# DoD - schedule downloads



## eatswodo (Nov 20, 2005)

I have 1.5Mb DSL Service, which works fine for me - but there's a catch. It's metered service - I have a certain download limit over a rolling 30-day period. I'd love to be able to make use of DoD, but a single movie can make a huge mess of my 'allowance', as I found out to my cost last night.

However, I don't get charged for any activity between 12:00am and 5:00am. It would be really cool if I could schedule my queue to only download during those hours. I realize that this is not exactly 'on demand', but without something like this, the feature is not really usable for me.

Anyone else in the same boat?


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## 1948GG (Aug 4, 2007)

eatswodo said:


> However, I don't get charged for any activity between 12:00am and 5:00am. It would be really cool if I could schedule my queue to only download during those hours. I realize that this is not exactly 'on demand', but without something like this, the feature is not really usable for me.


I believe a 'scheduling' part of the DOD will come out when 'remote' scheduling is released (i.e., web/internet/cellphone). Until then, I think unless you stay up to midnight, you're a bit out of luck (unless you have a router which can be programmed to turn off/on a h/w port that your HR20 is plugged into).

BTW, what telco are you on in Minnesota? I did TONS of digital engineering for US West all over the state a bit over 10 years ago, and I know there are tons of 'independent' phone companies about at every wide spot in the roads. But very strange that they have time-based constrictions, that much more a cableco type of restriction.

But, I think you'll probably have to wait until the scheduling feature is released (don't know if it's in one of the pre-releases right now....). Maybe someone will chime in with any news!


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## eatswodo (Nov 20, 2005)

Thanks for that ray of hope - maybe DoD will be of some use to me in the future!

The telco is Qwest; the bandwidth restrictions are actually imposed by my ISP, usfamily.net. In return, my DSL service only costs me $22 a month.

I switched from cable about a year ago in a fit of pique - they kept jacking up my rates ($65 a month when I cancelled), with no end in sight. They freely admitted that they were penalizing me (and customers like me) who only used cable for Internet. Finally I'd had enough. The DSL service has been fine for family internet usage; I work from home also, and it's perfectly adequate. I do sometimes miss the speed of cable, but not enough to want to go back.


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## elguevon (May 20, 2004)

Wow...metered Internet...I remember that back in 1995. Not sure how common that is to warrant D* building in a download scheduling feature. So are you paying $22/mo for the ISP...Qwest also has a charge just for the DSL connection. Sure you are not paying $40+ in total? I hope not if its metered. Otherwise, get a different ISP where you don't have to worry about those stupid metered BS. Bandwidth is cheap now....shop around for a better ISP otherwise DoD isn't a feature you are really going to be able to use given your Internet limitations.


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## eatswodo (Nov 20, 2005)

No, I'm paying $22 a month in total. The metered thing surprised me too - I hadn't encountered anything like that since dial-up days, and didn't read the small print before signing up for a 2 year fixed price commitment. It's my fault, and I can't really complain. 

I did find out that my ISP has an 'unlimited' plan - I'm going to see if I can get switched over to that without it costing me an arm and a leg. I'm also going to investigate switching to a different ISP without having to break the Qwest contract.

Bandwidth may well be cheap now, but access is still an issue. There is one cable company that serves my neighbourhood, and one phone company. Show me cheaper that I can get to, and I'll be all over it. 

In the meantime, I can live without DoD. Shame, because it was so easy to set up!


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## GatorDeb (Oct 26, 2007)

You can do it manually now. Select your downloads. Then go to your DOD queue. You can pause it. Then unpause it when you want it to start going. This would necessitate you being there at the beginning and end of that period, but it's a solution if you really want DOD now


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## MikeR (Oct 6, 2006)

This would be a nice addition, for those that have faster "quoted" speeds...but only when their network is not congested.


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## Wisegoat (Aug 17, 2006)

eatswodo said:


> No, I'm paying $22 a month in total.
> 
> Bandwidth may well be cheap now, but access is still an issue. There is one cable company that serves my neighbourhood, and one phone company. Show me cheaper that I can get to, and I'll be all over it.


Here is what I did:

Lifeline cable for $9.77/month. 
Now I am a cable subscriber.

12Down/1Up cable modem for $39.95/month.

Total = $55.19/month for Internet.

Packet8 VoIP connection is $23/month. Unlimited Long Distance and 911.

Under $80/month and I have Voice and Data services.

$120/month for DirecTV and I get Voice, Video and Data for $200/month. Not bare bones cheap, but not expensive, especially considering what I get for the money:

Premiere pack and HD Pack for DirecTV and 3 TV's/
Unlimited calling in North America, Caller ID, etc. and 911 service.
12Mbps Download and 1Mbps Upload.

And to get back to the OP's situation: DirecTV aside, I am paying $80/month for unlimited voice in North America and unlimited very high speed data. You are probably paying another $50/month for your voice services. For a few bucks more, you can have your alternative and get greater benefits.


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

I think this would be a great idea, at least a preference almost like parental controls... "only download between these hours". It does sort of go against the "on demand" nature of the service though.


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## F1 Fan (Aug 28, 2007)

Stuart Sweet said:


> I think this would be a great idea, at least a preference almost like parental controls... "only download between these hours". It does sort of go against the "on demand" nature of the service though.


But a "bandwidth" option may help though. It would still be on demand but would throttle the data rate.

FWIW some routers have QOS or Bandwidth throttling functions. I havent checked what port VOD is coming down on but you could look into it and see if you have or can get a router which will throttle the download on that port.

You werent clear on your metering but it may work.

I think I have an old router that has QOS on it and I will play with it this week to see if it works with VOD.


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## gregjones (Sep 20, 2007)

F1 Fan said:


> But a "bandwidth" option may help though. It would still be on demand but would throttle the data rate.
> 
> FWIW some routers have QOS or Bandwidth throttling functions. I havent checked what port VOD is coming down on but you could look into it and see if you have or can get a router which will throttle the download on that port.
> 
> ...


QOS is for determining priority, not for limiting total bandwidth. I bought a simple $60 device from Hawking that prioritizes VOIP and other low-latency traffice higher. It hooks between the router and modem. It is about the best money I have spent lately.


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## eatswodo (Nov 20, 2005)

In re-reading my original post and some of the responses, I realize I used the wrong term. The limit imposed by my ISP is on the total *volume* I download over a 30-day rolling period, not on the *rate* at which I download. Bandwidth was the wrong word to use.


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## su_A_ve (Sep 27, 2007)

Some routers have the ability to limit activity based on time of day. I believe the dd-wrt firmware does this as well...

So, simply set up all your d/l you want, but then limit the HR20 at the router. Block internet access except between 1-5am and you are done.

My .02...


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## dbmaven (May 29, 2004)

I've said it in other threads, and at the risk of being obnoxious and repetitive, I'll say it again:
- there should be a way to schedule a start time/end time for a download, or all pending downloads (a download window, so to speak)
- there should be a way to limit the total bandwidth in use by DOD to "x percent" of the available bandwidth.

These will become necessary for heavy DOD users who are either traffic-shaped or otherwise "network managed" by their ISP.

Oh, one other comment - I realize that as posted above some routers (with 3rd party firmware) can accomplish the QoS aspect - but this needs to be simple enough that non-network savvy comsumers can use it - precisely why it should be a preferences option in the queue setup of DOD.


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## F1 Fan (Aug 28, 2007)

dbmaven said:


> I've said it in other threads, and at the risk of being obnoxious and repetitive, I'll say it again:
> - there should be a way to schedule a start time/end time for a download, or all pending downloads (a download window, so to speak)
> - there should be a way to limit the total bandwidth in use by DOD to "x percent" of the available bandwidth.
> 
> ...


the schedule will at least come with remote booking (it is there now in closed beta). Whether it will come to the box is up for debate. Should you "schedule" "On Demand" ? Would that not confuse the average person, especially if you provide and make it known you have that provision on a website?

I agree with your point about maybe limiting bandwidth and maybe that can be to do with scheduling or something online too. But again - would people know how to do it? Most here would know how to do it in their router and do it there. But what do you set on a TV Box? bandwidth in bps? data download per day in Gbs?

Again it is back to the 80/20 rule. If 80% of people have unlimited bandwidth connections (and it is probably a fair figure) then the others have already learnt to manage their bandwidth for other things and so will figure a way out to mange VOD without the need for Directv to do it for them. You could run into danger of confusing the 80%. Trust me - if that feature was there my mother would find it, change it (though she is on unlimited) and keep changing and playing until she broke it (she has this uncanny knack of doing it).


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## BkwSoft (Oct 18, 2007)

su_A_ve said:


> Some routers have the ability to limit activity based on time of day. I believe the dd-wrt firmware does this as well...
> 
> So, simply set up all your d/l you want, but then limit the HR20 at the router. Block internet access except between 1-5am and you are done.
> 
> My .02...


Of course now that the HR20 has the ability to phone home over the network with the latest CE you would impact more than VOD if you tried this. It would be nice to schedule the VOD download to start later and still be able to use iPPV and Game Lounge.


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## eatswodo (Nov 20, 2005)

su_A_ve said:


> Some routers have the ability to limit activity based on time of day. I believe the dd-wrt firmware does this as well...
> 
> So, simply set up all your d/l you want, but then limit the HR20 at the router. Block internet access except between 1-5am and you are done.
> 
> My .02...


Thanks - that's a great idea. I already do this for my kids' PCs - I can easily set it up for the HR20. It will be interesting to see just how much I can get in that 4 hour window......


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## dbmaven (May 29, 2004)

F1 Fan said:


> the schedule will at least come with remote booking (it is there now in closed beta). Whether it will come to the box is up for debate. Should you "schedule" "On Demand" ? Would that not confuse the average person, especially if you provide and make it known you have that provision on a website?


Scheduling with m.directv.com has nothing at all to do with what I'm describing.
The "DVR Scheduler" at that page is really nothing more than a remote interface into the DirecTV DVRs recording functions - it sends a software command to schedule a recording of a live TV show that, to the target DVR, looks exactly the same as if you did it on the remote while sitting in front of the DVR. I haven't seen any discussion (although I haven't specifically been looking for it) about that page being opened up to allow remote DOD access. It currently does not have access to DOD (at least I've been unable to get to DOD shows on it).

What I'm describing is the ability to allow the user to specify windows when downloading of DOD content is OK, and when it isn't.

Today - lots of people have "unlimited" download capability. But there's been plenty of discussion about Comcast's invisible caps, and 'network management' by other ISPs. ISPs are less likely to be worried about activity in the wee hours of the morning - than they are about the same activity between 3 and 11 PM.
In essence - most 'telco' services (FIOS, DSL, UVerse) are unlimited. 
Some 'cable' services are not (Comcast being the most notorious at this point, others to a lesser degree). DOD has the potential to add a significant amount of network traffic - and you can bet that those whose networks are already constrained will be watching carefully. The days of truly "unlimited" service, at least on cable ISPs, may well be numbered in many places.

Does your Mom tinker with the Advanced Network Settings in Windows ?
It'd be easy enough to put a big warning banner on the options page: Don't mess with this unless you know what you're doing. 
For those that will need this type of option, the fact that there are tinkerers out there who'll hose themselves shouldn't preclude offering a solution. That, once again, is a User Interface design issue - putting it far enough out of the way for the 'uninitiated' to remain blissfully unaware - but easy enough to get to so that those who need it can.


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