@larryg4b Did that audio problem sort out? I was watching Pens vs Rangers today on live TV and thought about this post,
@jbanks25 - Not yet. The sync is still way off, like 20 seconds or more. I received my USB to ethernet adapter yesterday so I will try that first. I will also try deleting and reinstalling the NHL Roku app. Hoping one of these solutions work. I don’t think the USB-Ethernet adapter will be the solution because all other apps including Tablo run flawless with the TV on WiFi.
Hey guys, I wanted to pop back in on this topic just in case anyone else gets one of these TV’s and pairs it with a Zyxel powerline adapter.
I was originally using my 200mbps powerline adapter with the TV and things worked great. I then decided to upgrade to a new 500mbps powerline adapter to match the ones I have on my Tablo and router in the house. The first thing I will tell you is that the increased theoretical speed didn’t appear to make a difference. Second, the 500mbps Zyxel adapters had a green feature built into them that puts the signal in a low power sleep mode when not in use. This mode causes the the TV to lose connection if you leave it off overnight. The next time you turn the TV on it will default back to WiFi. I think this is because the TV wasn’t really designed with Ethernet in mind, and it is kind of a work around to be using in that manner to begin with. At any rate, switching back to the 200mbps adapter made things perfect again.
Again just an FYI if anyone ends up with a duplicate setup.
Even the new 200 Mbps Powerline Adapters have this green feature. It is very annoying when it turns off / goes into sleep mode. I have a pair of ASUS ones and found no solution to turning off the sleep mode function. My Roku 3 would take forever to kick the adapter back on.
So what I did was move my router so the Powerline adapters connect my router to my modem and the problem went away. As in, the constant connection between the router and modem prevented the Powerline adapters from going into sleep mode.
Router function has been stable and new location maximizes WiFi signal.
@theuser86 I actually always wondered if you could powerline your modem to the router. I assumed you couldn’t and never tried. I could really benefit from moving my router to another location in the house
I wondered too so I tried it and it worked well. Likely best to use a 500 Mbps or 1 Gbps Powerline adapter for router to modem depending on your internet speed if it’s upwards of 50 - 100 Mbps.
My internet is 15/10 Mbps so the 200 Mbps Powerline adapter was fine.
I have also used these DirecTV DECA adapters to connect a router and modem in different rooms. It is a type of a MOCA adapter but a lot cheaper. Very stable connection over coaxial cable. You just need the existing coaxial cable already run between the rooms.
I just bought one of these yesterday. I bought the 55 inch from Sams. This TV rocks. The picture is superb. We have a dual band router & it found the 5 ghz band just fine. Everything loads fine and plays smooth. We have it hooked up to our avr with the Optical Audio Out and the sound is great. It passes thru DD and DTS just fine.
Now we can’t wait for the new Tablo channel. Everything would be complete.
@theuser86 I tried moving some things around in my house, but couldn’t get the router in a different room than the modem via powerline. Maybe I have too many powerline things flying around, but for whatever reason, it didn’t work.
I did however make an awesome discovery. Zyxel (makers of my powerline adapters) have a software program you can download to monitor the adapters, adjust QOS etc. I found in the Advanced section of the options a box to check to disable sleep mode. So I did that last night for one of my 500s and connected it to my TV. This morning it was still connected. So now I can retire my last active 200 which is good because it is a lot older, and getting flaky.
I’m thinking about moving to a Roku TV set-up using powerine adapters, and this thread has brought up a couple of questions:
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There are now a few brands that offer Roku TVs: Sharp, TCL, Insignia… anyone have any recommendations on which one may be best?
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@jbanks25 mentioned the Zyxel powerline adapters have a sleep mode that needs to be disabled in order for them to function optimally. Are there any other powerline adapter brands that have this same issue, and are there fixes? I don’t want to buy a set and have issues
I have read about many people having issues with TP-LINK powerline adapters and sleep issues… trying to find a solid brand that will be easy to use.
Sleep issues aren’t hard to fix if your adapters don’t have the option to turn this feature off.
At the router end as the router is always on this adapter will never go to sleep.
At the HDTV end you can put in a $10 Ethernet switch and this will keep the adapter on and have it never go to sleep.
It’s not really a big issue.
I’ve been contemplating doing the same myself (replacing all my sets with Roku TV sets). I eventually decided not to, but in my research, I found Sharp to be the best. Insignia is pretty good too. I suggest looking at them at BestBuy before you purchase though. They are all pretty good.
Some (most?) of them are WiFi only.
Zyxel powerlines are fairly easy to disable the sleep function on. I just had to realize that it was the problem I was facing. After I figured that out, and corrected the situation with their software, it has been smooth sailing.
I have no complaints at all with the TCL Roku TV I’ve been using as my primary viewing set since this post started.
If you look back way earlier in this thread, others mentioned how you can use a USB ethernet dongle to connect the Roku TVs via ethernet cord. That’s what I was planning on doing. But yes, all the models I’ve seen have been WiFi, which is why I’m also thinking about powerline adapters. Thanks for the input - Sharp was my preferred brand, but I will have to go to Best Buy to check them out.
Just as an FYI, I started out using the ethernet dongle solution, but found it somewhat unreliable. Disconnecting every few days which required a unplug/plug reset which was a PITA since it was mounted above my fireplace. I actually converted to this setup, which has worked great.
@jbanks25 Interesting. Thanks for the heads up. I’ve noticed those WiFi extender powerline adapters as I have been browsing… how does the connection speed translate?
Adequate speeds for 720 playback (I don’t record at 1080 so that is untested) and live TV without any buffering. That is from about 20ft away and thru a couch just for reference. I’ve found it way more reliable than any other setup I tried.
I have a TCL 55" Roku TV. I watch 1080p thru Plex & Tablo all of the time. It works great. Fantastic picture also.
The wifi is 2.4 and 5ghz speeds. I have tried it both ways & I can’t tell a difference in speed. But my wireless access point is in the same room as the tv.