# On Demand Just switched to FIO internet



## davidpoe (Jan 18, 2008)

I used to have Verizon DSL at 3mb download. I have switched to 20/5 fios internet. There is no difference in the length of time the HR21 takes to download an HD show. On my Mac, my downloads are out of this world. Any reason why the Directv servers are slow? By the way I didn't switch to FIOS TV due to no Sunday Ticket, and no YES or SNY in my area, but my neighbor did. The picture quality is very impressive and their on Demand is truly instantaneous. When Verizon adds some more HD channels it is going to be hard to stick with DTV.
Dave in NJ


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## 2dogz (Jun 14, 2008)

Just because you have a 20 mbps pipe to your local CO's router doesn't mean that the rest of the internet has that big a pipe resting idle waiting for you to request a movie. Very few servers on the net have the bandwidth and speed to fill your pipe while servicing another fifty users at the same time.

The D* download service is new. I'm sure they will adjust things if/when it becomes popular and demand justifies the costs.


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## tcusta00 (Dec 31, 2007)

There are a few additional considerations, in addition to your bandwidth. There's also current internet traffic, as 2dogz said, plus the speed from the source.


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## davidpoe (Jan 18, 2008)

Come on guys, the HR21 or DTV servers are super slooooowwwwwww. How big are these files? How come I can download 700 mb mpegs on my Mac in less than a minute, but a 30 minute standard def takes over a half of an hour. It is not my network because I have downloaded large Xbox 360 demos on the same bridge in minutes. Just wondering.


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

I'm moving this to the On Demand Discussion forum.


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

davidpoe said:


> Come on guys, the HR21 or DTV servers are super slooooowwwwwww. How big are these files? How come I can download 700 mb mpegs on my Mac in less than a minute, but a 30 minute standard def takes over a half of an hour. It is not my network because I have downloaded large Xbox 360 demos on the same bridge in minutes. Just wondering.


But the path through the internet to the D* VOD servers is most likely NOT taking the same path as your Xbox 360 demo's, so comparing the two isn't valid. There are points all over the internet where bottle necks can and do occur and because the connection isn't owned by one company from end to end there's no single place you can go to to get it fixed.

As for your speed, I have a 6Mbps/768Kbps DSL connection and I can start to watch a SD VOD program just about right away (need to let it start up the download first) and it never hits the end of the buffer.


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## tcusta00 (Dec 31, 2007)

davidpoe said:


> Come on guys, the HR21 or DTV servers are super slooooowwwwwww. How big are these files? How come I can download 700 mb mpegs on my Mac in less than a minute, but a 30 minute standard def takes over a half of an hour. It is not my network because I have downloaded large Xbox 360 demos on the same bridge in minutes. Just wondering.


No one is blaming your network. 

"There's also *current internet traffic*, as 2dogz said, plus the *speed from the source*."

Was my response not believable?


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## Alebob911 (Mar 22, 2007)

I asked the same question about speed awhile ago and after thinking about it for awhile, I think its the whole format of how its done. I think for most people they think they need to completely download before they start watching and with the color guide for the download progress that is deceiving also. I think they should have it set up in a way that after you choose the show you want to watch, it buffers then starts the show. It could have a screen that shows the title and a "program buffering" statement then starts after it downloads a predetermined buffer. I believe that when the average non DBSTalk member uses DOD, they will find it slow since they are led to think they have to wait until the progress meter is in the green before watching the show.


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## davidpoe (Jan 18, 2008)

Man you guys love directv, are you all on the payroll? I would go on a limb and say that downloads from DTV are slower than any other source that I go to regularly. You would just think that going from a 3 mb dl speed to 20 would give some benefit, thats all. I've noticed it on every other website, especially video sharing sites, and with on demand for the xbox 360.


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

D* did change the progress bar to show you an estimate of when you can start watching a program with low chance of hitting the end of the buffer. Red probably will hit end of buffer, yellow take your chances and green you should be OK.


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

davidpoe said:


> Man you guys love directv, are you all on the payroll? I would go on a limb and say that downloads from DTV are slower than any other source that I go to regularly. You would just think that going from a 3 mb dl speed to 20 would give some benefit, thats all. I've noticed it on every other website, especially video sharing sites, and with on demand for the xbox 360.


No, not on the payroll but supported corporate internet connectivity for a multinational company.

And as someone else posted, does it buy them, DirecTV, anything to use a bunch of bandwidth to dump the program to your harddrive faster then you can watch it? I agree they should do something about the HD download speed but for SD they'd need to spend money for little value, especially for a feature they aren't charging extra for.


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## tcusta00 (Dec 31, 2007)

davidpoe said:


> Man you guys love directv, are you all on the payroll? I would go on a limb and say that downloads from DTV are slower than any other source that I go to regularly. You would just think that going from a 3 mb dl speed to 20 would give some benefit, thats all. I've noticed it on every other website, especially video sharing sites, and with on demand for the xbox 360.


Wow, calm down and re-read my posts, dude. Let me help you:



tcusta00 said:


> No one is blaming your network.
> 
> "There's also *current internet traffic*, as 2dogz said, plus the *speed from the source*."


That makes three times I've said it. "The source," for clarification, means DirecTV. Now if you're done insulting us maybe you can go back and read our posts which answered your question the first four times. :nono2:

I don't see how I'm protecting DirecTV here - I just answered your question. You're welcome.


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## Alebob911 (Mar 22, 2007)

:lol: :lol: :lol: :nono:



tcusta00 said:


> Wow, calm down and re-read my posts, dude. Let me help you:
> 
> That makes three times I've said it. "The source," for clarification, means DirecTV. Now if you're done insulting us maybe you can go back and read our posts which answered your question the first four times. :nono2:


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## davidpoe (Jan 18, 2008)

Thanks for your responses, you're swell. I still didn't get any answers, but whatever, I'm going downstairs to watch Giada on Foodtv on demand, it is probably still at 2%, you know when it doesn't buffer enough you don't see anything. I wonder why? Maybe its the slow server?


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## tcusta00 (Dec 31, 2007)

*"Any reason why the Directv servers are slow?"*

That was your original question. What answer are you looking for, David?

_Because they're outdated. _
_Because DirecTV isn't as good as FIOS.
Because they don't care about their customers._

I don't know if you were just looking to start a thread to vent or what, but many people tried in earnest to help answer your question and you've done nothing but belittle the answers given. If you're looking to pick a fight I suggest you go elsewhere. There are a lot of good people on here that are willing to answer your questions and help with problems.


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## phat78boy (Sep 12, 2007)

I have to agree with davidpoe, I think DirecTV is throttling download links so as to not overload their servers. I'm not sure if DirecTV is actually hosting its own DL servers or not, but one way or another it is set to cap at a particular speed. I personally think that speed is a little low. I thought it would change once out of beta, but its still about that same.


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

davidpoe said:


> Thanks for your responses, you're swell. I still didn't get any answers, but whatever, I'm going downstairs to watch Giada on Foodtv on demand, it is probably still at 2%, you know when it doesn't buffer enough you don't see anything. I wonder why? Maybe its the slow server?


I went to Food on Demand, selected All Star Grilling and when it hit 1% I started to watch it. I'm 2 minutes into it, it's now at 7% of the download. And that's using my old slow 6Mbps DSL connection. Want to keep up your complaining that it's D* servers and not something else in the path from you to the servers?:nono2:


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## davidpoe (Jan 18, 2008)

I'm not trying to start a fight, I'm just questioning the on demand speeds. I have watched on demand programs without a problem, I realize that you don't need to d/l the entire program to view it uninterrupted. However, about 40% of the time I do have hiccups and the experience is not "on demand".

I started this thread because when I upgraded to FIOS, I checked out a bunch of web sites, youtube videos d/l instantly, itunes songs instantly, xbox games (battlezone) instantly, then on demand, not so instantly. I guess I got my hopes up.

Dave on the Banks of the Delaware.


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## MNT (Apr 5, 2007)

Directv On Demand speeds are frustratingly slow for me. I've got a 20mbps downstream connection via cable, and On Demand downloads don't even come close to making use of my available bandwidth -- this is mostly an issue when trying to rent HD movies on demand, which can take as long to download as I'll spend watching the movie.

The infrastructure and cost considerations are significant, I'm sure, but since Directv has taken this out of beta, I hope they'll focus on increasing speeds for those of us who have the bandwidth to use the service the most.


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## Alebob911 (Mar 22, 2007)

I know where your coming from. I too questioned the speed of the downloads when I watched a movie via my xbox 360 and it was just about an instant start and played without any hiccups. But I was reminded by Stuart Sweet that we can't compare other platforms because of the different variables. Different codecs, hardware, and of course the type of servers that are setup. With all that, I think that D* has done an great job in getting DOD made available to us. Is it the best? No but it is also very young and bound to improve but as long as it is only available through the internet there is always going to be uncontrolled variables that can't be predicted. Cable has a "Private" network and control it from the headend to the box in your home so it is difficult to compare the 2.

DOD works and like RAD said in one of his posts, I too have been able to start a D/L and then choose it from my playlist and watch it without issues. Be patient with its development and I'm sure over time it will get better.



davidpoe said:


> I'm not trying to start a fight, I'm just questioning the on demand speeds. I have watched on demand programs without a problem, I realize that you don't need to d/l the entire program to view it uninterrupted. However, about 40% of the time I do have hiccups and the experience is not "on demand".
> 
> I started this thread because when I upgraded to FIOS, I checked out a bunch of web sites, youtube videos d/l instantly, itunes songs instantly, xbox games (battlezone) instantly, then on demand, not so instantly. I guess I got my hopes up.
> 
> Dave on the Banks of the Delaware.


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## RobertE (Jun 10, 2006)

Don't forgot, your ISP could be throttling some of the stuff as well.


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## tcusta00 (Dec 31, 2007)

RobertE said:


> Don't forgot, your ISP could be throttling some of the stuff as well.


Ah, good point, another possibility that's been popping up recently too. But let's be careful not to rule out DirecTV as the culprit too, for fear of sounding like we're on the DirecTV payroll.


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## HarleyD (Aug 31, 2006)

All I can say is that when I switched my Internet from Verizon DSL to FiOS, my VOD speed increased significantly.


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## DJ iD4 (Jul 5, 2008)

From the way it sounds... it sounds like they should change the name of this to Directv on Demand after twenty minutes...

now i'm kind of weary to try this feature out.. 

because of the speed, and because Comcast and their ridiculous bandwidth caps... can't wait until FIOS is available in my area. Comcast is just ridiculous!! especially at the price their charging, i would assume that would be unlimited.

Comcast makes me sick! But i have no choice because we don't have a telephone line, therefore no DSL for me.


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## gregjones (Sep 20, 2007)

I have a 10Mbps connection downstream. I have never had an SD download to be less than real-time. The only time I have had to wait for a download of SD content was my fault for having fast-forwarded considerably faster than I had allowed it to download.

I have used it regularly since early in the beta release. I am on a DSL provider that, to my knowledge, has not been reported as throttling bandwidth in any way.


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## RobertE (Jun 10, 2006)

DJ iD4 said:


> From the way it sounds... it sounds like they should change the name of this to Directv on Demand after twenty minutes...
> 
> now i'm kind of weary to try this feature out..
> 
> ...


In some areas you can get "naked" DSL. DSL with no landline. Of course they don't like to advertise it, since they want you to get a phoneline.


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## spartanstew (Nov 16, 2005)

davidpoe said:


> Thanks for your responses, you're swell. I still didn't get any answers, but whatever, I'm going downstairs to watch Giada on Foodtv on demand, it is probably still at 2%, you know when it doesn't buffer enough you don't see anything. I wonder why? Maybe its the slow server?


If you really have FIOS 20/5, then it's definitely an issue on your end.

I have FIOS 5/2 and a 30 minute SD program has never taken longer than 16 minutes. A 30 minute HD program takes less than 30 minutes for me.

I would think your 20/5 would be lots faster than my 5/2, but it's actually slower.


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## mhendrixsr (Nov 17, 2007)

Personally I think that d/l speeds are highly dependent on your location and network traffic at that moment. First I would not expect consistency and second I don't believe that 20Mbps connections are all that "typical" as of yet. If I were a profit-based company, I would probably not spend the $$ for any more capability that I had to when the majority of my subscribers (and perhaps parts of the infrastructure) cannot take advantage of it. I'm sure the process will improve in time as OD becomes more mainstream and 20Mbps access becomes more common. Perhaps those with high expectations will have to be patient for a bit.


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## dervari (Dec 1, 2005)

First of all, the DoD shows are not hosted by DirecTV, but Limelight Networks. I'm sure they have traffic shaping or QOS on their border routers that gives everyone fair bandwidth on downloads, regardless of their internet connection speed. Why? To allow everyone to download at a reasonable D/L speed for 1000 users instead of 100 20mb/s FIOS users chewing up the available bandwidth.


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## gregjones (Sep 20, 2007)

dervari said:


> First of all, the DoD shows are not hosted by DirecTV, but Limelight Networks. I'm sure they have traffic shaping or QOS on their border routers that gives everyone fair bandwidth on downloads, regardless of their internet connection speed. Why? To allow everyone to download at a reasonable D/L speed for 1000 users instead of 100 20mb/s FIOS users chewing up the available bandwidth.


While true, this would not explain the low throughput of the 20/5 line compared to a much lower bandwidth connection. They will institute a cap, but would not penalize a higher bandwidth connection to be considerably slower than another.

First, look at your network. Try it with no wireless links between you and the router. For that high bandwidth connection, make sure you are using at least a 100Mbps switch (not hub, not 10Mbps) or router with nothing else in between it.

Second, look at your ISP. Some are notorious for throttling bandwidth.


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## jpl (Jul 9, 2006)

tcusta00 said:


> Ah, good point, another possibility that's been popping up recently too. But let's be careful not to rule out DirecTV as the culprit too, for fear of sounding like we're on the DirecTV payroll.


Unfortunately that's not a valid point - FiOS doesn't throttle their speeds. I don't have DirecTV, but I understand what the OP is saying. He's just saying that all of his other media downloads happen much faster since upgrading his ISP, so why isn't it the same with DOD? I think that's a valid question. Now, the answer (by the sounds of it) is most like DirecTV's servers. Is it possible that he's hitting this while trying to watch DOD during a crunch period? Possibly, and while those periods are to be expected, it seems a tad unreasonable that DirecTV roll out a service like this to all 16+ million customers without scaling properly (if it's a case that their servers can't handle the volume, then they haven't scaled properly for a national roll-out).

Based on everything else the OP is saying, it sounds like he's ruled out everything else - by process of elimination, it sure sounds like DirecTV's servers to me.


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## woj027 (Sep 3, 2007)

I have a question, suggestion. 

Remember the good ol days when Earl roamed this site and he did the transponder survey?

What if someone here put together a DOD survey?

I know there are dozens, if not a hundred variables to the download speed, but maybe it's some information DirecTV would like.

Lots of ways to do it, but first thing that comes to mind is have it some sort of speed/time/files size function built into a CE and let the CE'ers post that info.

Or maybe get DirecTV to put a specific file on DOD for everyone to test download then report their setup, internet system, wired, or wireless, etc.

Just an idea Might be complicated, but I think it would be helpful.


And just my 2 cents on DOD, mine is a slug. we have DSL running through Comcast at 3Mps (max) but I'm over wireless through some plaster walls.


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

What they OP should try is to do a trace in his network, either via their router or some freeware and see exactly where the requets for the downloads are coming from, what the path lenght is and if there are any bottlenecks with that path. Does Verzion peer directly with Limelight networks or have to go through one or more additional networks to get to them? Do any of the hops in the path show a high response time?


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