[LM24] Television & streaming & Shirt

[Akrapovic]

I must've got lucky. I often buy a French Sim Card on eBay before the week. That's usually allowed me to get good 3G coverage in the campsite. Tweet was never an issue. Sometimes video streaming didn't work, but photos did. Used to post on forums, and tweet to RLM during the night from areas I knew cameras weren't covering.

Try a French sim card is my advice.

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

What were you doing in the town centre while practice was on???

Often got there on Wednesday and one year we were delayed (channel tunnel over booking again). Arrived tired and hungry as final practice starting and needed to get into hotel. Desire was good and some beers not a tram journey to get in and see only the last hour at best

It's weak I know.

[isynge]

Originally Posted by Adam43

Even in the middle of the night it is practically impossible.

I've managed to stream Wednesday practice in the town centre before.

Get a couple of minutes outside the main bit of circuit and it becomes fine - generally by the time you get towards Carrefour heading into town it comes through with full bars of 4G. It's not a showstopper - I generally figure there are enough screens, broadcast radio works, and there's a certain pleasure to catching up on some of the wider details of what happened on Sunday night in the hotel.

[Adam43]

Definitely. It never really bothers me during the race. Although I did like the Kangaroo thing as it is nice to ocassionaly keep up with bits you are really following. I guess people are trying to g something like that.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by Adam43

Definitely. It never really bothers me during the race. Although I did like the Kangaroo thing as it is nice to ocassionaly keep up with bits you are really following. I guess people are trying to g something like that.

Do they still do Kangaroo? Last time I used it was 2008. Found it a bit much tbh. Was good during qualifying, but distracted from the race. Good old fashioned RLM FM Radio was better for me.

[Adam43]

Nah, I think it was only for a year (or two?).

[Akrapovic]

I think they did it in 2008 and 2009 yeah. Great concept, especially for qualifying but not for me. Could see the attraction though.

[Truckosaurus]

I think Kangaroo was scuppered once people started getting smartphones and could access the timing that way.

[GT6]

Why do so many people try to use their phones for everything, why not sit back, turn on radio le mans and watch the cars, so much better than looking at the phone and missing the action right in front of their eyes

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by GT6

Why do so many people try to use their phones for everything, why not sit back, turn on radio le mans and watch the cars, so much better than looking at the phone and missing the action right in front of their eyes

Very true. I'll glance at the app from time to time, but you're rarely all that far from a big screen anyway....

[GT6]

But then anyone under 30 is rarely able to look away from their phone, in case they miss something, while i was in Hong Kong there were posters everywhere warning people that they needed to be aware of things happening around them, not just what was happening on their phone, with pictures of people falling in front of trains, down escalators or walking in front of vehicles. The big screen outside our campsite gives you all the info you need and you can watch the cars actually go round, perfect

[Adam43]

The current generation of phones are bloody brilliant. I love what they can do. However the trick is to use them when they add. Mostly it's best to look at real life.

[Bentley03]

Originally Posted by Adam43

The current generation of phones are bloody brilliant. I love what they can do. However the trick is to use them when they add. Mostly it's best to look at real life.

Agreed. But for me, the ability to stream live coverage on my phone at the circuit is the final piece of the jigsaw at Le Mans, in terms of viewing the race. For the majority of the time, eyes are fixed on the track, or a big screen, but there are times when we are switching location, have nipped off to get something to eat, or are watching away from a big screen, when there is an incident, or a battle for position, when I would like to be able to see what is happening, rather than just listening to RLM telling me about it. By the sounds of things though, poor connectivity around the circuit will mean this is still not possible.

[Bentley03]

Originally Posted by Truckosaurus

They usually rebrand the WEC app as the 'Le Mans 24hr' app in the days before the race (often after I have travelled to France so I can't update or use the app), so they might be holding off single race products until that happens.

Yep, I remember now. Thank you

[Aysedasi]

That's gonna be the problem, isn't it? I despaired a couple of years ago when I found that the app needed to be updated just as we were about to watch the first qualifying session. With garbage connectivity anyway, it took virtually the whole session to download the update......

[Akrapovic]

Could you not nip down the McDonalds for the wifi? It means eating a McDonalds, but the wifi is always excellent.

[Aysedasi]

True, but it would be a lot easier if they did any update overnight on the Friday night.... Or a week beforehand would be even better!

[deggis]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

I must've got lucky. I often buy a French Sim Card on eBay before the week. That's usually allowed me to get good 3G coverage in the campsite. Tweet was never an issue. Sometimes video streaming didn't work, but photos did. Used to post on forums, and tweet to RLM during the night from areas I knew cameras weren't covering.

Try a French sim card is my advice.

Would probably help more if you could tell which French carrier it was. Maybe it had a better coverage / less users in that area or its actual customers get prioritized over roaming users.

Btw, the EU free roaming law comes into effect June 15, so just in time for the race.

As from 15 June, mobile users travelling to other countries in the EU will be able to call, text or surf the net without paying any extra charges.

By all accounts this shouldn't make the networks any less crowded.

[GT6]

It will make the networks even worse as unlike previous yeras all those people from the UK will no longer be turning the data roaming off, so expect the effect to be considerable

[Truckosaurus]

According to the WEC Twitter account, the smartphone app has been re-branded to the LM24 app this afternoon, so plenty of time to update to the latest version before this Sunday's activities.

[Aysedasi]

Mine updated yesterday. But I wouldn't put it past them to update something 5 minutes before the flag drops.....

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by deggis

Would probably help more if you could tell which French carrier it was. Maybe it had a better coverage / less users in that area or its actual customers get prioritized over roaming users.

Btw, the EU free roaming law comes into effect June 15, so just in time for the race.

As from 15 June, mobile users travelling to other countries in the EU will be able to call, text or surf the net without paying any extra charges.

By all accounts this shouldn't make the networks any less crowded.

Orange was the last one I used, but Bouygues (which we always called BoogyTel) also worked. My connection on Orange was so good that I setup my phone as a WiFi hotspot during the evenings in the campsite for others to use.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

Orange was the last one I used, but Bouygues (which we always called BoogyTel) also worked. My connection on Orange was so good that I setup my phone as a WiFi hotspot during the evenings in the campsite for others to use.

Useful to know!

[Bentley03]

Originally Posted by Truckosaurus

According to the WEC Twitter account, the smartphone app has been re-branded to the LM24 app this afternoon, so plenty of time to update to the latest version before this Sunday's activities.

As Ayse says, the most irritating thing about the app is the timing of their subsequent updates. I am aware of at least 4 occasions when the app has required a further compulsory update whilst we've been trackside, once just before qualifying was about to begin at Silverstone one year, at a less inconvenient time another year, as well as twice at Le Mans, rendering it completely unusable on each occasion, due to slow and intermittent mobile internet connections.

Anyway, the rebranding update has loaded, and the Le Mans race package is now available (£8.49). Now it's a case of wait and see (or wait and not see ).

[Aysedasi]

James, I can't see the Le Mans package - on my phone, my iPad or my PC........?

Both iPad and phone apps are up to date.