Buffering issues started when connected via Wi-Fi

I got a re-furbished Dual lite a few weeks ago, connected via wi-fi. 5G band. At first it worked fine, got all the channels expected, and was able to view and record live TV. It has a 1TB external HD. Using a Roku Ultra and windows 10 PC.
Last week the app started slowing down, did not response to remote, and when watching a show, the screen would freeze with a spinning wheel, then start again, only to re-freeze a minute later. When I exited out of the app, and came back in, only the Tablo logo and menu was shown along the side, but no other display.
I cycled power on the device, and after the blue light stopped blinking, I was able to reconnect to the unit, and all the channels were there. But this time when I tried to view a channel, after about a minute, the screen froze, then started and froze again, making viewing TV unusable. It was working fine up to this point, no changes to the router.
Also, the Tablo, router and Roku are all in the same room (about 6 feet from each other). I did find a long Ethernet cable and connected the Tablo into the router. This did appear to solve the freezing issue, but now limits where I can put the Tablo.

So, my questions are:

  1. Is it normal to have to cycle power on the Tablo periodically? And if so, how often?
  2. What does it mean that connecting via Wi-Fi started to cause buffering issues?
  3. Is it possible that this refurbished Tablo has issues with its Wi-Fi hardware?
  4. Does the Tablo get Software updates automatically?

Thanks

  1. No.
  2. It’s possible that there are issues on your WiFI (unknown).
  3. It’s possible.
  4. Device receives that updates are “available” and then you have to initiate the process. There are some very rare exceptions to this.

Some on this forum use adapters that send the network traffic over your electric circuits. Plug in one adapter near the Tablo, and the other adapter near your Roku.

Here’s a set I saw on Amazon.

cjcox: Thanks for answering 1 and 4, I would like to understand how to troubleshoot #2, so I can be sure #3 is not an issue.
Mbellaire: I had tried those things several years ago, could never get them to pair. they had to be on the same circuit, and not go through a breaker. Perhaps the newer versions work better.

Not sure what to tell you on #2. I run one Tablo hard wired and another on WiFi and have no problems with either setup. But I don’t have a lot of stress on my WiFi, it’s designed to go through walls, so it’s just old style B/G/N at 2.4Ghz. I don’t need anything more than that at the moment (and my device doesn’t support anything else).

With that said, I have seen “other” (non-WiFi) wireless devices cause a mess load of WiFi problems (things like wireless headphones, etc.). My microwave oven can cause some issues.

Try loading a WiFi app on your phone to see the signal strength and how many interfering signals are on a particular channel.

I use WiFi Analyzer.

@cg409 Another possibility is if your Tablo and Roku were both on Wi-Fi, that would put additional stress on your home Wi-Fi capability, especially if you have the Live TV or Recordings quality set at a high level in your Tablo settings menu. Try lowering that setting to see if that resolves anything.

However, if you see or have seen issues outside of video playback, it might point more to some Wi-Fi interference, like what users above have already described.

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