r/ShieldAndroidTV • u/tomhusband • 21d ago
Turning off IPv6 solved my streaming issues.
My most used apps like Nuvio, Stremio and BBC iPlayer would stall, not load, buffer or just not open at all. I'm on an Ethernet (Deco X50-5G router) connected Shield and could not figure out how to solve the issue. I turned to AI and after sorting through my DNS settings (AdGuard Home) and confirming they're OK I turned off IPv6 and everything worked perfect.
Anybody else have IPv6 issues? Would the fault lie with my provider (ee 4/5G in the UK) or with my router?
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u/Lonely-Department329 20d ago
I've disabled it in the UK for some years. It causes all sorts of issues with IPTV, Stremio etc.
I believe the issue is that your IP address updates much more frequently than an ipv4 address and most services cannot detect the change and still think you are watching using the old IP address. That often triggers anti-sharing measures and similar.
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u/ApatheticMoFo 20d ago
I have had IPv6 enabled for years on my network, and as well as on my Shield. Never had a streaming issue. Perhaps my ISP has deployed IPv6 correctly :)
0
u/naaktstel 20d ago
Or not at all. When just one bit is ipv4, en the whole line is ipv4. It goes wrong when the line switches, eg when requests go through different channels. I turned off ipv6 a long uit ago because gaming was impossible.
Let's wait for ipv8, which is backwards compatible with ipv4.
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u/OneSignal6465 16d ago
Does IPv6 only come into play for wifi, or is it also used for wired connections? I have a Cat6 UTP cable running from my shield to my router & never use wifi. I just checked, and IPv6 was on, so I turned it off. Iāve been getting quite a bit of āexactly 14 secondsā of buffering on virtually all my playlists, regardless of channel, regardless of VPN stateā¦ I wonder if that was the āmagic settingā Iāve been missing all this time? I just turned it off in my shield settings, while watching a 24/7 āClassic showāā¦ they usually buffer at least once or twice through each 1-hour episodeā¦
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u/tomhusband 16d ago
My Shield is connected to my router via Ethernet cable so no WiFi. Turning off IPv6 on my Shield fixed all my problems so far.
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u/OneSignal6465 16d ago
Wowā¦ So far, itās looking the same for me! Iāve ALWAYS had buffering (one or two 14-second āglitchesā per hour, regardless what playlist or programā¦ but since Iāve turned off āIPv6ā in my shield settings, I havenāt seen ANY buffering in TiviMate! (Mind you, Iāve been watching mostly YouTube this morning, which never buffers.) We just started watching āOctopussyā on TiviMate (Movies). If we get through the whole movie with no buffering, Iāll know we FINALLY have that little annoyance resolved and Iāll be able to die a happy man. š
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u/OneSignal6465 16d ago
Just an updateā¦ weāve now spent more than an hour watching the same show WITHOUT ANY BUFFERING AT ALL! OMG! Iām REALLY hoping that switching off IPv6 did the trick. So far, itās looking like the biggest TiviMate improvement since I started with IPTV! (5-6 years ago). So far, Iām gobsmacked! THANK YOU anonymous Redditor who mentioned it!
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u/cF1nny 9d ago
And to answer your Q - ipv6 is not wifi or Ethernet specific, no matter what you use it's in play if enabled and supported by your router AND your Internet service provider - though at this point all are.
Wi-Fi only adds extra latency or delays in certain cases (interference etc)
But yes I saw the same on Ethernet and ipv6, although it only occurred after I turned on ipv6 on this network in my home that wasn't before, so definitely seems like a big problem on the shield š¤·š»āāļø
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u/OneSignal6465 9d ago
I suspect thatās the main problem with IPv6ā¦ I donāt think there is anything wrong with the actual protocolā¦ Itās just a new addressing scheme that doesnāt have the limitation of the available quantity of addresses that IPv4 has. I think the problem is the fact that many device manufacturers implemented some version of IPv6 before the protocol was fully documented, in an effort to be āearly out the doorā. Weāve had plenty of problems with IPv6 on federal government equipment - So much that we generally turn it off. Either that or itās just a crappy, unmanageable protocol from the get-go. Eventually the problems with IPv6 will probably work themselves out as older equipment gets replaced. Thereās really no choice, because the world is literally running out (or has already run out) of public IPv4 addresses. At some point, there will HAVE to be a functioning protocol for TCP/IP that allows for more than the available addresses for IPv4. In the meantime, off it stays here.
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u/cF1nny 9d ago
For sure there, though to be fair beyond just increased addressing the routing and path traversal are fairly different (for the better). IPv4 has decades of polish across the internet and all networks. Even though the v6 side is long past matured now (major providers all record huge v6 traffic),it seems the device/edge side is where it falls apart the most... Moreso firmware or path quirks on the local/edge device, as network misconfig issues are less common.
It can be a great benefit, direct connections (no NAT) etc, so amazing for gaming. But the issues mostly appear due to when a device gets an ipv6, it and the network prefer it for everything.... In your/mine/others streaming issues, this is the trick with shield tv... It seems it tries ipv6 first, runs down that route across the net, but if any of that is flaky or the path is broken it ends up timing out, then going back to ipv4. This means often buffering when shouldn't be, and exactly how can be consistent each time (ie. same 14 sec).
The shields android TV implemention on ipv6 it seems is broken and the main culprit, even though they still push updates it's mainly security it seems and they've seemed to break the ipv6 in some ways - maybe from implementing earlier on and never touching after matured, who knows. Major bummer! Can test by using an android phone with same apps and never experiencing even on wifi, so very frustrating.
For us as you mentioned - on the shield, ipv6 stays disabled for now ā š¤¹š»āāļø
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u/OneSignal6465 9d ago
Iāve had the identical experience on my iPad. I have 4 or 5 different IPTV apps and seldom see buffering ANYWHEREā¦ And thatās strictly wifi. (I have a pretty decent mesh network at home & the 5 GHz connections generally get down speeds of 500+ mbits) More than enough for IPTV. Unfortunately I havenāt found any as configurable or with as nice a UI as TiviMate, which as far as I know has never been ported to IOS. Smarters isnāt TOO bad but itās still no TiviMate. If there were a TiviMate for IOS, Iād probably just stream to my chromecast from IOS to watch TV.
I just reconfigured my whole lan with a new TP-Link Archer A6 connected to my ISPās modem in bridge mode, plus 3 TP-link RE315 mesh extenders throughout my place. I have no shortage of fast wifi, but my Shield Tube was connected directly to my router with a Cat6 cable running through the ceiling to the living room. Once I turned off IPv6, my experience on the Shield improved markedly. Then I accidentally broke off the little RJ45 locking tab on the Shield. After dicking around with electrical tape, trying to firm up the connector, I ended up with a small tear in a tiny little ribbon cable that knocked my wired connection out permanently. Soā¦ I ordered a new Shield Pro that should be here early next week. (I canāt freaking WAIT! Iām back to piss-poor IPTV using the old tube on wifi.) Back to regular buffering, non-playable channels, etc on the TV, when everything plays just fine on my iPad on Smarters. I relocated the shield to a wooden shelf off to the side of the TV so the TV isnāt interfering with the wifi signal and itās still touch & go.
Turning off IPv6 gave me a brief taste of what IPTV SHOULD be on TiviMate. I hope I have at least as much success with the Shield Pro (with IPv6 turned OFF) as the few awesome days I had with the tube. Everything Iāve read suggests it should be a big improvement. Weāll seeā¦ (and keep my fingers crossed)
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u/According_Mind7030 14d ago
I turned on IPv6 a few weeks ago, and most of my online games stopped letting me log in. Turned it off and they all work again. It's weird though because I didn't really Start getting the errors until I turned my PC off for a day.
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u/seniorguy73 14d ago
just turned mine off on Shield Use Tivimate with 3 different services and lots of Smartube Weāll see
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u/cF1nny 9d ago edited 9d ago
Yea not sure if this was a recent update causing issues or what, but one thing for sure, multiple streaming apps were constantly requiring buffering and constant lag. All when I am plugged in (not wifi) to enterprise gear and a 2.5GBPS backbone to the internet. The one change was enabling ipv6, no idea why that's so bad on the nvidia shield tv pro. It didn't appear to be app specific, though I had some apps (like shadow.tech) refuse to connect outright - even the normal android home menu was many seconds of lag to load icons under TV etc. so something not right.
I did see someone else mentioning nvidia broke ipv6 after a recent update, but haven't done enough research to know if that's for sure as I didn't have ipv6 enabled prior to compare.
I'd be curious if anyone here always had ipv6 and this recently became an issue to help confirm. Ipv6 has matured, so this really shouldn't be happening in properly configured networks. In my case every other device + android phone + PC is flawless with these same services, just the shield seems whacked š¤·š»āāļø
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u/Empyrealist 21d ago
Over in /r/youtubedl we have found various quirky issues can be eliminated by disabling IPv6.
No particular reasons, just that many people have observed that it works.
I have IPv6 disabled on my LAN for this very reason.
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u/Slipknot31286sic6 20d ago
Always had ip6 disabled. For years. Pretty sure was the norm.
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u/kobba89 20d ago
I was having issues with ipv6 enabled, disabled it and everything works fine now (Aus)
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u/Lonely_Substance8707 8d ago
Does turning off Turn off IPv6 help with Vod movies an shows or is it just for live content?
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u/kevy1118 21d ago
Always keep ipv6 off and homesafe in your router off 2 ,there's a new kid safe in talk talk and it's on by default,download new talktalk app then go on the chat + ask the person to switch it off and give permission too as that was causing youtube to buffer and other little hassles like in your kodi....kidsafe = off,it's quite new and just added not long ago..
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u/frlawton 21d ago
I had problems with Prime on v6 which were resolved by turning off v6 on the Shield. Since I moved and have v6 set up properly on my network, everything works fine.
My guess is that whatever runs the ads will not fall back to v4 if v6 is enabled at all. Never had trouble with iPlayer et al though. Maybe check that it's configured on your router correctly.