IPTV Issue when upgrading to 386.3_2

[Mathieu]

Hello

Thanks to RMerlin for the new release, the benefits of which need not be lauded further.
But, as is always the case for me, with each new release come new challenges, and this time it's got to do with IPTV. Oh well...

It's been a few releases now since ISP specific settings were made available under the LAN/IPTV tab.
At first I'd try those using the 'M o v i s t a r Triple WAN' option. (My Internet and TV Service Provider -blank spaces are mine).
That didn't work. But the fallback manual settings option had been working well, for at least as far as the 384 releases - here under 386.2_2:

Now, my trouble w/ 386.3_2 is that those previous manual settings no longer work after upgrade.
I gave another shot at the ISP specific settings (which require informing specific IPs and DNS).
I managed to get it work, sort of, as load time is much longer and some channels (paid for sports etc) just didn't show.
I am back to my last working setup, but angrily feel I am so close to both a better solution, and an up-to-date firmware...

My TV decoder has always been plugged into LAN 4 port of the router, and by pulling up the syslog right after boot, I could see that under 386.3_2
there were entries for br1: port 5 eth4.501 and br2: port 5 eth4.502

Whereas under the old firmware (and working config) only could I see entries for port 5 eth4.502 with no reference to br2: port 5 eth4.501

Hopefully the screenshots may be helpful to the knowledgeable. In any case, if someone could point me in the right direction, I should be most grateful.

Thanks

 

[Crimliar]

Before anyone can tell you very much, they'll probably need to know who your ISP is, and what VLAN IDs are needed for your internet connection, and by any IPTV service requiring a separate VLAN ID that is also provided.

 

[FTC]

Hi, I am not sure on why it does not work for you, but I can confirm that in my case the 'Movistar triple VLAN' profile works perfectly under Merlin 386.3_2 (and all previous 386 firmwares) on my RT-AX88U. Are you sure you have correctly set up your decoder IP and DNS settings for IPTV ?

 

[Mathieu]

Thanks for responding.
I did not modify the deco (an old zyxel) 's settings. I have accessed those from the menu, and I can see they match the IP, gateway and dns settings shown under 'IPTV settings' in the router's menu. Which leads me to think they are properly fed by the router to the deco at boot time.
Are you suggesting there should be additional configuration to be applied to the deco?
Also, and that's where it gets complicated for me, I see from the log that the br1/br2 port5(eth4.501) interface is not created with the newest firm. Could it give a hint as to why it's not working as expected?

 

[FTC]

Thanks for responding.
I did not modify the deco (an old zyxel) 's settings. I have accessed those from the menu, and I can see they match the IP, gateway and dns settings shown under 'IPTV settings' in the router's menu. Which leads me to think they are properly fed by the router to the deco at boot time.
Are you suggesting there should be additional configuration to be applied to the deco?
Also, and that's where it gets complicated for me, I see from the log that the br1/br2 port5(eth4.501) interface is not created with the newest firm. Could it give a hint as to why it's not working as expected?

Hi, I don't think there is anything else to configure than just setting the proper profile (Movistar triple VLAN) and IP/DNS/mask/gateway for IPTV. It may/could then be something else that is confugured and interferes with the Movistar profile. Have you tried a full router reset and starting by *just and only* configuring the Movistar IPTV ? Just in case it helps, note that I am not using DNS filtering, and have set my client's DNSs directly under the WAN page.

 

[Mathieu]

I will definitely try your suggestion of a lean setup of internet and IPTV, and will report back asap (not the master in my own home...)
Out of ignorance, I have the feeling my issue has to do with IPTV DNS (distinct from my ISP's main DNS). That's why I am puzzled by your indicating you set those on the main main WAN page. Are those DNS for IPTV?
To further complicate my case, I am also using Unbound which modifies the overall DNS part of my setup. I will obviously turn that off for the 'barebone settings' trial.
Still can't quite fathom why the old Manual IPTV config with Unbound etc. fails me with 386.3_2.

 

[FTC]

I will definitely try your suggestion of a lean setup of internet and IPTV, and will report back asap (not the master in my own home...)
Out of ignorance, I have the feeling my issue has to do with IPTV DNS (distinct from my ISP's main DNS). That's why I am puzzled by your indicating you set those on the main main WAN page. Are those DNS for IPTV?
To further complicate my case, I am also using Unbound which modifies the overall DNS part of my setup. I will obviously turn that off for the 'barebone settings' trial.
Still can't quite fathom why the old Manual IPTV config with Unbound etc. fails me with 386.3_2.

Hi. You are right that the DNSs you setup for LAN or in the WAN pages, (or the DNS filter settings) should not interfere with the DNS used and configured specifically for the Movistar Triple VLAN profile IPTV, but we are supposing that something interferes with it, and logically it could be something related with the global DNSs settings *if* there is an error in the firmware. Also using unbound could be related with your problem, so it is definetly a good idea to start from scratch (reset) and do some testing starting with something similar to my setup (that works) -this is why I told you what DNS related functions I do not use- and adding the features you use one by one....

 

[Mathieu]

SOLVED
I found the time to -painfully- reconfigure, one step at a time, the router.
I made incremental backup points for the config, but also for the JFFS along the way, which proved to be useful fallback configs when things went pear shape.

No two configs are identical, but if it can help others, I suspect my issue was down to:
-a corrupt/leftover/not properly cleaned jffs, and
-having set the 'Connect to DNS server automatically' to yes, which probably messed up with the VPN and IPTV settings (my two cents)

Finally, the ready available 'Movistar Triple WAN' IPTV settings never worked for me, even from scratch.
@RMerlin indicated elsewhere he had no control over the settings, so hopefully those will be revisited by ASUS engineers at some point.

I am now back with manual IPTV config, which had worked well for me over the years until my problem arose.

Thanks @FTC for your helpful comments.

 

[suicidetram]

After updating my iptv, I also started having problems. I buy iptv not so long ago, so I didn't fully understand how it works. My video player flew off. As it turned out, there are also special players adapted for watching IPTV. They come with built-in playlists for a wide audience and provide for the use of custom playlists. In particular, for the Windows operating system, these are desktop functional IPTV Player players, which is why you should study in more detail all the pitfalls of this type of broadcasting.