# Amazon Streaming App Consistently Freezing - Tivo Loses Network Connectivity



## TostitoBandito (Sep 18, 2006)

Recently the Amazon app on my Bolt has been consistently freezing playback and giving me a bandwidth error after 20-30 minutes of playback. This happens every time without fail. There isn't any actual bandwidth issue, as I've tested on a laptop a few feet away from my Bolt on the same wifi network and I get over 50 Mb/sec (and I'm only streaming 1080p).

Once the error occurs, if I exit the app and open any streaming app, it won't have connectivity at all. This includes Netflix. It's like the Tivo completely loses internet even though it's still on my wifi. The only fix I've found is to turn off wifi on the Bolt, turn it back on, and then rejoin my network. However, this is only temporary. Also, simply switching wifi networks doesn't fix it; you must fully disable wifi in the options menu. This same issue also resulted in the Tivo not being able to get guide updates for a week while I was out of town, and again it was only corrected by toggling wifi. There was nothing wrong with my ISP or router.

Is this a known bug in the Tivo Bolt software? It seems like there is a recurring issue which can kill all network connectivity and from which the Tivo can't recover without intervention. I've only noticed this in the past month or so. It happens every single time on Prime, occasionally on Netflix, and sometimes all by itself outside of streaming apps (like when I was out of town).


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## TostitoBandito (Sep 18, 2006)

I'll add that this happens in Netflix too, though possibly less frequently. When it happens in Netflix it will stop playing and buffer, then count up to 25% and sit there. When I back out it's clear I don't have connectivity because trending shows are blank, and if I try to connect to another service like Amazon I get an error due to no connectivity. 

In both cases, something related to sustained streaming seems to break the Bolt's wifi after some period of time, and the only remedy is to restart the Tivo or toggle wifi off and back on.


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

Have you already rebooted the TiVo and the entire network?


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## TostitoBandito (Sep 18, 2006)

Yes I've restarted my router, though it's not a problem with my network at all (it's one of the first things I eliminated). Both my wifi networks work perfectly on any other device at the same time the Tivo is doing this. Power cycling the Tivo resolves the issue, but is not ideal for obvious reasons. As I said above the quickest consistent fix seems to be to disable and then enable wifi on the Tivo.

And yes, this is still an issue. Happened to me a few minutes ago while streaming on Prime. Got the spinning circle about 40 minutes into my movie followed by an "insufficient bandwidth" error from Amazon. Same as before, I exited out and went into Netflix and verified that it didn't have connectivity. As I'm writing this I've got the Tivo running a network connectivity test, which it's failing. I'm also making this post on the same wifi network that my Tivo thinks it no longer has connectivity on. Tivo really needs to fix this, as it seems to be a bug in the OS or hardware and not anything specific to a single app. Some sort of cache or buffer fills up and the Tivo becomes unable to use the network until it's power cycled or wifi is turned off and setup again. It's really annoying to have to spend several minutes setting up your wifi again every 45-90 minutes while streaming.


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## paully65 (Feb 20, 2002)

I will give you some good advice. Even though it would be super nice to use the Tivo for everything since we paid an arm and a leg for it, forget about it! What I did and what you should do is buy a Roku. You pay a one time price for the unit and that is it. This is no lie. I have been using it now for 7 months and it has never frozen, buffered, lost audio, pixilated, etc. I love it! I just wich Roku would make a DVR. HAHA!


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## TostitoBandito (Sep 18, 2006)

I have an Xbox so the Roku isn't needed. I would just like the convenience of being able to use streaming apps on my DVR without switching inputs and turning on my Xbox. That said, I don't use them that much on the Tivo anyways since I recently got a 4K setup and Tivo STILL doesn't have HDR enabled in their Netflix and Amazon apps. Once they do, then this network bug will start to piss me off more.


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## wlpippin (May 16, 2015)

Something that sounds similar happened to my Bolt. Internet is working fine everywhere else in house(wifi and wired) but Amazon app suddenly stops a stream and says bandwidth problem. Bolt seems to have lost all internet access(so minis stop working also.) Fixed by restarting bolt, then forcing tivo service connection(took longer than the usual) then restarting bolt again. I didn't touch my router or modem. 
Happened while I was watching amazon but I've also encountered minis not working and the fault was the bolt lost internet when all other devices in home still had connection. Had to do same thing restart bolt, connect to tivo service then restart again.


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## danimal2 (Dec 23, 2018)

Just curious, for those experiencing this issue, does the issue persist when using moca networking? Thanks!


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## TostitoBandito (Sep 18, 2006)

No idea, I don't use MOCA. I've only ever used wifi on my Bolt.

It's also odd that it seems to be triggered much more often in Amazon than in Netflix. It seems like it has to be a Tivo OS or hardware bug, but there appears to be something unique to the Amazon app which triggers it more frequently. Perhaps something about how Amazon buffers their streams, or something along those lines.

Edit - Just used Hulu for the first time in a while and it happened there too, within 5 minutes of starting a show.


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## kpeters59 (Jun 19, 2007)

WiFi!

Try a wire and see if that fixes it.

Try a different router.

Maybe try it with Encryption turned off on the Router WiFi.

-KP


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## TostitoBandito (Sep 18, 2006)

My Tivo is on a different floor from my router, and I'm not running a 100 foot cat5 cable up the stairs. I don't have any fancy settings enabled on my router. Just your standard WPA security, which Tivo connects to just fine. No NAT or IP filtering or anything like that. Signal strength is fine as well. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the router, which is an Archer C7 which is a very popular model.

Also, I had the same router since I bought the Bolt, and this connectivity issue only began occurring mid-2018 coinciding with some OS updates I believe Tivo made around that time. Prior to that I never saw this issue despite using streaming services extensively on wifi.

Also, my Xbox is in exactly the same location as the Tivo and it has no issues streaming for hours on end without any errors. Over wifi, in 4K/HDR.


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

Tivo does not support using a wifi connection to use to feed streaming to devices. Software or just lucky before, not sure, some have made it work, many cannot.

If unwilling to install a wire, try moving the box to a location where you can test it. Or, put it on a bridge so the tivo thinks it is hard wired.


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## TostitoBandito (Sep 18, 2006)

jrtroo said:


> Tivo does not support using a wifi connection to use to feed streaming to devices. Software or just lucky before, not sure, some have made it work, many cannot.
> 
> If unwilling to install a wire, try moving the box to a location where you can test it. Or, put it on a bridge so the tivo thinks it is hard wired.


LOL what? Please show me where it says that streaming isn't supported over wifi. That makes zero sense, as the vast majority of people likely connect all their AV devices via wifi since it's the most convenient. Every other streaming device I have streams fine over wifi, in 4K/HDR even (and many are much older than the Bolt is). Bandwidth isn't an issue as my connection is around 180Mb/sec and the wifi signal near the Tivo will still easily do at least 100Mb/sec, which is at least 5 times what it needs to stream 4K (and like 20 times 1080p).


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

I'm not going to do that for you. Search here and you'll find many mentions of that policy. It certainly could change in the future, but with a little searching you'll find folks using the workarounds I mention. The first one I would do regardless, but that us up to it ou.


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## kpeters59 (Jun 19, 2007)

I'm pretty sure WiFi streaming is supported on TiVo's for Internet Apps.

But, Mini's don't have WiFi capability, so they're clearly _not_ supported.

All that being said, if you don't make any changes to your system, how can you expect any improvement?

Maybe it is a bug that will get fixed, maybe it isn't...

How about try Powerline?

-KP


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## TostitoBandito (Sep 18, 2006)

Why would I spend money trying to make changes to my network when this is clearly a bug with the Tivo OS? I mean, I MIGHT consider buying an access point and trying ethernet from that (it's still the same wifi, the TiVo just won't know any better) if Tivo had HDR support in their streaming apps. But since they don't, I'll just stream on my Xbox until Tivo gets their act together. For the amount of money I paid for this I should have higher expectations for service and support. I mean a $50 stick from Amazon or Google is objectively a better streaming device, minus the cable of course. Why am I being ridiculous for expecting Tivo to fix this and not wanting to make a bunch of expensive workarounds which may or may not help?

Again, this bug was introduced in a 2018 update. My network has been identical before and after the issue began occurring. I'm talking with Tivo about it now and it sounds like the only idea they have is that it might the wifi hardware inside the Tivo and they are looking into sending me a new one. We'll see if that helps.

Edit - Tivo ended up offering a free replacement even though it's out of warranty. I'll update this thread with feedback on whether new hardware helps at all.


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## TostitoBandito (Sep 18, 2006)

So as I expected this has nothing to do with the hardware. The replacement Bolt I received with a build date of 12/2018 still does the same thing. I just lost connectivity while streaming 1080p via Amazon on a wifi network which Tivo itself reported to have a 90%+ signal strength and which has over 100Mb/sec of bandwidth. As before, it won't recover and regain connectivity to the wifi until I restart the box or disable/re-enable wifi on the Tivo. It will literally stay disconnected for days/weeks if I let it, despite the wifi network being up and available to every other device in my house.

I have a hard time believing this has anything to do with my network for the reasons outlined above. The Tivo is the only device in my house having any sort of connectivity issues, and I can stream in 4K on other devices on the same wifi network and location as the Tivo without ever seeing this happen. I guess I'll have to go buy an access point so I can try to bypass Tivo's apparently garbage wifi software implementation.


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## namzaps (Jun 18, 2008)

I have the exact same problem, mostly with prime video and my TiVo is wired in. The wireless network reports 350mbs. Rebooting is not a great option since it could be recording in the background when we are trying to watch a family movie.


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