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Channel blocking, VPNs etc from the beginning

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Rexthewolf

Member
On Saturday past there were 3 football matches on Sky Sports 1. I was able to watch the first, and all of the second, but the 3rd (the one I really wanted to see) just jittered from the first to the last whistle. I assume this is blocking. At present I have no SS1 or 4 but the others are working.

Started reading up about VPNs as a solution. The longest thread contains posts saying that VPNs are unnecessary and that the solution is to find a quality provider. Others said that it would only help if the provider had the same facilities at their end, and there was a lot of unfriendly posts with people running down the knowledge or expertise of other contributors - not helpful if like me, you are not an expert.

Is there a VPN beginners "start here" guide somewhere on the forum? I'm quite happy to do the reading . There are basic things I just don't understand, like why is everyone trying to apply a VPN to their box instead of to their router - surely applying to the router would protect all devices connected to it, including the stb?

When my channels are working, the quality is quite good. I live in the country so I have basic fibre BB around 8meg I think and use Zgemma H2s if thats relevant.

Thanks in advance for any advice

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In my opinion, the jittering is unlikely to be a result of blocking but instead something like higher server side demand. A VPN wouldn't help matters in this situation. You need a better IPTV sub.
If however you you still want a VPN to tunnel all your device's traffic through then install it on your router. If you're simply circumventing ISP restrictions for your TV but want to use faster internet for your other devices then install on your STB.

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cybertoad11 said:
In my opinion, the jittering is unlikely to be a result of blocking but instead something like higher server side demand. A VPN wouldn't help matters in this situation. You need a better IPTV sub.
If however you you still want a VPN to tunnel all your device's traffic through then install it on your router. If you're simply circumventing ISP restrictions for your TV but want to use faster internet for your other devices then install on your STB.

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Re the jittering, the first 2 matches were Premiership ones with probably a bigger following than the third championship one (Mighty Leeds United). Ended up having to go to a mates house to watch on "proper sky" as he kept referring to it [emoji35] so no so sure about the sub, but I'll keep an open mind on it

Still a bit confused about the router v stb bit. Thanks for the reply

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If the streams were being blocked then they would generally go off completely, along with all other iptv channels. If your other channels worked but the match was jittering then it's very unlikely to be blocking and more like a bad sub.

VPN generally slow down your internet connection. So if you install it onto the router it will slow down internet speeds for anything connecting to it....so box, phones, laptop etc.

If you just want VPN for iptv then just install it onto the box but as I say if the match is just buffering I very much doubt a vpn will do anything.

Hope this helps.
 
Rexthewolf said:
Re the jittering, the first 2 matches were Premiership ones with probably a bigger following than the third championship one (Mighty Leeds United). Ended up having to go to a mates house to watch on "proper sky" as he kept referring to it [emoji35] so no so sure about the sub, but I'll keep an open mind on it

Still a bit confused about the router v stb bit. Thanks for the reply

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Just re-read your reply again re installing on router v installing on the stb. Are you saying that installing on the router will slow down other devices connected to it? If so I didn't know that!

I have 2 TV stb's physically cabled to my router and a number of tablets and mobiles over wifi

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dt99 said:
If the streams were being blocked then they would generally go off completely, along with all other iptv channels. If your other channels worked but the match was jittering then it's very unlikely to be blocking and more like a bad sub.

VPN generally slow down your internet connection. So if you install it onto the router it will slow down internet speeds for anything connecting to it....so box, phones, laptop etc.

If you just want VPN for iptv then just install it onto the box but as I say if the match is just buffering I very much doubt a vpn will do anything.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply. I'm getting a great education here [emoji106]

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Depends what router you have. My router I can direct certain traffic through VPN and the rest direct.

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The cheapest and simplest option is without doubt change your subscription. Even if you have a few months left on your present subscription dont throw good money away on a vpn unless you prove to yourself that is the solution. By that I mean get as many trial lines as you can, eventually if as I suspect its your sub that is the problem you will find one that works 99% of the time without vpn. If you dont at least you have elliminated the sub as a problem at none or very little cost.
 
Taylerlee said:
The cheapest and simplest option is without doubt change your subscription. Even if you have a few months left on your present subscription dont throw good money away on a vpn unless you prove to yourself that is the solution. By that I mean get as many trial lines as you can, eventually if as I suspect its your sub that is the problem you will find one that works 99% of the time without vpn. If you dont at least you have elliminated the sub as a problem at none or very little cost.
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Could you pm me who in your opinion provides a good IPTV sub?

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You say you have other stuff wired to your router. Are you sure you weren't overloading it, if you only get 8mb it wouldn't be hard done.
 
neilc78 said:
You say you have other stuff wired to your router. Are you sure you weren't overloading it, if you only get 8mb it wouldn't be hard done.
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No I'm sure. 3 week ago before the blocking fiasco started I only had ADSL2e and less than 5 mb and my subscription was working fine. The other items are a desktop pc (email Facebook etc) and a Humax stb used occasionally for Iplayer (but not when the footie is on).

But a good point [emoji106]

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Finding a decent server is the hard bit. Was the same once with CS and Clines. After reading the discussions on here it would appear that a VPN is not needed for what we are trying to do at this moment. My server (blacked out Saturday) said I needed one, he is a re-seller hmm. I feel that servers are overloaded and breaking down under the traffic/ demand made to their servers/ bandwidth lacking perhaps. My setup has around 34Gbps. Also a load of shite out there all trying to make money. I am still reading although having had some useful help still not out of the woods. One chap I contacted said they were not fully able to do Smart TV yet but were hoping soon to be Serving soon. Him Tidy chap.
I expect in a few months time this sort of discussion will be redundant.
 
frundlemud said:
Finding a decent server is the hard bit. Was the same once with CS and Clines. After reading the discussions on here it would appear that a VPN is not needed for what we are trying to do at this moment. My server (blacked out Saturday) said I needed one, he is a re-seller hmm. I feel that servers are overloaded and breaking down under the traffic/ demand made to their servers/ bandwidth lacking perhaps. My setup has around 34Gbps. Also a load of shite out there all trying to make money. I am still reading although having had some useful help still not out of the woods. One chap I contacted said they were not fully able to do Smart TV yet but were hoping soon to be Serving soon. Him Tidy chap.
I expect in a few months time this sort of discussion will be redundant.
Click to expand...
I thought my server was one of the decent ones when I joined about 4 months ago.

I believe that they are a server owner/managers but I think that the good ones take on more and more customers until they are overrun and thats when their services start to slide.

The problem is that it's hard to know who is good or bad when we are not allowed to name names except for the ones who are out and out cowboys that just steal money and don't provide anything. What we need is a customer led league table - a top 20. Not sure how this could be organised or if it would even be allowed within the forum.

Going to get my tin hat on now. Expecting a lot of flak from the hierarchy for even suggesting this[emoji23]


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Good thread this- as another novice have enjoyed reading the constructive comments. Forums exist in particular with regard to cable cs (and previously sat cs!) where server providers start threads "setting out their wares", including prices etc and forum members are able to request trials take out subs and comment on the service. In this arrangement the "cream" generally rises to the top! Whether or not something similar could be applied to IPTV on this forum is for others to say!
Keith
 
space54 said:
Good thread this- as another novice have enjoyed reading the constructive comments. Forums exist in particular with regard to cable cs (and previously sat cs!) where server providers start threads "setting out their wares", including prices etc and forum members are able to request trials take out subs and comment on the service. In this arrangement the "cream" generally rises to the top! Whether or not something similar could be applied to IPTV on this forum is for others to say!
Keith
Click to expand...

space54 said:
Good thread this- as another novice have enjoyed reading the constructive comments. Forums exist in particular with regard to cable cs (and previously sat cs!) where server providers start threads "setting out their wares", including prices etc and forum members are able to request trials take out subs and comment on the service. In this arrangement the "cream" generally rises to the top! Whether or not something similar could be applied to IPTV on this forum is for others to say!
Keith
Click to expand...

Cheers Keith

Yes I believe that the cream would rise to the top (and the s**t would sink into the sludge at the bottom). It would be in the IPTV Providers interest to provide good service and backup to ensure that they are considered as cream rather than the other stuff.

The problem is that we're not allowed to mention server names on the forum. Actually I think the last few posts should be gathered together in a new thread as it is slightly off my original topic. That might get a few more responses.

What do you think frundlemud.

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Davy-m-R said:
It would be a great idea to have a league table. I've had some crappy IPTV lines over the last few months.
Click to expand...
Well volunteered Davy [emoji16] set it up and I will certainly contribute. (although I've only been with one provider since changing from cs) A few questions about the quality of the service offered, their response to customers queries - would be a good starting point.

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