Uverse keeps freezing

If you are trying to run your Wired U-verse TV receiver through consumer wireless equipment (such as Orbi), you are going to have problem after problem.  It just will not work, and will cause issues for your Internet traffic as well.  Any AT&T tech who told you differently is mistaken.  U-verse TV uses Multicast and consumer wireless equipment will not handle it well.

You can get a Wireless U-verse TV Receiver which connects to a dedicated WAP whose purpose is only to communicate with U-verse TV Receivers and that would work.  You can connect the U-verse TV Receiver directly using Ethernet, or by using a wired bridge (such as a powerline adapter set).

We're here to help with your U-verse connection, @BrianL21.

We have information to help troubleshoot your U-verse TV. You can also try rebooting both your main receiver and your gateway to refresh the connection.

As @JefferMC mentioned,

1. Are you using a wired or wireless receiver? (You will need another set up if you are using a wired receiver).
2. If you are not sure, share the model number of your receiver and we can check for you.

Let us know if this helps.

Elmi, AT&T Community SPecialist.

This has also been happening to me on a regular basis, with the increasing frequency.  ATT has been absolutely no help...they are clueless, or act clueless in spite of there being many online posts just like this.  I too have been sent a new gateway and new boxes, and been told to plug power directly into wall outlets and not power strips, etc...a bunch of voodoo talk that has absolutely no effect on the problem.

I've timed how long things are normal in between freezes...it's a nearly constant 4-1/2 minutes.  And if the moment it freezes I switch channels and switch back, I'm good for another 4-1/2 minutes.  It's crazy...  Of course I have to restart the Gateway and boxes or this problem shows up as gaps in recordings.  It's infuriating.

If ATT doesn't get this figured out, and soon, they are going to be left holding a bunch of hardware in dusty warehouses and will be begging for new customers...

Normally this indicates some sort of networking issue.  Please describe every facet of the physical network between your AT&T Gateway and each/every AT&T U-verse TV Receiver, this includes any WAP you have for your wireless boxes.  If you're using switches, mention any other network gear you have connected to the same switch as any AT&T Gear.

To address your request, I made up this schematic...

Thanks for the picture!  That's great.

Would you be willing to try powering off the Wi-Fi repeater for 15 minutes and seeing if your every 4.5 minute issue goes away?

If that doesn't fix it, would you repeat that test with the GS308? 

Not saying that either is bad, or necessarily causing the issue, I'm just trying to narrow down the possibilities.

For me to do the test you suggest, I'd have to wait until the 4.5 minute issue occurs again (which based on experience I won't have to wait too long...maybe a day or two).  If that somehow fixed the issue, then I'd have the problem of no interest service at the back of my house because that repeater is important for that purpose.

Regarding the test of turning off the GS308, that's not possible... All my computers are fed from that so even if the tv freezing stopped, I'd be without computers...

Your response to my above concerns MIGHT be...1) buy a different wifi repeater, and/or 2) buy a different ethernet hub.  If that's the road you're going down, I would just say that experimenting with different setup and hardware should not be necessary.  Nothing I have is exotic or unusual.  ATT's gear should be sufficiently robust to support the services they're selling me.  When I first started having this problem, they acted like they knew how to solve it... restart the DVR...and when that didn't work, restart the gateway...and when that didn't work, sent out new DVR...and when that didn't work, sent out new gateway...and when that didn't work, said I need to plug their gear directly into outlets and not into powerstrips...and when that didn't work, move the dvr from the den, put the wireless receiver there instead, and put the dvr in same room as the gateway...and when that didn't work, it was replace your cat5e cables with cat6...  So you can see why I say they don't have a clue...it's just experimentation, none of which has worked, and all of which has cost me time and money, literally.

So I appreciate your attempt to help, genuinely, but if not using my wifi repeater or not using my ethernet hub is a solution, then it's by definition NOT a solution....respectfully.

Maybe you missed where I said

Not saying that either is bad, or necessarily causing the issue,

I'm just trying to determine where the problem is coming from.  I said to turn them off for 15 minutes to try to identify the issue.  My plan was for you to turn them back on after the test, and then decide path forward with the information obtained from the test. 

So... that's my recommendation. I understand your point of view that these are critical parts of your home network, and you are loathe to disable them.  

As I closed my note above, but worth repeating, I genuinely appreciate your attempt to help solve this problem.  I will wait for the next 4.5 freezing issue to return and will attempt to follow your suggestion.  Stay tuned for result...

JefferMC-- I can't believe it, but it's true... my wifi repeater is the issue.  I was watching tv today, and after a while, the freeze occurred.  As I said, my usual approach would be to restart the gateway and dvr, and the freeze problem would go away...for maybe a day or two.  But instead of restarting anything, I followed your suggestion... I unplugged my wifi repeater... the tv kept playing past the 4-1/2 minute mark, and even past 9 minutes... So then I plugged the wifi repeater back in... and at about the 4-1/2 minute mark--freeze!  I switch the channel, and switched right back and continued to watch.  And again at about 4-1/2 it froze again.  So I unplugged the wifi repeater again... and sure enough, no freezing for 15 minutes.  Plugged it back in and 4-1/2 minute later FREEZE!

So you're right with your suspicion... The question now is how to fix this problem???  As I've said, I need the wifi repeater for the back of my house, so just unplugging it and not using it really isn't an option...

1) Does the repeater have the ability to function as an Access Point, and could you run an Ethernet cable to it?  That might help.

2) Does the repeater have any significant settings that you can control?  What brand/model is it?

3) Do your issues with the TVs apply to the DVR and the wireless receivers, or just the wireless receivers?

I don't know if the repeater can function as an Access Point...and I don't have an ethernet cable at that end of the house.  Here's a link to the unit (I bought it on Amazon)...maybe you can tell from the description if it would have the functions you're asking about--  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09JVYZM1S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The freezing only happens on the DVR...the two wireless receivers I have don't freeze...weird.

I saw on that ATT sells a "Smart Wi-Fi Extender"  is this something I should get instead?  I had throwing more money at the problem...  https://www.att.com/support/article/u-verse-high-speed-internet/KM1192919/

The repeater you have I can find no documentation for and isn't exactly "name brand."  It has very little in the way of reputation, and I cannot determine what configuration options it may have.  I expect that its primary attraction is that it didn't cost a lot.  I don't really like repeaters, but I do realize that they fill a need in situations where you cannot run wiring where it is needed for an Access Point.  In my house, I can run wires pretty much anywhere.

I cannot in good conscience recommend the AT&T repeaters.  I tried one out a while back, and it worked for a while, but then went offline randomly and had to be unplugged and replugged pretty often.  Many people have had strange issues with them, and your ability to affect the way they work is limited.  And you pay a monthly fee.  If you decide to replace your repeater, this is not the path I would take.  I would get one from a well-known networking company that provides documentation, etc.  One from Netgear, TPLink, D-Link, or ASUS should be fine.  

The issue is likely that the repeater is causing the gateway to delay traffic and the DVR is sensitive because it's not expecting to have to buffer and lose a connection like the wireless devices are.  

Thank you JefferMC for your advice.  I was leaning towards just getting the ATT brand but based on your comments (and the lack of sophisticated support when I chatted and called them about it), I've decided to go with this unit from Netgear.  I'm getting it delivered later today so fingers crossed!

https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-AX1750-4-Stream-Extender-EAX18/dp/B08K2ZX2RY/ref=sr_1_7_sspa?crid=2KEGQ9Z8XB3RW&keywords=mesh%2Bwifi%2Bextender&qid=1671555524&refinements=p_89%3AASUS%7CNETGEAR%7CTP-Link%2Cp_72%3A1248879011&rnid=1248877011&s=electronics&sprefix=mesh%2Bwifi%2Bextender%2Celectronics%2C148&sr=1-7-spons&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.18ed3cb5-28d5-4975-8bc7-93deae8f9840&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExWUdBSFlXTDJCS04yJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMzYyMzQxMUhUSENEUlA3NDA1NiZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNjMyNTMzMVNLVUc2WFNYRllVWCZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX210ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU&th=1

Thank you again JefferMC.  I installed/setup the Netgear mesh extender this morning.  Not only have stronger wifi signal at the back of the house, but the tv hasn't frozen....YET.  Since I restarted my gateway before I began the setup process, that normally would stop the tv freezing for some period of time.  So the real test will play out over the next several days.

It was your help, and suggestion to unplug my previous wifi repeater that identified that as the most likely culprit.  Anyway, so far, so good.