[Dr.Dave]

I wonder if MTS is doing field trials with 3HD/1SD or if they have any plans for that.

AT&T in the U.S. is rolling out that profile to customers that are close enough to the fibre-optic node.

 

[Dr.Dave]

If he does have 3HD/1SD, it would be interesting to see how his settings are different from mine.

On the PVR, press:
Menu, Settings, General, System Information, System Resources.

Streams: 1SD/2HD(WAN);1SD/2HD(DEV)
Bandwidth Cap: 24200000(WAN);24200000(DEV)
Remote Playback: 20000000, 1SD/2HD

Menu, Settings, General, System Information, Network Info.

Bps: 3145728

Stats from a PC connected to the modem:
http://192.168.100.254/xslt?PAGE=B02

Downstream Rate: 35000 kbps
Upstream Rate: 2040 kbps
Current Noise Margin: 19.5 dB (Downstream)
Current Attenuation: 15.0 dB (Downstream)
Current Output Power: 13.5 dBm (Downstream) -19.0 dBm (Upstream)

Also, does he live in a house or a large apartment/condo complex that might have its own node?

 

[Dr.Dave]

Thanks for checking. The readings don't make sense but you can't argue with the results.

 

[Dr.Dave]

@davidb1, even if the boxes weren't all on the same account, that wouldn't explain why the PVR recorded 3 HD streams while watching 1 SD live on the PVR.

Based on my stats and my checks with Wireshark:

Lightning Internet 7.5 Mbps
Modem Downstream Rate 35 Mbps
Bandwidth allocated to PVR 25 Mbps
3 HD * 6.8 Mbps ... 20.4
1 SD * 2.7 Mbps ......2.7
Total ................... 23.1

4 HD * 6.8 Mbps ... 27.2
5 HD * 6.8 Mbps ... 34.0

I also recorded 1 hour of CNNHD talking heads and checked my disk space before and after. It looks like it uses the full bandwidth regardless of the content. My guess is the encoders are optimized to get the best picture possible within the bandwidth allocation.

I don't know what the minimum speed that MTS require before provisioning TV, but I don't see why they don't assign a 3HD/1SD profile to those lines that can handle it. Assuming I have a fairly standard configuration, that profile would only require 30.6 Mbps for TV and Internet. Admittedly, having different profiles can cause confusion and hard feelings among those subscribers that can't get the highest profile.

As a point of interest, AT&T, Bell and Telus all allocate 4 streams where conditions permit.

 

[Dr.Dave]

Thanks mtsguy. I wonder if one of the test areas is near Oakview in East Kildonan.

Does it make sense that 4 streams would work when Mediaroom still reports a max of 3?

 

[Dr.Dave]

MTS uses MPEG-4 compression which is about twice as efficient as MPEG-2 which cable and sat uses. I'm fairly sure the 6.8 is correct, but I could be misinterpreting the Wireshark captures.