BBC i-player
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BBC i-player
We have been using BBC i-player for some time now to watch live and catch-up television. For the past few weeks we are able to watch live television but the catch-up service will not load. Has anyone any suggestions please?
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BBC i-player
Thank you Kenny and Montgolfiere. I don't think I have a problem with my VPN as I have no problem watching through the i-player live. It is only on catch up that I have a problem. Any more thoughts??
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BBC i-player
Windows PC with open gate VPN Allan
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I would try with an alternative VPN or better still a SmartDNS service.
BBC uses a different technology for live broadcasts than it does for catch-up TV.
Technically the live broadcast uses a system called multicast where there are no more than a handful of servers sending out streams on to the internet. Your PC can listen in to one of these streams without any additional strain on the BBC network.
Catch-up TV is very different as you can have lots of users watching the same program starting at different times. The BBC system connects you to one of their delivery partner servers of which there are hundreds.
It could be an internet speed issue, connecting to a live multicast is much less taxing that playing a catch-up program and if your speed is too slow for the catch-up service then often it will just sit there looking silly.
Loads of VPN services offer free trials try UnoTelly and try their SmartDNS before trying the VPN as it is less demanding to set up and in bandwidth required.
BBC uses a different technology for live broadcasts than it does for catch-up TV.
Technically the live broadcast uses a system called multicast where there are no more than a handful of servers sending out streams on to the internet. Your PC can listen in to one of these streams without any additional strain on the BBC network.
Catch-up TV is very different as you can have lots of users watching the same program starting at different times. The BBC system connects you to one of their delivery partner servers of which there are hundreds.
It could be an internet speed issue, connecting to a live multicast is much less taxing that playing a catch-up program and if your speed is too slow for the catch-up service then often it will just sit there looking silly.
Loads of VPN services offer free trials try UnoTelly and try their SmartDNS before trying the VPN as it is less demanding to set up and in bandwidth required.
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If its the VPN, you will get a message saying "not available in your region" other wise if BBC iplayer isn't working on the PC, I would try downloading the latest version. HAve you tried running it through different browsers? It could be a media player problem.
Domaine Treloar - Vineyard and Winery - www.domainetreloar.com - 04 68 95 02 29
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If the VPN is not providing adequate bandwidth then you won't get the not available message. When you use a VPN all traffic goes through the VPN service, if the VPN providers are sensible they will prioritise multicasts.Santiago wrote:If its the VPN, you will get a message saying "not available in your region" other wise if BBC iplayer isn't working on the PC, I would try downloading the latest version. HAve you tried running it through different browsers? It could be a media player problem.
There are of course many reasons why it might not work but the connection is the most likely candidate.
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BBC i-player
Allen, your input is very interesting. We are still able to watch the 'iplayer' live and we can also restart a current programme from the beginning. Is this the equivalent of playing ‘Catch up TV’ ?
We have used our present system for several years now and it has been very good. There are no firmware updates available for the livebox.
Thank you all for your input.
We have used our present system for several years now and it has been very good. There are no firmware updates available for the livebox.
Thank you all for your input.
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I'm new to this forum (been in France for 7 years), so hello.Allan wrote:I would try with an alternative VPN or better still a SmartDNS service.
Loads of VPN services offer free trials try UnoTelly and try their SmartDNS before trying the VPN as it is less demanding to set up and in bandwidth required.
Having got completely fed up of the execrable "le cube" canalsat box I thought we'd have a go with streaming. So far I have a new dedicated router which plugs into the sfr router, flashed with dd-wrt and set up to use smartYdns (note the Y it is the provider's name). The ssid is TV-RADIO-ONLY and yesterday it all worked on my mobile and my laptop. But today it drops out every few minutes. (I am in town the adsl runs at 8Mbps on a good day)
The support people think SFR might be handicapping it. Does that seem likely? Any suggestions please.
Thanks
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I very much doubt that SFR. Is handicapping it, as far as I know they don't intercept DNS calls and that really is the only difference in your setup.shimself wrote:I'm new to this forum (been in France for 7 years), so hello.Allan wrote:I would try with an alternative VPN or better still a SmartDNS service.
Loads of VPN services offer free trials try UnoTelly and try their SmartDNS before trying the VPN as it is less demanding to set up and in bandwidth required.
Having got completely fed up of the execrable "le cube" canalsat box I thought we'd have a go with streaming. So far I have a new dedicated router which plugs into the sfr router, flashed with dd-wrt and set up to use smartYdns (note the Y it is the provider's name). The ssid is TV-RADIO-ONLY and yesterday it all worked on my mobile and my laptop. But today it drops out every few minutes. (I am in town the adsl runs at 8Mbps on a good day)
The support people think SFR might be handicapping it. Does that seem likely? Any suggestions please.
Thanks
Try taking your router out of the equation and change the dns settings on your mobile or laptop to the SmartyDNS settings. If it works like that then the problem is with your router.
If it doesn't work then check the IP address that you get for one of your proxied sites like BBC and confirm that you are getting a different result with your DNS and the SFR DNS
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Thanks very much for the help. I redid all the router settings and i think that's fixed itAllan wrote:
If it doesn't work then check the IP address that you get for one of your proxied sites like BBC and confirm that you are getting a different result with your DNS and the SFR DNS
I didn't understand how to "check the ip address". ping bbc.com and see what shows up? (212.58.244.22 twice), but surely that would be all or nothing anyway, not dropouts. But it's academic for the moment, thanks again
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Just basic diagnostics, pinging BBC.com should give you a different address using SmartyDNS than it does using the SFR DNS, if it gives you the same result then your SmartyDNS isn't working.shimself wrote:Thanks very much for the help. I redid all the router settings and i think that's fixed itAllan wrote:
If it doesn't work then check the IP address that you get for one of your proxied sites like BBC and confirm that you are getting a different result with your DNS and the SFR DNS
I didn't understand how to "check the ip address". ping bbc.com and see what shows up? (212.58.244.22 twice), but surely that would be all or nothing anyway, not dropouts. But it's academic for the moment, thanks again