Television And Online Video

kah22

I've just been watching a little online video via my new Sony Bravia kdl 32ex403 television and I'd like to sign up to the 'Love Film' service, but I have a few concerns and would like some advice from those who have tried this type of online service and what they think of it.

While watching some of the trailers Blu Ray and DVD the images just were not 100 percent. The trailer ran for about thirty seconds, then stopped and ran again for another thirty seconds and then stopped again. Not encouraging. Again when watching some of the other content e.g. Demand Five television I had somewhat similar problems. We are talking here about fuzzy pictures, lack of clarity, that type of problem.

Initial thoughts OK for viewing free content on an irregular basis but not to pay for or watch on a regular basis unless a clearer and sharper image can be obtained.

From a technical point of view I've connected to the television via a homeplug. I'm on Broadband which can sometimes be slow enough to make you pull out your hair, but I'm sure we have all had to deal with that!! My router is a Netgear DG824M, but I also have access to a BT Home Hub.

Effectively what actual working speed would you need in order to use these services? Perhaps there is a different type of connection I could use. If I could get the system up and running I would certainly be interested in giving the likes of Love Film a try.

Any suggestions or general comments about this type of service?

ps I'm just after thinking watch four films a month plus a little of online telly and that would really eat into download allowance - would it not?

weegie.geek

I'm with Be*, on whose network O2's fast broadband packages (>8mbit) run. It's fast 24/7, and streaming HD content isn't a problem. You either have a bad ISP, a bad phone line or dodgy wiring inside the house that's causing your internet to be slow.

Bad phone lines can't be helped unfortunately. Bad ISPs can be changed, but depending on where you live, you might only have other bad ISPs to choose from. The wiring inside the house is something you can fix, disconnecting unnecessary extensions, making sure things are filtered and filters are working etc.

There's a possibility the homeplug isn't helping as well. I used homeplugs for a year, but ditched them in favour of ethernet.

First things first, find out your line stats and post them here.

kah22

weegie.geek wrote: »

First things first, find out your line stats and post them here.

Stupid question, I know, but where/how do I find them

bat999

kah22 wrote: »

Stupid question, I know, but where/how do I find them

From speedtest.net
Here:-

jamesb1239

bat999 wrote: »

From speedtest.net
Here:-

Actually thats line speed, line stats are the stats that you can get when logging into your router such as
Attenuation
SNR
UP/DOWN Sync

But a quick google seems to show that you cant get a page up with your line stats via that router.

jamesb1239

Also I have previously shown the un-reliability of speedtest.net on here, but just to show if it is still unreliable I will run 3 more speedtests.







Attenuation 27.0/12.9
SNR 3.1/3.1
Max attainable rate 22035Kbps/1404Kbps
Current rate 17851Kbps/1412Kbps

So as that shows speedtest.net is showing me at over double my maximum achievable rate for down speed. Before anyone asks yes the cache was cleared before each test.

weegie.geek

Ah, that's unfortunate. I guess it might be possible to telnet in and get them, but that's not for the faint-hearted. DMT doesn't appear to support that router either.

I guess some line speed tests are the next best thing, but it won't help us diagnose problems with the line.

penrhyn

OP have you tried logging on to your Netgear router with http://192.168.0.1 ?

User admin

Password password.

Or try the Home hub

http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/frogstats.php

kah22

I ran three speed tests and came up with the following results

Download 2169 KBits/s (271.125 KBytes/s)
Upload 450 KBits/s (56.25 KBytes/s)

Download 2191 KBits/s (273.875 KBytes/s)
Upload 369 KBits/s (46.125 KBytes/s)

Download 2234 KBits/s (279.25 KBytes/s)
Upload 402 KBits/s (50.25 KBytes/s)

Still not to sure what you mean by line stats. In Netgear are they the 'logs' you get under the Security heading. Don't want to post anything that might compromise myself.

As a by the way my current ISP is freedom2surf whom I understand are been taken over/has been taken over by Opal. Any comments on these guys as ISP - Opal seems to be part of the Talk-Talk stable.

Kevin

penrhyn

Line stats on a netgear router look like this:-

weegie.geek

kah22 wrote: »

Any comments on these guys as ISP - Opal seems to be part of the Talk-Talk stable.

Kevin

Possibly the worst performing ISP in the UK right now.

http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews98376.html
http://www.moneysupermarket.com/c/broadband/suppliers/talk-talk/reviews/8/1/
http://www.ispreview.co.uk/talk/showthread.php?t=26224
http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/talktalk.html