Vodafone TV - new Gen2 box

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11 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 5

#2516299 2-Jul-2020 16:28

SteveC:
Senecio:

I raised this earlier in the thread, but haven't seen anyone else mention it.

Is anyone else experiencing low bit rate streams on FTA linear TV on start-up. It was intermittent previously but now this is 100% of the time for me. I turn on the box and it doesn't matter what channel I was watching before I switched it off but I'm locked on a 1,680 kbps stream which looks like sh!t. As soon as I change the channel it jumps to >6,000 kbps and the picture is fine. It remains fine until I switch off the box and switch it back on again.

For reference this is on a 200Mb UFB plan, ethernet directly to the ISP router using ISP DNS settings

Just because people with the initial 'S' should always be listened to ... while I don't pay attention to the bitrate on VTV, I've never noticed any blemishes in the picture quality. :-)
Of course, it should work, given we are Vodafone 1gig / 100meg connection and wired 100meg Ethernet to our Gen 2 VTV.
Steve

I have indeed seen this problem on a regular occurrence upon turning on the VTV it is running on a low bitrate and the same as you mention if you change the channel and jump back to the channel you started from the bitrate goes up. I notice it is on the low bitrate because the picture quality is not sharp.

I am on a 1gb UFB connection with the VTV connected to the router by ethernet cable.

Spyware

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Uber Geek
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#2516302 2-Jul-2020 16:39

Simplest solution is to not turn the VTV off. Problem solved. Note: It only consumes around 2 TB/month left on any 6 Mbps channel 24/7.

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.

halper86

555 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#2516476 2-Jul-2020 20:14

Spyware:
Simplest solution is to not turn the VTV off. Problem solved. Note: It only consumes around 2 TB/month left on any 6 Mbps channel 24/7.

Exactly what I “try” to do, however when i turn the tv off, the box does the same, i turn it back on with the tv off and it stays on for a few hours then flicks off again, anyone have any ideas on how to stop this?

Senecio

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#2516819 3-Jul-2020 15:37

I'd rather not leave it running 24/7. Seems an unnecessary waste of internet bandwidth. I guess I'll have to get off my lazy arse and set up a channel change sequence post power on in my Harmony remote.

Apsattv

2453 posts

Uber Geek
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#2516901 3-Jul-2020 17:09

If the box output is set to 576P, does it use a 576p substream hence less bandwidth? or takes full 1080 hd stream and downscales it via hardware?

That may be an option?

Or bandwidth saver mode could be added where if the box doesnt detect any remote activity for XXX minutes then it automatically stops the current stream until a keypress. Or tv channel streaming disabled between certain hours.

niekerkj

79 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 2

#2517179 4-Jul-2020 13:28

Hi All,
I wanted to cast Spark Sport from my Android phone to my Vodafone TV, but the cast symbol did not appear in the Spark Sport app. Casting from YouTube to Vodafone TV works fine. Contacted Spark and they advised that I can download the Spark Sport app on my Vodafone TV. Is this correct? I can't find where I would do that on the Vodafone TV?

Dyson

Shop now for Dyson appliances (affiliate link).

PSlover14

207 posts

Master Geek
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#2517182 4-Jul-2020 13:37

niekerkj: Hi All,
I wanted to cast Spark Sport from my Android phone to my Vodafone TV, but the cast symbol did not appear in the Spark Sport app. Casting from YouTube to Vodafone TV works fine. Contacted Spark and they advised that I can download the Spark Sport app on my Vodafone TV. Is this correct? I can't find where I would do that on the Vodafone TV?

Don't think there's spark sport on Vodafone TV yet, and it doesn't do "Chromecast Built in" like other streaming boxes

PSlover14

207 posts

Master Geek
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#2517185 4-Jul-2020 13:48

Got some new questions about the box.

1. What was the point of adding Fast.com as an app? I get it's to check the speed of your internet but how many people are actually wanting that/wouldn't it be easier to have an automatic speed test in the network page similar to what game consoles like the PS4 do? It just seems very out of place (especially the logo, I don't know exactly what it is but it looks strange and oddly scaled to me)

2. A few of my mates are into WWE, are you able to book WWE PPVs like off Sky Arena? Failing that, is there any possibility to add something like WWE Network to the apps?

3. Similarly, are we ever going to be able to add channels/book PPV and on-demand from the box? It's a pain in the ass going to the other end of the house to go book a movie rather then pushing a couple of buttons on the box. First world problem I know but there's a button there for it.

4. I understand this may be a broadcaster issue, but I've noticed that mostly on Comedy Central, I often end up with 6-7 versions of the same show, with each season I have series linked in its own version. It seems to mainly be comedy central, but can this be fixed so you pick a season inside the show? 7 copies of South Park that don't say what season they are is a pain.

Overall however I am happy with Vodafone TV, it does everything else I want it to.

Linux

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#2517192 4-Jul-2020 13:57

@PSlover14 1) Having the fast.com App could also help with fault checking if the customer has slow Wi-Fi between the VTV unit and the router / AP

niekerkj

79 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 2

#2517198 4-Jul-2020 14:20

PSlover14:
niekerkj: Hi All,
I wanted to cast Spark Sport from my Android phone to my Vodafone TV, but the cast symbol did not appear in the Spark Sport app. Casting from YouTube to Vodafone TV works fine. Contacted Spark and they advised that I can download the Spark Sport app on my Vodafone TV. Is this correct? I can't find where I would do that on the Vodafone TV?

Don't think there's spark sport on Vodafone TV yet, and it doesn't do "Chromecast Built in" like other streaming boxes

Thanks for the info, but I'm able to cast directly from the YouTube app to the Vodafone TV?

sansom

421 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 207

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#2517259 4-Jul-2020 16:04

PSlover14: Got some new questions about the box.

1. What was the point of adding Fast.com as an app? I get it's to check the speed of your internet but how many people are actually wanting that/wouldn't it be easier to have an automatic speed test in the network page similar to what game consoles like the PS4 do? It just seems very out of place (especially the logo, I don't know exactly what it is but it looks strange and oddly scaled to me)

2. A few of my mates are into WWE, are you able to book WWE PPVs like off Sky Arena? Failing that, is there any possibility to add something like WWE Network to the apps?

3. Similarly, are we ever going to be able to add channels/book PPV and on-demand from the box? It's a pain in the ass going to the other end of the house to go book a movie rather then pushing a couple of buttons on the box. First world problem I know but there's a button there for it.

4. I understand this may be a broadcaster issue, but I've noticed that mostly on Comedy Central, I often end up with 6-7 versions of the same show, with each season I have series linked in its own version. It seems to mainly be comedy central, but can this be fixed so you pick a season inside the show? 7 copies of South Park that don't say what season they are is a pain.

Overall however I am happy with Vodafone TV, it does everything else I want it to.

Hi @PSlover14

1. As @Linux said, The Fast.com app is useful when fault finding (most issues are caused by Wi-Fi/Router setup, so it's useful for our agents to be able to tell users how to check what speed the box is seeing)

2. Not currently, but we are looking to implement this once we have all VTV boxes on the same billing system (currently Vodafone TV operates on 4 different billing systems, but we intend to move all VTV units to the same "standalone" billing system and then we can implement PPV charging)

3. Yes, when we implement live PPV on VTV it will be purchased via the box UI.

4. I can't see any double ups of South Park on my VTV? The shows are organised based on the metadata that is supplied by the broadcaster for each show. As you probably know, when you press OK and then the down key to look at the "show more info" page, all the seasons and episodes of a show with the same title are shown (hit the right/left button to see the different episodes, go up to choose different seasons). Or am I misunderstanding what you mean when you say 6-7 versions of the same show?

Great to hear you're happy with VTV!

Hamish

New World

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sansom

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Ultimate Geek
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#2517269 4-Jul-2020 16:22

niekerkj:
Thanks for the info, but I'm able to cast directly from the YouTube app to the Vodafone TV?

The reason you can cast from YouTube (and Netflix btw) on your mobile is that these mobile apps support launching the YouTube and Netflix apps on VTV and pre-loading the content. As @PSlover14 said, it's not Chromecasting. Spart Sport is not on VTV, can't be downloaded (the Spark agent misled you), and so the Spark Sport mobile app does not do this trick. VTV may one day have Spart Sport there, but there's no timeline for this currently.

Hamish

PSlover14

207 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 17

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#2517272 4-Jul-2020 16:27

sansom:
Hi @PSlover14

1. As @Linux said, The Fast.com app is useful when fault finding (most issues are caused by Wi-Fi/Router setup, so it's useful for our agents to be able to tell users how to check what speed the box is seeing)

2. Not currently, but we are looking to implement this once we have all VTV boxes on the same billing system (currently Vodafone TV operates on 4 different billing systems, but we intend to move all VTV units to the same "standalone" billing system and then we can implement PPV charging)

3. Yes, when we implement live PPV on VTV it will be purchased via the box UI.

4. I can't see any double ups of South Park on my VTV? The shows are organised based on the metadata that is supplied by the broadcaster for each show. As you probably know, when you press OK and then the down key to look at the "show more info" page, all the seasons and episodes of a show with the same title are shown (hit the right/left button to see the different episodes, go up to choose different seasons). Or am I misunderstanding what you mean when you say 6-7 versions of the same show?

Great to hear you're happy with VTV!

Thanks for the update around PPV and such, it is appreciated. I understand that having fast.com definitely would help with that, didn't choose the right words honestly to describe what I meant, it was more that it kinda looked out of place (logo seemed off and probably just annoyed my OCD) but that does make sense.

For my 4th point, here's a video demonstrating what I mean:

niekerkj

79 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 2

#2517276 4-Jul-2020 16:38

sansom:
The reason you can cast from YouTube (and Netflix btw) on your mobile is that these mobile apps support launching the YouTube and Netflix apps on VTV and pre-loading the content. As @PSlover14 said, it's not Chromecasting. Spart Sport is not on VTV, can't be downloaded (the Spark agent misled you), and so the Spark Sport mobile app does not do this trick. VTV may one day have Spart Sport there, but there's no timeline for this currently.

Thanks for the explanation, frustrating that the Spatk Sport agent sent me on a wild goose chase. Sounds like I'll need another device or plug my Surface directly into my TV

halper86

555 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#2517300 4-Jul-2020 18:12

PSlover14:
For my 4th point, here's a video demonstrating what I mean

Wow, i’ve just checked mine and i’m recording south park too, nothing like that, no other shows doing that too, what software version are you running?

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