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Telmex + Telecable = sreaming success?


TrueBrit

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I have struggled for 2 years here with Internet connectivity due to widely variable speeds and intermittent outages. It has never been stable/fast enough to watch HuluPlus (US) via my Roku (with any predictable success). I have tried Telecable, Telmex, DDR-WT and Tomato routers, a new Roku box, multiple VPNs and smart DNS service. But before I admit defeat, I have one last strategy...

At the moment I have Telmex 10Mbps and I have changed the DNS to point to 'Unlocator', a smart DNS service. Often, despite Speedtest telling me I'm getting 8 or 9Mbps, my experience with some streaming services - HuluPlus, for example - is terrible. It can be a repeated pattern of 3 secs of video, 8 seconds of buffering. Telecable tells me that I am now eligible for digital service (when I moved, they told me I lived too far from the street cable box for digital service).

So thinking I could combine them, I considered a dual WAN router, but then I read that with video streaming, the router cannot distribute the packets between two services.

So my plan is wired Telecable (5Mbps) dedicated to streaming video using 'Unblockus' (pointing to US streaming sites) and dropping Telmex to 5Mbps wireless for all my other Internet needs, using 'Unlocator' pointing to UK for the occasional BBC program (I have two Roku boxes, one with UK firmware and one with US). Now this is predicated on being able to change the DNS in the Telecable router. Is this possible?

I know there are a lot of network savvy people lakeside and if you have any other alternate suggestions or have found a strategy that works, I would love to hear it.

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Hulu is very sensitive to VPN. I have a Lynksys with firmware and Strong VPN burned in. Sometimes I find the only way in is using a free VPN program called Hola. Some days it takes a couple of sign ins for it to work, but once it is happy - no problems streaming and we only have about 1.4 Mps download at best.

A theory is that you are better to use a fixed address DNS - less chance of getting crowded out. The trouble is that this is an expensive theory with Telmex - they only offer fixed addresses on their business accounts, so there is large monthly charge for that, then the increased cost for the fixed address. There is certainly a problem with Telmex right now. As you probably know, Telmex was ordered to give up it's monopoly on phones, they are now authorized to go into entertainment and streaming. They have announced an aggressive strategy utilizing low orbit satellites. Who knows when, and in the meantime they will be very reluctant to do any upgrading or replacement. A new neighbor asked for Telmex internet service - they told him they could not install - they had no "ports" available at this time.

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I had an ASUS RT-16N running DD-WRT with OpenVPN from HideMyAss VPN and speeds were sometimes below 1Mbps (when Telmex was actually delivering 10Mbps). HideMyAss' solution was to constantly rotate between OpenVPN, L2TP, PPTP, Tomato firmware, ASUS stock firmware until I gave up. They were extremely responsive but unfortunately ineffective.

Netflix to their credit has a very good adaptive streaming system and it rarely needs to buffer - quality suffers, but at least you can follow along with the video; Hulu seems to be another story.

I know I can get a fixed IP with Telecable and I may be able to use a dynamic DNS service like No-IP to resolve the ever changing Telmex IP.

I did not know about Telmex's satellite strategy. All I have to do is hope I live long enough to take advantage of this.

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"I did not know about Telmex's satellite strategy. All I have to do is hope I live long enough to take advantage of this."

Probably only if you are in your teens.......

I use torrents for everything.

I noticed that TelMex recently dropped my router from 6MB to 5MB in speed. Going the wrong way for me.

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Watching on the PC is definitely better and we do resort that when we are exhausted with the Roku, but the Roku seemed like a product that was designed to deliver just what we wanted. I don't know if I am naïve, but how could any business be successful with a product that behaves so poorly? I understand there are a lot of moving parts in delivering content to your TV... do they all survive by blaming another part of the chain? To be fair, my process of elimination has led me to believe that it is the Hulu app for the Roku, or at least its behavior on the Roku. So it may be that on their own, they are ok, but combined is a disaster. And then there is my limited knowledge, which doesn't help.

I did connect my Roku direct to my router, but I could not tell the difference between wired and wireless. The Roku is in line of sight of the router.

At a previous house, we had Telecable Internet and despite the outages (more frequent than Telmex) it was generally more reliable speedwise. Do you know if I can change the DNS on a Telecable router. Cable into the house, being right by the TV would mean a wired connection to the Roku. I believe they have fixed IPs (for a bit extra) so perhaps I could set up Unblockus and not have to touch it again. Well, for a while.

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Do you know if I can change the DNS on a Telecable router.

If you rent one of Telecable's wireless modems you can get into the options and enter your own DNS addresses. The basic alambrico Scientific Atlanta cable modem they install is really dumb and no options are exposed.

You can get a static IP from Telecable but according to the web site it costs an additional $600 pesos/month.

The IP Plus option was confusing. It was supposed to allow port forwarding for streaming video and downloading movies. When turned on you receive a static IP address but it changes every 7 days or so. The tech people in Chapala really didn't know much about it and when functional there didn't seem to be any way to connect multiple PC's to the Internet.

It seems like the costs and complexities of all the moving parts you describe would lead you to search for a Plan B.

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TrueBirt: I have my Roku hard-wired to the modem. I installed ethernet cable outside the house and then into the living room. That was the only solution for the problem you are having, at least for me. My Roku is line-of-sight and only 20 feet from my TelMex modem.

It's the weight of the bandwidth that is causing the Hulu problem, not the app. Roku, Apple TV, and lots of other devices are designed with much higher speeds in mind than what we get. And WiFi is often just not good enough here, partly because the modems TelMex uses have fairly weak output, even with the "n" standard of wireless. I have no idea how strong or weak the WiFi receiver is on a Roku.

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I used to stream everything, but things have worsened for me in the last few months, so I've taken ComputerGuy's advice and started just torrenting everything I want to watch. Works out so much better for me. No more buffering, no more poorer quality episodes. No more worrying about not being able to watch anything if the internet should go out altogether. I currently have 7 movies and about 20 episodes of various shows that I watch just sitting on my desktop waiting to be watched, and more being downloaded every day.

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I don't know how soon Telmex will be offering phone- streaming HD - high speed internet services but I would bet it will not be long. Dish has already established this in the U.S.A. with over 14 million subscribers. Telmex and Dish Mexico have already merged (although this was a secret deal for a long time, and they both had to pay a major fine). The technology is all in place, although they may launch a new Echostar just for Mexico - a relatively small investment for the potential payload. I believe the hold up is that Dish Mexico/Telmex wants access to Azteca and (I would have to look it up) channels and they don't believe they should have to pay for them because their competitors do not. These two channels represent 90% of the television viewing audience in Mexico

The Dish Mexico bundle is already for sale in Mexico - but this "authorized dealer" seems a little short on credibility to me. Maybe I am overcautious.

http://www.godish.com/dish-network-deals/MEXICO-ME.aspx

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I was advised that torrenting would be a good solution, but already having the equipment that should have worked in real time, I have apparently been flogging a dead horse for way too long. Are the torrenters using the Usenet groups and a reader like Giganews? I looked at this and then I saw Sickbeard(?) scheduler and other necessary parts and it looked a bit daunting to set up. So I returned to the dead horse.

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No, you would download and install bitTorrent or uTorrent (both pretty much the same) and then a website like kickass (https://kickass.so/) or oldpiratebay (https://oldpiratebay.org/). Torrent sites have pretty much replaced the slow and outdated method of usenet groups.

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Usenet is still around, with a lot of posters - this is the way the DVD copiers use, all over the world. Downloads are full throttle, for the paid Usenet hosting sites - it is torrents which are unreliable, d-e-a-d-l-y slow and quickly disappearing. I think the paid hosting sites are the best, and definitely the fastest. Who is going download a movie or software with a virus when they have to pay for hosting it?

Graboid downloads movies off Usenet, cleans them up a bit, and then re offers them as a paid service. It is easier to operate than Usenet. My only complaint with Graboid is that the titles are not standard - this is because the frequent posters discuss their intentions on IRC channels.

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I guess I'm spoiled I want great live TV on a large screen. Telecable digital TV provides much better quality than there analog channels 2 through 92 and is adding many channels to their HD package. Digital programs use channel #s 100 to 999 the 700s are mostly HD programs 900 channels are mostly audio or music channels. (No not every number has programming on it, but there is a lot more than 92)

Don't get me wrong, I stream quite often using apps like TuneIn Radio on both my iPhone and on my windows products. And sometimes VPNs are needed even for streaming some radio stations.

Oh and in the states and I presume Canada where internet speeds are usually faster and more reliable, HULU, Apple TV, Roku etc work great. I will consider streaming more video in Ajijic once internet service improves a little more in Mexico. And it is getting better every year or three where I live in Ajijic

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Yes, paid Usenet sites. Other than that, no, torrents will be here until something even better comes along. Usenet groups organize their files in completely different ways, users often upload files with bad CRCs and/or missing files, and they are still a hotbed for spyware and fake files. Further, more and more uploaders use torrent sites and bypass Usenet altogether because of its limitations. And at my Internet speed of approx 10 mbits, I can download these files pretty quickly: HD hour-long shows in less than an hour.

Graboid cleans up nothing, just validates they aren't attached to junk. What Graboid does is use their own torrent collection tools to "grab" the file you want and put it together into one place. It also takes longer for files to get onto Graboid as they become available.

So you stick with your way and I will stick with mine.

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I guess I'm spoiled I want great live TV on a large screen. Telecable digital TV provides much better quality than there analog channels 2 through 92 and is adding many channels to their HD package.

Ah, but I don't watch downloaded shows on my PC; I transfer them to my big screen. This can done using a Smart TV's USB jack, or by burning the shows onto a DVD for your DVD player, or by connecting to a Roku or Apple TV or similar Android device. I have clients who hook up an HDMI cable to their large screens, from their laptops. There are a couple of people on this board who don't mind watching their sports and shows in little windows on their PC monitors, but like you I prefer to watch them the way they were intended... in fact, it may be time to move up from 51".

I see Atvio at WalMart has a 55" LED UltraHIghDef set for $8,000 pesos. That's quite a deal. But I can't find anything about Atvio online in English to wade through reviews. I have no idea what kind of quality or longevity this brand offers. I do know that they can be returned/exchanged at WalMart for up to 12 months, because of their affiliation with the store. So I don't know the specs, either, and whether or not the sets are capable of upconverting HD to 4D.

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Mike I am only suggesting that signals aren't good enough yet to stream live on your HD 55 inch or so TV. And boy do I hope I am wrong. For example I want to watch the Super Bowl live and in High Quality HD as my home team The Seattle Seahawks play this coming Sunday

The only way I know how to get a high quality live HD signal in Mexico is via Satellite be it through Telecable, Shaw Direct, DirecTV etc

Am I wrong? Can you stream now to a Smart TV and have great live high quality HD signals. When I have tried, it wasn't good enough to watch on a large screen HDTV. Yes what I have for streaming is not as fancy as some of you have. HDMI on both my laptop and TV and a HDMI wireless Chromecast device ($35 US) (my big screen is not a smart TV, but is, of course, high quality HD)

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To tell you the truth, I don't stream anything live myself. I have used my Roku to transfer shows and movies from my PC to my set via ethernet, and that works fine, but that is definitely not "live streaming".

I have tried streaming a variety of channels using my Roku, and the quality is low-def. However, it's been a year or more since I did any testing. I have several customers with SmartTVs, and they seem to be okay with it for Netflix and a small selection of other "channels".

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FWIW, I've had very good success with Telecable's 15mb internet service, but I've had to get creative in configuring a Smart DNS using Ironsocket's VPN/DNS, and No-IP to maintain the ever changing IP from Telecable.

As ComputerGuy stated, the Roku needs greater bandwidth than what wifi can provide to provide a stream that doesn't buffer every couple minutes. Thus an Ethernet hard line connection is need to the Roku for streaming from HuluPlus, Amazon Prime, etc. An interesting aside is that my Roku does a better job of streaming content from Hulu than my SmartTV Hulu app with the same CAT5 connection.

Therefore here's my configuration, I'm using my own router, Asus N66U, a Gigibit switch at the TV/Roku, all CAT5. Software: I'm using Ironsocket for SmartDNS and VPN, plus No-IP to maintain the DNS with the latest IP from Telecable.

Using Ironsocket's DNS config in my router hides my MX IP, but only if the Telecable IP is unchanged. Since Telecable does change their IP randomly, I use No-IP with it's apps for my PC, tablets and phone, to update the DNS with the latest Telecable IP.

The end result is I stream pretty much any content I want with the various apps on the Roku, as well as my Vizio SmartTV. Netflix, Amazon Prime, PBS, HBOGo, Pandora, even Google Movies, all seem to work well. Of course we're always at the mercy of the content servers, Amazon's can be spotty, but now I just need the time to keep up with "my shows" on these services.

Hope this is of use, PM me if need be.

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Agree with Pete regarding Telecable analog channels on big set (42 or larger). Analog is better than it use to be but SD on Shaw is so much better. Have Telecable 10 service and it works fine for HD over internet for Major league baseball ( no VPN needed). For some reason when I had 8 service it broke up much more. Keep backup of Telmex DSL for VOIP phone. Use every week or so when Telecable goes away for generally a short period of time (minutes). Telecable seems to be getting better. Telmex seems to be stuck at low speeds for many of us as we are too far from switch and they don't use repeaters at least locally. All things being equal I would use telecable over telmex. This is a change from the past.

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  • 2 weeks later...

A big thank you to all who replied. Having found an 80% answer with existing equipment and system, I am weighing the disruption of going with my original thoughts.

I bridged my Telmex gateway and connected it to my ASUS router. Telmex gave me my PPoE id and password so I am connecting via my ASUS which gives me a lot of flexibility, like adding static routes to defeat Google's DNS which is locked in the Roku. I am using IronSocket's smart DNS service and NoIPs DDNS service.

Now speeds have improved and I don't seem to have a much general issues BUT there is one curious thing... since being in bridge mode, my Telmex speed (wired and wireless) has been consistently 5Mbps, half my contracted speed and half of what I was original getting via the non-bridged Telmex gateway when measured on Speedtest. Now I remember seeing something that said in a certain mode (of?) your internet speed will be cut in half. I cannot find the reference and didn't pay much attention as I didn't think it would apply. And maybe it is just coincidence or a deliberate ploy by Telmex to cobble my audacity at bypassing their gateway.

Has anyone had any experience of a consistent and precise halving of their internet speeds when using a non-standard set-up?

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I did come across this...

The "half bandwidth" misunderstanding

Too many people make a big deal out of the half bandwidth oversimplification of the repeater bridge setup. It's not that big of a deal, and not that complicated. A router can only talk to one device at a time. So if the router is set up as a repeater bridge AND it has active clients, the repeater bridge router must talk to two devices- the client computer and then to the primary router. This will effectively half the bandwidth available to the client computer, but it is no different than having two computers on a single primary router. The router can only talk to one at a time, so if both are active, it will only be able to talk to one at a time, effectively cutting the available bandwidth in half.

I have nothing else connected to Telmex's gateway. I just connect port 1 to the WAN port of my ASUS.

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