Buffering Dish On Demand

[whatchel1]

This was 1st for me. I decided to check again the On Demand section. Well they have some free HD stuff again. Thought cool will watch some of it. Selected several and was playing a Bikini Destination episode. Reason for that is the banner came up and said it was ready to be watched from the download. So it get about 2/3 of the way thru it and up pops a screen Buffering Dish On Demand. So I check the length of it. It hasn't downloaded the whole show yet. So why did it "tell me" it was and when did they start this buffering?

 

[TheKrell]

I imagine that the download started out fast, possibly even faster than the real-time playback rate. Then the receiver tells you you can start to watch. But then the data rate slows way down and playback catches up to the end and then it has to stop to buffer more data. Just a guess.

 

[3HaloODST]

Think of it like YouTube videos... Half of the time it can buffer the whole video, the other half, it buffers a little, then stops, and gives you the infamous "spinner" icon to indicate it's buffering again.

Now, my question is, why isn't DISH On Demand faster than it is? In my (small amount of) experience with it on my 24/3 connection most of them only downloaded at 4Mbps... Pretty slow, especially for HD stuff...

 

[Hall]

If it buffers, that's news to most of us, isn't it ? I was under the impression it downloads the whole thing to the hard drive and tells when it's *done*, not far enough that it thinks you won't catch up.

 

[DishSubLA]

If the content is long, such as a full TV episode or movie, I NEVER bother watching it while it is being streamed. I regularly check out the DishOnline or go their specifically because I missed an episode, and I just let it download to the HDD and view it later or in the future. I think of it like a "per-order" service and enjoy it as such.

Now, I understand that ideally, one should view it while streaming as a flawless experience, but that isn't the current internet technology (cable, Uverse, and FiOS don't have4 this problem) and the same choppy streaming experience occurs on other devices such as TiVo, and even the best streaming media players. I prefer the Dish and TiVo experience because by loading the download to the HDD, one can view it as a flawless experience. That's just the way it is today.

 

[whatchel1]

If it buffers, that's news to most of us, isn't it ? I was under the impression it downloads the whole thing to the hard drive and tells when it's *done*, not far enough that it thinks you won't catch up.

What I thought to that's why I was so surprised when it happened.

 

[redelephants]

Be aware of the "free" word. I downloaded something that was free and had proof but was charged 4.99.

 

[JM42]

Now, I understand that ideally, one should view it while streaming as a flawless experience, but that isn't the current internet technology (cable, Uverse, and FiOS don't have4 this problem)

I can view Netflix/Vudu/Amazon HD content flawlessy with 6Mbs DSL. I honestly cannot remember the last time I had so much as a stutter.

With Dish I have to know what I want to watch hours before hand because the downloads are so slow. "Video on Demand" is at best a misleading name, it should be "Video Pre-Order" considering I can drive to the video store, rent a movie, watch it, drive back to return it, rent second movie, watch it and still have time to spare before the Dish VoD has downloaded and is "ready to watch".

 

[tstolze]

I have had no issues, typically with HD I am able to start watching within 5 minutes of the download starting. SD on demand is available almost immediately. I am not sure how it works if you have multiple programs to download. I would hope it would download the one you are watching then do the others, it's possible it does them at the same time.

This is on a 10/768 connection.

 

[Hall]

I can view Netflix/Vudu/Amazon HD content flawlessy with 6Mbs DSL. I honestly cannot remember the last time I had so much as a stutter.

With Netflix, same DSL speed, I've only had it re-buffer one time. We do have multiple devices all connecting to the 'net so it could have been excessive traffic from us.

With Dish I have to know what I want to watch hours before hand because the downloads are so slow. "Video on Demand" is at best a misleading name, it should be "Video Pre-Order" considering I can drive to the video store, rent a movie, watch it, drive back to return it, rent second movie, watch it and still have time to spare before the Dish VoD has downloaded and is "ready to watch".

That's too funny, yet sooo true ! My kids will download a lot of half-hour (actually 22 minute) and by no means can you wait 3-4 or even 10 minutes and start watching. It's queue up a bunch of them and go do something else. Now, I don't know if Dish's server are extremely slow or if they throttle the speed so as not to saturate people's home internet connections.

 

[TheKrell]

I am not sure how it works if you have multiple programs to download. I would hope it would download the one you are watching then do the others, it's possible it does them at the same time.

No; it downloads serially. When you start up another download, it asks if you want to Watch Now or Watch Later. If you click on Watch Now, it aborts the previous download and starts downloading your new selection. If you click on Watch Later, it queues that new selection up for later download.

Finding what I want to download is still a big PITA, though not as big as before. I never know when the View by Networks features is going to work, or show me a blank page. Usually it's just blank. But given the painfully long index, I usually queue up about 10 programs at once and then look at then later.

 

[Hall]

No; it downloads serially. When you start up another download, it asks if you want to Watch Now or Watch Later. If you click on Watch Now, it aborts the previous download and starts downloading your new selection. If you click on Watch Later, it queues that new selection up for later download.

Dish, if you're reading this, those points TheKrell made are something to 'enhance'.

• If we're already downloading something, do NOT default to "Download Now".
• Add an option for "Always download in order selected".
• Add an option for "Notify when download is complete" (which entails 'do not notify' when un-checked).

 

[3HaloODST]

Speaking of DISH On Demand... Anyone else with 722k's having problems with reboots when navigating DISH Cinema/TV Shows?

I have noticed a good bit of them lately on both of my 722k's... After the reboot it works OK. I know it's not my Internet connection either...

 

[JM42]

Now, I don't know if Dish's server are extremely slow or if they throttle the speed so as not to saturate people's home internet connections.

I've wondered the same thing. At first I wondered if it was something with my setup, but I've checked around enough to know its not just me. If they are throttling "for the users benefit" then they are doing themselves a big disservice.

 

[David_Levin]

I'm getting ready to try my "free" PPV christmas coupon (though an HD show will still cost me a few bucks). Are there still 3 ways to get PPV to me?

1) Chan 501+: Just comes over the satellite feed and can be buffered to the HDD.
2) Downloaded over the Internet
3) Pre-Pushed to the HDD

For Pre-Pushed. Do they still do this? Is it over the Internet or Sat Feed. How do I know which shows are all ready sitting on the HDD ?
Looking at the EPG, there is VOD at channel 1 & 501 are these the same (or is one Sat the other Internet) ?

Most of the 1080p only show on "Dish Cinema". Is this all internet pushed ?

For the shows there are not 1080p is there any quality difference between the Internet and Sat Fed versions?

Thanks

 

[Hall]

Movies on channel 1 or 501 (they are the same, just mapped to both spots) are already downloaded and stored on HDD. You can't use your certificates with those either. They are rec'd via broadband, not satellite. Obviously you can start watching them anytime you want.

Channels 502 and up, don't remember how high, come by satellite. 1080p is not available and they all start at pre-defined times. Hint: DVR it earlier than you plan to watch it and then start ut when you want. Note: once you start it, you have 24 hours to finish it.

 

[TheKrell]

Dish does not pre-push gigabytes of video over your broadband connection! That's all done via satellite. You have to go to DishOnline and explicitly select something in order to get it to use the Internet.

 

[Hall]

Are you sure ? I could have sworn that people report here that they do NOT have the VOD channels and in turn, they don't have their receivers connected to the internet.

 

[DishSubLA]

I can view Netflix/Vudu/Amazon HD content flawlessy with 6Mbs DSL. I honestly cannot remember the last time I had so much as a stutter.

With Dish I have to know what I want to watch hours before hand because the downloads are so slow. "Video on Demand" is at best a misleading name, it should be "Video Pre-Order" considering I can drive to the video store, rent a movie, watch it, drive back to return it, rent second movie, watch it and still have time to spare before the Dish VoD has downloaded and is "ready to watch".

Good for you, but this has happened to me but more occasionally to a friend of mine who does have the streaming boxes (mine are Dish and TiVo). USUALLY, pretty flawless, but not always, but that can't necessarily be blamed on the content provider as it does depend upon the subscribers broadband speed (You have way more than he) and the nature of occasional internet traffic jams and if one is subscribed to the HD Lite or the XD sort of closer to true HD where my friend does encounter his stutter, not too often. My friend does have a 1.5 or 3Mb service, but he is not inclined to get greater speed as it starts to eat away at his savings from cable. Can't blame him. Now, it seems to me that Dish and TiVo do seem to stream in a less than satisfactory manner than the Roku's, etc, but not without its occasional hiccups.

 

[fbara]

This was 1st for me. I decided to check again the On Demand section. Well they have some free HD stuff again.

How do you search for free shows On Demand? Ever since I received the latest software upgrade on my 722 I can't search for free shows, the 'free' flag is no longer in the search criteria.