I spoke with KyLinTV today and asked about the Mainland channels coming back. I was told by a representative that the holdup is with the Mainland Chinese government restructuring the way channels are censored through before being sent out internationally. Contracts are already in place between KyLinTV and the TV stations in China. However, the government must now approve the changes that have been made and ensure full compliance regarding the censorship and processing methods.
I have no idea who to contact in China to get their side of the story so please keep in mind that this is only KyLin's version and it cannot be confirmed as of now. If any one has contacts that may be helpful please let me know.
The problem still remains that customers don't have service.
I wonder why DirectTV and Dish Network and FTA (Free to Air) stations are not having similar issues?
I at least give KyLin credit for providing good phone customer support and taking the time to explain what their side of the story is. I must say that I have always had positive experiences when dealing with their customer support. Mistakes are sometimes made but they are eager to correct them and always helpful.
8 comments:
I am thinking of getting Kylin Tv for my parents. With the outage how many channels are still on Kylin Tv and what are they? Do they have dramas (chinese soap opera) and news programs? I just called Kylin TV before I saw your blog and they didn't mention anything about channel outages. I am wondering if I should still sign-up with them. Plus, have you noticed any lag while surfing the internet when Kylin is streaming?
Channels that are not currently working due to the several month outage are:
Drama TV (AnHui)
CQTV
HBTV
SETV
SXTV
Pearl River
SZTV Public
SZTV
SDTV
GXTV
Hunan TV
BTV
Shanghai TV
ZJSTV
TVS
Travel TV
Woman TV
SECTV
There are still a couple of shows channels with Gu Zhuang Si and a few newer style shows as well(Most aren't very interesting though that is our households opinion.)
Video On Demand has a lot of dramas and you can view the first episode of each for free before purchasing later episodes.
There are news programs but most (ok, all except the occasional feed from Shanghai TV via Sino in NY) are from Taiwan or North America. So don't expect to get Mainland opinions and do expect many of the reports to be biased from a Taiwanese and North American perspective. I am not saying it is wrong but you need to be aware of it. Coverage for the USA in Mandarin is pretty good on Sino (But they have some of the ugliest "robotic" reporters you will ever see on TV, haha ;-)
KyLinTV is really playing it nasty not telling you about the outage. I am sitting here looking at my TV and the list of channels suffering from the outage (which has lasted nearly all summer and is now moving toward the winter) is current.
As far as signing up right now. Here is my suggestion. Tell them that you will sign-up now but you want a reduced rate since they are not providing full services. Also, I think you should mention that they intentionally withheld information about the outage on both their website and over the phone. Hmmm... Hello FTC! Isn't there something about advertising something and not being able to provide it nor currently offering it?
Regarding lag. We have a cable Internet connection. We have 1-2 people using the Internet (browsing), torrents downloading, VOIP service running on and off and KyLinTV all at the same time. Very seldom do we experience lag on any.
HOWEVER, and this is a big HOWEVER. We use a router with the capability of prioritizing traffic. This lets us give highest priority to VOIP, then KyLinTV, followed by browsing and then torrents. This keeps the voice calls clear, KyLinTV pretty smooth and the other services working well.
Now, some equipment just can't support the streaming video well and you will get buffering issues constantly. If that happens you need different equipment which better supports streaming media. If you need my best suggestion let me know and I can provide you with details.
Also, the wireless built-in to the KyLinTV box only supports WEP. This is really bad, completely hackable and not secure even when "secured."
Therefore, don't count on using the built-in wireless. You will need either a wireless to wired bridge or you will need to use the wired Ethernet port on the KyLinTV set top box. If you use the bridge again let me know and I can make some suggestions. This can be an expensive route though adding $60-$200 to the initial setup.
The bandwidth the KyLinTV box actually uses never seems to exceed 2Mbps down. 90% of the time it is using about 500Kbps-1.25Kbps down. Up bandwidth is nearly nothing so don't worry about that being an issue.
I hope this helps. Let me know if you have questions.
I visited a friend in Seattle and saw the Kylin product working. It looks great and I would love to sign up if only they had more Taiwanese content. It seems right now my only choice is to go with Dish Network as they offer a Taiwanese Mega Pack. Please can someone talk to the management @ Kylin and see if they can add more Taiwanese content. There are a lot of Taiwanese users in Canada & the Us who would switch over to Kylin if the same or more content was offered to the viewers.
Anyone that is thinking about this service and is not sure about the quality. Don't worry it is very good and reliable. Only problem is the content.
IP phones seem to have taken off in the US so I am sure this will be a great hit.
Would also be nice if the Kylin website offered an area where you could post feedback or questions to the company.
These are the channels that Dish Network offers me right now:
CTS
CTV
ET CHINA
ET DRAMA
ET GLOBAL
ET NEWS
JET TV INTERNATIONAL-(Stock Market)
SETI
SKY LINK 2
SKY LINK TV
TTV
YOYO TV
iCable
** If you have any questions or would like to ask me something please email andy_taipei@mail.com
Kylinmaster,
I agree with you that it was totally disreputable of them not to mention the very big fact that 18 out of 28 channels are out. So, I called them again to see what they can offer me since there are so many channel outages. The sales rep (Nancy) said they don't know when they can get the channels back but they can give me the Basic package for $9.99 for the first three months and $16.99 thereafter with a 6 month commitment. I then asked what if after 3 month there are still only 8 channels. All she could say was that I would be getting a good deal now since it is only $9.99. I told her I would rather wait and see. By the way on their website they say there is free access to the Phoenix Channels. Are you getting those and are they in Mandarin or Cantonese? I will probably wait until the channels come back before I sign up. We have family in China and Taiwan, so stations from China are pretty important. I will have to check your blog periodically to see if the channels come back.
As a sidenote, what VOIP service do you use? I just signed up for italkBB since they have a 30-day money back guarantee. I currently have Champion broadband cable, internet and phone service but their incompetence is really pissing me off and they are also expensive. My plan is to go with Time-Warner for cable (although they have practically no Chinese channels), KylinTv for the Chinese channels and Roadrunner Xtreme for internet. My phone would then be VOIP through italkBB.
My current network set up is 3 desktop PC's and 2 Linux machines (I don't know why we need them except that my husband is a Geek) hardwired to the router and 2 notebooks and a pocket pc accessing the network via a wireless access point. My router has prioritizing capability, so that shouldn't be a problem.
Thanks, you have been a great help and a good source of info.
I agree that KyLinTV does need to get their programming issues straightened out immediately. Both in expanding their lineup and restoring the channels that are advertised but not actually working. I think a blend of Mainland and Taiwanese programming would be good. Right now there is almost only Taiwanese and North American content since Mainland is completely out.
Interesting that they finally admitted that they are not showing most of their advertised channels on your second call and only after specifically asking. During the summer they were offering a reduced rate to customers as well. It was nice the first month or two but now I would rather just have the channels back!
I use iTalkBB as well. The service is pretty good, faxing sucks (I have never got international faxing to work and local works about 50% of the time.) Voice calls are pretty good when I compare it to other services I have used. Actually, it is the best one I have used for quality. I have tried Vonage, Packet8, Skype, AOL Voice & MSN Voice. The price is PERFECT! Plus I love the unlimited to China with an local Mainland phone number (kind of local, similar to a calling card.) I must say though that they have actually started shipping what appears to be refurbished IP adapters to new customers and there are some big issues. For instance, my aunt recently subscribed and her adapter had not been erased and reconfigured by iTalkBB. So, outgoing calls worked fine. BUT, when you called her number it was sent to the old customers who had ported the number over to their new phone service! This was really confusing. I finally spoke with the lady who answered and asked if she was a iTalkBB customer, (just guessing since she was obviously from Shanghai with a strong Shanghainese accent.) Between the two of us and customer service we finally figured out what was going on. It took 3 weeks after the order until the second adapter was received and working. Now, I have had great service with no problems since I switched to iTalkBB over a year ago. I am pretty happy and I would certainly suggest them. I will put a link with more information on the blog for anybody interested.
Yes, the Phoenix channels are free right now. And KyLinTV seems to have stopped the intermittent "Subscription Nags."
KyLinTV added a few channels since the outage. Two of their most recent additions (which are pretty lame) are a Chinese Christian channel and a Market/Financial channel only on during trading hours in China (Great;-)
I originally had Dish Network also. The picture quality is better and there is much less maintenance required by the users. I left because of the channels offered by KyLinTV. But now I may just get the channels turned back on. They cost about $30 last time I had it and I am willing to pay that rather than have empty promises from KyLinTV.
Thank you all for your posts! I love to see that things are getting more active on the blog!
Does anyone have the setup that using the iTalkBB connection for the Dish Network? I currently have Dish Network Great Wall package with phone line connected to the satellite receiver (322).
I am considering sign up iTalkBB and cancel the phone service from Verizon. Want to know if the satellite receiver will work with iTalkBB for downloading programs.
Thanks,
Johnny
Have you already ordered KyLinTV? If not, please contact me and I can give you some ideas!
Please contact me if you have not already ordered KyLinTV!
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