Foxtel/Sky IPTV DVR Boxes Dying in Droves

 

Hard Drives and Over Heating are the Main Cause.

As an early adopter in the UK and now Australia of Foxtel/Sky’s Very Good DVR (digital video recorder), it will not surprise many to learn that the boxes are now dying in droves.

This is mainly due to the hard drives dying after 24/7 use. Unknown to most users but even when the Sky+ (UK) or IQ (Australia & Asia), is not being used on purpose for a scheduled recording, it still records (up to 60 minutes of TV all the time), and a load of on demand TV you will not likely want. This means you can turn on your TV having missed the 1^st 5 minutes of a show and rewind it. A great feature, but one that is killing the hard drives in the hi-tech boxes. In Australia customers are now seeing more and more failed recordings, only to be told to format the drives (via Foxtel) and to turn units off when not in use. This is because the risky pricing model in Australia has users paying to ‘use’ the box but not owning it outright. A good thing for when it fails, but not so well for Foxtel that will soon have to start replacing the hard drives.

Industry wide it has been reported that due to the ever increasing number of hard drives being used in everything from PC’s, Network Servers, to DVR’s and the increased amount of heat from PC’s (CPUS), or TV components (plasmas, Xbox 360’s) etc. and you have a even worsening effect.

Users will need to be vigilant but forceful with their suppliers as they will not repair or replace this failing hardware easily.

Some useful tips to prolong the live of you DVR is a no brainer or in a worse case scenario if failed recordings start appearing. Do a reset via your instructions a hard reboot is needed sometimes and not normally in any of the instructions so a call to Sky or Foxtel will be needed (unless you track down the model and Google it for hard reset instructions). If things don’t get better you may need to do the following:

1) Turn it off – Good for the environment too I guess, if you do not use it for the instant rewind feature (it will turn itself back on when a show is due to record).

2) Erase- any failed recordings (the drive corruption if not erased encourages more failed recordings, due file corruption on the drives)

3) Breath- Increase ventilation around the DVR if possible, if next to a Xbox 360 (The oven of all consoles), make sure you turn it off when not killing baddies on Halo 3.

4) Back-UP & Reformat- If all else fails back up any shows you want to keep and with your broadcaster they can format remotely (with your help). It is easy to back up to a PC, DVD Recorder, or one of those old VCR thingys (geez has it been that long).

Apple I-phone in Australia early 2008 With NextG and TV (likely)

The original story on this was more important for what it did not say and thus is missing these big points.

1) The phone has to be NextG (beyond 3G) the only network Telstra will operate soon & not a platform the I-phone currently works.

2) This will also mean (as it is the Telstra model) it will likely get the 33 TV Stations on it from Sky/ Foxtel (at a sligthly higher price

Discussions are ongoing.

<Another Comment>

So, this will likely be Next G (sometimes called 3.5G) for Australia.
HSDPA is 3.5G. It is an extension of 3G, it uses the same network frequencies. 3G handsets can reach up to 384Kbit/sec. There are two HSDPA networks in Australia. Telstra run off the UMTS850MHz and this is HSDPA enable, they label their network NextG, since they believe its Next Generation.
Optus, Vodafone, Three (and Telstra too, as Three and Telstra co-own the 2100 Network) run off UMTS2100MHZ and this is also HSDPA enable, they just label it HSDPA.

I am not sure about other countries, but there are only a handful of countries which run off the UMTS850MHz frequency, from memory AT&T and Cordova in the States run off 850. UTMS2100 MHz is more widely used.

Note, Telstra claim their network is faster, since it is capable of 14.4Mb/sec. However there aren’t any 14.4Mb/sec devices, their current handsets (only the V6 V3xx and a few of the ZTEs) and turbocards only reach up to 3.6Mbit/secs.

Optus, Three, Vodafone don’t really state how fast the network is capable, but they too have devices which reach up to 3.6Mbit/sec, ie USB Modems and Nokia 6110 and n95, ironically phones which Telstra rejected as they were not UTMS850.

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Aussie ISP Netspace has bought online dvd rental company Webflicks

This is a good thing if Netspace can maintain their QoS that they have had more than a little problem with. It is a logical step to offering online movies.

Melbourne

Aussie-based Internet service provider (ISP) Netspace has bought online dvd rental company Webflicks.

In a statement issued, Netspace noted both its own customers and those of Webflicks would be offered incentives to use Netspace’ other services, through product bundling.

Webflicks allows customers to select via a Web interface a list of movie, television and music DVDs that they would like to watch. The DVDs are then delivered via post in batches when they become available.

Customers post the DVDs back when they have finished watching them.

Netspace’s entrance into online dvd rental is symptomatic of a trend in the wider ISP market.

As Internet services are gradually becoming cheaper and faster, ISPs are increasingly bundling value-added services on top of basic Internet connectivity.

For example, Telstra’s retail ISP division BigPond offers Internet customers discounts on its DVD and video-on-demand service Big Pond Movies (Telstra).

In Netspace’s statement, the ISP’s managing director Stuart Marburg said his company saw content initiatives such as Webflicks as providing an opportunity to drive demand for higher broadband speeds than the base 1.5Mbps offered by most ISPs.

Marburg said at that point Netspace would be poised to offer video content online.

Netspace also has ambitions to offer a full-service telephone solution, including an Internet telephony (also known as Voice over Internet Protocol or VOIP service.

The company will launch a full telephony offering in the third quarter of this year.

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