Horrible Direct TV Now performance

[rbertalotto]

im an early adopter to DTVN. Been using it since January 2017. I have three hotspots...TMobile, AT&T and Verizon.

in the morning, it works great. After about 3pm it sometimes will not even load and if it does it buffers every minute or so. Totally unwatchable.

all other streaming apps work great during this time period.

this is a very recent situation. Seems it happened with their latest update.

anyone else using DTVN and experienc8ng the same?

[Mark and Dale Bruss]

Therein is the reason why streaming video and RVing are not compatible.

Why would you expect the cheaper DTVN to be as good as DirecTV satellite?

[scouserl41]

We got sold Directv Now and it seemed like a great idea. we could watch the few things we actually Do watch on TV Formula 1 racing and a couple of others. A free trial, $30 a month, won't use up our data.

After the 1st week (The free trial), we started getting "channel not part of your plan" message and couldn't get anything. Then we realized THERE IS NO PHONE NUBER FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE! 

We called ATT who said "We don't have any input to Directv Now use their customer service.

The only access to customer service is a chatbox.

Many attempts thru the chat box resulted in me cancelling the service.

THEN I got a call from ATT (the ones who have no input) with profuse apologies and excuses about it being "In development". They offered me 2 months free if I'd come back.

We REALLY like Formula 1 and ESPN2 are the only channel who have it now so reluctantly I went back.

After another week, we got the same thing. I cancelled again.

ATT called again, they got someone from Directv Now to call me and I found out why they have access only thru the chatbox. They are all in India and not one of them could speak English clearly enough to make themselves understood.

Directv Now have an ad campaign on Facebook. If you read the comments they are just about all complaints about poor service, dropped signals, etc etc.

I'll never go back.

BnB

[rbertalotto]

First of all, all my other streaming services are fantastic. Curiosity Stream, History Vault, Fox News, etc....all work great, all the time. WAY better than Satellite in my experience, and way less expensive.

DTVN is now overloaded with subscribers and is going through some serious growth pains. I’m sure they will straighten it out.

for now, it works great before 3pm. Watching “Reelz” now with no issues.

as far as “ not part of your channel plan”.... I’ve received this message, went to another channel for a few minutes and then back to the offending channel and all is well.......more growing pains.

[Mark and Dale Bruss]

I will restate.  The Internet, especially where RVers tend to live, is not ready for replacing streaming satellites with streaming Internet video.

[Zulu]

3 hours ago, rbertalotto said:

DTVN is now overloaded with subscribers and is going through some serious growth pains. I’m sure they will straighten it out.......more growing pains.

Ok, you can be a Beta tester, but I'll pass.

[The Free Five]

The latest version of the app has some serious problems.  You aren't alone - it seems to be affecting thousands of customers.

[rbertalotto]

February and March I completed a 10,000 mile cross-country trip and used my hotspots and DTVN every night with zero issue. Worked fantastic. This is a recent issue.

[gdheinrich]

Signed up for Direct TV Now when it first came out and use it with our ATT or Verizon Wireless Service while on the road and with our Cable Internet while at home.   We have never had a problem.   We love it!   Works great while on the road or at home.

Gerald

[rbertalotto]

Interesting that I’m in the same campground, using the same equipment and DTVN is working perfect. zero buffering within the last few hours. Hope they resolved the issues of the last couple days.

[John Laninga]

I switched from satellite to streaming 3 months ago, mainly because I got a new motor home and I didn't want to pay for an antenna.  I have been streaming NetFlix, Hulu, TV.YouTube and DirecTVNow.  Hulu streams the best, followed by Netflix, TV.Youtube and DTVN.  It appears to be in the way they compress the streaming signals.  I'm using AT&T Mobley for internet access.

We spent a month in Buena Vista and Creede, CO where there were no OTA channels. Even my phone showed 2G and 3G speeds, yet I was able to watch perfect HD streaming.  On TV.YouTube, I got Denver locals, DTVN had no local  channels available.

I agree we're still early in replacing satellite with Internet, but it is usable and it is the way the industry is going.  Meanwhile I saved a bunch of money...$1,500 saved on not buying a dish plus about $125 in monthly charges (My satellite DTV was $160/mo, vs. $35/mo for TV.YouTube.

John

[rbertalotto]

I spent the last 8 years of my career in the broadcast video distribution industry. (Retired Frb 1) We built and sold digital modulators. Recently we moved into video over IP to prepare for a quickly approaching streaming platform. I've had many meetings with executives from both DISH and AT&T/DTV. Both want to get out of the satellite dish business as fast as they can. It is an unsustsinable business model as mellenials enter the home owner market. They watch TV on tablets and phones! Streaming from cellular towers, mini pods and low orbit satellites is where it is going....and fast! 

Some estimates are as soon as 5 years the days of a dish on a house or camper are over.

[docj]

44 minutes ago, rbertalotto said:

Some estimates are as soon as 5 years the days of a dish on a house or camper are over.

With all due respect, the problem with this type of global statement is that it tends to make some people think that satellite broadcasts are actually going to go away in ~5 years.  Yes, I agree that streaming and other solutions will, over time, displace satellite dishes for many people in the US but I am confident that in the 5-10 year timeframe there will continue to be more than enough people not served by these newer solutions that satellite broadcasts will continue.  Whether that unserved market is RVers, boaters, truckers, rural residents, or a mix thereof, I am confident that there are still going to be plenty of folks who don't have 5G, WISPs, or affordable alternative methods of obtaining HD video or reliable broadband.  Sure, someday the TV satellites will reach end of service life and probably won't be replaced, but I seriously doubt that I'll live to see that day.  Heck, some of us still live in places today where we consider a ~10Mbps cellular signal to be unbelievably fast high speed internet!  

[rbertalotto]

Just reporting what I know from being imersed in the industry for 41 years. 

[chirakawa]

1 hour ago, rbertalotto said:

 

Some estimates are as soon as 5 years the days of a dish on a house or camper are over.

Yep, I've been reading the same thing for the past five years.

[Zulu]

3 hours ago, rbertalotto said:

Just reporting what I know from being imersed in the industry for 41 years. 

We're not sure who discovered water, but we're certain it wasn't a fish.

[rbertalotto]

But a fish knows better than anyone else that water is wet!😁😉👍

[rbertalotto]

Well isn't this article I just received timely....https://www.axios.com/go-deeper-how-atts-merger-will-change-the-way-we-watch-tv-aacecfa7-4c12-4aba-bdfe-3a66231b5624.html

 

Quote...

• "Pay-TV companies know the future of watching TV and movies is via streaming services rather than cable and satellite TV."

[rpsinc]

This topic reminds me of the transition from records to 8 track tapes to cassette tapes to CDs to digital and now, returning in earnest for your listening pleasure, records.  Seems that clothing trends like bell bottoms etc too, things go in circles.  Dont sell your satellite, you may need it again, some day.  LOL

[rbertalotto]

14 million by all records were sold last year. Up 1000% over sales 10 years ago. First time in the life of the CD that records outsold it. BUT......14 m only accounts for less that 2.5% of music media. Over 95% of all music is now delivered via streaming.

not to long ago, the combined sales of a few rock groups would sell more than 14 million records in a year...... very interesting how fast the desemination of information has gone to streaming...........

in 1883 I was involved with Motarola and the rollout of cellular technology. Each “analog” cell site could only handle 832 calls at once. I was in a meeting in Chicago and an engineer suggested that there would never be that amount of traffic on any one cell tower! Recently I was working with the folks at the Jacksonville Jaguars stadium and I believe it was AT&T had just installed an amazing system where over 80,000 fans could all stream HD video over their phones at the same time from the same location.........WOW!

[Mark and Dale Bruss]

16 minutes ago, rbertalotto said:

in 1883 I was involved with Motarola and the rollout of cellular technology. Each “analog” cell site could only handle 832 calls at once. 

I didn't think cell technology went that far back!

[rbertalotto]

“. On September 21, 1983, Motorola made history when the FCC approved the 8000X, the world's first commercial portable cell phone”....... I had the first one in New England. Only worked in three or four locations around Boston......but it was great for picking up girls!

[docj]

1 hour ago, rbertalotto said:

"Pay-TV companies know the future of watching TV and movies is via streaming services rather than cable and satellite TV."

Right, that's the long term future, but, at present, there are >61 million satellite TV customers.  I think it's highly unlikely that all of them will be migrated off of satellites in the next five years.  US satellite TV customers

[chirakawa]

In 1883 I was too busy to watch TV.

[rbertalotto]

With issues of satellite wobble and not enough fuel on board to correct it. They might have to move over whether they want to or not. That is what recently happened to the analog bird. It started to wobble and they used up just about all the onboard fuel to stabilize it. If it happens again, all bets are off. This is why DTV is on a race to replace all analog set top boxes. Something like 250,000 of them!

I sat down with Charlie Ergen , founder of Dish, a few months ago and he explained that millennials will not pay $200+ a month for TV. The number is more like $35 a month. At $35 a month, the bucket trucks have to go. There is simply no way you can support the infrastructure of millions of little satellite dishes. There are thousands upon thousands of “cord cutters” every month. This is placing a real burden on the funds available to keep less and less conventional customers in service. Unsustainable.

the space shuttle was a very inexpensive way of launching a high orbit satellite. There is no longer anything as cost effective to do this. Elon Musk’s System will use decaying low orbit , low power satellites. Something like 6500 of them to beam streaming broadband signals. And T-Mobile just bought the whole low frequency 600meg band for broadband streaming. This is a game changer as this low frequency can travel much, much farther than the current HF and UHF cellular technologies. I was at T-Mobile a few months ago and was surprised to see they already had 600m phones available.

Moving VERY fast!