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Very odd timing

W

wha2doo

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Sorry, gotta make a longer story out of this, lol! Mostly chuckling about it, but I still would like to diagnose and eliminate this issue if I can!

I was watching the Milwaukee Brewers vs NY Yankees baseball game (MLB Milwaukee Brewers channel) Sunday night. Bottom of the ninth, 2 outs, game tied, the channel started buffering and then kept looping the same 20 seconds. I couldn't get it to stop, and the NY Yankees MLB channel wouldn't come in (same channel?? ...often opposing team has their own broadcast, announcers, etc). Sooo, I missed Turang's solo homer for the Brewers but it was an isolated thing I figured. Nope!

Just now, top of the ninth, Uribe only needs two outs for the Brewers to win and... started buffering and the channel went offline. I tried the opponent's channel (San Diego Padres MLB channel) and was offline as well. I then tried a 2nd tv and the same channels were offline. I "killed" Tivimate, cleared the buffer, and restarted it but no go. About 5 minutes later after the game ended, the channel came back online on both tv's.

If it's on my end, shouldn't I been able to get a "fresh connection" and view these two channels on the 2nd tv? I didn't have a VPN active on the 1st TV, but it was active on the 2nd TV.

Thanks for any input!
 
wha2doo said:
Sorry, gotta make a longer story out of this, lol! Mostly chuckling about it, but I still would like to diagnose and eliminate this issue if I can!

I was watching the Milwaukee Brewers vs NY Yankees baseball game (MLB Milwaukee Brewers channel) Sunday night. Bottom of the ninth, 2 outs, game tied, the channel started buffering and then kept looping the same 20 seconds. I couldn't get it to stop, and the NY Yankees MLB channel wouldn't come in (same channel?? ...often opposing team has their own broadcast, announcers, etc). Sooo, I missed Turang's solo homer for the Brewers but it was an isolated thing I figured. Nope!

Just now, top of the ninth, Uribe only needs two outs for the Brewers to win and... started buffering and the channel went offline. I tried the opponent's channel (San Diego Padres MLB channel) and was offline as well. I then tried a 2nd tv and the same channels were offline. I "killed" Tivimate, cleared the buffer, and restarted it but no go. About 5 minutes later after the game ended, the channel came back online on both tv's.

If it's on my end, shouldn't I been able to get a "fresh connection" and view these two channels on the 2nd tv? I didn't have a VPN active on the 1st TV, but it was active on the 2nd TV.

Thanks for any input!
Click to expand...
There are so many unknowns to deal with, it's at times impossible to say. Your provider, your device needing a refresh, the Brewer/Yankee game itself, so much in demand? Perhaps it's a conspiracy against Brewer fans (I'm just taking a stab at that, and kidding, of course). I find looping impossible to deal with, and at times, it's just the death of that channel for the time being. E.G., if ESPN has a hockey game and becomes problematic, I'll go to an NHL channel, or a premium Sports channel. I'm going to take a stab that while this game has no interest to me, as they're both 2nd, perhaps there's a huge audience for it and therefore the demand. Check with your provider and see if there's anything they can offer, but no doubt it will be the usual "it's you". Force stop, clear the cache, reboot your device, yada yada yada. I'm convinced it's demand. Good luck.
 
Thanks and I figured there are a lot of unknowns and hadn't provided enough details, lol. And even then, diagnosing likely will be very difficult, lol

My provider is AT&T (fiber), running a firestick 4k with Tivimate. The firestick, apps, etc are up to date and has plenty of space (only 50% full). Not totally sure about it being demand (as in my internet provider being overloaded and possibly throttling)... since I'd think I'd be seeing this on more than these few channels (and at other times as well).

I've never been clear on what to expect when checking on a 2nd device/tv. If I get the Channel offline message (or buffering/looping until I let the device reset for about 5-10 minutes), would I get it on my 2nd device? Or would it have a different "connection" and should work fine (as long as it's not due to my internet provider speed having slowed extremely or become inconsistent)?

One other thing I've noticed which could be coincidental, but is still mostly holding true. I was having a lot of buffering while watching some VOD shows prior to the last DOS attack. I thought some was because the VPN servers were overloaded and slowed.. I would switch servers, start the show again, and fast forward past the buffer point by 5-10 secs and it would be fine again for awhile. Once y'all got Mobus back up and going again (and again, a big thanks for all the hard work!!), this issue disappeared. Very, very rarely saw any buffering or issues with live TV and VOD even watching without a VPN active!

Maybe just coincidence, but it did get me wondering!
 
wha2doo said:
Thanks and I figured there are a lot of unknowns and hadn't provided enough details, lol. And even then, diagnosing likely will be very difficult, lol

My provider is AT&T (fiber), running a firestick 4k with Tivimate. The firestick, apps, etc are up to date and has plenty of space (only 50% full). Not totally sure about it being demand (as in my internet provider being overloaded and possibly throttling)... since I'd think I'd be seeing this on more than these few channels (and at other times as well).

I've never been clear on what to expect when checking on a 2nd device/tv. If I get the Channel offline message (or buffering/looping until I let the device reset for about 5-10 minutes), would I get it on my 2nd device? Or would it have a different "connection" and should work fine (as long as it's not due to my internet provider speed having slowed extremely or become inconsistent)?

One other thing I've noticed which could be coincidental, but is still mostly holding true. I was having a lot of buffering while watching some VOD shows prior to the last DOS attack. I thought some was because the VPN servers were overloaded and slowed.. I would switch servers, start the show again, and fast forward past the buffer point by 5-10 secs and it would be fine again for awhile. Once y'all got Mobus back up and going again (and again, a big thanks for all the hard work!!), this issue disappeared. Very, very rarely saw any buffering or issues with live TV and VOD even watching without a VPN active!

Maybe just coincidence, but it did get me wondering!
Click to expand...
Well, AT&T generally does not "throttle" speeds in the sense of a permanent speed floor, but they do use "network management" practices that can feel like it. (TBH, I would think "network management" is throttling, but that's my interpretation.) I'm assuming you have purchased two connections with your service, not one. As far as VPNs go, depending on the service and your provider, a VPN can help or hinder your connectivity issue. There will be those who disagree with me, notably those who sell VPN services. I have never had an internet provider or a service that, in my opinion, needed a VPN. I've tested them and have found them to be of no value.
The debate over VPNs is valid because they are often marketed as a "magic shield," which they aren't. Whether a VPN is a benefit or a waste of money depends entirely on what you are trying to hide and from whom.

Does a VPN Protect You from Your ISP?​

Yes and no. It changes what they can see, but not the fact that you are using the internet.

  • What the ISP can no longer see: They cannot see the specific websites you visit (URLs), the individual pages you browse, or the data you send/receive. All they see is a stream of encrypted gibberish traveling between your home and the VPN server.
  • What the ISP can still see: They know exactly how much data you are using and when you are online. They also know you are using a VPN because the connection is "wrapped" in a specific encryption protocol that is easy to identify.
 
Thanks again! I have had that same question regarding VPN being a necessity or not. I had Surfshark for a long time (probably a year or more ago) but it didn't seem like it helped much. Lately I'd been able to use ProtonVPN free and switch countries/servers as they became overloaded. I may do a 30 day test run on a new VPN if I feel it may help at some point in the future.

And lol, agreed on the throttling vs network management. I think very similar if not the same but sounds better for the general public!

Thanks for the discussion and thoughts, and honestly there truly are too many variables for me to know exactly what needs attention if it occurs again. I'm just happy it seems isolated recently and will leave it alone! :-)
 
Surfshark Setup
* Ensure you run protocols.
* OpenVPN TCP
* For countries, try different ones to see which one will work.
Alternative to Surfshark
* Use NordVPN.
 
wha2doo said:
Sorry, gotta make a longer story out of this, lol! Mostly chuckling about it, but I still would like to diagnose and eliminate this issue if I can!

I was watching the Milwaukee Brewers vs NY Yankees baseball game (MLB Milwaukee Brewers channel) Sunday night. Bottom of the ninth, 2 outs, game tied, the channel started buffering and then kept looping the same 20 seconds. I couldn't get it to stop, and the NY Yankees MLB channel wouldn't come in (same channel?? ...often opposing team has their own broadcast, announcers, etc). Sooo, I missed Turang's solo homer for the Brewers but it was an isolated thing I figured. Nope!

Just now, top of the ninth, Uribe only needs two outs for the Brewers to win and... started buffering and the channel went offline. I tried the opponent's channel (San Diego Padres MLB channel) and was offline as well. I then tried a 2nd tv and the same channels were offline. I "killed" Tivimate, cleared the buffer, and restarted it but no go. About 5 minutes later after the game ended, the channel came back online on both tv's.

If it's on my end, shouldn't I been able to get a "fresh connection" and view these two channels on the 2nd tv? I didn't have a VPN active on the 1st TV, but it was active on the 2nd TV.

Thanks for any input! надежное онлайн казино
Click to expand...
Missing the exact same moment twice is brutal :) but yeah, if both TVs and feeds dropped like that it really points to the source rather than your setup.
 
wha2doo said:
Sorry, gotta make a longer story out of this, lol! Mostly chuckling about it, but I still would like to diagnose and eliminate this issue if I can!

I was watching the Milwaukee Brewers vs NY Yankees baseball game (MLB Milwaukee Brewers channel) Sunday night. Bottom of the ninth, 2 outs, game tied, the channel started buffering and then kept looping the same 20 seconds. I couldn't get it to stop, and the NY Yankees MLB channel wouldn't come in (same channel?? ...often opposing team has their own broadcast, announcers, etc). Sooo, I missed Turang's solo homer for the Brewers but it was an isolated thing I figured. Nope!

Just now, top of the ninth, Uribe only needs two outs for the Brewers to win and... started buffering and the channel went offline. I tried the opponent's channel (San Diego Padres MLB channel) and was offline as well. I then tried a 2nd tv and the same channels were offline. I "killed" Tivimate, cleared the buffer, and restarted it but no go. About 5 minutes later after the game ended, the channel came back online on both tv's.

If it's on my end, shouldn't I been able to get a "fresh connection" and view these two channels on the 2nd tv? I didn't have a VPN active on the 1st TV, but it was active on the 2nd TV.

Thanks for any input!







I’ve seen similar blackout/load problems during high-traffic moments on sports streams, kind of like what happens on busy live platforms such as Fox Slots during peak events. Your VPN probably wasn’t the cause if both setups failed together.
Click to expand...
That honestly sounds more like a provider-side stream issue than something on your end, especially since both TVs lost the same MLB feeds at the exact same moment. The fact that the channels came back right after the game ended is super suspicious too.
 
Thanks again for all the responses. Since, I have essentially had no issue of buffering, looping, channel going offline, etc. Also I haven't had to use a VPN during this time...

Not sure where the issue was, but just glad it hasn't returned (I'm not trying to jinx it so knocking on wood atm, lol)!
 
Glad it all sorted for you ;)
 
Majority of the time it had been great..in the week or two since, it was fine except for one or two very brief issues. But now it's back again and become more frequent over the last 2 days. I'm confused how it can be looping the exact same video on both my tvs?

I have 2 connections so if I get buffering and looping on one, should I expect to see it on both at the same time? I realize if my issue is due to my provider slowing throughput, my wifi signal is weak or channels overloaded, etc it definitely could cause problems for both connections. But the exact same part of the broadcast looping on both?

For example, last night I was watching and it started to buffer, then turned into a never ending loop (MLB Milwaukee Brewers, of course lol). I switched and was fine watching the opponent's broadcast on the MLB Houston Astros channel. After 10-15 minutes, I was curious and checked my 2nd tv (had been turned off with Tivimate force closed hours before, so it wasn't on nor actively connected to Mobus). As soon as I put on the MLB Milwaukee Brewers channel, it started looping and showing exact same loop as my first tv/connection. I would've thought with two separate connections, the new connection would've either let me view the channel fine to start with, or worst case scenario buffered and I wouldn't see anything.

I'm confused how I was seeing exact same loop on two separate tvs when one was only turned over 15 minutes later.. I just signed up for a free 2 week trial of ProtonVPN and will see how that goes! Otherwise I may be back to being confused and wondering as to what to do (haha, no pun intended, lol!)
 
Last edited:
Hi there,

Sorry to hear about all these issues.

It sounds like you're having a bad case of throttling or network management.

In either case, ProtonVPN is not a good choice for a VPN.

Take advantage of the 30-day money back guarantee with Surfshark or Nord VPN.

They are IPTV VPN companies.
 
Maybe so. And lol, perhaps I'm overly suspicious... It had been fine but then the day after my account was billed for the month, it started doing this again (not all the time, but enough for me to want to get back to correcting it).

I am curious what the negative is with ProtonVPN Premium (2 week trial is for a business, but it's the same as app for personal and business). I can try Surfshark again, but a year or three ago didn't seem like it helped much if I remember correctly (wasn't on fiber at the time though).

So despite having two connections, once one connection starts looping I can expect the other one to broadcast the exact same loop? I'd be seeing it in stereo if I put both tv's next to each other! I was thinking each connection would receive a separate broadcast even for the same channel (sorry, tech oriented but not exactly knowledgeable on this, lol)?

And lastly, the only way I've found to get past a loop is waiting 5-10 minutes. To be safe, I'll force stop Tivimate and reset my firestick, but seems like the waiting period is what does it. Anyone have a quicker method?
 
Surshark or Nord can also be bad
Change the network protocol to Open vpn TCP
That way, your VPN will be secure.
It might be slower if you do a speed test. But it is working and NO Buffering

it actually might be more secure this way
 
Thanks and sorry if I seem slow! So you're saying Surfshark or Nord are better than ProtonVPN, but still may be bad? I set ProtonVPN to use TCP (they only have Wireguard and don't give an option for OpenVPN) rather than it picking the best protocol for the current connection. I'll give ProtonVPN a little longer but if the next best option is SurfShark, I'll consider trying that for 30 days soon.

And I'm still wondering about my questions on the 2 connections/exact same loop on both, and best way to clear a loop.

Again, thanks! :-)
 
Hi there,

I'm actually just going on recommendation from @husham

Let's see if I can drag him to this conversation.


Hi @husham
Is proton VPN good enough?
Can you help us with this please
 
When using a VPN

Use a VPN that supports IPTV.

If you don't believe it, ask ChatGPT. Lol

I used to like IPVanish, but the idiots started sharing information with authorities, so I stopped using them.

Now I use either Surfshark or Nord, but speed tests will be slow if you use speed test websites, so don't depend on speed tests.

Get Nord; it's better than Surfshark.

Still, the protocol needs to be changed to OpenVPN TCP.

Wireguard is amazing for speed, but it's like no protection at all. So don't use the Wireguard protocol on a VPN for IPTV.

Wireguard does not provide privacy.

Try using a hotspot on your phone and see if it makes any difference.

So ISPs can see you when you use Wireguard, so they block you immediately.

OpenVPN TCP or OpenVPN UDP

will protect your streams.

And change countries where possible.

Surfshark is used by too many people, so it's best to keep changing countries that don't buffer, as network management is a big factor here, and ISPs block them quickly.

Now stop using ProtonVPN. It's crappy, lol.

And get one or the other.
 

Some time ago, when I even mentioned I had Nord, I was shouted down and told I had to have IPVanish. (Perhaps because everyone sold IPVanish.) Things change, don't they?​

​

NordVPN — The Best Overall for IPTV​

NordVPN is widely considered the top-tier choice for live IPTV streaming. It offers an exceptional balance of uncompromising security and raw speed, making it highly effective at bypassing ISP "network management" or throttling practices.
  • Privacy & Personal Data: NordVPN is based in Panama (outside the jurisdiction of intelligence-sharing alliances) and operates a strict, independently audited no-logs policy. Crucially, its entire server network is RAM-only. This means that if a server is ever disconnected or seized, all data is instantly wiped clean because no information is ever written to a hard drive.
  • Speed & Buffering Protection: It is consistently clocked as one of the fastest VPNs on the market due to its proprietary NordLynx protocol (built on the ultra-fast WireGuard framework). In testing, it retains up to 86%–90% of base internet speeds.
  • IPTV Optimization: It handles heavy data demands flawlessly, allowing Electronic Program Guide (EPG) data to sync almost instantly and live channels to switch without lagging out into endless loops.
  • Security Protocol Note: While modern lightweight protocols like NordLynx/WireGuard provide maximum speed and robust encryption, if you ever find yourself on a highly restrictive network where your ISP actively blocks VPN traffic, you can easily toggle NordVPN's settings to OpenVPN (TCP). This wraps your stream in a highly secure, obfuscated format that makes it look like standard web traffic, eliminating blocks.
 
Time change @MikeVanWa everyday unfortunately.
Sad but true
 
Thanks everyone for responding and the info! And sorry for the eyestrain on this!! I looked, found a deal for NordVPN basic for 1 year for $24 (before tax), and snagged it immediately. Got it installed and been trying both Open VPN (TCP) and Open VPN (UDP) to see if one is better than the other for me. I'm choosing between US, Canada, UK, Germany, and Netherlands' fastest servers.

Very curious...as was said, the net speeds I saw connecting to both North American and European countries were lower, but still acceptable imo. What really is needed to view the FHD channels and typical VODs without buffering (or very little)? An average speed of at least 5-8 Mbps and preferably able to reach 10-20+ Mbps?

I'd been monitoring speeds using Time Netspeed, Analiti, and NetSpeed (via Amazon Silk - Web Browser) but finally discovered Firestick 4k has an embedded overlay for all the system info. I can now monitor CPU, Memory, and data usage in real time via an overlay of its "System X-Ray" and seems more accurate (and seems like NordVPN does affect the speed, but as will say later...seems positively)

I'm trying various things, but so far been getting mixed results. Watching VOD without NordVPN was fine until about 7pm last night. I connected to NordVPN and it was good for an hour, then started buffering badly again. Changing servers and countries helped temporarily, but I had hoped not to have to change servers every 30-60 minutes! Broadcast channels seemed better with limited buffering no matter what.. Honestly, I switched to PlutoTV and watched the same VOD series, dealing with ads rather than the buffering for a few hours!

This morning, was watching primarily US:NFL Network FHD without NordVPN. It did buffer at times so I would switch between it and CA:NFL Network to clear it up. I noticed as soon as I switched, the Net speed shot up to a max of about 20 Mbps and then quickly settled down to a range of 2.5 Mbps - 8 Mpbs with the infrequent buffering.

Then, for curiosity I connected to NordVPN. It still buffered infrequently but the speeds were faster! Now they zoom up to a max of 46 Mbps after switching channels and then bouncing between 4 - 20 Mbps (generally 8-12 Mbps) with infrequent buffering if any..

Again, sorry for the eyestrain from my wordy post! Sooo...a few questions. Is it throttling or something else that's causing NordVPN to increase my data speed? But still is doing some buffering. This I'll continue testing, monitoring, etc and see - but any suggestions are very much appreciated!! I think I still have a problem with the VODs but maybe live TV is better(?).
 
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