XD80 49"/Android 6.0.1 - Connecting via WiFi: I give up

[Jecht_Sin]

I have a KD49XD8099 with Android 6.0.1, security patch Sep 1 2016. Connected via Ethernet (nearly) never a technical issue. Only the 100Mbps connection is just ridiculous and I wanted to see if via WiFi I could get better LAN performances.

So today for the n-th time (in various weeks) I tried to connect it via WiFi ac at 5GHz. I first disabled the 2.4GHz in my router. Connected via WPS it connected, it disconnected, it showed the esclamation mark (<!>) in the WiFi icon. Usually after a restart it works.

But then when I try to stream a video from a Plex server with DLNA enable, in the same exact WiFi network and 30 cm from the television (!!!) the server simply doesn't appear in the Video app. Nor the DLNA server of the router (which has no libraries but I left it enabled for testing). Video & TV SideView doesn't connect. Or if it does it keeps disconnecting every second. 

The only time that I managed to stream something the bandwidth was ridiculous (monitored from the computer).

Sure, it can be my router, the typical junk from ISPs. But my MacBook Pro connects fine via WiFi and also at a decent bandwidth (usually 200-260 Mbps), never disconnecting. But little really explains why all remote devices in the LAN just disappear when the tv is connected via WiFi. I mean, routing from WiFi to Ethernet it works!

In few words, my television's WiFi connection is simply useless.

Is there any special trick to make it working, or I just have to cross my fingers and wait for the next update? If it will ever fix anything, sure.

[HUSH2H]

i had the same issue but my tv was connected by cable so i think it is a plex problem

anyway, if your Plex server is set up properly you should see it on your tv when opening: Video - Devices

[Jecht_Sin]

@HUSH2H I can assure you Plex has nothing to do whatsoever with these issues. 

Indeed today I tried again to make the WiFi working. After the first connection (which surprisingly was successful at the first try - in the sense that the TV said the WiFi was connected), the internet wasn't reachable. So I've rebooted the router, "just in case". Same thing. The IP address, gateway and all were there, but still no Internet connection. And neither I could see any server from "Servers Disagnostic". Which was my original issue. I tried using a static IP address, no luck there either.

Then I went to Settings/Network/Home network setup/IP Control, I enabled IP control and.. miracle! For some mystic reasions the internet connection became alive. And not only that! The television could finally see both the Plex and router DLNA servers!! First time ever using the WiFi.

So I did a first speed test with DSL Reports. I couldn't reach 10 Mbps out of a 75Mbps connection. To watch 4K/HDR test videos from the local LAN using either Plex or a DLNA client (the Sony Video app) was impossible due to the buffering.

I am not sure what I did anymore (I probably touched the IP control again, which is now disabled anyway) but finally I've got full WiFi bandwidth. The speed test went up to 70-75 Mbps, the HDR videos were showing, without any stuttering using DLNA. I also tried to copy a video via DLNA using X-plore and I reached 13MB/s (more than 100 Mbps). Which is cool since both the computer and TV share the same WiFi. Also after that I played a bit with my router configuration on my router, to see how I could assign static IP addresses straight from my router, if possible (it isn't) because I want my laptop to use a fixed address being also a ssh server (useful for X-plore). I totally forgot about the television. The good thing is that after turning off and on the 5GHz WiFi various times, the television when I later checked was connected.

Still there is another catch: once in a while the connection drops. After finishing I listened to music via Spotify and after a while it disconnected (not sure when because I felt asleep). And generally speaking the connection doesn't seem stable. Now I am trying with a static IP address, and thus Google DNS, "just in case", as usual. I'll see how it goes.

Still it is too much of a nightmare. I strongly doubt it is an HW failure on my side, because things move on changing the SW configuration. And it would be nice if Sony could fix it soon. That Android TV 6.0.1 feels everyday more like a work in progress. Actiually Sony could give us Android 7.0 because I am tired of not being able to watch HDR videos in YouTube (I have an MT5891 so from what I read it will be supported).

[Jecht_Sin]

Nothing, it keeps disconnecting for unknown reasons. Especially switching it off, I mean putting it in standby. I switched back to wired, hopefully Sony will fix it it soon.

[Jecht_Sin · Accepted solution]

I discovered today that FW v6.1004 is out, so after updating my TV I decided to give it another try. And obviously it didn't work. Actually it became worse than ever. The relatively good news is that armed with "ping" from my Mac and pinging the television I have found out that all disconnections and misbehaviour were caused by "Wi-Fi Direct" being enabled. Obviously I checked everything the previous times but I just forgot about that one.. Not that, if working as it had to, it had to matter.

As soon as I turned "Wi-Fi Direct" off the ping to the television resurrected, all remote DLNA servers appeared and it connects to the Internet immediately. I still had to restart the tv in order to get full bandwidth (or so. It was oscillating between 60 and 75Mbps using the 5Ghz signal) because just after the first successful connection it was at 8-10 Mbps.