When a subscriber complains about drops or a pixelated picture, a visit is almost never needed. There are five things to check, in this order: how the box connects, the Wi-Fi band and signal, the health of the box itself, which apps are using the network and, if needed, what the user sees on screen. With remote telemetry most cases are solved without leaving the office.
The ticket always arrives the same way: "slow internet", "the TV keeps cutting out", "it looks bad". And the cause is almost never your network. It is usually one of three: the box's Wi-Fi connection, the box itself, or something running on it that should not be. The problem is that without data you cannot tell which, and the only way to find out is to send someone. This is the method to avoid that.
Step 1: wired or Wi-Fi?
This comes first because it rules out half the cases. A box on an Ethernet cable has no signal problems; one on Wi-Fi can. AdminSTB records each device's network adapters and shows which one it is connected through. If it is wired and there are still drops, jump straight to step 3.
Step 2: Wi-Fi band and signal
If it is on Wi-Fi, two data points explain almost everything:
- The band. 2.4 GHz reaches farther but is slower and tends to be crowded with other devices; 5 GHz is faster but loses range through walls and distance. A box stuck on 2.4 GHz streaming high-quality video is a recipe for drops.
- Signal strength. A weak signal forces the device to lower its speed and retry packets, and video notices immediately.
AdminSTB shows the connected network, the frequency and the signal strength at every device report (every 15 minutes). If the signal is poor or it is on the wrong band, you tell the subscriber what to move or which network to switch to and close the ticket without dispatching anyone.
Wi-Fi diagnostics without a truck roll
Band, signal and connected network for every box, with history, from the same dashboard.
Step 3: the health of the box
A box can have a good signal and still play badly. Look at CPU and memory use, free disk space, temperature and ping latency. A box that overheats throttles itself to protect the hardware; one with an almost-full disk or memory at its limit struggles to decode video. This data travels in each device's periodic report and keeps its history, so you can also see whether the problem is long-standing or started yesterday.
Step 4: what is consuming the network
If the signal and the box are fine and the picture is still bad, look at what else is using the connection. On generic boxes it is common to find preinstalled apps consuming bandwidth without anyone knowing (we explain it in why your Android TV box ships with malware).
- Per-app usage ranking. Sort the device's apps by data used and compare with what you would expect: the IPTV client should dominate. If another app leads, you have your suspect.
- Upload-to-download ratio. An app that uploads far more than it downloads, or that moves constant traffic while nobody is watching, deserves a look.
- Danger score. In the installed apps list, an exclamation mark flags apps with a high score.
When you find an app that should not be there, you can close or uninstall it from the dashboard on devices where the agent is a system app or has root.
Step 5: see what the user sees
Sometimes the complaint is not about speed: the screen went black or landed on a settings menu. Request a screenshot of the device and you are done. A real screenshot requires the agent as a system app or with root; without that you receive a diagnostic board with the device status, not the actual image.
How to decide what to do
- Weak signal or 2.4 GHz band: ask the subscriber to move the box closer to the router or switch networks. If possible, use a cable.
- Overheated box, memory or disk at the limit: reboot it from the dashboard and check whether it repeats. If it happens again, it is a hardware problem.
- Another app is consuming the network: close or uninstall it, and watch that it does not come back.
- Everything normal on the box: now it is worth looking at your network or the video server, knowing you have ruled out the subscriber side.
What to do now
- Take the last five "slow internet" tickets and see how many could have been solved with these five steps.
- Install the agent on a problem box, on the free plan, and go through the data.
- Build a support script in this order so anyone on the team can follow it.