ShowMax - broadband requirements, pricing, and supported devices

l3ok said:
Kodi plugin anyone?
Click to expand...

I don't know what all the fuss is about. I stream anything I want on Kodi through a Raspberry Pi connected with a HDMI connection to a LED projector onto a 2.5 meter screen. I can watch some TV programs or the latest movies in 720P or 1080P, all for free. Pure heaven. :)
 
Utterly Confused said:
I don't know what all the fuss is about. I stream anything I want on Kodi through a Raspberry Pi connected with a HDMI connection to a LED projector onto a 2.5 meter screen. I can watch some TV programs or the latest movies in 720P or 1080P, all for free. Pure heaven. :)
Click to expand...

Some of us have Naspers shares ;)
 
Showmax CDN
Streams are using the Akamai CDN, which seems to be served out of Teraco right now.

(showmax.akamaized.net) which resolves to 41.193.163.34 for me and is a VOX Telecom IP at NAP Africa in Teraco Isando that has been suballocated to Akamai, and is being announced by Akamai in Teraco. Thus pretty much freely available to any ISP in South Africa.

http://bgp.he.net/net/41.193.163.0/24#_whois


Showmax Website
The Showmax.com website itself appears to be hosted with Hetzner in South Africa which most ISPs can reach via JINX.

IP: 197.189.227.106.

They appear to be using Varnish as a front-end caching server and NGINX as webserver.

(headers)
Code: 
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2015 15:51:10 GMT
Via: 1.1 varnish-v4
Last-Modified: Wed, 19 Aug 2015 14:25:41 GMT
Server: nginx/1.6.2
Age: 0
Vary: Accept-Encoding
Access-Control-Allow-Methods: DELETE, GET, HEAD, OPTIONS, POST, PUT, TRACE
Content-Type: text/html
Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *
Cache-Control: max-age=0, private, no-cache
showmax-Request-Id: 29D8C005:32CE_C5BDE36A:0050_55D4A5EE_441ED:1C8D5
X-Varnish: 4241317
Accept-Ranges: bytes
Content-Encoding: gzip
Expires: Wed, 19 Aug 2015 15:51:10 GMT


A wireshark on the TCP streams during streaming indicates that they are using http://www.unified-streaming.com/ as their platform.

(headers)
Code: 
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Server: Apache/2.4.10 (Debian)
X-USP: version=1.7.10 ()


Showmax DRM
The stream's XML description file indicates Microsoft Playready/Widevine/Marlin being used for content protection.
(streaming XML description file)
Code: 
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!-- Created with Unified Streaming Platform(version=1.7.10) -->
<MPD
--snip--

<!-- Common Encryption -->
      <ContentProtection
        schemeIdUri="urn:mpeg:dash:mp4protection:2011"
        value="cenc"
        cenc:default_KID="1888C64F-F273-1963-F1CB-C55566DFADE9">
      </ContentProtection>
      <!-- PlayReady -->
      <ContentProtection
        schemeIdUri="urn:uuid:9A04F079-9840-4286-AB92-E65BE0885F95"
        value="MSPR 2.0">
      </ContentProtection>
      <!-- Widevine -->
      <ContentProtection
        schemeIdUri="urn:uuid:EDEF8BA9-79D6-4ACE-A3C8-27DCD51D21ED">
      </ContentProtection>
      <!-- Marlin -->
      <ContentProtection
        schemeIdUri="urn:uuid:5E629AF5-38DA-4063-8977-97FFBD9902D4">
<mas:MarlinContentIds>
  <mas:MarlinContentId>urn:marlin:kid:1888c64ff2731963f1cbc55566dfade9</mas:MarlinContentId>
</mas:MarlinContentIds>
      </ContentProtection>

This was from a cursory investigation into the platform and some bits may prove to be inaccurate yet.
 
Last edited:
im confused, so it says its available for samsung smart TV's but apparently not?
I got a 2014 series 6 samsung smart TV
 
twr said:
im confused, so it says its available for samsung smart TV's but apparently not?
I got a 2014 series 6 samsung smart TV
Click to expand...

On my Samsung H6400 the Showmax app shows under Samsung Apps - What's New.
 
Anyone with a rooted Android device tried yet, I'm guessing it won't work.
 
Soul Assassin said:
Anyone with a rooted Android device tried yet, I'm guessing it won't work.
Click to expand...

Running CyanogenMod on my S4, with root access.

Got the app installed and played with it a bit.

Don't have an account set up so can't stream yet.

Both SuperSport and DSTV Now work on my phone though.
 
Shalin_ZN said:
Running CyanogenMod on my S4, with root access.

Got the app installed and played with it a bit.

Don't have an account set up so can't stream yet.

Both SuperSport and DSTV Now work on my phone though.
Click to expand...
My S4 had Omega Rom and DStv Now wouldn't play but the app worked.
 
I'm running from my HTPC to my TV and everything shows in standard-width instead of widescreen. Anyone else have this or know how to fix it?
 
Soul Assassin said:
My S4 had Omega Rom and DStv Now wouldn't play but the app worked.
Click to expand...

I can play DSTV Now on my phone. Even use it on my Fire TV as well.

The SS app used to work, now apparently they started encrypting the stream so it doesn't work anymore. Not sure if it's temporary or what, but it says you should use DSTV Now.
 
Lachdanan said:
I'm running from my HTPC to my TV and everything shows in standard-width instead of widescreen. Anyone else have this or know how to fix it?
Click to expand...

Probably has something to do with their adaptive bitrate tech?

What's your line speed and what internet account do you have?

Other have been saying the quality is quite poor on the streams, even lower than SD. Hopefully it gets better over time.
 
Shalin_ZN said:
Probably has something to do with their adaptive bitrate tech?

What's your line speed and what internet account do you have?

Other have been saying the quality is quite poor on the streams, even lower than SD. Hopefully it gets better over time.
Click to expand...

2mb Mweb premium uncapped. Quality is not THAT bad - but the black bars are irritating!
 
Lachdanan said:
2mb Mweb premium uncapped. Quality is not THAT bad - but the black bars are irritating!
Click to expand...

Maybe the show you're watching is old and thus was recorded in 4:3, hence the black bars.
 
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