Should the TV be connected to WiFi or plugged into an Ethernet cable? Watching the 4K constant rotation buffer, I tried three different connection methods to find the real culprit

I switched to a 75-inch TV during last year's Double Eleven shopping festival, and now I have a membership, but watching 4K still keeps spinning around. The spinning lasted seven or eight seconds, and the plot hit a crucial point—my mom was so angry she filmed the sofa. I first called broadband customer service to curse me, then almost ordered a new router. After all this fuss, the real culprit wasn't broadband or routers. I almost wasted the money. Record the process, and if the TV at home is lagging, you can check it again.

first clarify whose fault it is: what do the three types of lag look like

TV SIM card isn't one disease, but three issues. Spending one minute checking the number can save you most of the rest of the day.

the first method: the screen stops in the middle and circles out of the circle, the screen continues moving forward without distortion. This is a buffer—ninety percent of it means the network can't keep up, and that's the main thread of this article.

the second type, the scene pauses like slides, but the circles don't show . This means the TV or box isn't performing well enough, and the decoding is weak. The characteristics are especially obvious: it's fine to play animations, but once 4K is high bitrate, it collapses; Or the opening ads are smooth, but the main film is stuttering. Even if you plug in the network cable in a flash, it won't help; changing the device is the only solution.

the third type: App is laggy, drops frames when sliding the menu, or no response when you click. This is because the TV system is old or the storage is full, and it has nothing to do with the network. My old TV just came to terms like this—clearing background apps and uninstalling two unnecessary apps before it recovered.

My family is the first one this time, circling the circles properly, so let's follow the internet thread to investigate.

First Time Fiddling with WiFi: TV stuck to 2.4G, stuck to no action

TV mounted on the wall, separated from the router by two walls from the living room to the bedroom. I first tested the speed by placing my phone in front of the TV. With the same WiFi, the phone can run over 580 Mbps, which means both broadband and router are fine. But the TV is stuck; the problem lies in the TV's own connection.

into the TV's network settings and click on WiFi details, the truth came out: TV was connected to a 2.4G, with a signal strength of -68dBm and a connection speed of only 72Mbps. My router is dual-band, one name, and the phone picks the fast 5G on its own, while the TV is stuck to 2.4G and doesn't budge. Anyone who's used to crowd old neighborhoods knows how crowded the 2.4G band is. Once you turn on the microwave and neighbors have more routers, the negotiated 72Mbps speed often only gets 20 to 30 Mbps, so 4K is definitely not enough.

want to get 5G on the TV, there are two paths: one is to separate the dual-band integration, with 2.4G and 5G as two separate names, and the TV should be manually connected to 5G. I've written a complete tutorial for disassembling dual-band the specific steps; Second, if the TV settings have a switch that turns off 2.4G, just turn it off and force it to switch to 5G. After uninstalling the dual-band and letting the TV connect to 5G, the signal was -61, the connection speed reached 433Mbps, and actual tests showed over 210MB.

4K buffer has indeed improved by more than half. But a new problem arose: at eight or nine in the evening, it would occasionally spin in circles. 5G is separated by two walls, so the signal margin is not stable enough.

plugged in the network cable, I realized: the TV's network port only gave 100Mbps

During

renovation, I left two network ports on the TV wall: one for the IPTV set-top box for multicasting, and the other left unused since it was originally reserved for the TV. I pulled out the spare tire and plugged in the cable, thinking, now it's all at Gigabit speed—it's solid.

I checked the connection rate on the TV and was stunned: 100Mbps. Gigabit broadband, gigabit routers, Category 5 cables—full-link gigabit, all stuck on the TV's own network port—the TV's network port is basically a hundred-megabit port. Later, I checked the specs page and confirmed that most TVs at this price point come with 100Mbps ports. Some models' promotional pages don't even list network port specifications, so you have to ask customer service or check the manual.

here, I want to give you a conclusion to reassure everyone: watching 4K online 100MB is enough . The next lesson is about settling accounts. What really got stuck in the 100Mbps port was something else—my cousin brought his four-drive Synology to stay at my place for a while, stuffed with his collection of 4K original disc movies, with single files often costing 40 to 60GB. The TV pulls images from the NAS via a 100 Mbps port, directly turning high-bitrate scenes into PPTs. The 80GB chip in his machine averages nearly 90Mbps, with a peak of 160-70 Mbps. The physical limit for 100-megabit ports is only 94 Mbps in actual throughput. How do you run it?

solution: my cousin spent over 200 yuan to buy a 2.5G USB network card for his player. Our TV watched online, while his player watched the original disc—each went their own way. By the way, to check whether the TV port is 100 Mbps or gigabit, you don't need to check the manual. When plugged in, check the connection speed in the settings. If it shows 100 Mbps, it's 100 Mbps, and 1000 Mbps is gigabit. This is the most straightforward trick. If the network port is really insufficient, a small switch can also provide an emergency solution. I have previously written about how to choose and connect home switches.

Calculating Bit Rate: Online 4K and Local Original Discs Are Tenfold Difference

just how fast is a network to feed 4K? Just lay out the account and everything becomes clear.

there's a pitfall only insiders know: the nominal bitrate for online 4K is ideal. During evening rush hours or when your network is unstable, the platform will quietly lower the bitrate. The video still shows 4K, but the actual bitrate might be only a few megapixels, making it look foggy. So don't think your internet speed meets the standard just because 4K doesn't lag; maybe you're not watching full-power 4K at all. How much bandwidth should be installed? I've calculated it in more detail in this on bandwidth decisions.

As for why IPTV is single-line—it operates on the operator's independent multicast channel, not competing with broadband for bandwidth, and watching online videos in the app is a completely different path. I wrote this when watching IPTV on two TVs. If you want to build a video library on your own NAS, I've written a Jellyfin full process on how to build a video library. Whether the internal network needs a ten-gigabit account is in this .

network cable was also plugged in during the evening rush hour, still laging: that pot really wasn't at home

After plugging in

network cable, the buffer decreased, but every week there were one or two nights when the TV was on at eight or nine o'clock, and Circle still occasionally popped up. I once suspected the network cable was plugged in, until one time I tested the speed by the TV with my phone: the phone ran over 670MB, and the TV still buffered. The home network was clearly open and fast.

the fault for this kind of lag lies outside the link: either the CDN node on the video platform is congested during that time slot, or the evening rush hour congestion from the community to the operator's exit—those living in urban villages or using landlord broadband should know this well. In my of broadband testing in community, I recorded a building dropping from 90 Mbps to 20 Mbps at 9 PM. These cards have three characteristics: if it doesn't lag during the day, it uses a late-night rush hour; all devices freeze at once; manually lowering one stop immediately improves clarity. If you take two of them, don't mess with the equipment at home—it's not your business.

checking this half of the house, the posture is also important. Don't test your phone in the bedroom and then say the network isn't working. If you want to test, stand in front of the TV to test, or the most accurate method—plug the computer into the same network cable to test. I've written about speed measurement tips in a separate article: speed measurement posture , how to choose tools, and what counts are normal.

Ending: Three different ways to connect and sit accordingly, just copy them

condensed my whole round of trolling into a watch, so how to connect the TV at home is just a direct comparison:

Here's a lazy version of the

troubleshooting order: first check the lag type to rule out performance issues, then check whether the TV is connected to 2.4G or 5G. Step three, if there's a network cable, plug it in and check the negotiated speed. Step four, stand in front of the TV to test speed and make sure your home side is fine. If the lag still happens after step four, it's the fault of the evening rush hour or the platform. Lower the resolution by one level or watch at a staggered time. With this setup, my mom never let my mom film a sofa with a 75-inch TV.