Watching F1 on TV

[RPF2020]

The blocky VPN pixellation is back watching day 1 of Bahrain testing on F1TV (and also via Multiviewer). Using a Surfshark dedicated server makes no difference.

[TheDeuce]

RPF2020 said:

The blocky VPN pixellation is back watching day 1 of Bahrain testing on F1TV (and also via Multiviewer). Using a Surfshark dedicated server makes no difference.

A dedicated IP won't necessarily help with VPN speed. If the server/connection in the country in question, it'll bottleneck your connection.

Not sure if sufshark are generally considered reliably fast or not.

[RPF2020]

TheDeuce said:

A dedicated IP won't necessarily help with VPN speed. If the server/connection in the country in question, it'll bottleneck your connection.

Not sure if sufshark are generally considered reliably fast or not.

I'm getting 550Meg up and down via the Surfshark dedicated IP in Netherlands so it's great speed wise, but I strongly suspect that F1's content delivery network is suspicious that a VPN may be in use and is throttling the connection. Had this issue for the latter part of last season. Also getting it on the general VPN server pool.

Edited by RPF2020 on Wednesday 21st February 20:25

[TheDeuce]

RPF2020 said:

TheDeuce said:

A dedicated IP won't necessarily help with VPN speed. If the server/connection in the country in question, it'll bottleneck your connection.

Not sure if sufshark are generally considered reliably fast or not.

I'm getting 550Meg up and down via the Surfshark dedicated IP in Netherlands so it's great speed wise, but I strongly suspect that F1's content delivery network is suspicious that a VPN may be in use and is throttling the connection. Had this issue for the latter part of last season. Also getting it on the general VPN server pool.

Edited by RPF2020 on Wednesday 21st February 20:25

Perhaps, although it would be odd if they could tell it was a VPN IP if it's a dedicated IP.

Run it through: https://www.dnsleaktest.com/

And see if any of the name servers in picks up relate to surf shark

[RPF2020]

TheDeuce said:

Perhaps, although it would be odd if they could tell it was a VPN IP if it's a dedicated IP.

Run it through: https://www.dnsleaktest.com/

And see if any of the name servers in picks up relate to surf shark

No all looks fine, thanks for the link.

Wondering if anyone else was experiencing blocky F1 TV pro via VPN today.

[TheDeuce]

RPF2020 said:

TheDeuce said:

Perhaps, although it would be odd if they could tell it was a VPN IP if it's a dedicated IP.

Run it through: https://www.dnsleaktest.com/

And see if any of the name servers in picks up relate to surf shark

No all looks fine, thanks for the link.

Wondering if anyone else was experiencing blocky F1 TV pro via VPN today.

That's the thing, I had practice on all day and it was perfect - via an NL IP.

But last season for a few races I too struggled with blocking and actual stuttering.

It's just possible it's not us or our VPN choice, but F1TV being a bit flakey..

Glad the IP you're using came back clean, there's no automated way they could detect it as being tunnelled through a VPN if that's the case.

[Gazzas86]

RPF2020 said:

TheDeuce said:

Perhaps, although it would be odd if they could tell it was a VPN IP if it's a dedicated IP.

Run it through: https://www.dnsleaktest.com/

And see if any of the name servers in picks up relate to surf shark

No all looks fine, thanks for the link.

Wondering if anyone else was experiencing blocky F1 TV pro via VPN today.

Nope was crystal clear all day using Nord,

[Mr Pointy]

I'm having trouble re-subscribing via the F1 TV Pro app on my iPad. Even with Nord VPN set to my home country of Canada when I try to re-subscribe via the app it says I'm connecting from a geo-blocked location. If I connect to the F1 website with the same VPN it will let me subscribe but of course it wants all my credit card details & I can't use Apple Pay.

[RPF2020]

Sorted the buffering and stuttering by using Smart DNS instead of a standalone VPN. Will try the live events tomorrow to be sure.

[carl_w]

Mr Pointy said:

I'm having trouble re-subscribing via the F1 TV Pro app on my iPad. Even with Nord VPN set to my home country of Canada when I try to re-subscribe via the app it says I'm connecting from a geo-blocked location. If I connect to the F1 website with the same VPN it will let me subscribe but of course it wants all my credit card details & I can't use Apple Pay.

I had the same, eventually I could sign up for a package called F1 TV (Intro) but then I couldn't get it to work. Have requested a refund.

[Jester86]

Just got my NowTV offer through. £19.99 for 12 months, have to get boost separately after the first free month. So £25.99 a month.

[illmonkey]

Just tried to get it working and a breeze, probably as I done all the hard work last year.

Windscribe VPN in Canada, opened the f1.tv app (was alright signed in), and it offered me a year’s subscription for £59.99 when I tried to watch, goes through my normal Amazon account to pay. Last year the vpn was hit and miss but ‘stream locator’ generally worked.

Weirdly though highlights of todays session are out of sync, unless I’m missing something ???

Edit: I watched part 2 first for some reason. Now on part 1 and it’s the same audio that now matches the footage. So f1.tv have messed up perhaps.

Edited by illmonkey on Thursday 22 February 21:09

[TheDeuce]

Jester86 said:

Just got my NowTV offer through. £19.99 for 12 months, have to get boost separately after the first free month. So £25.99 a month.

That's... A deal for NowTV I guess but so expensive given the limitations of the service.

[dreamcracker]

Jester86 said:

Just got my NowTV offer through. £19.99 for 12 months, have to get boost separately after the first free month. So £25.99 a month.

I only pay £2 a month for boost with my Cinema membership.

Just go through the online cancellation process for Boost, and at the last stage it will be offered at the discounted rate.

[Silverbullet767]

Sky quite aggressively priced for a change.

£15 a month. 30 day contract.

F1TV Pro = $80 = £63.18ish
Nord VPN 1 year plan £82.63
Totals £145.81

Based on 10 months. I'd only be saving £4.19 going the VPN route.

I realise this is only a saving if you already have Sky TV and aren't planning to get rid of it.

[TheDeuce]

Silverbullet767 said:

Sky quite aggressively priced for a change.

£15 a month. 30 day contract.

F1TV Pro = $80 = £63.18ish
Nord VPN 1 year plan £82.63
Totals £145.81

Based on 10 months. I'd only be saving £4.19 going the VPN route.

I realise this is only a saving if you already have Sky TV and aren't planning to get rid of it.

Also not an ideal comparison as F1TV is actually a proper streaming service, with sky you have to deal with scheduling.

[Silverbullet767]

TheDeuce said:

Also not an ideal comparison as F1TV is actually a proper streaming service, with sky you have to deal with scheduling.

I would only watch the live quali, sprints and races though. I wouldn't stream anything else. So any scheduling would be the same as it's live on both services.

[Teddy Lop]

Silverbullet767 said:

Sky quite aggressively priced for a change.

£15 a month. 30 day contract.

F1TV Pro = $80 = £63.18ish
Nord VPN 1 year plan £82.63
Totals £145.81

Based on 10 months. I'd only be saving £4.19 going the VPN route.

I realise this is only a saving if you already have Sky TV and aren't planning to get rid of it.

If they included the audio stream that isn't the ignorant fat oaf yelling at the TV I'd be in. I don't enjoy faffing around I'd rather say take my money and give me what i want reliably.

We've been at the in-laws for a couple of weeks and now theyre in my hose, I never thought about how much many people enjoy short attention span moronvisionTV. And theyre nice, intelligent and articulate poeple.

[Forester1965]

I've thought about it. It's the first year I'm not going to bother. Feel quite sad about it, but the experience no longer justifies either the cost or time (for me, others will of course think differently).

Hope I'm wrong and you all have a great season to watch.

[TheDeuce]

Silverbullet767 said:

TheDeuce said:

Also not an ideal comparison as F1TV is actually a proper streaming service, with sky you have to deal with scheduling.

I would only watch the live quali, sprints and races though. I wouldn't stream anything else. So any scheduling would be the same as it's live on both services.

But on sky if you miss the start you can't skip back, unless you recorded it.