Many of our clients, being abroad, far from their home, face the choice of how to watch public national television. There are several options: using a satellite dish and one of the DVB-S2 tuners or via the Internet using IPTV or VOD technology.

The speed of data transfer via the Internet network to the end customer has increased significantly in recent years. Now no one is surprised by speeds of 150Mbit/s and above. Therefore, it seems easier to choose the technology for transmitting video via the Internet. But over time we may encounter a problem of this kind. Namely, channels that provide similar services with a large number of simultaneous connections suffer from server overload. Even the well-known YouTube sometimes freezes on our computers. And it usually freezes while watching the most interesting programs, for example, watching a Euroleague football match online. Unfortunately, the end user naturally starts to get frustrated, disconnecting/connecting the internet cable, restarting the computer or IPTV console. But this doesn't help. The problem isn't with the end device. So you need to calm down, don't touch the remote or cable, relax, maybe even have a few sips of beer, and everything will start working automatically.

The reason is, as I said earlier, the IP television camera server is overloaded. They are designed for a maximum load of no more than 60% of clients with a simultaneous connection. This problem occurs specifically during hours when interesting programs are broadcast, and most often on different channels. Then many users are online, the servers are overloaded, and the image freezes. That is, the servers do not have time to deliver multiple video streams to the client simultaneously. And complaining about the performance or poor performance of end devices: Android Box, IPTV set-top box, HTPC, computer, - you can't, because these devices do not receive the necessary information at the required level.

Is there a cure for such problems?
Unfortunately, yes and no. On the end user's side, you should increase the caching time if the IPTV viewing program allows it. In most cases, this is possible. This means that you will see the ball 5-10 seconds later than terrestrial TV users. But no one will know about it except you :), but it gives you the certainty that you saw all the moments when the ball reached the goal without dropping frames.

The second remedy is a wish for the owners of IP TV services: to count the real server capacity not 60/40, but 100/0, i.e. all sold passes should be able to receive 100% video. And it's best to make a reservation with the calculation of 200/1,  looking into the future, it should be possible to serve 200% of users through the development of Internet online technologies.

Happy viewing, everyone!