NowTV

[USINSPAIN]

When you say they work across 3 phases does that mean I could plug 1 downstairs next to my router and the other 1 upstairs , I thought both plugs had to be on the same ring main
Thank you

[gerryh]

Here in Spain houses do not have, or shouldn't have, ring mains. Ring main wiring is a very UK thing.
All Spanish wiring should be using radial circuits.
Just plug one homeplug unit into one socket and the other into another socket wherever it is in your house and it will work.
This applies whether you house is single phase or three phase.
Cheers
Gerry

[Enrique]

Hi Miro,
Going on Sid's experience the Homeplugs are a better bet to extend Networks in Spanish buildings with their use of reinforced concrete structures...bit like living in a Faraday Cage ....
The Wifi Extenders work OK in the Campo houses with their single brick walls.

Good to hear you're making progress with your setup.

[Miro]

Thanks for all the suggestions & advice everyone.
That's the way I'll go then (homeplugs) if the problems persist. It's probably do-able with a bit of re-organisation. Just got to make sure the cat can't get at any of the wires
100% buffer free yesterday, including the soccer on BBC Sport app in HD. This morning - all good, except nothing from ITV. ("something went wrong, please try again later") Is IPTV really this fickle? I wasn't surprised when Filmon was unreliable, but it's not like internet TV is new technology. The picture quality is arguably better than I was getting through Sky satellite, but if the service is unreliable....

[Miro]

I am now connecting the NowTV box using homeplugs/ethernet cable, so it's all good, 100% buffer free....except, it's not!

I've obviously overcome the problems of using wifi in my Faraday cage of an apartment but last night, I couldn't get anything to play on the BBC iPlayer for a couple of hours - just the annoying little circle spinning endlessly, and the occasional error message ("02100 - something went wrong" - well, duh, I can see that!). All other channels / apps were fine, so clearly a BBC issue. Anyone else notice it? Is it a Sunday issue? I always had problems on Sundays with Chromecast. (Seriously) I just find it hard to accept that internet TV can be so fickle. For crying out loud, we've got self driving cars hitting the road, but 'er indoors can't watch Call the Midwife on the iPlayer without technical glitches causing interruptions.
Do I have to adjust my expectations, or is there something wrong here?

[Enrique]

Hi Miro,

"Do I have to adjust my expectations,"........can't you just download it on Monday morning, and watch Monday evening.......

After all they just tell me every day is the same in Spain.....end less sun, olive trees and Rioja (there are other wine growing regions)............

[El Cid]

You cannot download on a NowTV.

Sid

[firsttango]

I've obviously overcome the problems of using wifi in my Faraday cage of an apartment but last night, I couldn't get anything to play on the BBC iPlayer for a couple of hours - just the annoying little circle spinning endlessly, and the occasional error message ("02100 - something went wrong" - well, duh, I can see that!). All other channels / apps were fine, so clearly a BBC issue. Anyone else notice it? Is it a Sunday issue? I always had problems on Sundays with Chromecast. (Seriously) I just find it hard to accept that internet TV can be so fickle. For crying out loud, we've got self driving cars hitting the road, but 'er indoors can't watch Call the Midwife on the iPlayer without technical glitches causing interruptions.
Do I have to adjust my expectations, or is there something wrong here?

I think you do have something wrong somewhere in your set up. From MY personal point of view, using the NOWTV box connected by WIFI via Movistar (consistent 8-9 mb d/l) experience very little buffering ever. In answer to your is it a Sunday thing? Not for me it isn't, watched BBC all evening last night...Country file... Call Midwife...The Night Manager and more with not a single buffer. Even with OH streaming a Netflix film in another room, also without problem. Maybe worth doing a ping test as opposed to a speed and seeing what results you get especially at peak times...whether you get an A B or worse

[Miro]

[Enrique]

Hi Miro,
You need Java running to show packet loss.

Seems odd that only BBC iPlayer is having the problem.

[firsttango]

You really need to complete all three ie the packet loss as anything above 0% will have a bearing. But the other 2 readings look totally fine in my experience, I get very similar. Maybe run this test every hour this evening and see how they compare to one and other. Also run whilst you have a buffering situation if possible.

[Miro]

Not sure why the packet loss test doesn't work (I have Java), but tested it separately following instructions here: http://www.techfleece.com/2011/03/10/ho ... onnection/ with a result of 0% loss

It's not a regular thing with BBC - it was just last night, but did seem strange because all other apps etc. were fine at the same time.

[northandsouth]

Just been down our local overheard one of the iptv guys on the phone to a client of his with problems, seems that some of his clients with Orange F.O. have buffering similar to yours. Apparently the issue is with certain ports not being opened by the isp?
Don't know if it will help but thought I would throw it into the ring if anyone else can shed light on it for you as I have no idea what it means.

[Miro]

Interesting to know. However, much as I am unimpressed with Orange overall (I did call them last week and ask for an engineer to contact me, but nobody ever called back), since all other channels have been working perfectly, it doesn't seem likely this particular issue has anything to do with them, which is why I asked if anyone else ever experiences any problems with BBC iPlayer, or other channels for that matter.
I did discover something curious last night though. I rewound a BBC program I was watching (on catch-up) a couple of minutes, and on resuming, the picture and sound continued from the point I had rewound to, but the picture was greyed over a bit (still visible) and the buffer circle appeared. I noticed the timeline along the bottom of the screen also no longer advanced (as if the program was paused - which it wasn't!) I'm thinking perhaps the rewind / ff function on the iPlayer app has a glitch, and maybe that's what caused my problems on Sunday evening. I'll experiment some more to see if I can recreate the issue.

[GerryinCajiz]

We use the NOW TV box on a daily basis, our regular mischief maker is BBC iPlayer. When it is working it is great but when it decides to have a mischief night it can become unwatchable. However switching to Now TV and everything works OK.

[markwilding]

The only other bit of advice i can offer is when you get these problems, turn off both routers for 20 seconds and reboot.

If this doesn't work, it might just mean the the Iplayer is experiencing high levels of traffic.

Plex is another way of watching the the Iplayer on Now tv. It also offers higher quality pictures.

[El Cid]

Don't forget to read reauthorise your DNS when you reboot the router as your IP address will change.

Sid

[Miro]

Nothing to do with rewinding or fast forwarding, then. iPlayer just packed up again in the middle of a program, and nothing will play on it at the moment. All other channels fine
The wind and rain never caused as much trouble with a huge dish as this blasted internet TV. Can't believe they have the cheek to suggest that people are using a loophole to watch iPlayer without a TV licence.

[El Cid]

IPlayer on my TV works fine most of the time, but occasionally it crashes. Just doing a return sometimes sorts it, but often I need to exit and restart. Luckily it give you the option to resume where you left off.

I have heard reports of other users on other devices having similar problems. I think it is an iPlayer problem rather than any connection or speed problems. The apps get updated regularly so hopefully the problem will go away.

Sid

[chrissiehope]

If its any consolation, here in UK with a rooftop aerial & built-in freeview TV, when the wind blows, some channels (inc BBC1 !) break up so badly they are unwatchable