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3 Messages

Monday, October 21st, 2024 5:39 AM

Constant Lag/Buffering Issues

I've had DTV Stream for about six months now, accessed on multiple TV's through Apple TV modules, and for the most part no issues up until recently.

Over the last month, there's been near constant issues with some of the channels with respect to lag/buffering. First it started with some live sports, where it would be a bit stuttered. Then it got worse. On some channels, it was more of a real lag and the broadcast audio would end up 30-60 seconds ahead of the video. Then it started on the non-sports channels as well. It doesn't seem to be set channels either. It's been all over the place in terms of what channels it affects, time of day (watch tv often late at night when the network has minimal traffic), and frequency. Sometimes it corrects itself after a few minutes, Sometimes (often) it lasts for a very long period until I ultimately turn it off or try to reboot the app/Apple TV. When I've done the latter and gone back to the channel having the issue, it's fine for a few minutes before the issue almost always starts again. 

I have AT&T Fiber, which is pretty reliable and fast. Whenever it happens, I've been running SpeedTest's and getting results in the 300-400mbps range, and in some cases 800mbps+, all of which is more than sufficient for streaming. Some of the Apple TV's that are having the issue are connected via Wifi, others are hardwired directly into a wall ethernet jack.

I should also mention that this doesn't happen on ANY other service, even ones with live sports like the ESPN, MLB & NFL apps. I've also followed all the generic tips on the DTV website (reboot the device, delete/re-install the app, reboot modem, etc.). All of these tips are generally useless if your network and/or device(s) aren't the issue, as mine aren't here.

When I called into DTV and explained this, the only suggestion the representative could offer me is to reboot the modem - again. Very frustrating that DTV has no way to support their product and can't fathom the idea that spotty streaming could at all be the result of a deficiency in their service, especially when so many people have complained about this. Any help would be appreciated. I'd like to try and resolve this issue and keep the service, but ultimately I'm not going to stick with a company with a spotty service and lousy support. 

Community Support

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254.6K Messages

2 months ago

Hi @bz949, we're sorry you're having streaming issues with the DIRECTV STREAM app using Apple TV, and we understand you've already done basic troubleshooting. There are no known issues reported. Have you tried streaming using a different device? Is it happening there as well? If you haven't, please visit Get and troubleshoot the DIRECTV App for Apple TV | DIRECTV Support for step-by-step troubleshooting. 

 

Mohammad, DIRECTV Community Specialist

2 Messages

2 months ago

I am having the same issues. We were watching College Football on Saturday and couldn’t find a channel that didn’t have a blurry picture with buffering. 
Tonight (Tuesday) tried to watch RedWings Hockey and CONSTANT buffering and freezing. Switched to a news channel and it was fine. 
My signal strength is EXCELLENT. 

2 Messages

2 months ago

If this continues I will cancel service and switch to YouTube TV. My favorite news channel is now available on YouTube TV. 

1 Message

2 months ago

Having the exact same issue and I have isolated it to specifically on my Apple TV unit. I have several other TVs with fire sticks that have zero issues. This is an issue on DIRECTV stream on Apple TV services. 

I’ve also mirrored your experience and have no issues at all through my other sports apps on the same Apple TV unit. It is only within DIRECTV stream.

3 Messages

2 months ago

Thank you, mikeyc303. After reading your post, I tried accessing DTV Stream on my tv’s smart platform and the issues don’t seem to persisting so far. So it definitely could be the iOS app and will avoid using Stream on iOS going forward.

hopefully, support actually reads these things and take measures to fix this. It’s really annoying to see them spit the token “we don’t see any reported issues” when there are hundreds of people on this forum all reporting the same thing.

ACE - Expert

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22.6K Messages

2 months ago

Well "reported" usually means calling and speaking to customer support. Or perhaps through chat on their website.

This is a public forum of other customers, so though many things are discussed it is not considered an official report to DirecTV. That has been my perspective, despite the occasional official help from the forum support team (which is only supplemental to regular support).

3 Messages

2 months ago

Fair enough, although I assume most people came to these forums to report their issue for the same reason I did - because they did try calling and reporting it (in my case, several times) and found support fairly useless, so the issues likely have been reported to support prior to them being discussed here.


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