Fan Pass?

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21 posts

Geek

Trusted

#1259444 14-Mar-2015 18:52

WASTE OF MONEY. Continuous buffering. 20 seconds of playback then a skip or a pause.

The dodgy streams are lower resolution (Fanpass does try to do up to 720p) but more watchable.

I presume there's no chance of a refund and in hindsight I should have just gone for one week to test it out but oh well.

Appreciate posting and the feedback here. I was about to purchase a month for the same reason just to see what the service was like.

Will leave it now, thanks!

nzbase.com

@nzbase

Spyware

3767 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1259458 14-Mar-2015 19:47

I have to agree also, its a complete waste of money and a total joke. I wouldn't even watch it if it were free as that bad.

Spark Max Fibre using Mikrotik CCR1009-8G-1S-1S+, CRS125-24G-1S, Unifi UAP, U6-Pro, UAP-AC-M-Pro, Apple TV 4K (2022), Apple TV 4K (2017), iPad Air 1st gen, iPad Air 4th gen, iPhone 13, SkyNZ3151 (the white box). If it doesn't move then it's data cabled.

Talkiet

4793 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1259462 14-Mar-2015 19:53

Interestingly, I am going to have to revise my initial assessment. I don't think I changed anything, but it's been significantly better for the last 15 minutes.

It's still not as good as I would expect for $200/season, but it's not as bad as I first thought. I'll watch tomorrow and see how the race goes before coming up with a final verdict.

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.

Spyware

3767 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1259465 14-Mar-2015 19:59

Because I disconnected.

Spyware

3767 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1260493 16-Mar-2015 18:17

Being streamed from Canada.

Talkiet

4793 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1260605 16-Mar-2015 20:46

Spyware: Being streamed from Canada.

Where it is streamed from is dependant on what DNS servers you use and what ISP you use. To say that it's streamed from Canada may be true for yourself if you haven't got your network setup well - but it's grossly inaccurate to try and suggest that the fanpass streams are all served from Canada.

I had a look at the streams when I was playing it and they were being served from an Akamai server in the Spark network in Christchurch, less than 10km from me.

As an aside, the performance was still dicey at best, but having seen how complex these things are recently from the inside, I'm not prepared to blame Sky, the ISP, the CDN provider or the network. Or the streaming engine provider, or the PC, or the OS, or the plugins, or the browser. Or the VDSL router.

It could be any combination of the above (and probably more). I have found that non-geeks normally have a better experience oddly due to having simpler networks :-)

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.

Spyware

3767 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1260627 16-Mar-2015 21:21

I traced the wrong address. I'm also on Spark in Christchurch and neulion requests are to Spark dns server. Appears to be working better tonight.

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

nzkiwiman

2585 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#1262339 19-Mar-2015 12:34

My father purchased a months F1, and on a ADSL2+ connection (around 12 down, 1 up) the content was very watchable
There were some noticeable drops, and the text on screen was sometimes unreadable but all in all, pretty good.

Saw more of the race than when I was physically in Melbourne 4 years ago :-)

Setup was iPad via WiFi and iPad to Apple TV (via Airwatch) via WiFi

hooney

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1262348 19-Mar-2015 12:36

nzkiwiman: My father purchased a months F1, and on a ADSL2+ connection (around 12 down, 1 up) the content was very watchable
There were some noticeable drops, and the text on screen was sometimes unreadable but all in all, pretty good.

Saw more of the race than when I was physically in Melbourne 4 years ago :-)

Setup was iPad via WiFi and iPad to Apple TV (via Airwatch) via WiFi

Which ISP are you with?

6FIEND

774 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#1262403 19-Mar-2015 13:38

nzkiwiman: ...the content was very watchable
There were some noticeable drops, and the text on screen was sometimes unreadable but all in all, pretty good.

How is this considered an acceptable viewing experience in this day and age?
(especially when considering the premium price paid for this service - even after it has been discounted)

nzkiwiman

2585 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#1263541 19-Mar-2015 16:37

With Snap

And the viewing experience was acceptable because it was still very watchable.
The drop outs could be due to any number of factors or reasons - ie, going over WiFi, someone else (like me) using the internet in another part of the house, not having Fibre etc

42Daimler

1 post

Wannabe Geek

#1272606 28-Mar-2015 22:19

I know it sounds bad but I'm glad everyone else is suffering the same as me. I have yet to pay anything and have been trying (in vain) to get a better performance from the free F1 in Australia.

As has been said before, if you view at 540 it doesn't dropout, but you can't even read what lap the race is up to and the sound is muffled. Recognising the cars as they whizz by is hard enough in HD, so 540 is BAD!

I emailed support and they gave me a troubleshoot list (see below), none of which worked. Hoping my ISP (Orcon) can do something as they seemd to think something was amiss by the ping times seen after running tracert fanpass.co.nz via the command prompt.

I'm not very technical so had assumed it was a problem unique to me.

I know everyone is complaining about the price, but I would gladly pay $200 for a year of HD F1. I've missed it so badly since moving to NZ from the UK. Without HD, the experience just isn't the same...

Greetings,

Typically, poor video quality will be related to one of the following things: Internet bandwidth, CPU utilisation, or local software or

network conflicts (i.e. security app or content filtering/traffic shaping.)

If you're experiencing choppy or low quality video with FAN PASS on PC/Mac, please make sure you try accessing with different

web browsers such as Internet Explorer, Firefox or Chrome. If you have the same issues across multiple browsers, please refer to

the information below for troubleshooting tips.

Internet Bandwidth

Please ensure that you, or others on your network, are not downloading music, movies, or games while you are using FAN PASS.

These activities will consume a large chunk of your bandwidth. Also make sure you shut down any other programs or applications

that you have running.

To stream video on FAN PASS at the highest available quality you will need a download speed of at least 5.0 Mbps or more. You

can use this free online tool to check your Internet connection's speed https://www.speedtest.net. Remember lots of factors

including other internet use in your home can affect video quality and this is a guide only.

Despite having a fast Internet connection, internet congestion can slow down the delivery of the stream, making it difficult for you

to connect, or cause buffering. Often the interruption is temporary. If you repeatedly have problems connecting, please notify

your ISP. There are often quick fixes they can make when they learn about your issue.

Closed networks, such as the ones found at university campuses, hotels, hospitals, businesses, etc., can cause connectivity issues

with live streaming video if certain ports are blocked or restricted.

CPU Utilization

If your CPU is running at or above about 75%, you will likely encounter issues such as sluggish or choppy video quality.

To check your CPU usage on a Windows computer, press the Ctrl+Alt+Del keys simultaneously and then select "Task Manager."

Your current CPU usage percentage is displayed under the "Performance" tab.

To check your CPU usage on a Mac OSX computer, launch the Activity Monitor application. Your current CPU usage percentage is

displayed under the CPU tab.

If you're experiencing high CPU utilization, close any unnecessary applications to help save CPU resources. Also, please check your

CPU utilization while the media player is running.

Local Software or Network Conflicts

It's up to you to keep your device secure, but sometimes disabling your firewall, security applications, or antivirus software can

help. These applications, e.g., Avast, Norton, McAfee, etc., can affect the video quality of video streaming applications like FAN

PASS. However, if you do this, make sure you take other steps to keep your device secure.

Adobe Flash Suggestions

1. To access "Adobe Flash Player Settings", launch FAN PASS and right-click anywhere within the video player, then select 'settings'

from the menu.

2. Along the bottom of the "Adobe Flash Player Settings" menu, you'll find five tabs.

Click the third tab from the left it looks like a file folder with green arrow, then move the slider bar to the right until it is higher

than 100 KB.

3. Next, click the leftmost tab that looks like a monitor and uncheck the box that says "Enable hardware acceleration." If the

"Enable hardware acceleration" box is already unchecked, try checking the box.

4. Clear your browser cache and cookies, re-launch your browser, and check for improvement in the video quality.

Best Regards,

FAN PASS Support

Spyware

3767 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1272698 29-Mar-2015 08:58

Fanpass problems relate to the provider of the service so there is nothing you can do. They gave me half my money back and I won't be using the service again. Just another technically flawed cheap implementation that Sky have a history of - from 1998 technology decoders being fed 2 Mbps mpeg2 streams, Neon in SD and SkyGO in 512x288.

Note: I would rate fanpass as the lowest quality premium price streaming service I've ever used.

merve0o0

492 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1273457 30-Mar-2015 14:59

Bee: Hey Sky,

How about something like this for V8 Supercars? (including Bathurst!) but yeah not at those prices!

Have you tried Superview? I use that and the quality is not too bad, better then the free streams, and no ads. Cost is au$40 for the season. you doo need a VPN though as its not available in Aus or NZ (Thanks Sky)

Talkiet: The dodgy streams are lower resolution (Fanpass does try to do up to 720p) but more watchable.

I may know of a private stream that is very good quality. apparently its 1080i/50.

haydenmarsh

288 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1273552 30-Mar-2015 17:15

merve0o0: I may know of a private stream that is very good quality. apparently its 1080i/50.

Feel like sending me a PM?

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