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4K Smart TV with 100mbps ethernet?

4K Smart TV with 100mbps ethernet?

I may be missing something here, but... I've just bought a 4K OLED "Smart" TV, however I can't stream anything in 4k. I have the network speed to support it, but the wifi is too unstable (but fast enough) and the ethernet is too slow. Analiti shows that on Wifi I get about 160mbps and on Ethernet only about 20 (it's a gigabit switch with cat6 cable)

 

Does anyone know why this is so bad or if there's a workaround? 

30 REPLIES 30
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rooobb
Expert

Of course in a public forum we should respect also the legal aspects. If you own the original UHD BD 4K I will always suggest to use it (instead of a cheap chinese Android box) because it is the way you'll get the best experience. 

For the limited bandwidth of the ethernet card as I said almost any TV is like this, someone got a better result using 5Ghz Wifi but you should have the router very close to the tv in order to have a larger bandwidth.

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Pebbleridge
Member

Hi,

A much bigger issue (IMHO) is that Ethernet will only run at the speed of the slowest device on the network.

So if you have 10/100/1000 equipment and Cat6 cabling, giving you Gigabit Ethernet, the minute you connect your Sony TV the ENTIRE network slows down to 100mbps.

 

SORRY GUYS THE ABOVE STATEMENT IS ONLY TRUE IF YOU ARE USING AN ETHERNET HUB, SEE MY POST BELOW.

 

Regards,

Paul

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IamNic
Expert

Hello @Pebbleridge,

 


@Pebbleridge  schrieb:

Ethernet will only run at the speed of the slowest device on the network.


First time I hear of that - would be news to me. Got any source?

 

- Nic

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Pebbleridge
Member

Hi Nic,

 

Sorry mate, I'm a bit long in the Tooth, having done some research on the net  it would appear that my statement is true is you are using a hub.

 

I now believe that as long as you are using a gigabit switch you will be fine, apparently a switch does not work on the "weakest link" theory that a hub works on.

If you are using a gigabit switch, then two gigabit devices (using appropriate cabling) on the same switch will be able to communicate at a theoretical maximum of 1Gbps, regardless of whether there are other 100Mbps devices connected to the same switch.

Sorry for any confusion.

 

If I could I would delete my earlier post.

 

Regards,

 

Paul

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tombarry_1212
Explorer

So was there any conclusion to the problem with 100mmps ethernet 

if I try to watch 4K from YouTube I just get buffering ? 🤔

 

 

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rooobb
Expert

Youtube buffering has nothing to do with the ethernet limit of 100mbps since I have no evidence that any youtube bitstream is higher than 60mbps and is adaptive in any case

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emantecon
Explorer

The big problem with a FastEhernet port (100 Mbps) is the bitrate. A 100 Mbps ethernet port is a bottleneck with 4K video content and high bitrates.
Maybe you never have problems with 4k on-demand streaming video services (like Youtube, Netflix, Amazon Video, etc) because the bitrates of these streamings are in a range of 12 Mbps - 50 Mbps.
The big problem is that you try to view one 4K Blu-Ray over your home network (With NAS or other appliance) in this case the bitrate is up to 110 Mbps (and more) and this Sony TV do not support this bitrates. The guilty one 100Mbps port in an TV of 3000 euros. I don't understand what is the reason that this TV do not have 1Gbps ports.
Pd: For info..... I have the original of Blu-rays and invoice of all of them.

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rooobb
Expert

Any tv on the market has the same spec. A bluray hd by definition is up to 108mbps and if you own the disk there is no real reason why you do not use the player instead of the tv. It is really a non sense. The unique use case not supported is for home video with a 4k action cam like the gopro. But that's it.
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Tonycv51
Contributor

If people are having issues with Netflix, prime, disney+ etc. it's not the Lan port on the TV that's the issue, it will be cables, switch router, Internet speed etc.

I'm not aware of a TV with a gigabit port, but a Shield or Apple TV does come with one

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emantecon
Explorer

1St. The reason for use a NAS o any network appliance is easy, you can reach all your video contents just with a few "clicks".
2nd. BluRay specs are: Dual-layer discs support a max bitrate of 108Mbps, while triple-layer discs allow for up to 128Mbps.
3th. Unfortunately I don't know any TV with 1Gbps port, but
I don't understand how a brand like Sony with groundbreaking technology, allow this to continue happening. I read that many people buy 1Gbps USB-Ethernet adapters to avoid this problem of buffering, but I'm not sure if it will work on this TV.
Pd: For info..... I have the original of Blu-rays and invoice of all of them.