GAAGO™ the subscription-based online streaming service from the GAA and RTÉ Digital

Squareball · 13-06-2014 5:44pm

I just signed up for the Dublin game on Saturday. Will decide about the season ticket after I see the quality. I tried to use a debit card and a credit card and both were rejected. Then tried my American Express card and it works.

Squareball · 15-06-2014 2:18pm

Have to say the quality was first class yesterday!!!!

Squareball · 16-06-2014 2:50pm

Bought the season ticket yesterday and watched both games. Fantastic quality I have to say.

Squareball · 01-07-2014 1:11pm

Have to say the best purchase I made all year. HD is crystal clear and the signal is very reliable.

Fr Tod Umptious · 01-07-2014 1:22pm

Squareball wrote: »

I just signed up for the Dublin game on Saturday. Will decide about the season ticket after I see the quality. I tried to use a debit card and a credit card and both were rejected. Then tried my American Express card and it works.

Squareball wrote: »

Have to say the quality was first class yesterday!!!!

Squareball wrote: »

Bought the season ticket yesterday and watched both games. Fantastic quality I have to say.

Squareball wrote: »

Have to say the best purchase I made all year. HD is crystal clear and the signal is very reliable.

Welcome to boards.ie Padraig Duffy

You will probably be posting on the Sky Sports thread next

munchkin_utd · 01-07-2014 1:41pm

Squareball wrote: »

Have to say the best purchase I made all year. HD is crystal clear and the signal is very reliable.

well, it does seem to be a fairly decent product but theres a lot that would have to be improved for me to consider spending that amount of cash on it.

There really aught to be more games available. Not necessarily live, but even delayed full coverage or proper highlights beyond the couple of minutes afforded to a match on the Sunday game (which isnt available abroad till the middle of the next week anyhow).
If I could go to the game, well I'd obviously be there, but I live abroad so have to put up with the few scraps that are shown on the Sunday game.
In the previous rights package there was deferred coverage of a big game at 6pm on a sunday evening, so even bringing that back would be a start.
But realistically there should be even more seeing as the footage is there anyhow and the market is abroad and thus not going to afffect gate attendances in any way or shape.

For example the upcoming qualifiers sees a div3 final rematch between Cavan and Roscommon and an attractive clash of Down v Kildare which will not be shown presuming the 1 live slot for 2B qualifiers goes to the Tyrone v Monaghan/ Armagh game.
Obviously all cant be shown live, but to leave it to a couple of minutes on the Sunday game is the other extreme.

BTW, my county has now played 2 games. Neither was televised. The next one will not be either. And they have to win 2 further games to be guaranteed to be (viewable abroad) on TV in a quarter final.
As I said, so much for providing a service that is tailored for the emmigrant fan abroad who wants to follow their county

Squareball · 01-07-2014 2:45pm

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

Welcome to boards.ie Padraig Duffy

You will probably be posting on the Sky Sports thread next

UGH....You stalking me?? Any issues with me giving my opinion on the new service?

keeponhurling · 13-07-2014 2:05pm

Just bought this.
Actually find it good so far ,i like the way you can watch the matches later and it doesn't show you the final score before you open, like Rte player used to

jommer01 · 15-07-2014 8:56am

keeponhurling wrote: »

Just bought this.
Actually find it good so far ,i like the way you can watch the matches later and it doesn't show you the final score before you open, like Rte player used to

Jeez lads... I'm glad it's working out so well for the rest of ye! Where are ye watching from as a matter interest? Initially I thought the new TV deal was the best thing since the internet with games being shown on free-to-air TV in Australia. That was before I realised they were being shown deferred by an hour and for me, it's live or nothing.

The option of watching in the pub is completely which was always my preference for the bit of craic and atmosphere. This year I've watched one match on RTE player and one on GAA GO but like many in Australia, my internet speed is average at best so found the service only OK.

I now find myself in South East Asia for work and I basically can't get to see the games at all. I had heard GAA GO is completely useless here so instead of watching from the hotel on my own I headed out to the Irish pub for the Munster final. Apparently there was a massive crowd for the same fixture last year when Setanta had the rights. This year there was no more than 8 frustrated Cork and Limerick watching a piss poor stream that stopped every few second, had no sound and streaming out of sync commentary on loudspeaker over a phone.

"Think of the expats" cried Liam O'Neill when people suggested that the GAA had sold it's soul to the devil in Sky Sports. There are thousands of GAA members here in Asia that are both upset and enraged by the whole thing. It's probably too late to anything about it this year but HQ have a lot to answer for if my opinion

It seems GAA GO is working well for lots of people but curious to hear what the situation is like in other parts of the world? What's the deal in North America this year and other parts of Europe?

Cheers

munchkin_utd · 15-07-2014 9:18am

as i said above, t'is spot on in Europe.
The internet connection is key though, and as I found to my cost last year trying to watch over a stream on a holiday in Italy, often free connnection = sh1te connection (as theres dozens of people sharing a single DSL connection).
But regarding Setanta..... to be honest its their own fault they werent somehow recognised as providing the comprehensive service that they did.
They had a half arsed internet service that few knew about, and those who did were still enough to crash it for important games, and they had live cable and satelite services across the world - but again such a disjointed mish mash of multiple websites and options and prices and cable operators and who knows what, that nobody knew anything or could even find an answer on it.
That said, you now have GAA go which relies on the internet, and how the internet works is that your computer connects to the next, and then the next, and the next, in a chain till you have a connection to your host. SO.... if anywhere along that chain theres a bad/ slow connection you're knobbled - and being half ways across the world probably has more chance of a bad link in the chain happening than from Europe to be honest.

ifah · 15-07-2014 9:34am

Am very disappointed with GAA Go. Currently on holiday in Portugal. Internet speed in not great - 1mb. Bought the dublin-kilkenny match last weekend - pathetic unwatchable stream. Would play for 5 seconds and buffer for 25.

I'm using HMA proxy services for Sky Go , BBC iPlayer and ITV player for a mix of other sports , including any games Sky are showing. No issue with any of them and we've watch loads of World Cup, Wimbledon and Galway-Tipperary and Tipperary-Offaly matches on the same internet connection.

I have to say - the Sky Go service is the best of the lot - it actively downgrades the resolution to match your stream speed and picture quality is still fantastic. Also all three of those services were routing through HMA proxy servers in either UK or Ireland whereas RTÉ was a direct stream.

GAA go is a bust for me and a complete waste of 10 euro.

jommer01 · 15-07-2014 9:39am

munchkin_utd wrote: »

as i said above, t'is spot on in Europe.
The internet connection is key though, and as I found to my cost last year trying to watch over a stream on a holiday in Italy, often free connnection = sh1te connection (as theres dozens of people sharing a single DSL connection).
But regarding Setanta..... to be honest its their own fault they werent somehow recognised as providing the comprehensive service that they did.
They had a half arsed internet service that few knew about, and those who did were still enough to crash it for important games, and they had live cable and satelite services across the world - but again such a disjointed mish mash of multiple websites and options and prices and cable operators and who knows what, that nobody knew anything or could even find an answer on it.
That said, you now have GAA go which relies on the internet, and how the internet works is that your computer connects to the next, and then the next, and the next, in a chain till you have a connection to your host. SO.... if anywhere along that chain theres a bad/ slow connection you're knobbled - and being half ways across the world probably has more chance of a bad link in the chain happening than from Europe to be honest.

Thanks for the response munchkin. Yeah look to be honest, I'm sure their intention was to improve things for those of us living away but as it turns out, I am am one of many who is now far worse off for seeing the games. I've no experience in dealing with Setanta myself, I just turned up to the pub or a friend's house and it was as good as watching on RTE which was great. That has been the case for the last 3/4 years in North America, Oz and now Asia. I gather Setanta are on the verge of going bust anyway so maybe there was no TV station coming forward with an offer.

It just seems to me that surely in 2014 it could be done better, especially since it was before by Setanta despite it's flaws. I'm obviously biased, but isn't giving those not lucky enough to be able to go to the matches the opportunity to at least see the games on TV not as important an issue as any? In the last 12 months the GAA has gone to congress for "the black card" and made up a new rule in the middle of a game with regards to the penalty in hurling.

jommer01 · 15-07-2014 9:47am

ifah wrote: »

I'm using HMA proxy services for Sky Go , BBC iPlayer and ITV player for a mix of other sports , including any games Sky are showing. No issue with any of them and we've watch loads of World Cup, Wimbledon and Galway-Tipperary and Tipperary-Offaly

I'd say d wife is having a ball on her hols! Sounds like bliss to me though.. hardly saw a ball kicked in the world cup with time difference here.

Not familiar with Sky Go to be honest. Does it work for any Sky subscription and would I be able to watch anything that's recorded on the box at home? Work it work alright on iOS on an iPad?

Would love to be able to watch a recording of Sunday's coverage or the Sunday game somehow!

munchkin_utd · 15-07-2014 10:03am

jommer01 wrote: »

I'd say d wife is having a ball on her hols! Sounds like bliss to me though.. hardly saw a ball kicked in the world cup with time difference here.

Not familiar with Sky Go to be honest. Does it work for any Sky subscription and would I be able to watch anything that's recorded on the box at home? Work it work alright on iOS on an iPad?

Would love to be able to watch a recording of Sunday's coverage or the Sunday game somehow!

sunday game available worldwide from Wednesday or something.

ifah, 1 meg is fairly miserable to be honest for streaming tv. When I was in italy last year I was barely getting that at the hotel, so just went from cafe to cafe till i found a quiet one with free internet that nobody else was sharing.
And are you using a laptop or a mobile device. The laptop allows you to choose a lower resolution on the flash player so it might work better

munchkin_utd · 08-09-2014 12:18pm

jeepers, 7 weeks since the last post and nobody complaining about GAA Go !
Maybe the problems have been fixed, or is it that fairweather fans only watch their own counties and then give up on GAA for another year?

I tried a hurling match on fairly poor wifi in Italy on the iPad and it coped fairly acceptably. i.e. picture quality understandably wasnt great, but it automatically figured that the connection was suspect and adjusted to at least get a middling watchable and constant picture.

BTW, I still think its too feckin dear and I was watching on a borrowed account login
But at least doing what its supposed to.
And seeing how the TG4 website aparantly ceased to respond during the minor game, you have a good example of why a paid service that can scale up when needed is better than just allowing universal access to the existing home broadcasters.

bruschi · 08-09-2014 12:29pm

I have read online that it was pretty poor yesterday and wasnt reliable at all. For an opening set up, they should have drastically reduced the prices, and outlined the plan. Have it at 50% off for the first year, 25% off the second year, and full charge from then on. So at least it gives people the chance to use it, find the kinks and fix them, and then at least people can justify if it is worth it or not after that.

In comparison to the NFL gamepass, there is a world of difference for what you get, quantity of games, the presentation of it, historical access of games and shows and the quality of the stream, but for similar money.

Squareball · 08-09-2014 1:02pm

Was its biggest fan when it started but the quality got worse and worse as the games got more important and I assume the user numbers grew.......Ended up having to listen to the football semi finals on the wireless last weekend the quality was so bad. I watched the hurling yesterday without an issue on what I would presume is an illegal link. Will not be signing up again next year unless I can be guarenteed better quality.

munchkin_utd · 08-09-2014 1:36pm

Squareball wrote: »

Was its biggest fan when it started but the quality got worse and worse as the games got more important and I assume the user numbers grew.......Ended up having to listen to the football semi finals on the wireless last weekend the quality was so bad. I watched the hurling yesterday without an issue on what I would presume is an illegal link. Will not be signing up again next year unless I can be guarenteed better quality.

where are you located do you mind me asking?

Most complaints seem to have originated from folks in Asia/ west coast america, but if you're looking to stream something from servers in Ireland then theres a lot of potential for at least one of the many servers in between to throttle the hell out of your stream on its way through.
(but, that would suggest that theres a need for GAA GO to have servers worldwide rather than just in Ireland - but no details have been released on what setup they actually have)

Squareball · 08-09-2014 2:05pm

I'm in Philadelphia. I have to say the people running it have been very responsive but have not been able to offer me any solutions.

J DEERE · 08-09-2014 2:49pm

Ordered the game yesterday, cost me $20. Didn't mind as I'd have to pay that to watch in a bar here anyway and much prefer to watch at home. Easier to follow, can watch and listen to pre and post game analysis and to be honest I'm a fan of Michael duignan and ger cannings commentary so prefer to listen to them as opposed to the experts on the high stool.

Worked fine for the build up but as soon as the parade started it started cutting back to the trailers. I had to refresh the player every time this happened. The game would then play live for sixty seconds then start playing trailers again or jump back to the pre analysis of the game. Missed more or less all crucial moments of game like the penalties and the goals.

I emailed them this morning looking for a refund but was more or less told it was an issue with my device or internet connection which it wasn't. Have used it at least three or four times over the summer with no problem. It's a great idea in theory but way overpriced for what it actually provides

Squareball · 08-09-2014 2:56pm

That is exactly what was happening with me. Very frustrating........It is such a good idea I just don't want to walk away from it but unless they can offer some help soon I will not be buying a season ticket next year.

Where are you located JD?

J DEERE · 08-09-2014 2:58pm

Squareball wrote: »

That is exactly what was happening with me. Very frustrating........It is such a good idea I just don't want to walk away from it but unless they can offer some help soon I will not be buying a season ticket next year.

Where are you located JD?

I'm in NY. Happy to hear I wasn't only one experiencing it as they tried to make me believe it was a problem on my end. Think a refund is in order. Or maybe a ticket to the game ðŸ˜Š

Squareball · 08-09-2014 3:05pm

Surley your credit card will stop payment for you??

munchkin_utd · 08-09-2014 3:15pm

GAA go may have a point that it could be on your side.

It seems that US broadband providers like comcast use traffic shaping whenever theres network congestion
In east coast regions where theres many irish this might kick in once enough are using HQ steaming video (i.e. as throw in approaches on GAA GO?)
https://customer.comcast.com/Pages/FAQViewer.aspx?Guid=24f9d063-b8ca-4c93-a528-cb62e1fd664b#how

but still, there surely cant be that many using GAA Go that the broadband providers are throttling it/ its users.

J DEERE · 08-09-2014 3:23pm

munchkin_utd wrote: »

GAA go may have a point that it could be on your side.

It seems that US broadband providers like comcast use traffic shaping whenever theres network congestion
In east coast regions where theres many irish this might kick in once enough are using HQ steaming video (i.e. as throw in approaches on GAA GO?)
https://customer.comcast.com/Pages/FAQViewer.aspx?Guid=24f9d063-b8ca-4c93-a528-cb62e1fd664b#how

but still, there surely cant be that many using GAA Go that the broadband providers are throttling it/ its users.

The issue wasn't with streaming. The stream was perfect otherwise the trailers wouldn't even play. Whenever I had an issue streaming due to internet connection, the player would just stall or go dark and start rebuffering. And if this is the case, then surely the GAA should have been aware of the fact before it started offering it as a service to people living in North America

Squareball · 08-09-2014 3:34pm

I just heard back from GAAGO. I am using an i-pad air and Apple TV to watch this. They suggest that it might be an issue with the browser Safari?? All this technology is going way over my head, I will hand it over to my poor wife this evening.

J DEERE · 08-09-2014 3:39pm

Squareball wrote: »

I just heard back from GAAGO. I am using an i-pad air and Apple TV to watch this. They suggest that it might be an issue with the browser Safari?? All this technology is going way over my head, I will hand it over to my poor wife this evening.

I very much doubt it

keeponhurling · 08-09-2014 4:07pm

J DEERE wrote: »

Worked fine for the build up but as soon as the parade started it started cutting back to the trailers. I had to refresh the player every time this happened. The game would then play live for sixty seconds then start playing trailers again or jump back to the pre analysis of the game. Missed more or less all crucial moments of game like the penalties and the goals.

This is exactly what happened to me as well, kept skipping back to pre-match analysis or trailors

Squareball · 08-09-2014 4:21pm

munchkin_utd wrote: »

but still, there surely cant be that many using GAA Go that the broadband providers are throttling it/ its users.

I agree with that.

Squareball · 08-09-2014 4:23pm

J DEERE wrote: »

I very much doubt it

But worth a shot anyway.

GAAGO™ the subscription-based online streaming service from the GAA and RTÉ Digital

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