Constantly dropping picture quality

[Anonymous User]

Hi everyone,

My problem is the picture quality keeps dropping to insanely pixelated then goes back up to HD for a bit and drops again, making the watching of anything absolutely unenjoybable. I have a 1080p HD TV and decent wifi connection. Any ideas if there is a setting similar to YouTube where the picture quality changes when the Internet slows down and whether it can be turned off?

Thanks in advance for any help

[Anonymous User]

My box started doing this a week ago, the issue is not caused by your wifi, it is caused by an issue with the box, I suspect a fault with the wifi chip. I know this as I have 3 now tv boxes (the newest ones you can pause and rewind) they all use the same network and 2 of the boxes work fine. I swapped the problem box for one of the others and the picture is perfect again.

Interestingly the problem box shows far more glitches in the hidden wifi menu than the other 2 that work fine.

[Anonymous User]

I have also started to receive poor picture quality recently. I first noticed this over the weekend whilst watching the Ryder Cup. The picture quality only returned after I restarted the Roku nowtv box. After several resets I am convinced there are more severe underlying issues I would like nowtv to investigate.

[Anonymous User]

Yes you’re right. They definitely have some serious issues their end and
blaming the customer is not the right way to resolve it. NowTV isn’t
working adequately, they won’t return my emails and whenever I contact them
they tell me my internet speeds are too slow even though I can see for
myself on my own speed test that they’re not. Receiving 22mbps when the
issue occurs and if I only need 2.5 to stream then I obviously have enough
at nearly ten times that. I’ve seriously had enough. What’s the point in
having a contact service or a community feed like this if NowTV don’t even
bother looking at it?!

What a joke of a company.

[Anonymous User]

It's becoming laghable now. The picture quality is unwatchable, service unuseable,. I have paid for a season pass which I am going to retract the cost of through my bank. Now TV please help does anybody have an email address, telephone number that I can contact Now TV on?

[Anonymous User]

Please send me your tips too.

[Anonymous User]

Yup. My (brand new) black box started off well and worked for a fortnight. Now films dip in and out of watchable quality. The explainer captions in films are unreadable.

Tried all the suggested solutions - outlined in the 'accepted solution' at the top of this post. All ballcocks.

Particularly dislike the user being blamed for the poor service. We are not idiots, so don't treat us as such.

If you are seriously suggesting WiFi is a bad idea, don't offer it as a viable alternative to hard-wiring.

Absolutely rubbish service.

[chilli2]

[quote] My (brand new) black box started off well and worked for a fortnight. Now films dip in and out of watchable quality. The explainer captions in films are unreadable.[/quote]

Hope you got a good discount on the black box, as they have been discontinued for a few months now.

There are a few things you can try, such as a speedtest app on your box, log into your manin account on a pc/tablet etc, and add channel code SPEEDTEST  you will then have a speedtest channel/app on your main menu try that and see what it says.

 you could also try an ethernet connection - if you have one of the now discontinued boxes that feature ethernet, the new devices do not have ethernet.

shortcut to the add channel/app is here https://my.roku.com/account/add/  log in with the same username/password you used to set up and enter code SPEEDTEST

[ukbobboy]

@chilli2 @Anonymous User

Guys

Depending on your ISP, you do know that they sometimes drop your download speed to see if you make a complaint about it, and to see if they can get away with it.  Once you complain, lo and behold, your speed is put back to what you signed up for.

You see, they don't tell you when they're doing it, they just do it to see if you notice, and if you don't they probably reallocate the "liberated" resource elsewhere on their network.

Be vigilant and do not wholly trust any company.

UK Bob

[Anonymous User]

"My connection is one of the fastest fibre connections available. Yet im having issues with streaming on NowTV but i have no problems streaming BBC iPlayer live channels, which are also 720p and Netflix which is 1080p.

But NowTV drops in rates and sometimes cuts off entirely. And i can tell you why: Its nothing to do with poor connection, it has everything to do with the poor server capacity Sky has and something they still haven't increased! 

 Oh and i hardwire my box to my router, makes no difference."

Ditto. I have 50mb max typical 28-35mb and I'm the only person online at the moment, but the Forest v Birmingham game looks like I'm watching through a rainstorm on a car windscreen.

NOW TV Entertainment and Movies working just fine, but all sports channels are abysmal, and not cheap.

Not a happy lagomorph.

[Anonymous User]

"My connection is one of the fastest fibre connections available. Yet im having issues with streaming on NowTV but i have no problems streaming BBC iPlayer live channels, which are also 720p and Netflix which is 1080p.

But NowTV drops in rates and sometimes cuts off entirely. And i can tell you why: Its nothing to do with poor connection, it has everything to do with the poor server capacity Sky has and something they still haven't increased! 

 Oh and i hardwire my box to my router, makes no difference."

Ditto. I have 50mb max typical 28-35mb and I'm the only person online at the moment, but the Forest v Birmingham game looks like I'm watching through a rainstorm on a car windscreen.

NOW TV Entertainment and Movies working just fine, but all sports channels are abysmal, and not cheap.

Not a happy lagomorph.

[Anonymous User]

...After about an hour, we are back to normal.

Maybe my moaning was something to do with it, but this is a regular if not frequent occurance with the Sports content alone, not the films or entertainment, and don't tell me there was unprecedented demand to watch a middle of the table EFL match.

[Anonymous User]

Exactly the same issue - trying to watch Forest v Birmingham game; like someone else on here just said, looks like I'm watching through a rainstorm on a car windscreen. Appalling. Sort it out, NOW - won't be using you again at this rate.

[Anonymous User]

It is happening on my system this weekend.

Accessing via Roku Streaming Stick+ and it is working flawlessly for Netflix, Prime Video, BBC etc and also NowTV entertainment.  But since about 6pm yesterday all sky sports channels are absurdly pixelated to the point where you cannot make out what the image is.

Access to internet via a commercial grade (80Mbps) connection.

This looks a lot like a problem supporting demand at Sky's end. 

First time I've tried to contact Now TV about a technical issue - and disappointed to find that the support is so awful.

[Anonymous User]

Had the same issue yesterday as everyone else, using PC app, only 2 days into 14 day trial period, wif here is excellent, tried both the BT fibre family and Virgin Media fibre work connection. What has worked for me today, which I admit may be temporary and due to non-peak, I guess time will tell, was using the iPad app and casting to the TV via a Chromecast, at the moment I can only assume that the Chromecast was regulating the stream in my favour as there was no blurry moments at all, whether that is nonsense who knows, it worked

[lovebuguk]

at the end of the day you hard wire wifi unstable i have 100mb internet and wifi is rubbish i get the on topic prob if only useing wifi.   i have a black box / samsung tv / lgtv / xbox all hardwired and never have any probs great pic all the time.

[Anonymous User]

we got same problem, now tv has become really bad this past week, all other devices working nice and fast(like normal), i will be ditching now tv.

[Anonymous User]

I have had this problem recently despite having adequate broadband speeds - I have (hopefully) solved it by buying a netgear wifi extender, plugging it in next to the TV and running an ethernet cable directly into the TV from it - and have had a smooth, sharp picture ever since.
I use the NOWtv app on an LG set.
No idea whether that's a permanent solution or I'm just lucky - but for people struggling it's worth a go.
If it IS a solution then NOW should be sending everyone a voucher to buy one if it's necessary to run their service properly.

[Anonymous User]

I found the best thing to do was cancel all three of my nowtv passes and my
current broadband provider and take out a sky contract. Paying £1 a month
more but service is great. Thanks Sky for doing what NowTV couldn’t 🙂 ##-
Please type your reply above this line -##

[Anonymous User]

Having the exact problem myself. Goes from normal quality to a pixelatted picture where unable to read subtitiles constantly, only happens on NowTV programmes.

[SeeMoreDigital]

---

@Anonymous User wrote:
Having the exact problem myself. Goes from normal quality to a pixelatted picture where unable to read subtitiles constantly, only happens on NowTV programmes.

---

@Anonymous User

I'm confused... What channels are you watching? I ask because currently none of the NOW TV channels offer subtitles!

[Anonymous User]

Sky Atlantic Gomarah

[SeeMoreDigital]

---

@Anonymous User wrote:
Sky Atlantic Gomarah

---

@Anonymous User,

What make/model of device are you using to access the NOW TV service?