My Shield TV is fully updated, wifi is disabled and I am using ethernet. However this weird DIRECT-cl-Android_f336 network access point keeps popping up on the same 5ghz channel that my router uses. It is definitely coming from the Shield TV. So what happens is all my wifi connected devices drop packets and causes huge problems.
Am I correct in calling this "wifi direct"? What is this AP the Shield TV is creating, why is it on the same channel as my router, and how do I disable it?
You can't disable it, same issue here. Google says they don't offer a software toggle to disable wireless if using ethernet and they assume that you will use their controller, so you're basically SOL. As suggested try changing your routers channel , its your only option.
DIRECT-kt-Android_41f0 appears on my network as well, but I kind of figured that it was the Chromecast built into the Nvidia Shield TV.
Coincidentally I just wondered today what the heck that DIRECT- wifi thing was. I never noticed it before because I recently moved to a place where I see almost no other wifi networks.
Anyhow! Weird, mine is on 2,4 GHz and also on the same channel that my access point is using; channel 1. But that's a crowded channel, so I'll probably move my AP to channel 6 or 11. I just hope it does not automatically follow or something like that. But it's now actively interfering with the wifi connection the Shield itself uses for connectivity. Pretty stupid implementation tbh.
edit:
And as I expected, the channel and frequency of the DIRECT wifi network change with the connected wifi AP for the Shield. So, while you can change the your router/access point frequency and channel, the Shield will always put the DIRECT network in exactly the same place. So it's actually quite intentional that Nvidia did this, there might be some reasoning behind it that I don't see.
My guess: perhaps they assume that the wifi channel your access point operates on, is the best because you chose that particular one? So they also put the controller's network there because they know it will probably only interfere with the connection of the Shield itself.
I just noticed this the other day too! I dont know why I never noticed it before? Whenever I change the channel on my router this signal changes channels as well.
To reiterate, both the Shield controller and the Nvidia Shield remote both communicate with the Shield TV via WiFi direct.
This is quite common nowadays.. Non-IR Roku remotes (those with headphone jacks on them) also use WiFi direct, as do XBox One controllers.
On all of these devices, the WiFi Direct channel follows the channel of the WiFi network the parent device is connected to.
It shouldn't be causing any issues, as there is no traffic but beacons unless you are actively using whatever device is communicating over it. Just because you see a signal with the Wifi Analyzer app does not mean it is actively interfering with anything.
Have you confirmed this is the issue? Do the problems actually go away if you unplug the ShieldTV?
More often than not, the interference is an outside source. Like a microwave, 2.4Ghz cordless phone. 2.4 or 5Ghz wireless cameras/video transmitters, etc..
could also be for the chromecast functions. chromecast opens up a tunnel AP (no ssid broadcast) on the same channel as the AP it's connected to...
but yeah, most likely for the controllers.
Same issues here...changing channels on my AP simply cause the Shield to hop over to the parent device channel and again start causing interference.
what other options are there?
Pull the plug when not in use. These babies pull the same amount of current when in standby.
That's how the controllers connect to the Shield I believe. Not sure how to change the channel for it though sorry. Maybe change the router channel?