froggiewrench

Have struggled for more than a year to ensure smooth running of apps and reliable connectivity on my new LG 43" smart TV. Finally, the clouds have started to clear, for me at least, by applying the following solutions helped by others making sensible suggestions here and elsewhere online: 1. Use a TP Powerline kit to kid your TV into thinking it has an ethernet connection (i.e. if it doesn't already, an ethernet cable runs from the router directly into your TV's ethernet socket). This investment is little more than £25 and will give greatly increased internet speed and reliability. I am on Vodafone SuperFibre, so somewhere around 70 to 76. Powerline very easy to set up in around 5 minutes. It requires a traditional electric socket by the TV. For the price, you get two 3-pin plugs and two short ethernet cables. One socket needs to be by your TV, so that one ethernet cable can run from the first plug to the TV's ethernet socket. The second plug is put into another electric socket on the same ring in the same room. The second ethernet cable runs from the second plug directly into the router, and is paired with the first plug simply by pressing the button on it. Bob's your uncle if both Powerline plugs are showing 3 green lights. These plugs are never switched off. Your TV now assumes it has an ethernet connection and stops wasting memory trying to look for a wi-fi signal. 2. Disable permanently the TV's wi-fi connection by going into the general settings. My 670UV TV's internet settings indicate WIRED CONNECTION thanks to the Powerline kit, as I cannot locate the TV conveniently near the router in my living room in order to benefit from using an ethernet cable. In addition, I have grown convinced my TV's wi-fi reception is its biggest Achilles heel, as it has never worked from Day One. 3. Disable FAST START in the general settings so that TV performs a cold start (will cost an extra 2 seconds, I reckon) with empty memory every time it is switched on with the remote. It is a fallacy that this wastes any extra electricity, and seems to be an essential part of the solution suggested here. The apparent result of applying the above three steps: 1. No buffering and no stalling or crashing of any of the TV's apps, notably iPlayer, which has up till now been dreadful and pretty much unusable. Apps generally also load quickly and smoothly. 2. Seamless YouTube play including all 4K content which was crashing all the time after a few minutes' play. 3. Better and more stable ITV HUB and Channel 5 apps, which have also hitherto often frozen or crashed. These steps have given my TV a new lease of life, as I had often toyed with returning it to John Lewis on the grounds that it doesn't work. Now, a month into the TV's new regime, I have a TV properly performing as a SMART tv, and can keep what hair I have left after tearing so much out.