Hi,

I wondered if anyone had checked or noticed how much data the HDR1000S accessed over the internet ?

The reason I ask is that I've just switched ISP and I can see my internet use each day online and was surprised to see that between 00:00 and 08:00 this morning I'd used 15Megabytes. Only two things connected at that time, the Humax and Synology NAS which doesn't face the outside world.
I monitored the use during the day while at work and it wasn't increasing. Having used the box tonight for a few hours I've just checked my use and its shot up to 280Megabytes. I've not used anything else connected to my network and I've not watched anything via IPlayer etc.

Obviously at this stage I can't be sure its the Humax but it's looking likely.

I've also noticed quite a lot of bursts of ethernet activity from the Humax from the lights flashing on my ethernet switch and also the modem. This was while I was watching live TV.

Anyone else notice anything similar

I'll try and do some more tests to track down where the usage is but if its the Humax then it's a lot of traffic considering I've not watched anything.

Paul

not noticed anythin out the ordinary, box should only use internet when using catchup channels....i have unlimited downloads with my ISP so useage is not a worry for me....

u could test and leave the cable disconnected and see if it still happens..... if u leave ur router on 24/7, as i do, then there is always going to b traffic coming and going whether its in use or not.... and as there just MB's then i wouldnt worry, its if it was d/l GB's upon GB's i would worry.....

Hi,
Definitely not used catchup.

Turned the NAS off last night so that just left the Humax.
16.67MB used since midnight.

I wouldn't say the usage is nothing to worry about. If yesterdays full 280MB was down to the Humax without catchup then that equates to about 8GB/month

Edit : Just realised also have a Pioneer Blueray so that's the only other contender.

Normal "idle" usage with just modem is about 250bytes/minute so the above is way above that.

Paul

The catch up epg data is transmitted over the internet like the Youview box. Once you have the data I doubt you can relate the data rate the OP measured over a long period. At a guess only changes get uploaded and the next days new content. I would turn everthing else off and measure over a 24 hr period.

I've now turned everything else off so we'll see what happens.

My ISP is also sending me my hourly usage figures so I'll see if those match my use of the Humax.

Graham, Thanks for your tip about the manual power up/down to fix missed recordings.
Working fine now.

Will post the results of my tests.

Paul

Hi Paul. Still working for me as well I have posted a reply to your post on the Freesat forum

Be interested to see what happens during the half hour your box wakes up internet wise.

Hi Graham,

Just got the logs from my ISP. Make interesting reading...

For yesterday, 13th December between 00:00 and 22:00 I can be 100% sure the only things connected to my network are the Humax, a NAS and a Blue Ray player.
The logs from my ISP are shown below. I've not included the hours where the use was shown as zero.

The Humax was set for manual power up/down from 05:00 to 05:15
Between approx 19:00 and 19:35 the Humax was recording.
Around 19:35 I brought it out of standby to watch live TV until after 22:00
After 22:00 the logs are unreliable as I had my pc on so I've not included those times.


13/12/12 04:00 - 05:00 - Up:0.07MB / Down: 1.93MB
13/12/12 05:00 - 06:00 - Up:0.42MB / Down: 12.59MB

13/12/12 19:00 - 20:00 - Up:0.79MB / Down: 23.45MB
13/12/12 20:00 - 21:00 - Up:1.47MB / Down: 44.29MB
13/12/12 21:00 - 22:00 - Up:1.49MB / Down: 42.65MB

Again for today I've only included logs for hours which show data use
I changed the manual power up/down to 06:00 to 06:15 late last night.

14/12/12 05:00 - 06:00 - Up:0.09MB / Down: 2.17MB
14/12/12 06:00 - 07:00 - Up:0.48MB / Down: 13.88MB
Currently no data use other than for the two hours shown above. Humax is in standby.

At no point did I watch or even see what freetime content was available.

On a slight tangent to your topic, I did notice when I use the iPlayer on the Humax, it does seem to buffer the entire programme, rather than just buffering a couple of minutes ahead.

So if you watch, say, the first 10 minutes of an hour long programme, the Humax will probably download the whole hour in that time.

It's great if you want to skip through a programme, but a little inefficient for those of us on a 'metered' connection. It would be nice to have the opportunity to configure this behaviour.

(and off on yet another tangent, how can one FF and RWD in the Humax iPlayer, other than in 6 minute jumps?)

Interesting, if you go away for a week or two could be worth pulling the network plug Clearly maintaining the catch up epg involves a fair amount of data. Fancy pulling the network lead for say 24 hours and then replacing it for an hour to see how much data you get after booting the box

Already done this test, watching a 1 hour BBC-HD iplayer programme, the complete data arrived after about 30 minutes, after this only minimal network activity. Suggests box buffers up to about 30 minutes of HD.

The cursor keys move the playback point within the buffered content if I remember rightly. Can't check till later.

Incidentally have you noticed if you access iplayer HD via the epg you only get SD (even if you select HD). If you use the red button you get HD. Look at the size of the DOG, it's much smaller on 720p content.

I will give this a go Graham - I have just changed it to use a non-existant gateway - so it will never get a reply to anything.

Cheers, the lengths we go to figure out what's going on

Does your HDR-1000s download catch up data despite your IP address ?

The usual config I have is the unit is set to send the packets via the PC - so if I have the VPN up (not very frequently) a UK IP would be used otherwise it would see a French one.

I have not seen anything missing at all.

I unplugged mine from the network around 15:00 today so will plug it back in tomorrow night and check the usage after one hour unless repassac does it first.

Don't you think this is a ridiculous amount of data ?
Without even watching freetime content the box is averaging 40MB of data per hour when it is out of standby.

Assuming 5 hours out of standby per day gives approx 6GB/month! This surely can't be right can it ?

It looks entirely unjustifiable.

Paul wasn't even using any of the functions that required that data, so it's all wasted - downloaded on the offchance that it might be useful.

Whilst many people have broadband with the bandwidth capable to use the functions of the catchup service, we still exist in a country where many people have limits on the amount of data they can download in a given period.

There can be no justification for being so cavalier with people's data limits as a matter of routine.

It's sloppy, and unjustifiable. Freesat should be treating people's data allownaces like a precious resource, not frittering it away willy-nilly.

Assuming this is all accurate and nothing else is going on, it's evidence of incredibly bad practice.

I think Freesat have some serious questions to answer.

That's rather a ridicolous statement. How the devil can freesat know which entry in the vod epg a user might want to use clairvoyance . I don't think the numbers are correct either. The estimates are based on the assumption that a measured hour after boot will be maintained every hour the box is on. Once the epg is there it's there.

Do you use every entry in the normal epg, I imagine if there were large holes you would be the first to complain.

Never fails to amaze when posters jump in on a serious discussion quoting pure rubbish.

I reset my usage counter about 20 minutes ago, HDR-1000s is on and I am still using the net (to create this post). I will keep checking to see what how the usage builds.

Graham,
Make sure you record internet useage and not LAN activity as all devices have to respond to broadcast messages - which can be a lot depending on your network node type.

The counter is on the router and measures data uploaded and downloaded from the net. Assume that will be OK.


If the numbers look sus I will try tommorow with nothing connected but the HDR-1000s and no recordings.

Numbers look sus, already at 24MB. Think I will need to do a more scientific test tommorow with only the HDR-1000s connected for a couple of hrs. Off out for a meal shortly.

It might well be in the showtime images.

Test ongoing but it does look as the catch up epg is pretty data intensive. Tried a test period with the HDR-1000s on but lan disconnected to get a feel for the usage with just my pc logged into the router setup. Pretty trivial so can be disregarded in this case.

After reconnecting got 33MB in 47 minutes. I will check in a couple of hours to see if the data count keeps going up.

Not a clue how reliable router measurement is (Virgin super hub).

2hrs with HDR-1000s only kit active gave 86MB down 4MB up, broadly in line with Pauls figures.

Talking of ridiculous statements ... no, I don't think Freesat should use clairvoyance, strangely enough. What they should do, however, is not gulp down masses of data when it's not required.

And let's face it, that's an awful lot of data for a simple EPG, with a few bells and whistles.

What I find outrageous is that Freesat are being so cavalier with people's sometimes meagre data caps. And people often won't be aware of just how much such boxes will use. With some ISPs they'll get hit with penalty charges, too, which I'm sure will come as a surprise, especially if they factor in only the amount of data they'll use if they actually watch a VOD programme.

We all, rightly, commend Freesat for the sensible energy conservation practices they use on their boxes. I'd like to see them employ the same policy with regard to data instead of the wanton abandon they're reported to indulge in, at least by this one poster.



I didn't "jump in on" this discussion, Graham, any more than anyone else. I looked at what was being reported and found issue with it. As for my views being "pure rubbish", you're entitled to your opinion, even if it's wrong.

Which in all fairness, after reading these boards for some time, is not often. Though I'm glad to see you're still human.

Perhaps you might enlighten us which items of data are being downloaded that aren't required

What possible reason could Freesat have for downloading useless data ?

Uploading data that isn't required isn't free even for freesat, needs a bigger server and faster upload capability. Look at how fast your isp uploads data from your PC.

Of course if it's a bug then it should be sorted out (I doubt it though).

Interested to know what sort of data overhead Youview creates.

To put the numbers into perspective, the data used is pretty much the same as used posting on forums for about an hour. (according to the metering on my router).

Hi Graham,

I did the test you suggested. Box was disconnected from the network for 26 hours and then reconnected for 1 hour.
According to my ISP I used 51.6MB (up and down traffic combined).

Regarding your comment earlier in this thread : "The estimates are based on the assumption that a measured hour after boot will be maintained every hour the box is on. Once the epg is there it's there"
My original tests seem to suggest the data rate remains high because for the data below the box was powered up around 19:35 and left on all evening.
13/12/12 19:00 - 20:00 - Up:0.79MB / Down: 23.45MB
13/12/12 20:00 - 21:00 - Up:1.47MB / Down: 44.29MB
13/12/12 21:00 - 22:00 - Up:1.49MB / Down: 42.65MB

I'm going to do one more test and leave the box on overnight and see if the usage rate continues.