I cannot use the on demand channels on my dish tv

[beckyfairless33]

I had dish and hughesnet internet bundle installed in early September and have not been able to use the on demand feature because it keeps stopping to buffer every three minutes, or less.  I have been on the phone with both Dish and Hughesnet a dozen times but they keep passing the buck or ignoring me.  I spoke to a local installer who said he would have to talk to his office and call me back, but he never called.  The last rep I spoke with at Hughesnet said the problem was with my tv. Because it wasnt connected wirelessly.  Im so frustrated and unhappy with this situation.  If it's just the case that Hughes net doesnt work like they promise it will then someone should just tell me that and let me out. I'm paying wat too much for this bundle to only get 75% of it especially since the feature I most want to use is the one that doesnt work.

[GabeU]

@beckyfairless33

A copy/paste from my reply to you in the "New Gen 5 owner in Northern California (slow as molasses)" thread.  

Try turning off, or pausing, the Video Data Saver to see if that makes a difference when streaming.  You can do so through the HughesNet Usage Meter (the Video Settings tab), or by signing in to the HughesNet myAccount site and clicking on the Settings tab.  

What is Video Data Saver?

[BirdDog]

The reason it is buffering so bad is it is trying to reduce the qaulity which I do not think on demand allows. It pushes the stream at HD in many cases. Doesn't matter the Data Saver option, that just chokes speed of the stream when on.

Boils down to leaving data saver on and buffering or turning it off and less buffering. Either way you are going to use lots of data using on demand as it pretty much streams in HD most of the time. A video in HD is a set amount of data, if you watch it with data speed choked or unchoked it will still use the same amount if the whole video is watched.

To clarify, the video data saver option only works for streaming sites that have different definition options that automatically lower based on connection speed the way I understand. It chokes the speed to attempt to stream at the lowest definition available. On demand has no such option, it pushes at least 480p at the least for older video but usually at least 720p.

[wade_bear]

While we do not have Dish, we do have DirecTv and I have found that's it's impossible to stream TV shows regardless of the time of day or night.  When I need to get a show on our DirecTV DVR via internet I have to select the Download for Later option and can only start watching after it's at least half way through.

[BirdDog]

One of the better articles I've found on the subject:  http://blog.solidsignal.com/content.php/5849-How-fast-should-your-internet-be-for-DIRECTV-On-Demand

Neither DirecTV or DISH are very forthcoming on the actual requirements for steady, no buffering, live streaming. Recording during the Bonus time is the best option. Again, you'll eat lots of data streaming HD video either real time or recording.

[SecondsCount]

We cannot back up to view what already started, with DISH. All of the Hughes Net customers I read about are unhappy, and have all been threatened with early termination fees. When two years have passed, HughesNet is going to witness an immense migration, and justice will be served.

[Amanda · Accepted solution]

Hi everyone,

Please see GabeU and BirdDog's posts regarding Video Data Saver. If you turn it off and the buffering stops, this is because the video service (in this case an on-demand provider) is hard set to HD either by the provider or the user. It is worthwhile checking to see if this can be changed from your end, but if not, our recommendation is to download video with the data saver turned off overnight so it does not impact your data usage.

If turning off Video Data Saver does not resolve your issue, please let us know. Keep in mind this is all dependant on your account having monthly plan data remaining.

~Amanda