WIFI Problem

[biglar]

Couple of months ago purchased a Amazon FireTv stick to stream some of my streaming apps that my older smart TV cannot provide. But in the last three weeks noticed when watching streaming programs on either the FireTV or smart tv I'm getting a lot of what's called 'buffering'. I just recently increased my internet speed. Talking to a friend about it, he suggested I download an iPhone app that measures/monitors WIFI strength. So I did. I started the app and setup iPhone next to TV while watching a streaming program. The meter showed strength was good then all of a sudden dropped way down and yep, the TV program stopped and started to buffer. When the WIFI program increased again the TV program started again. This continued for rest of the movie, up and down making a one hour streaming program to near two hours.

The Hitron WIfi/modem is in a elevated open area, not in a cabinet, open on all four sides. The smartTV with the FireTV stick is also open, not built into a cabinet nor shelving unit. There is no barrier, wall, curtains, etc. between the wifi/modem and the TV. The distance between the TV is about 14 feet. We do not have a lot of wifi devices in our house, in fact out cell phones were off.

Is my Hitron starting to fail? What is causing the big dips in the wifi signal?

Just a footnote, I do have a wifi video door bell and iPhone app for it. The app also shows the wifi strength most of the time it shows 100% but from time to time it'll show between 60 to 88% when reading from the same area of the house.

[shaw-tony]

@biglar there may be several reasons why you are noticing problems with your WiFi. It may be WiFi interference caused by smart home devices or a faulty modem. I'd recommend manually changing the WiFi channels on your Hitron to see if it helps. For the 2.4G network, channels 1, 6, and 11 are best and the 5G network try 36 or 48. If it continues to be a problem, you can swap the modem at your local Shaw retailer.