Roku Woes

[Bryce_H]

Hello everyone. Hoping someone here can help. Some of this is an extension of problems I was having a bit ago (problem #3). I have several issues with my current Roku's that I am struggling with. Set up is as follows:

Path 1 is:

AT&T Fiber at 1Gbps
AT&T gateway
Asus RT-AC3200 Tri-band Wireless Gigabit Router
Roku Ultra connected via Cat6 with manually assigned IP
Denon AVR-X4300H via HDMI
Sony VPL-HW40ES projector via HDMI

Path 2:

AT&T Fiber at 1Gbps
AT&T gateway
Asus RT-AC3200 Tri-band Wireless Gigabit Router
Roku 2 (upgraded version) connected via Cat6 with manually assigned IP
Onkyo RC-260 via HDMI
Samsung 65" via HDMI


NOTE: I do not have dual routers set up (i.e. the AT&T Gateway and the Asus Router). The AT&T unit is just a gateway through the DMZ+ settings.

I have several issues that are driving me insane:
1) Amazon Prime - generally 15-20 minutes into a show or movie (both rented and "free" included with Prime) the show will stop and I get a popup box that says:

"Problem Occured
We are unable to play your video at this time. Please try again in a few minutes or contact Amazon Customer Service at: amazon.com/videohelp.

OK"

2) On the Roku Starz and HBOGO channels the Roku will actually freeze and restart.

3) on Netflix the picture is sometimes "jittery" - this was most noticeable during the show Sherlock

Things I have tried:
1) different Ethernet patch cables
2) different Ethernet ports in the wall
3) different HDMI cables
4) different Rokus (it is how I ended up with the Roku Ultra)
5) wired and wireless connection
6) system updates
7) extensive time with Amazon help desk (I have a special ticket in now- lucky me)
8) uninstalled/reinstalled the apps
9) deregistered/reregistered the Rokus
10) QoS on and off

given it happens across devices I am inclined to think it is something with router...

Any suggestions or help is greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[rojo]

@Bryce_H Try connecting a Roku directly to your at&t endpoint to rule out problems with your router. Try connecting a Roku directly to your Samsung tv to rule out hdmi problems with your AVR. In your router make sure your MTU is set to 1500. Make sure your router, AVR, and tv have their latest available firmware. Involve at&t's help desk and see whether they have any other ideas no one else has thought of. That's all that occurs to me at the moment.

 

[TLS Guy]

Gigazones are touchy.

I had a lot of initial trouble and had to rewire the whole system with cat 6. That helped, but I had to scrub the software on the router, and install open source software on the router including a reflash of the BIOS. The old software did not dump the RAM and let it overfill. This largely solved it, but there were still the odd slow up. Eventually the companies optical converter failed totally. It was replaced by one of a different brand, and now things are peachy.

 

[Bryce_H]

rojo - I ran the MTU test successfully at ping 192.168.2.1 -f -l 1472 - anything higher and I got fragmented results. I added 28 and got your 1500 so I figured I was good. However, when I went into my router to change the MTU size to 1500 it said I had to enter a value between 576 and 1492...it is currently set to 1492

So do I set the MTU to 1472 (my ping result) and assume the overhead is then added?

TLS - so do I need to contact AT&T to check the equipment? I suspect they are going to say it is fine since it has not "failed"...

Thanks for the help.

 

[highfigh]

If you used the same SSID for the gateway AND the router, how do you know which the Roku is connecting to when you use WiFi?

Why are you using the ASUS router? If it's because it's a better router, welcome to the joys of ATT- they don't care. If you needed more ports, get a gigabit switch, rather than a second router.

ATT is a PITA when it comes to network hardware- they expect everyone to use their device for everything and don't always allow us to disable NAT/set it to Bridge mode. This causes a situation where NAT is enabled in both and it causes major slow downs.

http://www.graemenoble.id.au/post/48695277030/double-nat-explained-and-possible-solutions

If the mention of 'Layer 2 switch' or 'Layer 3 switch' is confusing, here's a link that may clear it up-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OSI_model

 

[highfigh]

rojo - I ran the MTU test successfully at ping 192.168.2.1 -f -l 1472 - anything higher and I got fragmented results. I added 28 and got your 1500 so I figured I was good. However, when I went into my router to change the MTU size to 1500 it said I had to enter a value between 576 and 1492...it is currently set to 1492

So do I set the MTU to 1472 (my ping result) and assume the overhead is then added?

TLS - so do I need to contact AT&T to check the equipment? I suspect they are going to say it is fine since it has not "failed"...

Thanks for the help.

Did you assign a static address for the ASUS router? Your ATT gateway uses x.x.1.x as the original range- if something is using x.x.2.x and the rest is on a different range, it will cause issues.

 

[highfigh]

@Bryce_H Involve at&t's help desk and see whether they have any other ideas no one else has thought of.

"Please unplug your power cord for the gateway".

 

[Bryce_H]

To answer the question on dual SSID or dual routers - the AT&T Gateway/router is set to DMZ (i.e. it passes through). The Asus router get the WAN IP directly from AT&T - NOT from the gateway. The WAN IP shown in the Asus router is: 2X.XXX.XXX.252. The Wi-Fi is turned off on the gateway. Also everything is hardwired through CAT6 per the OP.

The single piece of equipment missing from the OP is a TP-Link 24-Port Gigibit Switch.

The reason I am using the Asus router is because it is a much better piece of equipment than the AT&T unit (Pace something); particularly for wifi for our tablets and phones and configuration ability within the router

All firmware/software is up to date.

Everything has been shut down, unplugged, rebooted, etc. multiple times.

 

[highfigh]

To answer the question on dual SSID or dual routers - the AT&T Gateway/router is set to DMZ (i.e. it passes through). The Asus router get the WAN IP directly from AT&T - NOT from the gateway. The WAN IP shown in the Asus router is: 2X.XXX.XXX.252. The Wi-Fi is turned off on the gateway. Also everything is hardwired through CAT6 per the OP.

The single piece of equipment missing from the OP is a TP-Link 24-Port Gigibit Switch.

The reason I am using the Asus router is because it is a much better piece of equipment than the AT&T unit (Pace something); particularly for wifi for our tablets and phones and configuration ability within the router

All firmware/software is up to date.

Everything has been shut down, unplugged, rebooted, etc. multiple times.

A router isn't supposed to see the public IP address, it's supposed to receive a private IP address from the modem. Any other connection to the outside world is done through port forwarding/VPN. ATT uses gateways as their way to control their network and in theory, decrease problems. They do not support our quest for more advanced connections and real world use of the internet, they are there to provide basic streaming, e-mail and web browsing. It's a more simple existence for them and for many customers, it works. For the rest of us, it's a royal PITA.

I would recommend turning off the radio in the gateway and use only the ASUS- it avoids many issues. Change the 5Gb band's encryption key to something that will prevent anyone using it- in my ATT gateway, it can't be turned off- only 2.4 can be disabled. One thing that might make me use the ATT WiFi is the fact that it's .ac-enabled, but the rest of my equipment isn't and I prefer to hard-wire everything but the devices that have no ethernet port. I used a Luxul router for WiFi, but turned off NAT and put it in Bridge mode- it worked great and I didn't use DMZ for the two Roku units. Never had the problems you are, either. Now that the new ATT gateway is here, I really haven't needed to use something else for WiFi because the new hardware is much better- ask if you can upgrade, but refuse to pay for anything. Cable providers don't charge a full price for their equipment, ATT shouldn't, either. I would prefer that they offer a simple modem, but U-Verse isn't the same as simple DSL, according to their upper tier support.

If you want to use a simple modem, you'll need to change providers.

Why, again, are you using the DMZ?

Didn't see the smiley after the question about unplugging, eh?

 

[highfigh]

In addition, from the Wiki link about DMZ,

"Hosts in the DMZ are permitted to have only limited connectivity to specific hosts in the internal network, as the content of DMZ is not as secure as the internal network. Similarly communication between hosts in the DMZ and to the external network is also restricted, to make the DMZ more secure than the Internet, and suitable for housing these special purpose services. This allows hosts in the DMZ to communicate with both the internal and external network, while an intervening firewall controls the traffic between the DMZ servers and the internal network clients, and another firewall would perform some level of control to protect the DMZ from the external network."

It allows connection, but the gateway would already do that- are you gaming, too?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DMZ_(computing)

 

[Bryce_H]

I missed the smiley...

Maybe I need to rethink the setup. Initially I was having issues with both the AT&T router being active and my Asus being active so I tried to put the gateway in bridge mode. After much scouring of the internet and talking to AT&T, using the DMZ emerged as my option to be able to use my Asus router.

I'll call AT&T for an upgrade...I do have a bargaining chip as Google Fiber just arrived

What unit do you have (you reference new hardware)?

 

[Bryce_H]

I think I have the latest gateway...Pace 5268AC

 

[highfigh]

I think I have the latest gateway...Pace 5268AC

I have the same one, but I'm using it as the router AND WiFi. Before I took the Luxul out, I was using that only as the access point, with NAT disabled and in bridge mode. I haven't had issues with the PACE box that point to it being faulty or just a POS. I use two Roku, a Yamaha WXC-50 MusicCast player, laptops, iPhone 6 and occasionally, a ReQuest music server. My Brother printer is set up to use WiFi and it always works. If I have to set up WAPs, routers or other network-enabled equipment for installations, I do it here, first. That way, I know it works before going to the job, where I don't want to stand and stare at something, trying to find out why it doesn't work.

I have a customer who lives in a house that was built in 1932, using heavy masonry exterior walls and all walls use metal screen with plaster. I call it 'The Place Where WiFi Goes To Die" because the walls are like being in a Faraday Cage. I recently updated the gateway and it's better than the last one- got the same model for them, too. Next step is to get the crappy Apple AirPorts out of there.

 

[Bryce_H]

Alright...I'll try switching to just the Pace unit and remove the Asus from the picture.

 

[panteragstk]

Sorry for just now replying, but I have a similar setup and had tons of random issues until I figured out the problem. The DMZ pass through on the ATT POS had one strange issue that caused me to just assign an IP to my external router. What used to happen before I did this was I'd get a 5 second connection drop every 5 min. Apparently this is a common issue if you have the router set up this way. I only realized what was happening due to the fact that I work from home and am on conference calls using Skype. Connection would just freak out every 5 min then come back. Very annoying.

This is just one thread on the issue. I tried numerous settings with no solution. Hopefully that helps.

 

[Bryce_H]

Thanks for the info. I removed the Asus router last night and am now reconfiguring the network. I'll let everyone know how it goes.

Thanks for all the help.

 

[highfigh]

Thanks for the info. I removed the Asus router last night and am now reconfiguring the network. I'll let everyone know how it goes.

Thanks for all the help.

Or, you can set the ASUS to work as an access point.

 

[panteragstk]

Or, you can set the ASUS to work as an access point.

For simplicity's sake I would go this route. I couldn't do that since my setup is a bit different.

 

[Bryce_H]

I have cut out the Asus...now to to do some trials...