BBC Iplayer not watchable with BT INFINITY - warning!

[sjtp]

I understand that stuttering issues can sometimes be the result of the device using too large an MTU.  Most modern computers automatically adapt the MTU as appropriate; I'm not sure what the various set top boxes bt may be worth checking.

Also, from http://www.freesat.co.uk/what-you-get/on-demand-tv/troubleshooting:

Goodmans, Grundig and Bush are aware that a number of their freesat HD digital boxes have been unable to enjoy BBC iPlayer on freesat as they should. 

Customers with these boxes having trouble watching BBC iPlayer need to contact the Goodmans, Grundig and Bush Customer Support team with their MAC address. Customer Support team can be reached on 0871 230 4695 who will be able to assist further. 

To find your MAC Address:

1.  Press the Menu button on your remote control
2.  Press the number 0 on your remote control keypad
3.  In the Information page, press the number 0 on your remote control keypad
4.  In the Network Settings page, your MAC Address is displayed in the table as a 12 character code.

Please note down this MAC Address and contact the Goodmans, Grundig and Bush Customer Support team on 0871 230 4695.

[TrevorC]

"Goodmans, Grundig and Bush are aware that a number of their freesat HD digital boxes have been unable to enjoy BBC iPlayer on freesat as they should."

While this may be worth pursing, it doesn't explain why I and numerous others could use iplayer without any issues before switching to Infinity.  I fear this may be a red herring.

[sjtp]

It may be a combination of the issues; if the Goodmans is using an MTU that is ok for some isps, but too large for Infinity. I must admit I don't understand the details, but I understand the pppoe overhead means a slightly smaller packet gets through without needing splitting.

The maximum ping packet size I can manage to bbc is 'ping -l 1464 bbc.co.uk', which is an unusually low value. I can ping arbitrarily large packets to google.  iPlayer probably uses a different server than the standard bbc website, so may be irrelevant?

[BGunter]

I agree that there seem to be some posters who are ignoring the obvious data. Several people had BBC iplayer working fine on low broadband speeds with a variety of setups. Then they went over to Infinity as I did and AT THE SAME TIME BBC iplayer stopped working even though the speed had increased dramatically.

As an aside my samsung iplayer app also did not work until samsung reworked the smart TV interface and both iPlayer and Lovefilm now work fine.

Seems to me as if the Infinity stream does not work with many systems unless thay rework their interface. Question is should all these manufacturers spend time and effort accomodating Infinity when BT should be looking into this themselves.

[walkerx]

It's probably to do with mtu as it is different to ADSL connections, which can cause buffering if not set correctly

I watch I-Player on my Popcornhour c-200 as it provides HD Content unlike the I-Player on BT Vision and I don't have any buffering issues.

[apshep]

Please can you explain more re LTU. Im no expert but I did have an 'MTU' issue with my old adam pro user and had to amend the settings on their recommendation.
Also.....
1) I far as I can tell the MTU settings cannot be amended on the HH3
2) if its an mtu problem why would it work in the morning and not in the evening?????
3)...... why would both the PS3 andTV be separately effected?
4) ........ why am I as the end user expected to sort this out when I have paid a lot of money for the tv with iplayer built in, ps3 with player built in and infinity?????????
5),, If it worked before infinity and now it doesn't surely its a BT problem????????
AAAARRRRRRRRRGGGHHHHHHHH

[apshep]

Sorry about the spelling! Using the mobile and can't amend spelling after posting!

[sjtp]

Please can you explain more re LTU. Im no expert but I did have an 'MTU' issue with my old adam pro user and had to amend the settings on their recommendation.  I'm no expert either, but I'll have a stab at answering, and maybe an expert will do a proper job.  And MTU was only a suggestion, could well be irrelevant.

Also.....
1) I far as I can tell the MTU settings cannot be amended on the HH3  I think that is correct.

2) if its an mtu problem why would it work in the morning and not in the evening?????  That really makes it look as if it isn't an MTU problem.  Wrong MTU can cause packets to be fragmented, so more packets are needed, so more likelyhood of issues when things are busy.  Infinity should be able to cope with any such extra packets at any time.

3)...... why would both the PS3 andTV be separately effected?  A device would be effected if it chose an MTU that was too large.  So they might both be set to using higher values than Infinity likes.  I don't know about the TV, but I see you can play with MTU on the PS3 (for example http://community.us.playstation.com/t5/PlayStation-3/PS3-MTU-Settings/td-p/37251897).    I bet you end up with nothing better and set it back to auto, but probably worth an experiment.

4) ........ why am I as the end user expected to sort this out when I have paid a lot of money for the tv with iplayer built in, ps3 with player built in and infinity?????????  I am afraid that is just a fact of technical life.  In a way it is a remarkable job by standards people that anything works.  

5),, If it worked before infinity and now it doesn't surely its a BT problem????????
AAAARRRRRRRRRGGGHHHHHHHH  Same again.  You could equally argue that your laptop works with iPlayer and Infinity (if it does), so it must be a PS3 or TV problem.

[joem]

Panasonic Smart VIERA TX-L37DT30B with HH3 / Infinity ... exactly the same problems ... BT in India also refused even to raise a complaint/escalation ... flat refused. Eventually spoke to BT customer care who suggested that I try changing the HH3. New HH3 just arrived (different hardware .. noticeable because of different power supply) ... much better .. actually managed to watch a whole programme in the evening for the first time last night. Not sure it is totally solved as I noticed some buffering to start with but it is MUCH better than it was.

Infinity running at about 10 mb/sec ... not bad considering that I live in the middle of nowhere !

Let you know how I get on !

Thanks

[sjtp]

@joem:  Which is the new HomeHub, and what firmware version?  It will say at the bottom of the page http://192.168.1.254/