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lchiu7

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#116412 28-Apr-2013 19:51
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I use Unblock-US to access US video streaming services. I am using Xtra xDSL at the moment but the same applies when I use TCL cable (which I still have).

Netflix, Vudu and Hulu+ work just fine, both on PC's (well not so on PC's with TCL because of their transparent proxy) and also on devices like the Roku and PS3.

But Amazon is unwatchable with contstant buffering and low bandwidth. Amazon seems to be okay on a PC but most content in HD will not play in HD on a PC because of some Amazon restriction.

Just wondering if anybody else out there is viewing Amazon Instant Video via Unblock and if so, how's your performance and what ISP are you using?

Thanks




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.


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freitasm
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  #806880 28-Apr-2013 20:50
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A bit off topic... I like the idea of Amazon Instant because I have credits with Amazon. But they only allow owned content to be downloaded to two devices. That's all. Apple iTunes at least lets you authorise up to five devices and you can deauthorise and move to another device...

A good thing I noticed about Amazon Instant is that you only need to start the content download while on a VPN. If you disconnect after it continues the download, at full line speed. And you don't need to be connected to play local content.




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lchiu7

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  #807089 29-Apr-2013 09:24
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freitasm: A bit off topic... I like the idea of Amazon Instant because I have credits with Amazon. But they only allow owned content to be downloaded to two devices. That's all. Apple iTunes at least lets you authorise up to five devices and you can deauthorise and move to another device...

A good thing I noticed about Amazon Instant is that you only need to start the content download while on a VPN. If you disconnect after it continues the download, at full line speed. And you don't need to be connected to play local content.


Slight OT. How are you accessing the Amazon video streams - from a PC? I couldn't do that with Unblock-US because of well discussed problems with TCL's transparent proxy. But now I have also have Telecom xDSL service I can do that. But it seems that streaming to a browser is okay, from what I have experienced Amazon don't send down HD content to a browser - you have to use a device like a PS3 etc. And it's on the devices I am having the streaming problem.

It is interesting to note that with the VPN you can start up with the VPN and then disconnect it but unfortunately that's not really feasible on a device since most devices don't have a VPN client apart from Android and IOS devices. And while I do have Tunnelbear on an Android device, there is no AIV client for Android, only IOS and I don't have an iPad.




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.


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  #807092 29-Apr-2013 09:26
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I use the Amazon video player Amazon Unbox to download the content over a VPN.

I have the content folder mapped in my media center as "Video". Once downloaded the content can be played either on Amazon Unbox or Windows Media Player or Windows Media Center (my preferred one).

Because it can be download and played on Windows Media Center it's an ideal replacement for iTunes, since we have a Remote Control, etc...




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  #807100 29-Apr-2013 09:38
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is there any decent content on amazon that isn't on either Netflix (older, larger library) or VuDu (newer, smaller library) already?

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  #807102 29-Apr-2013 09:42
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The content on Amazon is pretty much the same as iTunes US (except iTunes US has a good indie selection not available anywhere else). Because I have some credit on Amazon I am using it for now.




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lchiu7

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  #807107 29-Apr-2013 09:48
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NonprayingMantis: is there any decent content on amazon that isn't on either Netflix (older, larger library) or VuDu (newer, smaller library) already?


There is a large overlap but there are also shows on Amazon not on Netflix. One example that springs to mind is Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister. Also the quality is different. For example Transformers Dark of the Moon on Amazon is in the correct aspect ratio and is Dolby Digital 5.1 but on Netflix it's cropped to 16:9 and is stereo.

Most of the videos I watch (try to watch) on Amazon are Amazon Prime so are free. I have only ever rented one movie from Amazon and that was because I had a credit.




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.


lchiu7

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  #807109 29-Apr-2013 09:50
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freitasm: I use the Amazon video player Amazon Unbox to download the content over a VPN.

I have the content folder mapped in my media center as "Video". Once downloaded the content can be played either on Amazon Unbox or Windows Media Player or Windows Media Center (my preferred one).

Because it can be download and played on Windows Media Center it's an ideal replacement for iTunes, since we have a Remote Control, etc...



So you're not streaming? Have you tried on your TCL connection using a device like an iPad or PS3?




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.


 
 
 

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freitasm
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  #807121 29-Apr-2013 10:21
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No, not streaming. Although the Unbox player will allow playing after five minutes of downloading (pretty much like iTunes). But again I only use a VPN (Witopia), not unblock-us.




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lchiu7

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  #807696 29-Apr-2013 21:07
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freitasm: No, not streaming. Although the Unbox player will allow playing after five minutes of downloading (pretty much like iTunes). But again I only use a VPN (Witopia), not unblock-us.


Well I thought it could be Unblock so I signed up for a 8 day trial of Unotelly. And when I used its DNS servers (there's one based in Auckland) I was able to stream Amazon with no buffering but to be sure, the video was not HD - seemed more like SD to me.

But then when I switched back to Unblock it was also okay so perhaps it was just a temporary issue. I will experiment more over the next 8 days.

Out of interest I managed to borrow an iPad2 and installed the AIV client on it. It played HD content fine over my home WiFi network and Unblock.

Just wish Amazon would come out with an Android client but I suspect they are trying to protect sales of the Kindle Fire.




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.


freitasm
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  #808296 30-Apr-2013 22:30
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Just saw this post by unblock-us on Twitter, replying to the Geekzone Forum tweet:








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lchiu7

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  #810715 3-May-2013 11:44
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That might explain it. It's been better the past few days. I have one device connected to Unotelly and another connected to Unblock-US and both seem to work fine

But for me the bigger issue is, for some reason on either service at most times of the day, I rarely get HD on Amazon.

I did one morning but that's pretty rare



But I can get HD most of the time on Netflix of Hulu. It's annoying since Amazon has some good movies and they tend to be in the original AR and have DD+ audio whereas Netflix often crops the movie to 16:9 and sends down stereo.




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.


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