Increasing Buffer Size

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1st Official Post

    Hey guys, so in hopes of preventing the odd channel drop out from stopping and ruining my recordings, I increased the size of the buffer within the MYTVONLINE settings to the maximum (10secs). But my question is, what does this do? I would expect that when I tune into a channel, it takes ~10seconds for the channel to originally load to build a buffer, but whether I set the buffer to 1sec or 10sec, the channels all load quickly (1-3seconds).

    Thanks in advance for your help

    • Official Post

    Couple issues/questions intertwined here it seems.

    1. What happens to your recordings when the buffer under-runs?
      • Does the recording stop when the stream encounters buffering?
      • Does the recording have missing segments that correspond to the buffering?
      • Does your recording stop early because the time taken for buffering?
    2. The "Buffer Time" setting controls the amount of time the stream will buffer after changing channels and the channel has loaded.
      • People expect channel changes to be instant and quick.
      • This setting only takes effect after zapping to a certain channel

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    thanks 175n for your response. So for the last few months I've always had the buffer setting set to ~2secs or so. And on a lot / most occasions when I recorded something, I would return hours later or the next day and discover the recording was only 11mins long instead of 60mins (as an example). I assumed this is because the channel experienced a hiccup and the recording would then stop prematurely. I witnessed this personally a few days ago, and then decided to increase buffer to 10secs thinking that this perhaps could help.

    so to answer your question directly

    - I have only visually witnessed this once, but yes, the channel went black with a loading symbol for 1-2 seconds and then came back. But because this happened, the recording stop. I assume this was the reason for all other recordings I've done in the past that failed.

    - i dont think i've ever had a recording which had missing segments. Meaning the recording just stopped, rather than resuming when the channel returned to normal.

    - i assume the recording stops early because of the buffering, yes (I have witnessed this once).

    • Official Post
    Quote from zoojunior

    Dear Developers,

    can you please change the max buffer size from 10 seconds to 30 seconds please!!!

    Trying to understand your need for a longer buffer.

    Also, I think you don't understand the "Buffer Time" setting in the Settings menu.

    Can you answer the following questions?

    • What is your internet download speed as reported from the Fast.com app available for download in the Market?
    • How many different portals/services have you tried with your device?
    • How many seconds of ACTUAL buffer do you have?
      • Start MOL and watch a channel for around 5 minutes.
      • Remove the network cable or shut off your wireless AP
      • Watch the TV screen and time how long the video keeps playing after the internet is cut.
    Quote from 175n

    Trying to understand your need for a longer buffer.

    Also, I think you don't understand the "Buffer Time" setting in the Settings menu.

    Can you answer the following questions?

    • What is your internet download speed as reported from the Fast.com app available for download in the Market?
    • How many different portals/services have you tried with your device?
    • How many seconds of ACTUAL buffer do you have?
      • Start MOL and watch a channel for around 5 minutes.
      • Remove the network cable or shut off your wireless AP
      • Watch the TV screen and time how long the video keeps playing after the internet is cut.

    i also have a mag box with the same provider, it never buffers in live or VOD. so i have been spending lots of time looking at all the settings, finally found out that the mag box buffer is set to 30 seconds, so thats why i was requesting.

    the rest i am going to try and post back


    have tried three different providers now.

    can you please enlighten me regarding the buffer information, would love to read more about it.

    Edited once, last by zoojunior (September 1, 2018 at 9:09 PM).

    internet speed is 100 down/10up but i see that it goes down to 30-40 depending on the time of the day is what i saw from running speed tests from google and speedtest all day.

    i have 4 providers right now that i am testing with.

    i forgot to do the buffer test, will try and post back.

    thank you for helping


    PS:

    mytvonline did some sort of a quick update today on my box(downloaded an update really fast) and has been randomly crashing a lot today.

    few times after box turns on, portal loads up empty, have to restart again.

    once, could not turn on the box using remote, stuck on red light, had to unplug power cord.

    Edited once, last by zoojunior (September 10, 2018 at 3:55 AM).

    • Official Post

    Can you verify the version of MYTVOnline you have installed?

    hi, did you ever fix this? My internet drops for around 5 seconds, which means I then gave to log in back to mytvonline. I thought if I changed the buffer settings, this would compensate for this? Would that work or did it work for for you?