Apple TV and PlusNet

[#1]

I bought an Apple TV over the weekend, happily sat down to watch a movie at 9pm but the system said it would take 3 hours to start. Tried again after midnight when the profiling ends and it worked perfectly. I contacted plusnet support who basically said they cant make any changes to make apple tv work. Has anyone got apple tv to work on plusnet?

[#2]

What account type are you on? Premier, Value, BBYW or Pro?
Where you trying to stream/downlaod an HD vor SD video?
What speed is shown for your line in https://portal.plus.net/my.html?action=data_transfer_speed ?

[#3]

HI gilesc,
We've arranged to get one here in the next couple of days and test it to make sure it's prioritised correctly. If it's not then we'll get it added to the traffic management platform.
Jojo

[#4]

Hi Jojo, are you saying that the traffic management will be changed to include Apple TV? If so that is fantastic. The support call I logged was 40556160 if this helps.
Godsell4 I am on PlusNet Broadband Your Way Option 3 (Monthly Contract) I am currently synced at 10MB.
I have always been happy with plusnet and if they cant make apple tv work, I am not going to risk moving to another provider.
Many thanks
Giles

[#5]

Have you thought about downloading the film first to iTunes on your computer and then streaming it to your TV using Apple TV ?  This is what I have done in the past without any problems and it has the added advantage that if you download the film between 12.00am to 8.00am it does not get included in your download cap. Once the film is downloaded to iTunes you have 30 days to watch it.

[#6]

HI Giles,
Yes, we would want to prioritise Apple TV. I'll let you know once we've tested it.
Jojo

[#7]

Quote from: gilesc

Godsell4 I am on PlusNet Broadband Your Way Option 3 (Monthly Contract) I am currently synced at 10MB.

Giles, on BBYW3 and on a 10Mb connection, you should not have any problems. Are you sure the pge @ https://portal.plus.net/my.html?action=data_transfer_speed says you are getting 10Mb though?
Are you using an old ATV2 (silver/white device) or the new ATV3 (black device)? I dont think it should make a huge difference, but you never know.
FInally, do you get the same problem watching trailers? On a 10Mb line, you should be able to to go to Movies>Trailers, and get instant palyback of both SD and HD trailers.
If you search for 'Lost in 8:15', does that buffer playback too? It is important for you and PN to find the same video and get the same problems.

[#8]

Hi Godsell4
I attach two screenshots which show my broadband connection is very good. I am on 21cn network about 800m cable run from the exchange according to a friend of mine who is an engineer. When I attempted to watch the HD movie RED my router reported the ATV3 was receiving data at about 1700 kps a vigor router, but the fact it worked exactly as planned after midnight leads me to think it is the traffic profiling.
Trailers took a while to get going so I am not sure if it downloaded the whole trailer before playing.
The very good news is plusnet is being extremely pro active on this and getting an apple tv device to ensure it works with their traffic profiling, I couldnt ask any more.
I returned the device to the apple store but once plus net tell me it should work I have arranged to borrow a friends and if it works will be rushing out to the store again.
Many thanks

[#9]

Quote from: gilesc

The very good news is plusnet is being extremely pro active on this and getting an apple tv device to ensure it works with their traffic profiling, I couldnt ask any more.

We've got one now but I've had a falling out with a particularly stubborn wall bracket on the back of a TV this morning so I'm yet to test it (it's blocking the HDMI port). Will let you know as soon as I have though...

[#10]

Quote from: Bob

Will let you know as soon as I have though...

Right, I've just packet captured four separate streams:

• The Other Guys trailer in standard definition
  
• The RED trailer in standard definition
  
• The Adjustment Bureau trailer in high definition
  
• A YouTube stream
  

In all cases, every packet I mirrored to my laptop was marked in the 'Gold' traffic queues (which is where it should be). The only thing I can conclude therefore is that what you're seeing is *not* related to our traffic management profiling.
I was wired to the router, I don't suppose you were using the wi-fi link instead were you? If so, that's the first direction I'd be pointing my finger in.

[#11]

Bob.
Download the "Lost in 8:15' HD video (it is free to download), which is not in the Trailer section of iTunes via ATV.
My guess, and it is only a guess, is tha the Trailers come from a different CDN than the normal TV and Movies.
These streams are in the 1.5 to 4Mb range and should work just fine over Wifi, many people do this.

[#12]

Quote from: godsell4

Download the "Lost in 8:15' HD video (it is free to download), which is not in the Trailer section of iTunes via ATV.

Free to download once you bypassed Apple's utterly annoying demand that you have valid card details associated with your Apple account! It's for reasons like this that Apple really get on my nerves. Similarly to the fact that you have to jailbreak these devices before you can use them as a media extender. They just make everything so damn awkward/difficult just to satisfy their own means (sorry, rant over).

Quote from: godsell4

My guess, and it is only a guess, is tha the Trailers come from a different CDN than the normal TV and Movies.

Seems like a different IP but it's still getting lumped into the 'Gold' queue (both the download itself and the subsequent streaming of the show). The fact the initial SYN/ACK packets are marked as 'Gold Plated' suggests that our signature detection is doing exactly what it should do.

Quote from: godsell4

These streams are in the 1.5 to 4Mb range and should work just fine over Wifi, many people do this.

Yes, *if* your wi-fi is working properly and there's not a problem/interference affecting the signal between the Apple box and your router.

[#13]

Quote from: Bob

Yes, *if* your wi-fi is working properly and there's not a problem/interference affecting the signal between the Apple box and your router.

Understood about interference, odd though that Giles says his problems cease at 12 midnight though.

[#14]

I agree, it is odd - but unless he hit an IP that wasn't being sig detected properly, then I'm not sure what else it could be. I've spent quite some time today capturing traffic from the device and it all looks hunky-dory 

[#15]

Hi there. Thank you for trying to get this to work it is all very odd. I was hardwired to the router and also tried it over the wifi. As I mentioned my router showed a 1500 Kbps stream less than required for live streaming.
Could it be I picked the only movie coming from a ip not marked as gold? I could borrow my friends and give it another go. If so what should i look for. My router is a vigor 2700
Many thanks
Giles