Anybody having problems with BBC iPlayer today (using Unotelly?)

Forums › Online streaming services › Anybody having problems with BBC iPlayer today (using Unotelly?)

1 | 2

robjg63

4098 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#1225075 30-Jan-2015 08:11

8am this morning.
Vodafone/Unotelly.
Took over a minute - I gave up timing after a minute (windows 7/chrome) to bring up the bbc iplayer page - hung on "static.bbci.co.uk"

Clicked on a random program and it hung for about a minute on "ichef.bbci.co.uk" - then drew the program tile.
Clicked play and it started streaming pretty quickly.

Assume its getting different source from different places - some of it seems really slow at the moment.
The question is - is this just a problem here in NZ - do the UK get this problem - or is it international buffering or some sort of DNS issue?

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

lchiu7

6474 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1225082 30-Jan-2015 08:40

Checked again this morning. Same error with Content Does Not Appear To Be Working.

Have logged a call with Unotelly as all other services works such as Netflix, Hulu and iTV

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

MileHighKiwi

782 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#1225106 30-Jan-2015 09:06

On the subject of iPlayer; is there an app available on the Roku? I haven't been able to find one, just wondering if there is a hidden one or another way of watching it without using a browser?

lchiu7

6474 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1225120 30-Jan-2015 09:24

MileHighKiwi: On the subject of iPlayer; is there an app available on the Roku? I haven't been able to find one, just wondering if there is a hidden one or another way of watching it without using a browser?

Don't know but for my part when it works, I find the Chromecast the best way to watch on my TV. I can use a really old Motorola Xoom table to start the stream, and then just hand it off to the Chromecast. Works a treat (well used to before iPlayer appears to have been broken).

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

robjg63

4098 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#1225169 30-Jan-2015 10:26

I definitely find that you get differences between streaming on android devices (Amazon Fire TV, Android tablet) and say a windows PC.
For the most part windows seems to work best - not quite sure why that should be.
Maybe windows uses different protocols for the data feeds or maybe it has better buffering methods.

Regardless of the methods used though - I still find that the BBC iplayer site (windows or android apps) can vary between very responsive sometimes and dismal at other times.

At the risk of repeating myself (but I will anyway), assuming these services (including 4od ITV etc) are all working ok in the UK, then is it:

lack of general bandwidth to NZ

is this vodafone being specifically bad in my case?

slow DNS (unotelly?)

something else

As I am being naughty and typing this from work I just tried the BBC iplayer site in my browser here - Its Callplus 30/10 UFB connection - no unotelly of course. The page was pretty instant to draw - didnt hang at all. I find at home it can just hang forever even drawing the iplayer homepage and images for the programs. I cant test playback of any content here - But I still think it has to either be Unotelly or Vodafone.
I recall I found it was often slow to bring up the iplayer page even when I was using Vodafones default DNS - So I dont think its a Unotelly issue....

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

BarTender

3606 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1225205 30-Jan-2015 10:52

The tyranny of 300+ms distance to the UK will always make streaming a challenge no matter what access speed you have.

That's why I like get_iplayer and download the "best" version and play it offline. Works a treat on my UK vps. And then push the downloaded file to my local nas for my consumption at my convenience.

robjg63

4098 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#1225223 30-Jan-2015 11:30

BarTender: The tyranny of 300+ms distance to the UK will always make streaming a challenge no matter what access speed you have.

That's why I like get_iplayer and download the "best" version and play it offline. Works a treat on my UK vps. And then push the downloaded file to my local nas for my consumption at my convenience.

Yep use get_iplayer myself too.

But its the inconsistency of streaming directly that is most annoying - especially when some people report its always fine for them.
There seem to be some other variables at play....

Amazing! - Just tried the iplayer site again at work (Callplus) - just bringing up the homepage - Even with an f5 page refresh the program images etc appear immediately. No way is it ever that responsive on Vodafone ADSL.

EDIT: Actually - I guess I can test at least the homepage drawing on my Note 2 using skinny 4g.
Will try that when I get home against android using wifi/Vodafone/Unotelly.

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

Lenovo

Shop now for Lenovo laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

DaveB

1139 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1225542 30-Jan-2015 17:48

steve98: Seems ok here - Snap UFB with Unotelly. Just streamed the first few minutes of Wolf Hall to test and it played fine, no error messages.

What platform are you using iplayer on?

It would be interesting to know what platform is working and what isn't.

Spyware

3761 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1225559 30-Jan-2015 18:16

Live streams come from vs-hds-uk-live.edgesuite.net

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.

lchiu7

6474 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1227412 2-Feb-2015 08:54

Working for me again. Unotelly came back and said it should work and it does. I don't know what they did and I am asking for clarification just out of interest.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

Kiwiuk

138 posts

Master Geek

ID Verified

#1227494 2-Feb-2015 11:00

Please keep us updated, can be useful if similar problems occur, cheers

BarTender: Ooohhh, there's something I wasn't aware of, get_iplayer. Must look into that :)

MileHighKiwi

782 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#1227502 2-Feb-2015 11:12

Re iPlayer, I found that Plex has it as a channel and I was able to access it over the weekend via my Roku 3. Sweeeeet.

steve98

1395 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1230817 3-Feb-2015 21:46

DaveB:
steve98: Seems ok here - Snap UFB with Unotelly. Just streamed the first few minutes of Wolf Hall to test and it played fine, no error messages.

What platform are you using iplayer on?

It would be interesting to know what platform is working and what isn't.

PS3, PS4 and ipad (via safari not app) all working good.

lchiu7

6474 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1231167 4-Feb-2015 15:23

Watched Top Gear last night on a Chromecast via cable. It buffered every 5 minutes or so which was annoying. The rest of the time it was in HD.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

1 | 2