The Reason For Sonicview iHUB Dongle Freezing

[woodcreeker]

C/P From SVHD

This is all my understanding from reading various forums, may or may not be 100% accurate.

The control words are constantly changing, they are using legit cards (or images of legit cards) to get the needed info, you flip to channel 105 and your STB requests the needed control word from the IKS server which gets it from the card and sends it back to you, the next time that channel needs a control word another request is sent to the IKS server, and on and on... If there is anything that delays the communication (DNS, Routers, traffic, etc) and it cannot deliver the control word in time you get freezing.

Do a little experiment, watch a channel then unplug your network cable from your router, you will see video for 15-20 seconds until it needs another control word and cannot get it.

The speculation is that you need 10 legit cards for every 1000-2000 users (which probably changes the more users you get, in other words if you have 10,000 users they may be watching 150 channels at the same time, if you have 100,000 users they are still probably only watching 150 or 200 channels at the same time, just more users per channel which due to caching probably doesnt require more cards but does require more bandwidth), and that the control words are cached onto a central server to disburse to multiple users. In other words if 10 of us are watching 105 at the same time, they do not need to slam the card over and over, they cache the control word on a server and send it to whomever needs it.

Sometimes you flip a channel and it pops right up that is because the needed control word is sitting there ready to go because someone else needed it. Sometimes you flip a channel and it takes a few seconds to come up because it is waiting on its request for the current control word on that channel, one was not waiting there. So in theory the MORE people watching a single channel the better (not the more people using the service, but the more of the total people who are using the service watching the same channel the better). Better for 1000 people to share the same control words than for them all to be watching different channels and need different control words.

The bottleneck is likely the bandwidth required for the server(s) to deliver the control words to thousands of users at the same time. It is certainly fixable, both Nfusion and Slinger started out with freezing and eventually engineered their delivery system to work well. So when everyone is watching at once and all requesting control words, getting them from the card(s) to the server(s) is likely not the issue, it is getting them from the server(s) to the thousands of STB's that need them at the same time. This, in theory, is why Bev works better, you get an extra few seconds per request to deliver the control word. So if I was a betting man I would say that the recent improvements were added server(s) and added internet bandwidth (these things cost money so dont complain about cost of Ihub), they may need to tweak everything some more before it is perfect, but I am sure they will get there.

So for those that do not think that router and DNS settings do not make a difference I respectfully submit that you are incorrect and the connection between the IKS server(s) and your router is the MOST IMPORTANT thing, if anything is clogging up your connection you will get more freezing than others with a cleaner connection because each time a request for a control word is made the clock is ticking, you need to be able to send the request and receive the response in 15-20 seconds or freeze, tick tock....

Lastly for those who think IKS is going away, what if SV came up with an N3 crack? The best way to protect it would be to use it to serve the control words for all channels including PPV via IKS. If they released a standalone bin the other groups could reverse engineer it and get it too, if they serve via IKS no one will ever see the crack... This goes for any of the IKS groups, if they get it you can bet they aint releasing a standalone for everyone to steal....

[car5469]

Your last comment about the IHUB not going away so they don't have to show everyone how they cracked it to be insiteful and interesting. It gives me something to think about in reference to the future of FTA!

[beekermc]

I liked that statement too. It implies that SV is still working hard on a N3 crack regardless of the iHub. Good to hear they aren't resting on their laurels.

[veraciousus]

Thanks woodcreeker

[Landscapeman]

Great Post WC. I have thought the same thing about IKS.