on, only the router (or access point) can do this.

If you have an Android device, you can install a ‘WiFi Analyzer’ app to see what channels used by your router and your neighbours’ routers.

The Spark website has a good overview of things that can cause issues for WiFi https://www.spark.co.nz/help/internet-data/manage/all-about-wifi-at-home/wifi-interference/

And if it is connected via Ethernet?

Linux

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#2369940 7-Dec-2019 08:22

My VTV unit gen2 has been connected via Ethernet since day 1 and only had to disconnect the power from it once over the last 2 - 3 months.

MikeB4

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#2369943 7-Dec-2019 08:30

Linux: My VTV unit gen2 has been connected via Ethernet since day 1 and only had to disconnect the power from it once over the last 2 - 3 months.

My unit has been connected via wired Ethernet or Wifi. It has performed poorly in both setups displaying the same issues. It is only been connected via Wifi when asked to test it in that configuration. For 90% of its time it has been connected via wired Ethernet. Power resets almost daily.

RayHall

17 posts

Geek

#2369949 7-Dec-2019 09:00

NH3Engineer:
Kiwifruta:
RayHall:

The VTV gen 2 box is sold as a device capable of providing the service through wifi. Even in the VF store they promoted the device as being capable of being taken and used anywhere there was a wifi connection. To have to go through so much drama to get it to work in my home is not the experience one expects when purchasing a product. I posted the fix that VF eventually came up with (use a specific channel on my VF supplied router instead of auto) in the hope that it would help others in a similar situation.

That still means though that the STB using wifi is not as portable as VF claimed, try getting any changes to routers in hotels, motels etc.. So the gen 2 STB wifi is still flawed.

A $6 ethernet cable would and did get the service going but did not address the wifi problem. Nor in my situation did it provide a permanent fix.

You most likely had channel interference from one or more of your neighbours’ WiFi signals. The 5GHz channel randomly (automatically) chosen by your router happened to be a channel that a neighbour’s router also chose. So there was interference. I see this regularly. The solution, as the tech did, is to manually set the channel to one not used by your neighbours’ routers.

The VTV can only try and connect to the channel as dictated by the router. Client devices cannot dictate what channel a network runs on, only the router (or access point) can do this.

If you have an Android device, you can install a ‘WiFi Analyzer’ app to see what channels used by your router and your neighbours’ routers.

The Spark website has a good overview of things that can cause issues for WiFi https://www.spark.co.nz/help/internet-data/manage/all-about-wifi-at-home/wifi-interference/

And if it is connected via Ethernet?

The STB would mostly not even connect to the router using either a password or wps at less than 3m. Whereas the TV, laptop, phone and tablet had no difficulty in making a connection to the router by wifi when required and all further away than the STB from the router.

When the STB did make a connection, the Self Diagnostics menu of the STB showed a message along the lines of Poor wifi signal, suggest connecting with an ethernet cable. The latter even evident when the STB was 500mm away from the router using wifi. But then that may just be the programmer having set the threshold too high.

Wifi analyser only shows 2 strong external signals on ch 1 and 6 on 2Ghz.

STB works fine on ethernet.

My conclusion is that the wifi implementation within the Vodafone STB is not fit for purpose. The STB is working well now on wifi when set to a specific channel but should I ever decide to take it with me on holiday as suggested by VF, I will have some backup entertainment.

alasta

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#2369962 7-Dec-2019 10:38

I have been using iPhones for ten years and, despite regular software updates, I have never experienced reliability issues like what I have experienced with the Vodafone TV unit. Even the iOS 13 disaster is minor in comparison.

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