problems with Bloozhead and Alv

**blind melon chitlin** · #1 11-10-2011, 10:03 PM

Hello

Last season I had no probs getting links to most games most weeks. I used Spcast and Yes TV plus a few others and it was brilliant. This season and especially lately I cannot get on to Bloodzhead and Alv, it buffers up to 50 60 % and no more, why is this? Yes does not seem to work anymore? I can never get a link via any of the browser links. I hope you can offer some advise please. Great site and long may it continue. I use Opera as my browser but also have same probs with IE. I have recently downloaded the new version of Sopcast.

**Begbie** · #2 11-10-2011, 10:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blind melon chitlin

Hello

Last season I had no probs getting links to most games most weeks. I used Spcast and Yes TV plus a few others and it was brilliant. This season and especially lately I cannot get on to Bloodzhead and Alv, it buffers up to 50 60 % and no more, why is this? Yes does not seem to work anymore? I can never get a link via any of the browser links. I hope you can offer some advise please. Great site and long may it continue. I use Opera as my browser but also have same probs with IE. I have recently downloaded the new version of Sopcast.

YES TV hasn't been streaming very often since another site encountered difficulties.

Another member of this site highlighted that ALV was online tonight but poor quality. This would normally be because of a problem on the streamer's side, a lack of P2P users using the stream or the streamer trying to broadcast at a higher bit-rate than his/her upload can handle. We can't explain the drop in quality.

I tested the Bloodzeed link tonight for a few minutes and it seemed OK.

As for browser links, most work for me. If you are having trouble watching a match, your best bet is to post in one of the Feedback threads during the game. We'll try to help as much as we can.

**Allochtony** · #3 12-10-2011, 11:09 AM

I am still having problems with sopcast!
It buffers then just hangs! Frustrating!

**Begbie** · #4 12-10-2011, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Allochtony

I am still having problems with sopcast!
It buffers then just hangs! Frustrating!

What % does it buffer to?

**blind melon chitlin** · #5 12-10-2011, 01:40 PM

Thats the problem I have been having with the Sopcast streams. It either hangs around 56% or occasionally will be OK for 10 to 15 mins and then just drop back to around 20%.

Which Browser streams do you find work best and on which browser, IE, Opera is what I have been using.

Does the speed of your broadband connection effect quality becasue up here in the Highlands of Scotland I guess it aint that quick, but saying that up until recently I have not had problems with Sopcast.

**Burdock** · #6 12-10-2011, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blind melon chitlin

Thats the problem I have been having with the Sopcast streams. It either hangs around 56% or occasionally will be OK for 10 to 15 mins and then just drop back to around 20%.

Which Browser streams do you find work best and on which browser, IE, Opera is what I have been using.

Does the speed of your broadband connection effect quality becasue up here in the Highlands of Scotland I guess it aint that quick, but saying that up until recently I have not had problems with Sopcast.

I generally use IE for sopcast. Your connection speed can make a difference these days, as the likes of bloodzeed provide some high quality (and bit rate) streams. I'm not sure what your internet speed needs to hit to provide a flawless stream, but I'm on a 10mb Virgin connection and don't have many issues (other than when it is clearly a problem on the streamers end).

I use Firefox for Browser links (I prefer sop though).... as you can use the adblockplus add-on, which cuts out a lot of the crap.

**Begbie** · #7 12-10-2011, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blind melon chitlin

Thats the problem I have been having with the Sopcast streams. It either hangs around 56% or occasionally will be OK for 10 to 15 mins and then just drop back to around 20%.

Which Browser streams do you find work best and on which browser, IE, Opera is what I have been using.

Does the speed of your broadband connection effect quality becasue up here in the Highlands of Scotland I guess it aint that quick, but saying that up until recently I have not had problems with Sopcast.

KIWI SPORTS is normally pretty good quality, otherwise I just try a few until I get a watch-able one.

I normally use Chrome or Firefox but I don't know if different browsers perform better.

The speed of your broadband is quite important. In the past, most Sopcast streamers uploaded at about 250 kbps but with the higher upload speeds that are now available, many are streaming at 1000 kbps. This requires a better download speed for a steady stream.

There are other factors that affect Sopcast stream quality including the upload speed of other 'peers' watching the stream. We all 'pass on' bits of the broadcast to other users on the P2P network. If the network doesn't have sufficient upload capacity, a lot of people will suffer the start/stop that you describe. It probably depends on what peers you are connected to, something beyond your control.

Another factor is PC performance. Programs that are running in the background may be 'eating up' your processing capability. ie your PC can't cope with everything that it is being asked to do at the same time. In the past, some anti-virus packages were very 'sore' on processing resources. I don't know if this is still the case.

This is a pretty good speedtest. When it finishes, click 'Share Result', click the 'Forum' tab and copy/paste the result here.

**Allochtony** · #8 12-10-2011, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Begbie

What % does it buffer to?

I forgot, not worth the effort, since sopcore bug!

**blind melon chitlin** · #9 13-10-2011, 04:56 PM

**Begbie** · #10 13-10-2011, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blind melon chitlin

http://www.speedtest.net/result/1532808417.png

I'd say that you will struggle to get a steady stream on one of the high-bitrate channels with 1.6 Mb/s. If you are on a wireless connection, you will probably get a bit faster if you use an ethernet connection.

**Tats** · #11 13-10-2011, 06:23 PM

Bloodzeed has been fecking about with his new HD box this week so expect his bitrate to be high , he did post it on twitter but i fget what it was now . Not a bad bloke f a spurs fan lol

**fishtoast** · #12 13-10-2011, 06:27 PM

http://twitter.com/#!/bloodzeed there it is,showing Man utd,city and chelsea prem games sat,and spurs and arsenal games sun on his ch

**Tats** · #13 13-10-2011, 06:57 PM

sounds like thats my weekend footy sorted bitrate 800k which means fook all to me but it works lol

**blind melon chitlin** · #14 13-10-2011, 07:51 PM

Thanks for the reply's guys. Not sure what an ethernet connection is or what bit rate means to me. Hope to watch the Spurs beat Toon on Sunday

**Sharky** · #15 13-10-2011, 07:57 PM

Choooon.

FSi Embedded Video - Visit Source

**Begbie** · #16 13-10-2011, 08:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blind melon chitlin

Thanks for the reply's guys. Not sure what an ethernet connection is or what bit rate means to me. Hope to watch the Spurs beat Toon on Sunday

A ethernet connection is a cable from your router/hub to your PC. It usually has a yellow connector (looks a bit like a house-phone plug) at each end.

Bit-rate is the 'speed' that the broadcast is being streamed at. Normally, the higher the bit-rate, the better the quality. As a rough rule of thumb, a Sopcast stream with a 1 Mbps bit-rate requires a 3 Mbps download speed for a steady stream. If Bloodzeed is streaming at 0.8 Mbps at the weekend, I'd say that people with a lower download speed than 2.4 Mbps might struggle.

A lower quality (lower bit-rate) Sopcast channel would probably work for you, no problem.

Higher quality browser streams require a lower download rate than Sopcast. eg. If Bloodzeed was streaming at 0.8 Mbps on a browser site, your download speed could probably handle it. There are more ifs and buts but that will do for now.

Hope you're right about Spurs beating the Toon.

**fishtoast** · #17 13-10-2011, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Begbie

A ethernet connection is a cable from your router/hub to your PC. It usually has a yellow connector (looks a bit like a house-phone plug) at each end.

Bit-rate is the 'speed' that the broadcast is being streamed at. Normally, the higher the bit-rate, the better the quality. As a rough rule of thumb, a Sopcast stream with a 1 Mbps bit-rate requires a 3 Mbps download speed for a steady stream. If Bloodzeed is streaming at 0.8 Mbps at the weekend, I'd say that people with a lower download speed than 2.4 Mbps might struggle.

A lower quality (lower bit-rate) Sopcast channel would probably work for you, no problem.

Higher quality browser streams require a lower download rate than Sopcast. eg. If Bloodzeed was streaming at 0.8 Mbps on a browser site, your download speed could probably handle it. There are more ifs and buts but that will do for now.

Hope you're right about Spurs beating the Toon.

Ha i have one of them

i probably would not have a clue what it was not been in to computers at all and leaving everything cp wise to my dad to set up/fix etc

as long as i get the footy on thats good enough for me

i never have any problems at all

my speed right now,was 6.67 earlier