Beep boop - this is a robot. A new show has been posted to TWiT…
What are your thoughts about today’s show? We’d love to hear from you!
I was interested to hear the short discussion about the differences in wi-fi reception in different hardware. We are periodically having trouble with our TCL 4K HD Series 6 Roku TV, which will show poor wi-fi connection, when anything else twice as far away from the router, even on different floors of the house, and even outside, works just fine. No problem with Roku sticks, iPads, iPhones, 3 Echo devices. It’s just that one TV. We thought we might have to get a different router or a mesh system, but it seems ridiculous to spend all the money for periodic problems on 1 TV.
Other than hard wiring that TV, which would be a gigantic hassle, is there anything else we could do to improve the wi-fi reception on that particular TV?
Thanks for the show!
My own issues with a single device have often been improved by moving it. Sometimes only a few inches can do it. Refrigerators or other things can interrupt the signal getting through.
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If you need to hard-wire anything to a network, I recommend flat Ethernet cable. It will fit under carpets, or in gaps between flooring and baseboard/skirting. It’s also far more flexible than conventional round network cables. It can be fixed in place with double sided adhesive tape and painted over, which makes it disappear into any wood moulding it’s attached to if done carefully.
Amazon stocks it in different lengths and colours, but white is usually the most practical for a domestic situation.
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@Patchoulifan, we solved similar issue by adding a wi-fi extender which plugs into a 110v receptacle next to the TV. TP-Link Extender currently $23
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When I listened to Leo’s comments about the future and flying cars, I thought about this… It was a short Kevin Smith made several years ago for Leno’s Tonight Show…
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Thanks for the WiFi tips! I have never seen flat ethernet cable! If we have to go that route, I’ll give that a try. We did move the router a bit, and it seems to have helped. Weirdly enough, AppleTVPlus gave us the most problems.
We have Xfinity cable here in Illinois, and the WiFi is really strong. If we access Netflix or Amazon Prime streaming through the cable, there is absolutely no problem. They don’t support AppleTV on it. Honestly, if we “cut the cord,” we would still have to use Xfinity, and internet alone would cost over half of what we pay for most every channel plus internet. That’s how they keep you from cutting the cord…
Again, thanks for the thoughts!
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I would use a cheap router as a bridge and connect the TV to an Ethernet port
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I can’t help thinking that the biggest deception in that concept of flying cars is that we think of cars as things whose position and speed can be precisely controlled, allowing them to safely be in close proximity while moving.
But the air is a fluid medium full of currents, downdrafts and updrafts, and all the flying things we have created have a very imprecise grip on it, meaning we have to have lots of space around them to allow for unexpected movements. Birds like starlings have evolved to be able to fly in close formation, but we still don’t know how they do it. And even then sometimes it goes wrong: last month over two hundred starlings were found dead in Wales after having apparently collided with the ground en masse.
Until someone invents an anti-gravity ray / tractor beam, flying cars are going to remain out of reach I think.
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