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NetCast Network Install and Troubleshooting

This article is for LG NetCast network enabled TVs. There are separate articles for our connected
Blu-ray players and Network Attached Storage devices.

Overview

In order to enjoy (most of) the NetCast features of your LG TV, you need a network connection. First, you need a Physical Connection, which is the actual cable connection to your home network. Then you need a software connection, which is where your home network allows the TV to access the network.

This article discusses both installation and troubleshooting. First, we list a quick setup guide that will work for 98% of you (I made that number up). If the Quick Setup doesn't work or there are items you don't understand, perform the Detailed Setup. Continue on to Troubleshooting if it still doesn't work.

Note: This document doesn't discuss the My Media application. Search or click the link at the bottom of the page that addresses My Media and Network File Sharing if you need help with it.

Quick Setup

1) Connect the TV to your router with an Ethernet cable.
2) Go to the Network Menu on the TV and choose the Network Setting option.
3) Highlight the auto setting option (should be default) and press Enter.
4) Wait for it to say it's finished. It will populate the boxes with the settings found.
5) Close the menu and start using NetCast.
6) A quick test is to try to get an activation code in the Netflix application.

Detailed Setup

Physical Connection

Connect the TV to your network using a standard Ethernet cable. By network, we mean your router. You can hook this TV directly to most cable or DSL modems, but we recommend using a router. By Ethernet cable, we mean a Cat 5, Cat 5e, or Cat 6 cable with RJ45 male connectors. Use a patch cable, not a cross-over cable. Most likely the cable you find in a store will be labeled "Cat 5 Ethernet Cable". But could also be labeled as "Cat 5 Patch Cable" or even "Ethernet 100Base-TX cable". All three of these are the same cable.

Wireless connection info. The current NetCast TVs do not have Wifi, but you can use a "Wireless Kit" if you do not wish to run a cable from your router to the TV. This consists of two wireless adapters that convert a wired connection into a wireless one. LG doesn't sell these, but several other companies do. VUDU sells one on their web site. Sometimes these kits will be labeled as a "Wireless Game Kit". You may also use a power line adapter that converts the network signal to run over your power line. We have successfully tested these kits, but we make no guarantee they will work or provide the speeds needed for streaming video.

Software Connection

Now that you have a cable as the physical connection, the TV needs to make a software connection with your network. Two things need to happen here: the TV needs access to your local network and then the TV needs access to the Internet. Most of you can use the auto setting and your router (or gateway) will send the TV the proper info and let it into the network.

1) Go to the Network Menu on the TV and choose the Network Setting option.
2) Highlight the auto setting option (should be default) and press Enter.
3) Wait for it to say it's finished. It will populate the boxes with the settings found.
[If it doesn't list settings found, skip to troubleshooting]
4) Close the menu.

To test your network settings:

1) Press the NetCast button and choose Netflix.
2) Wait for the Netflix welcome page to open.
3) Click the activate option at the bottom of the page.
4) Netflix tries to connect and will inform you of any problems.
5) If everything is ok, the activation code will appear. All of the Internet apps should work also.

If you do not get to the activation code screen or the Netflix welcome screen fails to open in the first place...continue to the next section.

Tips & Issues

Before Troubleshooting, we will list any known problems that may prevent your setup from working.

Known Device Issues

DEVICE	ISSUE	RESOLUTION

Some Belkin Routers	Firewall blocks Netflix	Turn off firewall, activate Netflix, play a video, turn firewall back on.
Atheros Modem/Router	Blocks Netflix	None yet.
Dynex DXWGRTR	Blocks Netflix	None yet.
Belkin N+ Router	Shared folders are blocked from MyMedia. Internet apps appear to work fine.	None yet.
Belkin N1 Vision Router	Shared folders are blocked from MyMedia. Internet apps appear to work fine.	None yet.

Netflix Tips

Netflix uses port 80 and 443. If your queue is not populating on the Netflix ready device...power cycle your modem, router, and Netflix ready device. If you are still having issues please check to make sure port 443 is actually open.
If a customer’s account is on hold, the “handshake” between the device and the NCCP server will be denied and the customer will receive some type of error message depending on what device they are using.
Rebuffering is caused by fluctuations or changes in the speed of a customer’s internet connection. You may be able to load web pages quickly or even get a good result from a speed test website. Your internet connection may not be able to maintain a high speed for a long period of time, so the movies have to pause and catch up every now and again.
Instances of poor video quality could be the fact that the internet connection is not fast enough. Netflix has 3 standard definition streams or “bitrates”. Some titles are also encoded with a High definition stream which can be obtained if the customer’s internet connection is fast and consistent enough. An “HD” symbol will appear to the right of the Quality meter if the customer is able to obtain that stream.
Always deactivate your device from the player if applicable. Activating from the Netflix website may take a moment to occur while the server indexes with the update.
See below for more Netflix troubleshooting.

Known TV Issues

There are currently no unresolved problems with the NetCast software.

Troubleshooting

Before Troubleshooting, perform the following in order:

1) Turn off any advanced security settings on the router that apply to your wired network.
2) Verify a PC on your network can open Web pages.
3) Unplug all devices from the router except the TV.
4) Use a known good cable (test it with a PC or game system).

So, what happens when you try the following (the automatic network setup)?

1) Press the Menu button on the remote

2) Choose Network and then Network Setting

3) Highlight the auto setting option (should be default) and press Enter.

4) Wait for it to finish.

Does it return with an error saying it can't connect to your network?

The TV may not be able to see your router due to a bad physical connection. Or, the router will not let the TV join your network.

So...how do you know when the physical connection is the problem?

NetFlix has built-in network troubleshooting that may provide some insight. Just press the NetFlix icon in the the NetCast menu and choose activate. It will run through some network tests. If it returns an error stating "No Ethernet cable detected", this means it doesn't see any type of network device (router, switch, hub, etc). Most likely there is no physical connection to your router (or other network device) or that device is turned off. If NetFlix says it can't connect to the network...then the TV can see a router or a hub, it just can't join your network.

First, try using a different cable. If you're using a wireless kit, power line adapter, or a network cable built into your house, move the TV to the room where you can connect directly to your router and test it. Also make sure you are not using a cross-over cable and that the cable is plugged in all the way.

If you have determined the cable connection is not the problem, make sure your router is not blocking the TV due to security settings. The default security settings that came on the router should work. Have you changed any security settings on the router? If so, return those to default temporarily. You can also bypass the router and connect the TV directly into your modem to see if the router is the issue.

You can also try typing in your network settings manually. Just got to the Network Setting menu on the TV and type in your network settings manually.

Call or email us if you are still unable to connect.

Does the auto setting fill in your network info, but you still can't connect?

If so, try this trick. Take what the auto setting found and type it manually with the manual function. Sometimes that will convince the router to let the TV join the network.

Or, you may be able to fix this by adding the TV to the DMZ (De-Militarized Zone) function on the router. You normally find this setting under a gaming or security section of the router's setup menus. This tells the router to give a device an open channel to the Internet. You can use a MAC address or an IP address to identify the device in the DMZ. The MAC address would be the easier to use if you don't know what IP address to give the TV. The MAC address for the TV is in the Network menu under Manual Setting (or click the link to the document below for another way to find it). You can also enter all of the network info manually if you want to use a static IP address in the DMZ menu.

Having Netflix problems?

If your TV can connect to the internet, but will not stream movies...

First, make sure your router is not blocking the Netflix movie server. Do this by pinging the server from a PC on your network.

1) On a PC, click the start button.
2) Click "Run" (Skip this on Windows 7).
3) Type "cmd" into the dialog box.
4) At the command prompt, type "ping moviecontrol.netflix.com"

Note: You should ping "moviecontrol.netflix.com", not "www.netflix.com"

If you can ping moviecontrol.netflix.com, try the following.

Check the chart above in "Tips & Issues" to see if your router is listed.
Make sure there are no ports blocked.
If supported, turn off the firewall in the router temporarily to see if it will stream.
Place the TV in the DMZ of the router.

Otherwise, contact us and we will research the problem. Tell us that pinging was successful. Also tell us at what point you encounter a problem...Can you make it past the Netflix start screen without an error? Or, when you choose a movie from your queue to play, you get an error?

If you can't ping moviecontrol.netflix.com, try the following.

Turn off the firewall in router menu (if your router supports it). Activate Netflix on the TV. Start to play a video from your queue. Now turn the firewall back on. In most cases, the firewall will now allow Netflix streaming to pass through.

If your Netflix queue is not populating on the TV...power cycle your modem, router, and TV. Plug in the modem first, then router, then PC. Wait 20 seconds between each step.

If you are still having issues please check to make sure port 443 is actually open.

Article ID: 6387

Last updated: 14 May, 2010

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