2 Messages
Change wireless cable box to use extender
Our living room cable box is wireless & it continuously freezes when we watch tv (like now) and even rebooting does not make it better. We have the ATT extenders but according to Smart Home Manager this cable box is not connecting to the extender in our living room but to the main gateway in a different room. How can I change it to connect this box to the extender? I am hoping that will stop the constant freezing when trying to watch tv. Please help!
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gr8sho
ACE - Professor
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1.5K Messages
2 years ago
The only “cable” box available from Att was the Uverse TV product. A wireless settop box can only be connected to their WAP, not a generic extender.
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JefferMC
ACE - Expert
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36.8K Messages
2 years ago
Smart Home Manager has not been very reliable about indicating which specific device (extender/Gateway) a device is connecting to, so absent seeing the actual MAC address in the "cable box's" UI and tracking that down to the Gateway or Extender, I wouldn't rely on knowing which it has connected to.
Like with gr8sho, your use of the term "cable box" is off-putting to me. A U-verse TV Receiver wouldn't connect to either, but only the dedicated WAP. If you mean the DIRECTV STREAM osprey/gemini device, I suppose "cable box" isn't a horrible term for it, but it's really just a streaming device. If you mean an Apple TV / Roku / FireTV Cube or something like that, you should say "Streaming device" or just call it by brand name.
(edited)
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Lynae23
2 Messages
2 years ago
Thank you! Sorry I am old school lol. It is the wireless receiver box that we use for ATT Uverse to watch cable tv. It is not for streaming.
I swapped the box aka receiver with another wireless one that we were not using so we shall see if it helps! I am just tired of paying these high prices for cable & internet when it constantly freezes when we try to watch it.
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JefferMC
ACE - Expert
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36.8K Messages
2 years ago
The dedicated Wireless Access Point is a separate device connected via an Ethernet cable to the Gateway. You should move that at least 3 feet from the Gateway (or as long as the Ethernet cord will allow). If you have a longer Ethernet cable, you might be able to move the WAP closer to the TV Receiver that needs better reception, or perhaps avoid having an appliance or large piece of furniture in a straight line between the two.
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gr8sho
ACE - Professor
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1.5K Messages
2 years ago
Right, the fact the picture is freezing is indicative the wireless connection is marginal. If you look closely at the front panel of the set-top box, there is a dim signal strength meter. It needs to be full, and even then you might still see problems.
Also, because the WAP uses 5 GHz radio signal to communicate with the set-top box, it has an inherently short range, and any physical barrier will cause steep decline in ability of a strong, proper link.
In the end there's no substitute for a hardwired connection for reliability.
I'm going to go ahead and move this thread over to U-verse section. Good luck.
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