Dear DStv - technical faults thread

How do you rate the DStv service *technically* ?

  • 10 (Best)

    Votes: 4 1.6%

  • 9

    Votes: 6 2.4%

  • 8

    Votes: 6 2.4%

  • 7

    Votes: 8 3.2%

  • 6

    Votes: 10 4.0%

  • 5

    Votes: 15 6.0%

  • 4

    Votes: 18 7.2%

  • 3

    Votes: 32 12.9%

  • 2

    Votes: 17 6.8%

  • 1 (Worst)

    Votes: 133 53.4%
  • Total voters
    249
Firstly, that package facelift - just a temp upgrade for Access and Compact.

The older online guide seems to be working again after nearly 2 weeks of BS, just today is still patchy.
For those who don't know, better than the newer guide for a few reasons - newer guide has a truly useless search, doesn't give Other Airings info, doesn't give movies' production year, doesn't allow for remote recording, etc.
Older one at: http://guide.dstv.com/
 
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Fast & Furious pop-up ch. 111 started at 6 this morning, schedule already running 15 minutes early, which the maximum safety nets can't handle........

Well done MC :rolleyes:
 
BTW, for those that know what I am referring to,
I actually did get a response out of my old contact in MC.

He said they are still working on the project to reestablish their own forum.
Further, he offered to get someone to contact us when we have serious issues with our service.
From past experience, there is very little value to got from trying to push the system along, hence, those contacts hardly ever do any better at solving issues with service.
 
The E16 problem popped up about 4 times I know of on channel 215 during the F1 Practice session broadcast yesterday. Also noticed the freezing problem a few times on channel 101 over the last couple of days.
 
Nemesys said:
The E16 problem popped up about 4 times I know of on channel 215 during the F1 Practice session broadcast yesterday. Also noticed the freezing problem a few times on channel 101 over the last couple of days.
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Any issues overnight?

I was up a lot due to a tummy bug, noticed them causing the 5-2 Switch I've got to blink endlessly for a few minutes, twice.
But wasn't affected by their new nonsense it seems.
 
Brian_G said:
Fast & Furious pop-up ch. 111 started at 6 this morning, schedule already running 15 minutes early, which the maximum safety nets can't handle........

Well done MC :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
This was mostly fixed later. Maybe they are reading this thread.
 
Brian_G said:
This was mostly fixed later. Maybe they are reading this thread.
Click to expand...
I'm sure they have spies all over but I doubt they're patrolling for technical issues. So, this thread is like a support group for DStv sufferers? You'd have more luck getting help via their social media channels now that they seem to have killed off the forum. And the forum would be even more useful these covid days when the call centre runs on reduced staff.
 
R13... said:
I'm sure they have spies all over but I doubt they're patrolling for technical issues. So, this thread is like a support group for DStv sufferers? You'd have more luck getting help via their social media channels now that they seem to have killed off the forum. And the forum would be even more useful these covid days when the call centre runs on reduced staff.
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Makes sense, except that some seniors at MC are known to us after all the years we spent on their forum, and they have agreed to come here before.
Covid changed things of course, so who knows now.


More unrelated pics follow....

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Brian_G said:
Any issues overnight?

I was up a lot due to a tummy bug, noticed them causing the 5-2 Switch I've got to blink endlessly for a few minutes, twice.
But wasn't affected by their new nonsense it seems.
Click to expand...
No problem last night but the previous night a few CU+ downloadsI set to reduce my night owl vodacom data did mot execute. These all went through last night.
 
Here's my input & observations with recent issues on DSTV Now on Wednesday & Thursday this week - mostly with NatGeo (Ch.181) - and the fact that it remained BROKEN for around 24 hours or so, before any remedial action was taken by MC to rectify the feed for NatGeo.

DSTV TV Guide - website version not loading properly

For the last couple of days, whenever I go to the DSTV website's online TV guide on the internet - https://guide.dstv.com - & browse through the various daily programme schedule listings for DSTV Premium, it only shows details for dates up to Thursday, 20 May 2021 - browsing to any subsequent...
mybroadband.co.za mybroadband.co.za
 
Noticed that both the 2A and 3A updated software last night. Hopefully that will solve the E16 problem.
 
EPG (guide) faults on ch. 115.
Technical in this case as they're weirdly out of place.

1. The Blacklist S7 - repeat from ch. 101, they're only nearly halfway but suddenly will supposedly start showing from ep. 1 again in about 2 weeks time.
Fault / crazy decision / actually the start of S8??? (Series premieres are sometimes moved here without warning.)

2. Billions S5 - also a repeat from 101. We were interrupted at ep. 7 due to covid, and that was re-aired this week on this channel... followed by ep. 9 in 2 weeks time and nothing listed for next week??
So... moved to this channel half-way through the season and without notice or even a return alert, series record entry's maximum 3 m0nth survival period will have failed to assist as keeps happening, and they mess up with episode 8.
Brilliant MC!!

I will at least alert someone senior at the M-Net Group (ch. 115 is part of that).
 
Differences I noticed between satellite and streaming versions (yet they cost the same):

1. No surround sound (5.1) on streaming version.
2. No multiple sound tracks on channels (eg. Afrikaans, English family etc.) on streaming version.
3. No DMX audio channels on streaming version.
4. No PVR function on streaming version (not that you'd need it, and there is an additional charge to use this).
5. No app to access Box Office, except on a DSTV Explora Ultra with the streaming version.
6. Only 2 concurrent streams on streaming only version where on dish version technically you have 3 viewing enviroments.

Other streaming service issues:

1. Terrible watchlist handling (watchlist items just dissapear and reappear) and recently watched live channels also dissapear sometimes, catch up content also only sometimes save the position where you watched.
2. Terrible motion judder, artifacts and constant quality drops on live sports on the streaming service. Also very poor compression used on all content (not my internet, as I have a wired 100/100mbps fibre line to my device), dish version quality much better and only has issues occasionaly due to the weather.

You are definitely not getting the same worth for your money (fix it or make streaming only version cheaper?)

Other upgrades neccesary to make this a world class service (dish and streaming):

1. 7.1 and/or Atmos surround sound support.
2. 4K quality on at least some channels and Box Office movies.
3. HDR (at least HDR10 / HLG) on some channels and for Box Office movies.
4. Ability to only pick what you want to watch (pipe dream).
 
Tector said:
Differences I noticed between satellite and streaming versions (yet they cost the same):

1. No surround sound (5.1) on streaming version.
2. No multiple sound tracks on channels (eg. Afrikaans, English family etc.) on streaming version.
3. No DMX audio channels on streaming version.
4. No PVR function on streaming version (not that you'd need it, and there is an additional charge to use this).
5. No app to access Box Office, except on a DSTV Explora Ultra with the streaming version.
6. Only 2 concurrent streams on streaming only version where on dish version technically you have 3 viewing enviroments.

Other streaming service issues:

1. Terrible watchlist handling (watchlist items just dissapear and reappear) and recently watched live channels also dissapear sometimes, catch up content also only sometimes save the position where you watched.
2. Terrible motion judder, artifacts and constant quality drops on live sports on the streaming service. Also very poor compression used on all content (not my internet, as I have a wired 100/100mbps fibre line to my device), dish version quality much better and only has issues occasionaly due to the weather.

You are definitely not getting the same worth for your money (fix it or make streaming only version cheaper?)

Other upgrades neccesary to make this a world class service (dish and streaming):

1. 7.1 and/or Atmos surround sound support.
2. 4K quality on at least some channels and Box Office movies.
3. HDR (at least HDR10 / HLG) on some channels and for Box Office movies.
4. Ability to only pick what you want to watch (pipe dream).
Click to expand...
Very good response. And yes we all agree. The service has degenerated into something only just above what the original SD PVR service was after the beta version was released.
 
Tector said:
Differences I noticed between satellite and streaming versions (yet they cost the same):

1. No surround sound (5.1) on streaming version.
2. No multiple sound tracks on channels (eg. Afrikaans, English family etc.) on streaming version.
3. No DMX audio channels on streaming version.
4. No PVR function on streaming version (not that you'd need it, and there is an additional charge to use this).
5. No app to access Box Office, except on a DSTV Explora Ultra with the streaming version.
6. Only 2 concurrent streams on streaming only version where on dish version technically you have 3 viewing enviroments.

Other streaming service issues:

1. Terrible watchlist handling (watchlist items just dissapear and reappear) and recently watched live channels also dissapear sometimes, catch up content also only sometimes save the position where you watched.
2. Terrible motion judder, artifacts and constant quality drops on live sports on the streaming service. Also very poor compression used on all content (not my internet, as I have a wired 100/100mbps fibre line to my device), dish version quality much better and only has issues occasionaly due to the weather.

You are definitely not getting the same worth for your money (fix it or make streaming only version cheaper?)

Other upgrades neccesary to make this a world class service (dish and streaming):

1. 7.1 and/or Atmos surround sound support.
2. 4K quality on at least some channels and Box Office movies.
3. HDR (at least HDR10 / HLG) on some channels and for Box Office movies.
4. Ability to only pick what you want to watch (pipe dream).
Click to expand...
Exactly my experience too, wrt DSTVnow streaming.
I had months of frustration after not a single person could fix the multiples of issues I had with our complexs' communal dish offering over the optic fibre link.
Out of desperation I had bought package special for a dish, HD PVR and installation and had it installed at my dad's house.
We now stream over our 30/30 fiber link, but many of the channels is so poor, the sports channels would buffer, loose resolution, mostly merely freeze.
And if you are lucky when the buffering stops, the audio feed is minutes behind the video feed.
 
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@Tector , @Ivan Leon , @swakop_toe ,

In your experiences are there any other large online TV-entertainment SPs that come close to this bad level of service?

Are they not actually so good compared, that MC appears to be stuck in some sort of stone age or very short-sighted "cost-saving" service delivery method?
Or maybe they have exceedingly bad skills and staff discipline.
 
Personally, I think the "free" DSTVnow streaming option on the Premium sub is "abused" and MC is throttling it as a result.
I have no experience using the paid for DSTVnow subscription only, but I'll wager a guess it has the same issues and limitations. It would be interesting if not, wrt the quality.
 
Brian_G said:
@Tector , @Ivan Leon , @swakop_toe ,

In your experiences are there any other large online TV-entertainment SPs that come close to this bad level of service?

Are they not actually so good compared, that MC appears to be stuck in some sort of stone age or very short-sighted "cost-saving" service delivery method?
Or maybe they have exceedingly bad skills and staff discipline.
Click to expand...
I think they are on their own level of bad, don't know about other local services like telkomone and the likes coz I don't use them. They also have live broadcasts but don't know the quality vs DSTV. International players like Netflix etc. have a lot more money and infrastructure, local caching of content too but they don't offer live sports. A better comparison would be eg. BT Sport in UK from UK users or ESPN+ in US from US users. I can't imagine they would be this bad though.

But in saying that, DSTV does charge a premium over these services, and like to call themselves world class, so then it is only fair for us to then expect world class quality. Not?
 
swakop_toe said:
Personally, I think the "free" DSTVnow streaming option on the Premium sub is "abused" and MC is throttling it as a result.
I have no experience using the paid for DSTVnow subscription only, but I'll wager a guess it has the same issues and limitations. It would be interesting if not, wrt the quality.
Click to expand...
This is also a plausible scenario. It would indeed be interresting to get feedback from users of the standalone streaming service on my points listed. I also use a 'screen' from the satellite package
 
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