Watching Videos online...

[xx_bex_xx]

Hi,

I hope someone would be able to help me out. I got my tablet around a month ago (just the wifi version, not 3G). At first, watching videos online, e.g megavideo, itv player, worked fine throughout the house. It then started having problems upstairs but still worked downstairs. Now it isn't working properly anywhere in the house. What I mean by this, is that it plays for a bout 2 minutes, then it says its buffering, however it isn't, and the only way I can get it to work again is to refresh the page, and then it will be play for a futher 2 mins.

I don't know that much about this sort of thing, but I was trying to work out if it is the tablet or my internet that is causing  the problems. If I use my sisters laptop, videos work fine. This made me think it was the tablet, however it works fine at my friends house, videos run constantly. So could it be poor internet at home? Sorry I know this is very long winded!

I have searched online and seen various wifi boosters and repeaters, would anyone know if these could help?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance. 

[bennybuche · Accepted solution]

Hi xx,

Sometimes, the internet connection quality can decrease just because of the time passing by. To fix that, did you ever reset your internet? Just turn your router off and on (or plug out)... wait for a minute or two till it's synchronized again and look if it's better. Tell us 😉

[xx_bex_xx]

nope i' m afraid that Hasn't worked 😞

it's  been working all evening and morning at my boyfriends  house, yet again it's  not working once I get home! makes me think it's  something to do with my internet, but then I don't  understand  why it works on the laptop if that was the case?

[bennybuche]

Or with your wifi... Did you try to re-configure your wifi-router without encryption; you could make it "open" just to test? Maybe the issue is to find around there?

[ntldr1962]

I had the same problem and... the problem is for sure in the Wifi connection if not on the internet connection quality.

I had to change the configuration of the router, leaving the net open and used as the sole method of MAC address security.

Also i configured fixed IP.

Good luck... and not lose your nerves... :smileygrin:

[smellyonion]

playing for 2 minutes, then stopping and buffering for ever is a sign of loosing the internet connection. if you loose connection for a second, it wont buffer.

so it is 2 possibilities;

tablet loosing connection

or

router loosing connection

it might be the wifi turning off due to poorly codded video software. every 10s tap screen and see if it finishes the video.

[xx_bex_xx]

thanks for all your tips! So quite a few of you have mentioned configuring the wifi... I have no idea where to start?!

Someone else said about it losing connection, all I would say is that this problem is purely affecting video, I can get on any other website fine, so I believe I am always connected.

[breedBenR]

do you live in a busy area with lots of wifi from neigbours?

wifi routers are set to work over one out of 12 channels, you might want to change the channel yours uses, to no longer overlap with the neighbours' wifi.

You can download the app wifi manager fom the market, to find out on the channels that the wifi around you use, and choose a remaining free spot. This can make wifi stable.

You will have to set the channel manually once, and you do so by login into your router from a webbrowser on your laptop or tablet. See the booklet you got with the router / from your ISP or google for a pdf manual, for the router's ip adress and the admin/pwd login code.

[DavidGelman]

I have the same problem and have tried reseting my tablet to factory settings with minimal apps. I have tried fixed IP and signlal boosters. I have tried different channels. When the tablet is within a meter of the wifi router the signal shows full strength but move about 3 meters away and it barely shows one bar. My phone and laptops still show full strength at that distance.

I sent the tablet to Sony under warranty and they said they could not find anything wrong and did a reset and full diagnostics. It has come back and is a bit better but still drops the signal intermittantly.

When the  internet stops working the message in bottom right corner is "No internet" and there is no icon. When I go into settings, it shows my SSID as saved. If I turn off the Wifi and back on again, it connects and works fine for minutes sometimes, or days at other times.

I think the internal antenna is on the left hand side of the tablet if you look at it with the fat side at the top. When my hand is holding the tablet on the left side, the signal seems to be reduced. Sounds a bit like the iPhone 4 problem.