iSky CDN Update

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961 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#836291 13-Jun-2013 13:16

NonprayingMantis: with the size of datacaps now, unmetering individual sites is pretty pointless IMO. I watch VAST amounts of Netflix, download quite a few movies and games, and rarely hit my 150GB cap, and that is far from the biggest cap available in NZ

Without regurgitating the topic Mauricio started about data caps, that 150GB would cost me $50 extra per month ($126/month) which I simply cannot justify from my budget.

On demand is not yet a reliable method to watch regular TV (IMO) due to both lack of content and cost of data. So unless I'm playing catch-up or forgot to record something it doesn't get used. So it's rare that I would go anywhere near the 150GB.

However, if content was better (more of the programmes available) then I might start watching more - but what would hold me back was that I would be concerned about exceeding my data cap - bit of a catch-22.

So if broadcasters want us to watch on demand (they are obviously putting money into the venture) and ISPs want us to get dependant on streaming then a great way to achieve this would be to not meter on demand. Let's face it, the more we watch online the more we want. When we are hooked, then we want better quality and the only way to get that quality is to upgrade to fibre or VDSL if you are close enough.

And of course, the more we watch on demand the less likely people are to download it illegally keeping data and viewing on NZ websites.

Sounds like a win-win situation to me but the broadcasters and ISPs have to start the ball rolling.

Procrastination eventually pays off.

StarBlazer

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Ultimate Geek

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#836294 13-Jun-2013 13:18

NonprayingMantis: rarely hit my 150GB cap

Just out of interest, how many hours (on average) of watching pleasure would 150GB give you?

Procrastination eventually pays off.

NonprayingMantis

6434 posts

Uber Geek

#836305 13-Jun-2013 13:25

StarBlazer:
NonprayingMantis: rarely hit my 150GB cap

Just out of interest, how many hours (on average) of watching pleasure would 150GB give you?

Netflix is roughly 1 hour per GB for SD (TV screen size, ipad/iphone would be much less), 2.3GB for HD.

So, given a 50/50 mix of HD/SD that would average around 1.7GB per hour.
So if I used 100GB of my cap on Netflix, (and the other 50GB on games, online gaming, piratebay, youtube etc) that would still give me around 60 hours per month of Netflix, or two hours a day, every single day. For someone who works full time and enjoys other social pleasures other than watching TV (like going out for dinner with friends, playing WoW, going to an occaisional rugby game etc), that is a lot of Netflix to get through. Remember that I still have free to air channels to watch things like the news, a bit of reality rubbish my wife likes etc so its not like Netflix is the only source of TV.
You can, of course, dial down the quality if you want so it doesn't do HD (their SD is still damn good quality, way better than Sky's SD) which would get you a lot more out of your cap. i.e. up to 150 hours of SD on a 150GB cap.

Also, by way of comparison, Netflix published some stats last year. Their average customer gets through around 40GB per month

NonprayingMantis

6434 posts

Uber Geek

#836312 13-Jun-2013 13:36

StarBlazer:
NonprayingMantis: with the size of datacaps now, unmetering individual sites is pretty pointless IMO. I watch VAST amounts of Netflix, download quite a few movies and games, and rarely hit my 150GB cap, and that is far from the biggest cap available in NZ

Without regurgitating the topic Mauricio started about data caps, that 150GB would cost me $50 extra per month ($126/month) which I simply cannot justify from my budget.

On demand is not yet a reliable method to watch regular TV (IMO) due to both lack of content and cost of data. So unless I'm playing catch-up or forgot to record something it doesn't get used. So it's rare that I would go anywhere near the 150GB.

However, if content was better (more of the programmes available) then I might start watching more - but what would hold me back was that I would be concerned about exceeding my data cap - bit of a catch-22.

So if broadcasters want us to watch on demand (they are obviously putting money into the venture) and ISPs want us to get dependant on streaming then a great way to achieve this would be to not meter on demand. Let's face it, the more we watch online the more we want. When we are hooked, then we want better quality and the only way to get that quality is to upgrade to fibre or VDSL if you are close enough.

And of course, the more we watch on demand the less likely people are to download it illegally keeping data and viewing on NZ websites.

Sounds like a win-win situation to me but the broadcasters and ISPs have to start the ball rolling.

have a think about it from the ISPs point of view. Why would an ISP want you to get dependant on streaming somebody else's content? they dont make money from that content directly, and if they unmeter it then they dont make money from the data you use. if anything they make less since you are less likely to buy a bigger plan.

If an ISP owned it's own content service (like many ISPs do overseas) or otherwise made money from the content provider (e.g. if Sky paid an ISP to unmeter iSky) then there is a clear benefit from unmetering that, but many people would probably go crying to the comcom/government about net neutrality or some such.

You can get plans 150GB+ for a lot less than $126. so maybe consider shopping around for a better plan or asking your ISP for a better deal than whatever you are on now.

4 examples off the top of my head, but most ISPs have similar plans:

Telecom 150GB inc landline $99, 500GB $119
Orcon unlimited inc national calling $99
Slingshot 250GB inc landline $107
Slingshot unlimited (naked) $90

StarBlazer

961 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#836318 13-Jun-2013 13:43

NonprayingMantis:
4 examples off the top of my head, but most ISPs have similar plans:

Telecom 150GB inc landline $99, 500GB $119
Orcon unlimited inc national calling $99
Slingshot 250GB inc landline $107
Slingshot unlimited (naked) $90

Hmm, I'm on contract with Vodafone(TCL) at the moment - enjoy their service and quality - have done since I got here 7 years ago - but might have to shop around next time. We are 1-2 years from UFB and would be hesitant to change service and end up with an ADSL nightmare connection that I hear so many complain about. Thanks for the information and opinions.

Procrastination eventually pays off.

cgreenwood

201 posts

Master Geek

#847780 1-Jul-2013 16:45

Can anyone tell me if this change has happened yet? Have noticed no difference to the iSky website, should I have? Also, does anyone know if this change will mean a switch from Flash to HTML5, would be nice to be able to use iSky on my Android and idevices.

Zeon

3916 posts

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#847793 1-Jul-2013 17:03

The new CDN seems to be Velocix which has replaced Orcon I believe. Orcon at least have a Velocix node on their network.

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sonyxperiageek

2959 posts

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#847821 1-Jul-2013 17:48

cgreenwood: Can anyone tell me if this change has happened yet? Have noticed no difference to the iSky website, should I have? Also, does anyone know if this change will mean a switch from Flash to HTML5, would be nice to be able to use iSky on my Android and idevices.

There should be no difference to the iSky website.. only thing you should notice once they switch over, (or if they already have..) is that video quality will be better and less buffering? But a lot of other different factors will also come into play i.e your broadband connection etc etc...

Sony

ptinson

677 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#847826 1-Jul-2013 17:51

Zeon: The new CDN seems to be Velocix which has replaced Orcon I believe. Orcon at least have a Velocix node on their network.

Velocix is what the Orcon CDN is built on.
This is moving to Akamai.

Paul

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moxpearl

123 posts

Master Geek

#849459 5-Jul-2013 04:08

isky has never worked on my orcon connection ..

Will play for 5 seconds then buffer buffer buffer.. play for 5 seconds, buffer buffer buffer.

Yet I can watch netflix in HD without a problem

sonyxperiageek

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#870946 2-Aug-2013 19:40

Ah, after nearly a whole month's delay, they [iSky] have finally switched over to their new CDN - http://goo.gl/QeBRHj

Sony

cgreenwood

201 posts

Master Geek

#871098 3-Aug-2013 08:52

Thanks for the update, here's hoping we might be able to watch the game tonight.

moxpearl

123 posts

Master Geek

#871304 3-Aug-2013 18:16

Didn't change anything for me.. buffer buffer buffer :/

Talkiet

4793 posts

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#871325 3-Aug-2013 18:52

Same for me... I've confirmed that the Sky Sports 1 feed IS being served from the appropriate Akamai node (at least to Telecom retail customers using the right DNS server), and that there's over 10Gbps free on the links from the Akamai servers to our network.

I've flicked Akamai a support query to see if the issue is under their control, but I suspect it won't be.

It's certainly BETTER than it was previously (I can at least restart the stream when it stops every 60 seconds or so) but then again, it's not at kickoff yet... Previously the feed worked ok up until kickoff, then died for the length of the game, then started working again after the game.

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

Neori

82 posts

Master Geek

2degrees

#871327 3-Aug-2013 18:56

I could normally watch iSKY buffer free previously and now my iSKY buffers every 10 seconds. Poor form.

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