Why does my smart TV keep disconnecting from the internet?

Getting a smart television can be one of the best investments that you can make. But like all new technology, they’re not without their problems.

A problem that quite a few people seem to have with their smart TV is that it occasionally, or routinely, disconnects from the internet. This could happen on a regular basis or be sporadic, but it still seems to happen.

But why? What causes your smart TV to keep disconnecting from the internet? And more importantly, what can you do to fix them problem? Well, we’re going to look at both the causes and the solutions to this problem.

Why does my smart TV keep disconnecting from the internet?

The fact of the matter is that in the majority of cases, your wifi connection problems are likely to be cause by your router as opposed to your smart TV. Although in some cases, the smart TV could be the culprit causing the issues.

The good news is that there are some things that you can do to determine what’s actually causing the issue, as well as finding a good way to fix the problem too. It’s not always going to be your internet service provider’s fault, although if it is, there’s not much you can do aside from getting in touch with them.

But before doing that, we want to look at everything from your wifi network settings to the power cable you’re using. So, let’s look at what may be causing your smart TV to disconnect from the internet.

The Likely Cause – Wifi Router

As I’ve already mentioned, the majority of times that there’s an issue with your smart TV connecting to your wifi, the root of the problem will be with your router. Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean to say there’s anything wrong with your router, but it could be part of the issue.

Signal strength will play a big part in your internet disconnecting from a device, and usually this is dictated by distance.

Problem – Your Router is too far away

Nowadays, modern routers have a pretty large range, and you can generally have your router quite far away from any of your other devices and the connection will still work just fine.

However, if you have an older model of wifi router, then this maybe be the problem. If you don’t have enough range on your router, then if your smart TV is too far away then it’s not going to be able to get a solid connection. So, the distance that your wifi has to travel could be the key factor in this.

Solution: Move your wifi router closer to your smart TV.

Problem – There’s something between your devices

Another common reason why your smart TV might not be able to connect with your wifi router problem is that there’s something obstructing its ability to connect with it properly.

Whilst it’s true that your router can send wifi signals through walls and whatever else might be between the two, it’s also true that they will actually slow down your signal. Too much interfence can restrict you from being able to get a good connection between the two.

Solution: Fortunately, again there’s another quick fix for this. Move your router closer to your TV.

Problem – Slow Internet

One of the main reasons could just be that your broadband connection isn’t particularly good. This isn’t a reason anyone wants to hear, but it’s definitely a possibility.

If your wifi isn’t strong enough to maintain a connection with your smart TV, then it may disconnect from it altogether. You might notice this more if you’re streaming in 4k quality, as this uses more bandwidth to stream than streaming in 1080p.

Solution: Check your wifi speed online to see whether it’s fast enough.

Problem – Full Access

Although you might think that you’ve connected your smart TV to your router properly, you might not have actually done this. There’s a chance that you might have added your smart TV as a guest on your wireless network, in which case, it may end up disconnecting you from the network.

And if you don’t have full access, then they won’t be able to work together properly. If your TV disconnects from the internet every time you turn it off, then this could be the problem.

Solution: Fortunately, this has a very quick fix. Check your TV has full access to your router.

Problem – Internet Connectivity

Now, if there’s nothing between your router and your smart TV, then we can begin to look at other possible causes of the problem. There could be a whole host of other reasons where your router is at fault.

You’ll want to check that your router isn’t near another device that could be causing interference – baby monitors are common culprits for this.

Other things you should check include the time on your TV, which could be causing your router confusion. And, simplifying your wifi SSD is a good idea for this too.

The Ultimate Solution

internet-connection

To all of these problems, there’s one common solution that can fix any of the wifi connecting to your smart TV issues that you have. And that is to use a wired ethernet connection between the two devices instead.

This can be the case even if you’ve got a brand new television and have just got your wireless connection installed too. If you have a lot of people fighting over the wi-fi, then it may lead to issues with your smart TV.

A wired connection is always going to be more secure than using wi-fi. It gets rid of the chance for any signal interference. It’s the easiest resolution for a connection problem, and they tend to be quite cheap to pick up online too.

Routers will have an ethernet port on the back of them, and your smart TV will have an ethernet port on its back too. So, by using an ethernet cable to connect the two together, you can ensure that you have a solid connection between the two.

Conclusion

In the majority of cases, this issue is going to be cause by your wifi connection. It’s unlikely that the problem will actually be with your smart TV itself, although it is possible for this to be the case if you don’t have the exact same problem with any other devices.

If you’ve tried everything on this list to no avail, then you might need to see a specialist to check your TV out. But the reality is that your internet connection is more than likely the problem, and typically it’s pretty easy to fix.

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About Jon

Hey, I'm Jon. I'm an engineer by trade, so it makes sense that I'm obsessed with anything technology related! On the weekends, you can find me playing around with my computers or fixing something around the house. Feel free to leave a comment if you want to get in touch.

6 thoughts on “Why does my smart TV keep disconnecting from the internet?”

  1. Thanks for the article, you point out that maybe the TV is only a guest on the router but don’t say how to check this out even though you say it is an easy fix.
    Can you help an old man sort this ?

    Reply
    • Hey Brian! The easiest way to check this is to; enter the IP address of your router into the URL bar at the top of your browser, on phone, tablet or laptop. For Virgin Media and Sky users, it’s 192.168.0.1. Some networks are different though, so Google it if you’re with TalkTalk or someone else. Then, log into the router settings with the password – NOT your wifi password, but a specific one for the settings. It’s usually on the bottom of your router, tucked away in the corner! Finally, if you’ve got a guest network switched on, you should be able to see a “Modify Guest Network” option or something similar, potentially in Advanced Settings. Here, just switching the Guest network off is the simplest way to make sure you don’t connect to it. You can see who’s connected to what, but it’s complicated and a bit of a nightmare to do, so this is the easiest way. Hope that helps pal!

      Reply
  2. Both of my smart TVs, practically brand new Samsung and LG models, disconnect almost every single day like clockwork from exactly 3AM til 7AM. All other wifi devices in my small 1 bedroom apartment continue to stay connected and operate without interruption. It is only the TVs that lose connection and they have both done this like clockwork since the day I bought them. What could possibly be the cause or solution to this?

    Reply
    • Hey Jason, this sounds like a tricky one. I had this issue with my 2017 year model Samsung and ultimately solved it by hardwiring via ethernet. Maybe that could be the solution here, if it would be practical to do so. I totally get if that isn’t a realistic solution, though. Relocating your router could possibly help, perhaps there is some interference that is only affecting the TV’s. This one has me stumped, I’ll think on this some more and let you know if I can think of a better solution.

      Reply
    • We moved to Spectrum becomes we were having bandwidth issues with our old one. Now get this – while all devices (phones, laptops) stay connected, the Samsung would constantly lose connection after it pauses or about 15m when initially on WiFi so we moved it to a wired connection – and guess what? SAME THING.
      This makes NO SENSE. We reset, blah blah and again an issue. However, the issue seems more pronounce when you leave an app, go to antenna (we have a digital antenna when we cut the cord) and try to go back to the app. This NEVER happened before. Since out laptops and devices stay connected, I can’t say the router is the problem. Been testing the RokuTV and that seems to stay connected as well. The problem is specific to Samsung, which we are still trying to figure out.

      Reply
  3. I just fixed mine. It’s on the ISP’s side. While trying to set up my ISP modem in bridge mode, I enabled DDNS. Took me a while to realize that that’s when it started. Just contact your ISP and have them help you disable DDNS. Disabled it myself and I don’t have any problems since.

    Reply

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