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VMedia - Real-World experiences?

I'm looking to do a little cost-cutting, and am considering VMedia for IPTV (and internet, as I don't think they do over-the-top services...)

From an end-user point of view, how's the TV experience? I've got 3 HDTV's, but no more then 2 are even in use at the same time...

How's the internet? I'm near Barrie, fed off the Collingwood hub.

Basically, those of you that have VMedia - how do you like it?

I got my cable internet + TV recently and:

1. Internet seems to be just fine (see my speedtest results below. I'm on the 45/4 package in Downtown Toronto)
2. The TV is buggy as hell. I've already gotten in touch with support about it only a few days in. About 2/3 of the channels don't work for me. As soon as I select the channel the TV goes back to the TV guide (SportsNet works, TSN doesn't, for example). Also, a bunch of the apps did not install for me. I just get an error telling me "Update failed".

Unlike Maz my Vmedia TV service works great.

Internet I am 25/2 Cable in Ottawa via the Rogers Network.
http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/2838432599

My Vbox works great, although I got one of the single core armv7 m3's. not the new 2core.

Channels load fast, and with latest builds of XBMC specifically intended for this chipsets, can play back 720p video, and 1080p with DD5.1 DTS5.1, and LPCM all via HDMI. *Can not play hi10p encoded content. no hardware decoders do so.

Netflix works great. BUT no SuperHD, and only 2.0 sound. And interface is a little ruff on TV box's. This is a fault of the App design not the box, and hopefully will get fix'ed by netflix over time.

TV wise I get almost all stations in 720p with 2.0 sound. Or 480p(EDTV) with 2.0 sound. or some channels yet to be converted to newer sources, can be a 640x480p (with a letter box'd 16:9 inside it) with 2.0 sound. Channels that are the later keep getting updated to newer quality as time progresses. Most are higher quality then that.

Suggest Wired cable for the Ethernet, using WiFi in many situations effects the speed of content delivery, and signal for the TV "can" break up a lot more often. Especially in multi-dwelling units that have a large amount of overlapping WiFi's on the same freq. bands.

How long have you been with Vmedia? I'm in Nepean needing to switch from Distributel. Did Vmedia require a tech come to install ?

I'm thinking of either Start or Vmedia which is cheaper.

I've been since short after launch. A Rogers tech came, kinda. he ensured the cable was hooked up and running at the demarc point in building which was next door to my unit. and left a 3 ft coax hanging on apartment door.

He needed to do nothing else. I hooked up DCM475 and vbox and it worked first try.

In my case a large local node box is hanging on the utility pole outside my building, so signal is great.

When everyone in the area is out for the day at algonquin college, speed on my line jumps to 60mbps, with a 100mbps speed boost. Evenings it goes down to intended 25mbps.

I've had only a few brief slow down issues. but they was to do with the Rogers service issue, like the fiber cut in Ottawa.

So far. So good. Got the install Thursday. A Rogers tech was at my door at 8:20 a.m. Pretty straight forward. Took about 20 minutes. After that, my new SB6120 was on line quickly, and Vmedia was up and running right away. Getting consistant 45/4 speeds without bottlenecks or slow downs that some are reporting. Again, I think it would depend on the area. I can't speak to the DSL side, as I'm using cable.
Picture quality is excellent, channel choices are decent (or a hell of lot better than Rogers $25 vs. $40 price for the same service). I'm glad I switched.
My only hiccup, is Vmedia is having an intermittent problem with feed. Some channels don't always come on, but after talking to GeorgeBurger, it appears it's a slight tech problem they're aware of and are in the process of fixing. Good to know I'm not being ignored. Bound to be a few bumps with a start up.

I'd recommend them and give it a try. There's no contract. If you're not satisfied you can always return to the previous services or try something else (Bell Fibe?). It's one of the reasons I switched. Most providers demand some sort of year loyalty lease with lots of penalties right?

Any how. Good luck,

Near Cook and Grove Street in Barrie's East End, just down from Georgian College.

Hi Mazmanr, thanks very much for joining us. I am sorry about the bugs, we are doing a variety of transitions at the moment and are also dealing with unusual weather. We freaked yesterday because there was what looked like another huge storm, it was less than last week but from about 5 to 7PM it was pretty hairy, and the HD signals from one of our suppliers went intermittent. We are switching dishes and tweaking our receivers, so that may be the problem you are experiencing. If you don't mind we are trying to log as much detail about the issues as we can so if you can keep us posted either here or at info@vmedia.ca it would be very helpful. But we are determined to get past these issues sooner rather than later so I hope you will be patient. As for Fox, which you did not mention but Henry A did, we had hoped to get Toronto and Buffalo signals over the air(satellite suppliers give out of market US nets, like Detroit of Boston, a bummer for Bills and Sabres fans, not to mention those folks who like to follow the fires in Cheektowaga), and we have a nice tall antenna which worked flawlessly in the beginning until a condo went up over the last two months across the street obscruing the line of sight. We will most likely look for the best satellite-delivered solution in the next week or two.Thanks again for your business and best regards George.

I'm ready to pull the trigger too, Distributel is going to lose a lot of customers with their new pricing scheme.

I'm actually fine with the Rogers Internet... It's the TV price that pushing me to do something...

George - does Vmedia have any PVR options on the horizon? Was talking to the wife this morning; and sounds like no PVR may be a deal breaker...

I am thinking of leaving 3Web/Distributel as well but with VMedia I would have to pay upfront $64.95 + $59.95 and $52.95 + rental for the service. For START it would be $49.95 + rental and it is the same as I have now. So, looking at these numbers staying with Distributel is less hassle, you deal with a known entity and price isn't significant different.

Just wondering, why isn't anyone jumping in and offer some kind of deal for the 3Web people...

Hi we do have a PVR capability in the works which we will be rolling out in mid-September. It will not cover all channels initially but will provide PVR for up to 70% of people's viewing choices. So maybe best to sit tight and see if you like what we announce and then join. Best regards George.

Thanks George.

The problems with the box as far as the apps go have existed since I got the box. I'm convinced that there is something wrong with the vBox. Not being able to install or run certain apps definitely seems like is a side-effect of the box having problems, no?

As far as channels go, here are the ones that currently DO NOT work:

002 - TVO
003 - Global Toronto
004 - Omni1
006 - CBC Toronto
007 - CityTV Toronto
008 - CTV Toronto
009 - CTS
011 - CHCH
012 - CBLFT
013 - TFO
014 - Omni2
016 - CBS (WIVB)
017 - NBC Buffalo
018 - ABC
020 - CTV2 Barrie
023 - The Weather Network
024 - CP24
026 - CBC News
030 - TSN-HD
031 - TSN2-HD
040 - Bravo
042 - Discovery Channel
048 - AMI-tv
050 - Comedy
056 - MTV Canada
060 - Vision TV
061 - PBS
062 - CTV Newsnet
064 - MuchMore
070 - APTN
071 - E!
073 - Game TV
077 - NFL Network
080 - HLN
101 - TVA Montreal
104 - CPAC
109 - CTV Kitchener
186 - BNN
201 - Fox (WUTV)
209 - CTV2 Ottawa
221 - CTV Sudbury
229 - CTV Ottawa
270 - A&E --> The channel works, but the guide always shows empty
281 - Space
585 - CTV2 Windsor
588 - CTV North
651 - TV5
701 - MuchMusic

As you can see, most of the channels are not functioning, which essentially makes the TV useless.

Thanks for looking into this and I'm looking forward to your updates.

Yikes.

I'm having problems intermittently with a couple of channels. Nothing like your experience. That's brutal. Hope you get this worked out soon.

Hi Can you please PM me your name, order number and VBox log in details? We will do a diagnostic remotely and base don what we see we would like to send a technician out to you at a convenient time to figure this out because this is really unusual.

Sent. Thanks!

Hi Mazmanr, we looked into it, could I call you to discuss?

George,

CP24
Bravo
Much More
E!
NFL Network
BNN
Space
TV5
MuchMusic

All just went off broadcast.

Back online.

I've been using the service for the past 5 days. It's not bad, but it's got aways to go. I've noticed that channels stall. Not sure why, but you'll be watching something, and the channel will just freeze. You still have IP, you're still connected to the internet (I'm using powerline because of the speed and reliability over wifi), so it's not a local network issue (and I have a laptop plugged into the same powerline conector so I'm still connected on it). It just stalls.
I'm going to keep going till the end of the month and give it an honest try, as I'm considering this a slight tech glitch. But. It has to be usable for a couple of hours at a time. Mines stalling about every 40-60 minutes. I have to power the unit down, power it back up and programs are back.

Meh...

Hi HenryA, if it's not inconvenient can you try a direct wired connection to a) your router and if separate (b) your modem? Please let us know if it helps.

is there a possibility of 150/10 mbit internet from vmedia... reseller of ciktel which is a reseller of rogers.... ?

I believe you can get 150/10. Just sign up Cable with any VMEDIA transmission agents who have 150/10mbps cable (»www.vmedia.ca/info/agents.aspx), and then sign up IPTV with VMEDIA.

Hi George.

I'm not sure if I've got this sorted out, but, it appears that it's the vmedia box. I went into the display and set it back from 1080i to 720p, and set the audio from pcm to hdmi passthrough. My best guess at this time, is processor used in these units can't handle HD programming as advertised.
I've used a WD live unit for the past couple of years. It's equipped with a Sigma Designs SMP8670AD 700MHz processor with 512MB of DDR2 memory. Nice but it really stutters some times on HD .mp4 .mkv videos and it litteraly dies if you throw in AC3 6 channel or H264 channel.
I'm not sure what's being used in the vmedia unit, but my best guess is it can't handle high bit rates. I could be wrong, but, the stuttering is almost identical to what I described with the WD processing high end audio and video.
Wiring the unit directly to the home router or the SB6120 makes no difference. Same problem...

Well...shit.

I see what others have tried to warn me about, regarding speeds. I think the real problem here is that after 5:30 pm I'm seeing a major drop off. I went from around 45 mbps in the day time...to 3mbps down. Um. I can't accept that on any level. I'm paying $50 a month for 56k dial up a month if that's the case.
I'd like to a reason why. It's only 6 days in, and I'd like to work with Vmedia on this, but I can't accept the fact I can't watch the IPTV, AND I can't use the internet at that rate.

is the playback and settings you are talking about in XBMC? if so I've got it working perfectly, just needed a version of XBMC with hardware decoder support compiled in. If this is the case PM me, and I can give you a working APK for XBMC.

these box's are perfectly fine 'hardware' wise to decode 1080p/720p as well as do DTS/AC3/LPCM pass through on playback. Only thing it doesn't do well, is hardware decode Hi10p encodes. Because they are not a "real"/supported encoding method for commercial hardware.

I am getting some crappy speeds here in Mississauga for the past few weeks. Speed is very inconsistent. Anywhere from 2 Mbps to 9 Mbps tonight. Cannot watch IPTV since it keeps freezing. Anyone know if Teksavvy or Rogers giving these terrible speeds tonight too?