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WhaleOilBee
What a long strange trip it's been
join:2011-08-02
Manotick, ON

WhaleOilBee to Canaca

Member

to Canaca

Re: Vmedia vs Zazeen

said by Canaca:

We will also be introducing MOCA enabled devices in the next month or two. ......
I am extremely excited about Zazeen's future and what it has to offer. I belive we have the best technology available with one of the most reliable networks servicing the client base. Anything less than 100K TV clients within the next two years would be considered a failure.

Any estimate on when the product will be 'GA' ( out of beta )?

That MOCA thing looks interesting. This would allow recordings made on one PVR to be played back on another (non-DVR) STB, correct? I would be interested in IPTV if that becomes available.

100K new clients in 2 years? I don't envy your tech support team. Those clients have to be signed up one at a time; each will have their own unique set-up issues. I hope you're prepared for the call volumes. From what I see on your Zazeen community forum, there are some very knowledgeable customers willing to help, but not a whole lot of questions are being answered by Zazeen staff themselves.

Also I notice a few channels in your line-up are 'coming soon'. Will that be firmed up when the beta ends?

Canaca
Premium Member
join:2007-03-05
Mississauga, ON

1 edit

Canaca

Premium Member

We should be out of Beta within the next 30 days. Assuming the software fixes we are just about to receive don't cause any other issues.

Our implementation of MOCA is more of an alternative to running ethernet cables through out your home. (Even though our devices support wifi we don't recommend it)

We are also working on an STB with a PLC adapter built in. Our DSL and Cable modems should shortly also support MOCA and PLC by default.
It will not support Multi Room PVR from the same device.

As for the growth:

With proper automation we should not encounter any major issues. We already have some experience on the Acanac side setting up hundreds of clients a day for years on end. Automation does have it's draw backs and we hope to supplement it with enough qualified reps.

As for the Zazeen community we just recently added a few full time reps. As the client base grows we will continue to add more.

We may not get all the coming soon channels added before we end beta.

WhaleOilBee
What a long strange trip it's been
join:2011-08-02
Manotick, ON

WhaleOilBee

Member

said by Canaca:

Our implementation of MOCA is more of an alternative to running ethernet cables through out your home. (Even though our devices support wifi we don't recommend it)

We are also working on an STB with a PLC adapter built in. Our DSL and Cable modems should shortly also support MOCA and PLC by default.
It will not support Multi Room PVR from the same device.

O.K. thanks for the reply. I had the foresight when my house was being built to run cat-5 everywhere, so I wouldn't need power line or coax to extend the network. I'm sure though that others might find it very useful.

What's the issue with Multi-room PVR? I believe Shaw and Rogers offer it, so the content providers don't seem to object. It also doesn't seem to be a limitation of the entone STB...
"Amulet offers service providers the flexibility to deploy whole-home DVR while offering subscribers more storage options."

Canaca
Premium Member
join:2007-03-05
Mississauga, ON

Canaca

Premium Member

Our middle ware supports it but only on the multicast environment. We are going to end up pushing for network based PVR instead. In fact it's already supported by our middle ware. We just need to convince the content owners.

This will give the same advantages as the home based option without the excess CBB cost.
monsoon66
join:2007-01-13
Toronto, ON

monsoon66 to graniterock

Member

to graniterock
Just out of curiousity how much bandwidth would an HD stream of VMedia's or Zazeen use up?

At my place in the evening there would probably be two TVs going, and someone else playing games online so I need to make sure I have the right connection speed.
Trentelshark
join:2002-12-11
London, ON

Trentelshark

Member

With the current implementation i would say at least 5mbps per vbox to handle occasional bursts.

Canaca
Premium Member
join:2007-03-05
Mississauga, ON

Canaca

Premium Member

You need a bit above 4Mbps for each of Zazeen's HD streams. I would recommend at least a 6Mbps plan for each simultaneous stream.

If your going to be taking advantage of your DVR service I would recommend at least 10Mbps. The reason I say this is because you never know when you will be watching live TV and have an active recording.

Worst case either your live TV or your recording would revert to a lower bit-rate due to network conditions.

TypeS
join:2012-12-17
London, ON

TypeS

Member

Just checked out Acanac's and Zazeen's site, so if I were to order a new Acanad 10/1 DSL connection (cause that's sadly the most I qualify for on DSL), I would qualify for the 2 month free trial of Zazeen?

If so, if after the 2 month trial, I don't want to continue with the Zazeen service, is the STB returnable since its purchase only and not rentable?

Canaca
Premium Member
join:2007-03-05
Mississauga, ON

Canaca

Premium Member

Thank you for your interest. You would qualify for the 2 month free trial. As for the STB you have 30 days.
graniterock
Premium Member
join:2003-03-14
London, ON

graniterock to Canaca

Premium Member

to Canaca
said by Canaca:

Since the majority of the complaints have ended up being related to the internal home network MOCA should once and for all resolve these types of issues.

Related to that my brother was wondering for example how both his gameplay and TV experience would if for example he was playing Planetside 2 (or any FPS) and watching TV at the same time. He doesn't want his TV to stutter. But he doesn't want his game to suffer because the TV stream is somehow taking priority.

Gone
Premium Member
join:2011-01-24
Fort Erie, ON

Gone

Premium Member

The game only uses like 128-256kbit/s, so competition between the game and TV should be a non-issue.

WhaleOilBee
What a long strange trip it's been
join:2011-08-02
Manotick, ON

2 edits

WhaleOilBee to graniterock

Member

to graniterock
never mind
AceHowitzer
join:2014-04-07
Can

AceHowitzer to graniterock

Member

to graniterock
Hi there,

I'm new to the forums but I've been lurking for a while. I've been with Teksavvy for a few years now (45 Mbps down) and I'm very happy with the service. That being said, I'd like to have IPTV seeing as I cut Rogers at the beginning of the year. I'm fairly nervous about jumping ship to go with another ISP but here's my question(s).
It seems to me, after looking at the packages available, that Vmedia streamlines the whole operation by signing you up for IPTV and internet. I've heard good things from a few local people I talk to but I'm not as impressed with Vmedia's channel lineup for Premium Basic. It seems like Zazeen offers a significantly better "Basic" package for the same price as Vmedia but you'd have to sign up separately for the internet. Is this assumption correct?
Also, it seems that Acanac/Distributel is a lot more expensive than Vmedia's internet for similar packages. From what I've read, people seem to think poorly of Ancanac's service compared to Vmedia's. Thoughts?
Basically I'm trying to see which company to go with. I'm leaning towards Zazeen because of the better channel lineup but I'm nervous about poor internet streaming and a bad connection. Again, I'm just going off what I read on here and other forums so please don't judge me too harshly.
One other issue. I have two small daughters and they miss Disney Jr. like crazy, I know that both services offer Disney Jr. but do either of them offer it in HD?

Thanks in advance, I look forward to the conversation.

Ace

WhaleOilBee
What a long strange trip it's been
join:2011-08-02
Manotick, ON

1 recommendation

WhaleOilBee

Member

said by AceHowitzer:

Thanks in advance, I look forward to the conversation.

Ace

Buckle in. The conversation can get pretty heated. I had put up an Excel Spreadsheet to select VMedia and Zazeen packages for a cost comparison, but I deleted it ( just above ).

My conclusion was that for the channels I wanted, they broke even. Some of the Zazeen 'coming soon' channels that I wanted were already offered by VMedia. I suggest you make your own spreadsheet or paper list and compare them.

Zazeen has a PVR option with pause and rewind live TV. I find this helpful for when the phone rings, or nature calls. I don't believe that VMedia offers this, but they did just announce a net-based PVR solution.

The bundled internet + IPTV is convenient, but it's not a big deal.

Read everything here, then go to the VMedia and Zazeen forums to read what the users say about the service of each. You're the best judge of what's right for you.

Good luck.