***The Official ESPN + Stinks Thread***
- Thread starter acoustimac
- Start date
Watched the women's game using the ESPN app on my Android phone, home wifi and no casting. The feed was flawless. Tried to watch the men's game -same phone, same app, same network, no casting and it was terrible. Locked up, stalled, and gave error messages. Tried clearing cache, clearing data and force stopping the app. Didnt help. One time the video feed locked up on Holmes shooting a free-throw. The audio went back to about 3 minutes earlier in the game and repeated what I has already heard. Once the audio caught back up to the same point as the video it started working again. Heard Ken Miller say that his feed was awful also... Don't know what his setup was.
We’ve accessed ESPN+ thru Hulu for the last two years and it’s been flawless - I watch lots of soccer as well as all Cyclone sports. Prior to our Hulu subscription, it was awful - it would frequently freeze with two minutes to go in a tight game! I’d forgotten how awful it was until this thread spurred the memory!
Most, if not all issues with ESPN+ whether it's loading, buffering, and or picture quality has to do with Iowa State itself not being able to hold consistent upload bandwidth. It's ISU production, camera's etc. so the quality is gated by the equipment they use for home games. ESPN+ merely points you to the correct feed. On Monday, the women's game was fine, but the men's game was unstable. I'm not sure if there is something particular about the network in Hilton, but feed problems occur the most there from volleyball to m/w basketball.
I watch ESPN+ on Hulu directly (not the ESPN app) with the Disney/Hulu/ESPN+ Bundle. (sometimes adding Live HULU like during football season). I get it on an Amazon Fire Box (1st generation) hooked up to a basic TV with HDMI input.
In terms of the feed, it's fine. No buffering 99.9% of the time.
Of course, the color and horrible production quality (a la the WVU game) is a different subject.
One thing I don't like is that sometimes towards the end of a game, if you leave the game you can't get back in. It's like it disappears. This can especially happen if you pause live TV, and you might have 3 minutes of the game left, but in "real life" the game is over. In that case - WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T LEAVE THE GAME! Or you will miss the ending!
In terms of the feed, it's fine. No buffering 99.9% of the time.
Of course, the color and horrible production quality (a la the WVU game) is a different subject.
One thing I don't like is that sometimes towards the end of a game, if you leave the game you can't get back in. It's like it disappears. This can especially happen if you pause live TV, and you might have 3 minutes of the game left, but in "real life" the game is over. In that case - WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T LEAVE THE GAME! Or you will miss the ending!
I haven't any issues, much less so than the old CycloneTV. By the way, is CYTV even relevant anymore? Nonetheless, it is fun to add this for people getting low-quality feeds:
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I have as much problem with their interface as anything. Last night I tried to tune in to the game early anticipating problems. When I got to the game on the menu and opened it it only gave me options to buy a monthly or annual subscription. I tried again and got the same error. I ended up closing the app entirely and reopening it and this time I got to the game and got the screen that says 'Your game hasn't started yet.' Fine, I'm early. But at 6:33 that screen is still up and no game. Okay, no big deal, I get out of it and go back into it. (keep in mind that each time I go out and go back in is a 2 minute process) This time I get in the game that has already started. This time it let me rewind back to the beginning but when I got to a commercial break and tried to fast forward to catch up to real time it wouldn't register that I was trying to fast forward. Usually you can fast forward through stoppages of play but last night it wouldn't allow me to.
My problem with it is there is some small issue about every other time I try to use it and they seem to enjoy coming up with a new issue for me to problem solve or just be annoyed with because there is nothing I can do about it.
For a popular platform presented by "The Worldwide Leader in Sports" their player is pretty damned amateur.
My problem with it is there is some small issue about every other time I try to use it and they seem to enjoy coming up with a new issue for me to problem solve or just be annoyed with because there is nothing I can do about it.
For a popular platform presented by "The Worldwide Leader in Sports" their player is pretty damned amateur.
Another issue with ESPN+. If you happen to travel for business to Canada and want to pick up a game, forget it; ESPN+ will say they carry the game but you can't access it. Licensing issues, I suppose, but still frustrating.
I don't care how easy it is or how inexpesive it is to do on my own. What I do not like is that if I am traveling anywhere in the U.S. is whether I can go up to a barkeep and ask, "Can you put it on the ISU game" on Station X. The fact that when an ISU game is on ESPN + that it is not on at least one TV in EVERY bar in Des Moines, Iowa is a MAJOR problem. All I have to say about that.
These games were never on tv except locally. CycloneTv and ESPN3 (UNI) were the first options outside of that.
