Samsung forum: Another SmartTv that has poor Netflix performance

The additional information you requested: This is an ActionTec PK5000 DSL modem with 802.11b/g capability. It was set to automatically find the best channel, which typically was channel 11. I downloaded inSSIDer, and find that the modem is probably correct, but have hard-coded the channel to 1 as an experiment.

In the process of doing this, I noticed that WMM was enabled, apparently by default. I have disabled it, also as an experiment.

With inSSIDer, I find that my router is typically 30+dB stronger than any other signals in the vicinity.

I went to the Internet Services > Wireless Internet forum. I find that there are several reports of problems with Netflix and various Samsung TV's. Given the large number of posts on that forum, there were too many to manually sort through and the search is somewhat limited. Can you provide a couple links to threads that are examples of what you were discussing?

As to the issue with antenna differences between a laptop and a TV, I am somewhat at a loss. Given the relative sizes of a laptop and a 55" TV, and given that larger antennas typically perform better than smaller ones, the possibility that Samsung has not provided a good antenna for this TV only further suggests that I might not want to purchase a Samsung in the future.

It appears that you might be upset if I try to help here. All the HDTVs and BD players I encounter rarely match the WiFi reception performance of a laptop. It's why I have to wire it up to see if there are other issues and then if that works I move to WiFi but at 20 feet.

Sorry but if you expect laptop range performance you need to get out now before you lose any more time. I'm unsure why no one has told you this.
Bob

I am curious, though. After all, TV & BD makers have access to the same 802.11 MAC's and antenna designs that the laptops do. As I noted, flat-screen TVs have the potential to introduce even better antennas than laptops.

I guess you may be telling me that the manufacturers either have wafer-thin profit margins or <snark> are so greedy and so contemptuous of the consumer, that an additional $5-$10 in hardware isn't worth it to them. </snark>

Since the configuration of my house makes it hard to move the TV any closer to the router, and I am already running a 9dB gain (2.4GHz) antenna, would changing to a dual band modem and a 5GHz wireless router to eliminate potential interference be advisable?

Thank you for the link to the "Samsung owners start here..."

I read through it and got completely halted by the "What TIME is it?" post. I thought, "Naaah, it couldn't be that simple, could it?" I went and checked the time on the TV and it was 26 hours behind. I updated it and have watched the whole evening without losing the program once, or having it buffer.

So, OK, I haven't looked at the signal strength or any other parameter, and it might go out tomorrow, but from now on, whenever someone joins the words Samsung and Netflix in a question, you might first want to ask, "Is the time on your set correct?"

Oh, and by the way, I am doing all the "bad" things y'all say not to do. I have a non-broadcasting SSID, with a long ID length, a similarly long password, and full WPA2 encryption.

I don't deal in consumer goods, but I grok the thing about dropping headphone jacks. My business area has a completely different model, where we would give the customer nearly every conceivable jack that has ever been invented just as a precaution, and they would want to pay for them.

Thanks again. I'm still laughing.....