Geekzone: technology news, blogs, forums
Guest
Welcome Guest.
You haven't logged in yet. If you don't have an account you can register now.


#252906 16-Jul-2019 18:19
Send private message

Just wondering how Fan Pass is performing currently? I've read the new CEO wants to improve their digital offering, is it getting better?

 

I'm considering moving from Sky to Fan Pass, mainly cost savings as I'm getting Fiber and Spark Sport, for the EPL, and want to reduce costs elsewhere.

 

Is it good enough that I can turn off the satellite?

 

 


Create new topic
sen8or
1787 posts

Uber Geek


  #2277876 16-Jul-2019 18:30
Send private message

Are the sports you want on the main channels at the time when you want to watch them?

 

If the answer is yes, and you don't need recording or pop up channels, then it might be worth looking into, if not, then no matter the price, the product won't meet your needs (for now).

 

If fanpass goes to a VOD model rather than a stream of linear broadcast, that may negate your need to record / watch later.

 

There are other alternatives, like our friends across the ditch with their "kayo sports", ofcourse, thats only available to Australian residents in Australia, cough cough, but it really shows what an online sports facility should be.

 

 

 

Just saw fanpass do a rewind for up to 24 hours prior, a start to "on demand" I guess

 

 




DjShadow
4084 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified
Trusted

  #2277882 16-Jul-2019 18:37
Send private message

Main thing to remember is currently Fan Pass is only Sky Sport 1-4, no popup channels or ESPN. I'm hoping Sky have their updated offering for Fan pass soon.


  #2277888 16-Jul-2019 18:52
Send private message

Currently I think it's a poor quality and poor value for money service. 

 

  • Only live linear streaming of the Sky Sport 1-4 channels
  • No VOD which is essential if you give up the option of local recording
  • Only 720p last time I was using it and the frame rates were poor

 

 

I would love for it to be successful. I tried Fanpass for 6 months when I first ditched my Sky box. I got frustrated by the above, most notably the 1-4 channels as the sports that I follow would always get pushed to a pop-up channel. I really would like it to be succesful. If Sky can over a service equivalent to Kayo at a cost comparable with Kayo then I'll happily return.




DjShadow
4084 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified
Trusted

  #2277889 16-Jul-2019 18:54
Send private message

Senecio:

 

Currently I think it's a poor quality and poor value for money service. 

 

  • Only live linear streaming of the Sky Sport 1-4 channels
  • No VOD which is essential if you give up the option of local recording
  • Only 720p last time I was using it and the frame rates were poor

 

 

I would love for it to be successful. I tried Fanpass for 6 months when I first ditched my Sky box. I got frustrated by the above, most notably the 1-4 channels as the sports that I follow would always get pushed to a pop-up channel. I really would like it to be succesful. If Sky can over a service equivalent to Kayo at a cost comparable with Kayo then I'll happily return.

 

 

I got a fault logged for the Frame Rate as it really stood out when I got Fanpass last year and watched on the Apple TV. Took sending them a video of how bad it was and they got it sorted fairly quickly.


cb1

cb1
336 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #2277914 16-Jul-2019 19:39
Send private message

Senecio:

 

  • No VOD which is essential if you give up the option of local recording

 

Just to clarify - VOD is available on PC/Mac for events that started within the previous 24 hours, but not via the apps





cb

cb1

cb1
336 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #2277915 16-Jul-2019 19:39
Send private message

Senecio:

 

  • No VOD which is essential if you give up the option of local recording

 

Just to clarify - VOD is available on PC/Mac for events that started within the previous 24 hours, but not via the apps





cb

  #2277918 16-Jul-2019 19:48
Send private message

Be honest, rewinding 24hrs but only available on a PC via browser is not VOD. Its a poor excuse at best.

 

 

 

Glad to hear the frame rate issue has been addressed. 


 
 
 

Cloud spending continues to surge globally, but most organisations haven’t made the changes necessary to maximise the value and cost-efficiency benefits of their cloud investments. Download the whitepaper From Overspend to Advantage now.
wazzageek
1093 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified
Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  #2279239 18-Jul-2019 20:16
Send private message

On AppleTV, the live streams work great. The lack of pop up channels or vod is the biggest downfall. We get fan pass for the rugby season only (6 month, then let it go month by month until no more sport we want to watch is on)

Really hoping with the new CEO there will shortly be a much better “sky” offering over the internet.

Apsattv
2388 posts

Uber Geek


  #2279391 19-Jul-2019 05:50
Send private message

An upgraded Fanpass is suppose to be out in August

 

 


cyril7
9058 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified
Trusted
Subscriber

  #2279392 19-Jul-2019 05:58
Send private message

Please don't turn off the satellite as I'm still using it.

Cyril

event2
188 posts

Master Geek


  #2280198 20-Jul-2019 12:38
Send private message

The main issue for me is the frame rate, it was quite painful watching the cricket world cup. Im not sure what the issue is with the frame rate be it inconsistent or just to low for sports, but there's something just not right with it.

 

I normally watch via a chrome cast and fast moving action like a ball being hit and rolling for a four is not very smooth and if you have motion interpolation turned on your tv you end up with some really weird stuff going on.

 

For me the steam was really reliable, I could leave it playing on my chrome cast for a week it would always be working fine when ever I turned the TV on.

 

There is a annoying issue with the app, where say you had been using it to change channel streams on achrome cast and then you let your phone go to sleep, when you next unlock your phone and open the app it comes up with and error message saying that you are watching on multiple devices then signs you out of your fan pass account on the phone and sometimes kills the stream currently playing on the chrome cast, then you have to sign back in and get things going again. Super frustrating if you open the app on accident while in the middle of watching something and it stops the stream. 

 

In the past 5 months of having fan pass the only time I had trouble with the stream stuttering and stopping was at the beginning of the cricket world cup final and it took them around 30 minutes to fix whatever the issue was.

 

Its OK but not a like for like replacement for normal satellite sky sport.


allio
885 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #2282305 23-Jul-2019 16:19
Send private message

The "problem" with the frame rate is simply that it's 25 FPS, compared with the 50 FPS of a deinterlaced 1080i stream. Simply put it looks like garbage and just isn't good enough for live sport.

 

Motion interpolation can ease some of the pain but faster motion (like a cricket ball) ends up strobing in and out like a UFO.

 

People focus excessively on spatial resolution (demanding 1080p etc) when temporal resolution is just as important (and in fact much more important in the case of sports). 1080p/50 would obviously be ideal but is a tough ask bandwidth-wise. I would hope that the new version of Fanpass is 720p/50 rather than 1080p/25, but given that Sky don't even provide information on the frame rate anywhere on the Fanpass website, I would be surprised.

 

Otherwise I found the performance perfectly good - never once had instability or buffering during the whole cricket world cup.


event2
188 posts

Master Geek


  #2283006 24-Jul-2019 18:40
Send private message

I would also be happy with 720p50.

tdgeek
29743 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  #2283010 24-Jul-2019 18:46
Send private message

event2: I would also be happy with 720p50.

 

Agree. I got FP when we moved. No Sky here, just 12 ethernet ports in rooms :-)  FP visual was fine , 720, but the judder , i.e. 25fps, canned it and got Sky back


Create new topic





News and reviews »

Air New Zealand Starts AI adoption with OpenAI
Posted 24-Jul-2025 16:00


eero Pro 7 Review
Posted 23-Jul-2025 12:07


BeeStation Plus Review
Posted 21-Jul-2025 14:21


eero Unveils New Wi-Fi 7 Products in New Zealand
Posted 21-Jul-2025 00:01


WiZ Introduces HDMI Sync Box and other Light Devices
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:32


RedShield Enhances DDoS and Bot Attack Protection
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:26


Seagate Ships 30TB Drives
Posted 17-Jul-2025 11:24


Oclean AirPump A10 Water Flosser Review
Posted 13-Jul-2025 11:05


Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7: Raising the Bar for Smartphones
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 Brings New Edge-To-Edge FlexWindow
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Epson Launches New AM-C550Z WorkForce Enterprise printer
Posted 9-Jul-2025 18:22


Samsung Releases Smart Monitor M9
Posted 9-Jul-2025 17:46


Nearly Half of Older Kiwis Still Write their Passwords on Paper
Posted 9-Jul-2025 08:42


D-Link 4G+ Cat6 Wi-Fi 6 DWR-933M Mobile Hotspot Review
Posted 1-Jul-2025 11:34


Oppo A5 Series Launches With New Levels of Durability
Posted 30-Jun-2025 10:15









Geekzone Live »

Try automatic live updates from Geekzone directly in your browser, without refreshing the page, with Geekzone Live now.



Are you subscribed to our RSS feed? You can download the latest headlines and summaries from our stories directly to your computer or smartphone by using a feed reader.