Google Chromecast and Google Home Causes Wi-Fi Drops
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I don't think I've been having the particular Wi-Fi issue described in the article, but ChromeCast has been just slow and flaky in my experience. I've had both v1 and v2. It seems to have problems with older phones, but that's not the only problem.
mDNS on Linux with Avahi doesn't seem particularly reliable either (e.g. pinging a Linux box from a Mac.)
Computers barely work :-( I guess this is why Apple insists on owning the whole stack. The compatibility matrix becomes tractable.
Google needs to get far more vigilant about ensuring the third parties are implementing it properly though - even if the bug is actually with a third party, it reflects badly on their product.
My Netflix app is extremely reliable with Chromecast. I had a period of unreliability when I switched to a new phone (Galaxy S8) that applued to Netflix as well as all other chromecast apps, but after an OS update it appears to be much better.
One problem is that a lot of the things I cast use Android apps. Although I should check if they have web options. But a web browser is also a big dependency.
When it does work, it's pretty cool with multi-room playback, but I've decided I don't really need that anyway.
I'm working on phasing out the Chromecasts now, because of limitations in which apps support casting, and the inability to block ads and properly cast local content (very format-dependent). The kitchen speakers and CCA have been replaced by a rather good Bluetooth speaker, which is also handy when I go to hang laundry. The CCv2 and second CCA in the bedroom/office is being replaced by a ultra-small form factor PC with a wireless keyboard. For the main stereo in the living room, there's always at least one other device turned on anyway, and all of them can play from Spotify or my file server, so the CCA goes unused.
On the flipside, I plugged my old CCv1 to the TV in my girlfriend's apartment, and that thing has been working absolutely flawlessly, so maybe I'm just unlucky.
Sounds like it might be a network problem? Like for instance if you (like a number of other HN-ers I guess) like to restrict firewalls as much as possible?
This is how everyone used to build computers, PCs just became the outliers due to way things went with IBM/Microsoft.
Now with the all-in-one models, it seems even PCs are getting back to those days.
1 - Mismanagement from Atari, Commodore and others
2 - Microsoft deals with OEMs
3 - Pretty cheap Taiwan and Chinese parts, some of them with doubtful quality
4 - Windows piracy, alongside the cheap parts, allowed many small PC shops to thrive and offer nicer deals
5 - PCs were the majority of computers at work and school, so the only one parents saw as a good buy for their children future.
So I'd check your router if you keep having issues.
It does everything I need, and while not completely perfect it has been really very reliable and generally 'just works'. As a user experience for playing content on your TV, the 'android as a remote' approach is great.
Chromecast has been one of the nicest additions per dollar for my home. It has been working well for me for a year or so. I even used it today (for the first time in a week or more) while cooking and it worked like a charm first try.
The only real problems I've had with it, I switched hardware, but used the same SSID and it was confused as all heck. To its credit, though, so was my "Smart" TV. I gave up and just used a new SSID and everything worked again without all of the weird-ass problems.
To work around this, I simply bought a chromecast as a target to stream youtube on.
The only unreliability I have is with certain apps that don't appear to have implemented the functionality that well. The "NFL Game Pass Europe" app for instance sometimes forgets that it's attached to the TV and you can no longer pause/stop (there are workarounds). Other apps like Netflix have been extremely solid.
Edit: turning of guest mode on all cast devices makes things better (less wifi dropouts) but still bad. Turning of wifi on both the android phones in my house has cleared up the wifi problem (which was really annoying as even spotify kept failing to stream with phones on wifi).
I wonder if Google employees need to test their consumer devices outside the googleplex where the internet is super fast and the industrial grade networking gear deals with such issues automagically.
All people working on consumer facing apps and sites are encouraged to use these crappy networks on a day to day basis.
Personal "favourite" is their Newsstand - it will ditch cached stories whilst out and about because it briefly got a connection on the Underground, only for the content to not download (precisely because you're on flakey Tube WiFi) and boom the best use case for that software is ruined!
I had a nearly seamless (albeit slightly slower) experience browsing Instagram on that slow connection despite the fact that all of the content was photo/video media, so I know the connection was not completely useless. It seems that Google engineers can't even fathom the possibility that someone would have a slow enough connection that a 5MB file might need more than a minute to download. This is frustrating.
The result is that while some of my apps work fine, and a handful of apps work great, I’ve not yet found a single Google app that actually is usable in that situation.
Timing aligns with me getting a Chromecast.
Androids the fault here not the Chromecast
This article was a dawn of light for me.. time to start logging the wifi behavior
The last 3-6 month or so, the mobile devices have been losing connections to Chromecast while playing, and the network have become markedly more flaky also for other devices.
I actually got a Chromecast Ultra with an ethernet connection in case the wifi was bad, but it didn't really make a difference.
At some point a D-Link AP that is also the main router started to hang at least once per day, occasionally every 5 minutes. I installed Lede on it in order to rule out hardware problems - and then it stopped crashing at which point I stopped bothering, but I suppose the hardware can still be cooked.
I've noticed that the network occasionally is really slow for a short while - I managed to measure the speed to an external provider to be around 4-5 mbit/s instead of 100, but I haven't considered the possibility that it's my own network that goes bananas.
The WAF is declining, but it's so much junk that can go wrong so it will take a considerate amount of time to debug.
Edit: I must say though, that I expect my routers and APs to survive 100.000 packages...
Its the equivalent of having an 802.11B client that only syncs at 1Mbps and is constantly downloading. There is no airtime left for anyone else!
Things you can try: Block 802.11G and lower clients (increases your minimum WiFi transmission speed), convert multicast packets to unicast (LEDE is apt to support that), or throw the chromecast in the dustbin!
So on a network with N devices, you just convert one mulicast packet into N unicast pakcets.
Because multicast packets are sent with the slowest possible rate, this actually speeds up performance as long as N < 20.
Ah good, I feared Google needed to update their devices to stop DDOS-ing my home network, luckily for them they don't get blamed and we think that the router vendors should add more robust DDOS-protection.
My network is all Ubiquiti gear. A USG, switch, and AP AC Lite. I have the private WiFi on the same network as my desktop PC and Steam Link. My home lab is on separate VLANs. Other then that its a pretty default configuration.
Not home right now but when I get home I shall look into it a bit more. Curious if whatever update thats causing this hasn't rolled out to Canada or if the Unifi products are handling it better/some special way.
The in-wall ones might work better for me though -- although I think it's silly to have to terminate an in-wall cable to a plug to plug into the back.
So I actually really like the UniFi gear for that when compared to some crazy Linksys gamer router that just looks... so over done.
So to sum up: * Bang for the buck get better audio quality * Still get all of the same Cast features (WiFi casting, group casting, etc.)
Hope that helps! :)
This allows it to be connected directly to a half decent amp, rather than relying on the onboard DAC.
Besides, the onboard DAC in the CCA is more than good enough. No need to mess around with an external DAC.
HOWEVER, over the last few weeks I suddenly started experiencing continual wifi drops on my Fedora 26 and 27 desktop workstation. At first I thought it was related to an overflow of devices and/or a noisy channel, but it turned out not to be the case. None of the Chromebooks or other devices were experiencing frequent wifi drops so then I thought it might be related to my workstation wifi card antenna flaking out and causing the signal to weaken and drop. It turned out the issue was also not due to a failing wifi card. It took me at least a week to isolate and resolve the issue, but it's fixed now -- no more wifi drops and the signal is strong -- turns out it was a software issue with the more or less default Fedora 26 and 27 wifi config that I had been running for years. The issue might have been exacerbated by the increased Chromecast and Google Home devices on the network, but the issue wasn't because the devices were overloading the router or AP like I (and I presume others) initially thought.
When I have time, I'll go back through my logs and command history, and distill the resolution procedure into a gist.
There was an awful lot of mDNS traffic coming from the (new to me) Google Home, and the two android phones, and mythtv (0.27) was sending every couple of seconds too. Running this tcpdump helped me track it down.
tcpdump -n host 224.0.0.251 and port 5353
For the phones, in settings / google / cast media controls, you can turn that off, I also turned off 'nearby links' in the google menu, in case that was related.
I've got a 1st Gen Chromecast, a Google Home Mini, and a Pixel XL.
Sounds like this is my culprit. Finally.
Every time my phone has a connection hiccup it takes several minutes to renegotiate DHCP... But if I turn off WiFi and count to 15 and turn it on, it reconnects in 3 seconds flat.
I'm tempted to throw out my wifi gear but I'm having trouble who in the industry isn't total garbage, because I have an Asus AP that sure isn't helping.
"This is the single biggest reason we’re no longer recommending our former pick, the Archer C7. Though the C7 has great range and good single-device performance, it doesn’t have band steering, which means that it stumbles when several devices are connected and there’s a lot going on. The problem is compounded by the router’s relatively weak single-core CPU."
...our former pick, the Archer C7, leap all the way off the top of the chart into “oh, this is horrible” territory shortly past the 75th percentile — which means that roughly one out of every four page loads will leave you wondering if you should hit reload.
2. I'm basically desperate to find something to take it's place. I'm tired of the Apple-ification of Google, and I resent having to boot up Chrome just to be able to cast a video (they have it locked down to where they effectively control both sides of the infra, such that Firefox can't implement Chromecast support).
> Normally the device should send a couple of packets every 20 seconds, but in recent Android versions the apps sometimes send large bursts [...]. The longer the device has been in sleep mode, the more packets are send.
I wonder if it's a side effect of aggressive battery optimization in the newest Android version (Deep sleep/Doze, etc) where packets are withheld intentionally to only be delivered in bursts and have the wifi/radio sleep in between. Naturally, Pixel get updated first.
edit: typos
tcpdump -n host 224.0.0.251 and port 53531. Casting a photo from Photos app, pressing Android back button makes the TV screen go black. Have to remember to swipe left or right instead, or use in-app back button.
2. Photos on 4k Cast-enabled TV are shown in horrendous quality. It's definitely not 4k and compressed as hell with contrast loss. Same for videos.
There used to be a ton of race conditions in YouTube TV app but those are thankfully fixed.
Now it is only ever used for vacation.
I love my three chromecasts, however I can't really put up with this bug.
What to do?
Google severely broke something recently, that's for sure. We had a Christmas party and I gave up playing music because it kept dropping off every few minutes. It seems like it has improved the past few weeks, but still pretty shoddy.
also, with same hardware what happens there is whatsapp/hangouts video call? its about firmware
https://tools.ietf.org/id/draft-mcbride-mboned-wifi-mcast-pr...
The core issue is: how do we get the team in question to acknowledge and respond, with a timely code change?
There is no strong git, or feedback-driven path which determines success or failure notifying google about code problems. Some work, some which used to work don't work now, some which didn't work then work now. Its unstable. Its unpredictable.
(for example, feedback inside bug reporting channels for Android, where the most common response from google staff is "this is the wrong channel to provide that feedback" including things which are bugs)
Sleep for 5min, get 5,000. sleep for 10min, get 10,000
And, it is apparently a known side effect of a given java library, which has hit other people.
(and its not a TCP/IP stack problem, its an upper layer problem so you are right)