Dear DStv - technical faults thread

[krugie]

Today's test - using Google Chrome on Windows 11:

I fired up Chrome at 04h49 & loaded the DSTV Now home page - then opened up BBC Brit (Ch. 120) - I watched 'Tipping Point' & then the repeat of 'Father Brown' until 05h58 - so that was a total duration of 69 minutes - I had set the resolution to LOW (up to 360p & +/- 210MB/hr)

View attachment 1206760

This was the Telkom LTE data bundle remaining at the start:

View attachment 1206762

And this what was remaining when I closed the DSTV Now browser tab:

View attachment 1206764

So - total data usage was 429MB for 69 minutes of viewing using Chrome on the PC - still WELL above their +/- 210MB/hr estimate... but A LOT LESS than using the Android TV box for viewing DSTV streaming content (594MB for only 50 minutes).

Guess I WON'T be using the Android TV box anymore until such time as DSTV revises and recompiles their Android TV app to correct this high data usage anomaly...

Hi Ivan - I'm sure you saw I raised this data usage issue with DSTV on Monday - I see they responded this morning to advise that an update is expected to be deployed today so maybe you can check again tomorrow - assuming they do deliver today. I don't know whether this will be via an app update or only something that gets fixed in the background though.

 

[HAL 9000]

Hi Ivan - I'm sure you saw I raised this data usage issue with DSTV on Monday - I see they responded this morning to advise that an update is expected to be deployed today so maybe you can check again tomorrow - assuming they do deliver today. I don't know whether this will be via an app update or only something that gets fixed in the background though.

I will check if there is a pending DSTV app update for the Android TV box - if so, I will install it - I will also do a re-test of the DSTV Now website portal using Google Chrome as well - I will use them both over the weekend & report back if there's been any notable improvement with either option...

 

[HAL 9000]

Just switched over to MNET (Ch.101) to watch the double-bill of NCIS - using Google Chrome on Windows 11 on my i7 PC - looks like the streaming picture quality is actually set to MEDIUM (up to 576p) even AFTER changing it on SETTINGS to LOW (up to 360p)... the text on the end credits for the preceding programme - Legacy - are CRYSTAL CLEAR with NO visible artefacts, blurring or fuzziness at all...




UPDATE 1 - 19h38

Then this just appeared...



Took me about 4 minutes to re-establish the connection & rewind back to where it cut off...

 

[HAL 9000]

I did the updates to the DSTV Now app on my Android TV box & also on my phone - they were pending on both devices - then used the Android TV box to watch the repeat of 'The Mallorca Files' on BBC Brit (Ch.120) from 05h17 to 06h00 (43 minutes) - I checked that the viewing quality was set to LOW (up to 360p) & I did not use my PC at all to prevent it possibly using data in the background...

This was my Telkom LTE data remaining at the start:



And this was the data remaining at the end of the session:



This means that for a 43 minute session, the DSTV Now app on the Android TV box used 483MB - almost half a Gigabyte of data - that's WAY more than their LOW estimate of 'up to 210MB/hr' and equivalent to their estimate for MEDIUM (up to 700MB/hr)...

 

[Brian_G]

One nice surprise this season, quite a number of okay Box Office choices which is unusual for any December.
For my tastes anyway...

 

[BCR]

Channel 132 - CBS Reality lost signal for about 2 minutes (via satellite dish).

Surprised it came back on its own, and so soon, because in the past it's required a phone call to their call centre (painful experience).

DStv should have a rep here, but I'm aware of their own forum which is well monitored & has been helpful before.

Maybe should use it again, but I seldom have satellite probs these days.

 

[Brian_G]

Channel 132 - CBS Reality lost signal for about 2 minutes (via satellite dish).

Surprised it came back on its own, and so soon, because in the past it's required a phone call to their call centre (painful experience).

Whatever is causing this in your case it can also be weather related, and with a channel like 132 it could be weather elsewhere in the world (Europe in this case before Randburg processing) so no way to tell. Best to wait a few minutes, though it shouldn't happen much and if it does your installation / decoder could do with a professional check.

DStv should have a rep here, but I'm aware of their own forum which is well monitored & has been helpful before.

That forum was suspended years ago. Some of the peeps helping here were going to work for them doing just that there, but MC lost interest.
In my case, not usually available to help.. sorry.

For further help though, post the error code or on-screen info you get about this error, and some detail about your decoder(s) setup.

 

[BCR]

Whatever is causing this in your case it can also be weather related, and with a channel like 132 it could be weather elsewhere in the world (Europe in this case before Randburg processing) so no way to tell. Best to wait a few minutes, though it shouldn't happen much and if it does your installation / decoder could do with a professional check.


That forum was suspended years ago. Some of the peeps helping here were going to work for them doing just that there, but MC lost interest.
In my case, not usually available to help.. sorry.

For further help though, post the error code or on-screen info you get about this error, and some detail about your decoder(s) setup.

Thanks for all the info, Brian.

Definitely not the weather here the problem, at the moment, because it's sunny, having been cloudy this morning.

I've noticed in the past that a jet flying above us can sometimes take out the signal or sound momentarily.

Don't know if you've experienced that before?

Cable to the dish had to be repaired some months ago, so a tech has been out fairly recently.

Not too serious if it goes out for 2 minutes, occasionally, but when I started typing about this most recent incident, it came back before I could get too far... !

Channel 176 (Home) used to do this very regularly, and stay out until I phoned the call centre for them to check & reinstate it.

Great pity about that forum.
Was not only helpful but a good source of information.

 

[Brian_G]

Thanks for all the info, Brian.

Sure :- )

Definitely not the weather here the problem, at the moment, because it's sunny, having been cloudy this morning.

That's why I mentioned European weather, local (Gauteng?) weather isn't always any indication and when it is can be just half of the story for most in our country. But 132 is an international example of this.

I've noticed in the past that a jet flying above us can sometimes take out the signal or sound momentarily.

Don't know if you've experienced that before?

Extremely seldom with any noticeable effect, nothing to normally worry about.

Cable to the dish had to be repaired some months ago, so a tech has been out fairly recently.

Not too serious if it goes out for 2 minutes, occasionally, but when I started typing about this most recent incident, it came back before I could get too far... !

Sounds like the original problem may have been cable related. If international weather now, that can be on and off for a few minutes or so just like local weather behaves.

Channel 176 (Home) used to do this very regularly, and stay out until I phoned the call centre for them to check & reinstate it.

You probably only need to worry if that becomes a problem again.
I'll leave it there, enjoy

 

[Brian_G]

Anyone else here want to discuss the aircraft issue?

I'm now wondering if this could be chronic for those badly positioned re common flight paths near airports, slower speed also then being a slightly worse factor.
Thing is, could an array help, two dishes, one at both ends of the property?

 

[LandyMan]

Anyone else here want to discuss the aircraft issue?

I'm now wondering if this could be chronic for those badly positioned re common flight paths near airports, slower speed also then being a slightly worse factor.
Thing is, could an array help, two dishes, one at both ends of the property?

I live in the OR Tambo and Grand Central flight paths ... never noticed anything bad signal related to overhead planes. Been here since 2005

 

[Brian_G]

I live in the OR Tambo and Grand Central flight paths ... never noticed anything bad signal related to overhead planes. Been here since 2005

If you don't know, look along the LNB's arm of the dish to see the position of these satellites, in relation to those flight paths. Usually higher than expected.

But if it does affect any consistently I think they would be a few in a very specific small area on one side.

 

[Brian_G]

@Ivan Leon & @krugie , another new Now failure is "Recently Watched Channels" which is always blank these days, used to work a few weeks ago although I don't think properly. Has some good uses.

 

[HAL 9000]

@Ivan Leon & @krugie , another new Now failure is "Recently Watched Channels" which is always blank these days, used to work a few weeks ago although I don't think properly. Has some good uses.

I noticed that as well - I have to keep going into Live TV - then All Channels - then hunt & scroll down for the channel I want to watch - even if I watched content the previous day, some channels weren't appearing back on the 'Recently Watched Channels' listings - most irritating...

 

[krugie]

@Ivan Leon & @krugie , another new Now failure is "Recently Watched Channels" which is always blank these days, used to work a few weeks ago although I don't think properly. Has some good uses.

I can also confirm that. I stopped using the Recently Watched Channels a long time ago as it wasn't updating. The same channels from months ago - if not years - are constantly displayed on my side.

 

[HAL 9000]

NCIS Season 18 - Missing Episodes

For the last 7 weeks, there has been a double-bill (2 episodes) being screened on MNET (Ch.101) every Thursday evening, from 19h30 to 21h30, with 2 repeat sessions - one on Saturday (11h00 to 13h00) and the second on Tuesday (13h40 to 15h40).

Last week's episodes on 9 December 2021 were S18E13 'Misconduct' & S18E14 'Unseen Improvements'.

The last 2 episodes - S18E15 'Blown Away' & S18E16 "Rule 91' should therefore have been scheduled for this coming Thursday (16 December 2021) to wind up Season 18.



However, these last 2 episodes are now MISSING from this Thursday's MNET line up - in the 19h30 timeslot we now have 'Diana: The Interview that Shook the World', followed by "Tina' - a rockumentary about Tina Turner.



When does MNET actually now intend screening these last 2 NCIS Season 18 episodes, and why were viewers watching last week's NCIS double-bill NOT informed about this abrupt & puzzling programming substitution beforehand?

 

[Brian_G]

Sorry for any added confusion Ivan, I misunderstood. That post deleted.

 

[krugie]

NCIS Season 18 - Missing Episodes

For the last 7 weeks, there has been a double-bill (2 episodes) being screened on MNET (Ch.101) every Thursday evening, from 19h30 to 21h30, with 2 repeat sessions - one on Saturday (11h00 to 13h00) and the second on Tuesday (13h40 to 15h40).

Last week's episodes on 9 December 2021 were S18E13 'Misconduct' & S18E14 'Unseen Improvements'.

The last 2 episodes - S18E15 'Blown Away' & S18E16 "Rule 91' should therefore have been scheduled for this coming Thursday (16 December 2021) to wind up Season 18.

View attachment 1212760

However, these last 2 episodes are now MISSING from this Thursday's MNET line up - in the 19h30 timeslot we now have 'Diana: The Interview that Shook the World', followed by "Tina' - a rockumentary about Tina Turner.

View attachment 1212762

When does MNET actually now intend screening these last 2 NCIS Season 18 episodes, and why were viewers watching last week's NCIS double-bill NOT informed about this abrupt & puzzling programming substitution beforehand?

Very irritatingly they have put a number of shows on break for the remainder of December and filled the schedules with documentaries due to their believe that many people are away and not watching TV. In The Dark is another one suffering the same fate and the Saturday evening sitcoms as well.

 

[krugie]

So I have decided to bite the bullet and take up a Black Friday deal to replace my Explora 1/PVR 2P setup with an Explora Ultra - and in the process committing myself to DSTV for another 2 years (which might still come back to bite me...).

The end result is that I have a BRAND NEW dish & Smart LNB up for grabs - both never been used - as well as an Explora 1 (with a WiFi connector) and a PVR 2P available at a steal if anyone is interested or know of someone that might be. Both decoders are still working perfectly. Welcome to send me a private message if anyone is interested.

I also still have a Starsat dish (and it's LNB which is probably no longer being used by them) mounted to the house wall which is available for free to anyone prepared to come and take it off and remove it themselves!

 

[Brian_G]

Heavy interference going on with some older decoders' EPG for the last 3 days.
On the non-PVR guide it only gives 1 day and no synopses.
On the PVR type guide most of the channels are now completely blank.
(i-Plate info on both seems unaffected.)

And likely all in the name of psychotic degrees of security as usual.
Edit: Maybe not - see next post, and Explora i-Plate was messed up as well recently.