Dear valued customer and/or IT/IPTV Specialist,
Selected Life Fitness and Cybex Tablet Touchscreen consoles, used on our cardio series are able to connect to Coax (Terrestrial, Cable, Satellite) and IP Network based media streaming sources. Open IPTV is one of the IP streaming options Life Fitness offers its customers.
The below information will additionally support you in setting up your IP network where the Life Fitness Symbio, Discover and Cybex 70T consoles will be connected to, through the Open IPTV streaming setup.
The consoles are able to work with non-encrypted IPTV streams, called "Open IPTV" within Life Fitness, correctly, but because the consoles are not specifically made to just do that (unlike commercial grade/hospitality IPTV Set Top Boxes or PC/Mac laptops), they need some additional support from the network, so that they're not flooded by unnecessary traffic. The following information will give you additional info on how to setup your network correctly to have the best Open IPTV streaming experience for your customers with our consoles.
In this article:
Other customer network suggestions
Customer Network setup examples
Main requirements
To start, we want to highlight some crucial technical network requirements which are inevitable, to make sure the Open IPTV channels are correctly shown on the consoles (These are further technically specified in the chapters below):
- The network must have a Layer 3 device included which includes the IGMP Querier functionality (based on the IGMPv3 protocol).
- There may only be one device in the network which has the IGMP Querier functionality enabled.
- All other devices in the network (switches) must support the IGMP Snooping functionality (IGMPv2 protocol).
- The IPTV streams offered to our consoles must be in UDP or RTP format. Some newer console types do also support HLS, which is outlined below. Any other network protocol is not supported.
- It’s strongly advised to thoroughly review the Multicast settings of each of the network devices (routers/switches) to make sure they’re setup correctly to stream the IPTV channels to the consoles, adhering to the requirements indicated in the below information.
- Through experience we've seen that by not following these requirements, this can cause various symptoms and issues, which degrade the customer experience:
- Not able to show any of the IPTV channels (black screens)
- Only channel audio is heard, no video is seen
- Channels are shown with pixelated images
- Only a static image of the channel is shown
- Channels are only shown 20-60 seconds after selecting the channel
- Streaming works correctly on commercial grade/hospitality IPTV Set Top Boxes or PC/Mac laptops (VLC), but not on the Life Fitness consoles
- Life Fitness or any of its affiliates are not responsible for setting up, managing, maintaining, changing or updating the customers (IT/IPTV) network.
We understand that these requirements are maybe beyond the normal IT network setup requirements and appreciate your cooperation in setting up the network as indicated so that our consoles will be able to show the IPTV content seamlessly, creating the best user experience possible.
Customer Network requirements
| Discover SE (iMX6 only), SE3, SE3HD, 70T with native Ethernet port | Discover SE4, Symbio consoles, with native Ethernet port | Discover SE4, Symbio Consoles, with Pro:Idiom IP tuner | Attachable TV, with Pro:Idiom IP tuner | |
| IGMP Querier/Host device required | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Only 1 Layer 3 device required for IGMPv3 support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| IGMP Snooping required (applicable to layer 2 devices) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| DHCP IP allowed | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Static IP allowed | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| IGMPv3 Support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Console Feature Support
| Discover SE (iMX6 only), SE3, SE3HD, 70T with native Ethernet port | Discover SE4, Symbio consoles, with native Ethernet port | Discover SE4, Symbio Consoles, with Pro:Idiom IP tuner | Attachable TV, with Pro:Idiom IP tuner | |
AV Content Decryption Support | ||||
| Open IPTV capable (non-encrypted) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Pro:Idiom DRM hardware decryption capable | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Other IPTV decryption (Verimatrix, etc.) | No | No | No | No |
Console Network Support | ||||
| IP Connection | LAN only | LAN only | WiFi* or LAN | LAN only |
| Cable type | Ethernet (CAT) | Ethernet (CAT) | Ethernet (CAT) | Ethernet (CAT) |
| Cable connection | RJ45 | RJ45 | RJ45 | RJ45 |
| Ethernet Port speed | 100BaseT | 1000BaseT | 1000BaseT | 1000BaseT |
| Ethernet port location | Carrier PCB (backside) | Tablet PCB (backside) | Pro:Idiom IP Tuner (backside) | backside of TV |
| Untagged VLAN Support | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Tagged VLAN Support | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| VLAN Standard | N/A | N/A | IEEE 802.1Q | IEEE 802.1Q |
| Internet through same LAN possible? | Yes | Yes | Yes | No, no internet capabilities |
| Internet through WIFI simultaneously | No | No | Yes* | No, no internet capabilities |
| Multicast IP support for live TV streaming | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Unicast | No | No | No | No |
| MPTS (Multiple Program TS) | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| SPTS (Single Program TS) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| *.ts extension | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| *.mp4 extension | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| *.m3u8 extension | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Video Resolution Support | ||||
| 720p | up to 12Mbps | up to 25Mbps | up to 25Mbps | up to 25Mbps |
| 1080p | up to 12Mbps | up to 25Mbps | up to 25Mbps | up to 25Mbps |
| 4K (downscaled to 1080p) | No | up to 25Mbps | up to 25Mbps | up to 25Mbps |
| Captive Portal Support | No | No | No | No |
Content delivery Protocols | ||||
| UDP | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| RTP | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| RTSP | No | No | No | No |
| HLS (HTTP Live Streaming | No | Yes | No | No |
Video Codecs | ||||
| MPEG-2 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MPEG-4 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| H.264 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| H.265 (HEVC) | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Audio Codecs | ||||
| MPEG-1 Layer 1 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MPEG-1 Layer 2 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MPEG-2 Part 3 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Dolby Digital (AC-3) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Dolby Digital+ (E AC-3) | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MPEG-4 pt3 AAC | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MPEG-4 pt3 HE-AAC | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Additional Open IPTV Feature Support | ||||
| Closed Caption/Subtitles | Yes (If enabled at headend) | Yes (If enabled at headend) | Yes | Yes |
| CC Toggle on/off | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| SAP (Secondary Audio Profile) | No | No | Yes | Yes |
IPTV Channel Management Support | ||||
| Maximum Channels | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| Custom channel list | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| In-Console channel entry | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| XML Channel list upload | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Channel list USB import/export? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Facility Connect channel sync | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
*The Pro:idiom IP Tuner can receive IPTV signals only through the tuner’s own LAN port. It converts the IPTV signal into HDMI and then passes it to the Console Main Board as an HDMI source.
If the Ethernet connection going into the tuner also carries an internet connection, the tuner will pass that connection to the Console Main Board through an internal Ethernet cable. This allows web browsing on the console as well.
If the IPTV signal does not include internet access, or should be separated from the IPTV signal, and internet is available through Wi-Fi at the fitness facility, then the console can connect to the internet via Wi-Fi instead. For this to work, the internal Ethernet cable must be disconnected from the Console Main Board.
Other customer network suggestions
The following items are suggestions based on feedback and experience we received during setting up IP networks in combination with our consoles:
- All switches in the network should be “non-blocking” switches, preferably.
- Have only one IGMP Querier activated within the network (or set to Auto when supported in the hardware, so that it detects other Querier(s) and auto turns them off). Having 2 devices acting as Queriers will cause IPTV streaming issues.
- All network hardware should have the correct date, time and time zone.
- IPTV headend and ISP internet source should both preferably be directly connected to the L3 switch/router which has the IGMP Querier functionality included and enabled.
- When available turn ON, the "Immediate Leave" function within IGMP snooping setup (IGMPv2 protocol option).
- When available, turn ON, the IGMP Querier “Election” in the IGMP Querier device.
- Make the "Query Max response interval” setting in IGMP VLAN settings as low as possible (in seconds) to improve channel switching timing (IGMP Querier device)
- “Multicast Router Port” setting should be set to "Static" (or turned ON or equivalent) for the port in the L3 IGMP Querier device which sends the IPTV channels to the other switches in the network. The rest of the ports should have turned it off/none.
- "Forward All" setting should be set to "Static" (or turned on or equivalent) for the port in the L3 IGMP Querier device which sends the IPTV channels to the other switches in the network. The rest of the ports should have turned it off/none.
- "Unregistered Multicast" setting should be set to "Forwarding" (or turned on or equivalent) for the port in the L3 IGMP Querier device which sends the IPTV channels to the rest of the switches in the network. The rest of the ports should have turned it OFF/set to "Filtering"
- “Jumbo frames” setting should be turned OFF in all switches.
- Turn ON “Flow control” only when the consoles are getting flooded with too much traffic and then turn it ON only within the switch(es) directly connected to the consoles.
- As the cost of a Layer 3 IGMP Querier device is significantly higher than a Layer 2 device and the Layer 3 switch pricing increases rapidly when going beyond 10 ports, we advise to setup the network with a small Layer 3 IGMP Querier device, which can handle all the incoming streams as well as one outgoing stream, which is connected to a Layer 2 device. This much cheaper Layer 2 device distributes the streams to all Consoles.
- When an IPTV channel is broadcasting its video content in MPEG4, we believe that the broadcast is most stable and in sync when its setup with the RTP network protocol and less stable with the UDP network protocol. MPEG 1 & 2 streams can be best broadcasted through the UDP protocol.
- The recommended total bandwidth is based on the number of channels and the expected channel bandwidth. For example, if there are 20 channels streaming with 10Mbps video, the network will require (20x10) 200 Mbps support
- The Multicast address range the IPTV channels require is between 224.0.0.0 and 239.255.255.255 (Class D Multicast IP addresses)
Customer Network setup examples
Example 1: IPTV Media Server/Head End only
Example 2: IPTV Media Server/Head End plus Internet
Example 3: Possible Network Bandwidth with correct IGMP setup
Further reading
The following links is reference material to some of the network protocols and features which have been highlighted above, to further support you in correctly setting up and understanding your network. (We don't take any responsibility for the content and it correctness of these websites)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_switch
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IGMP_snooping
- https://howdoesinternetwork.com/2015/what-is-a-non-blocking-switch
- https://kb.netgear.com/25091/Guidance-on-the-use-of-jumbo-frames
- https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/flow-control.
- https://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/ios/ipmulti/configuration/guide/imc_tech_oview.pdf
- https://support.spirent.com/s/article/FAQ10423
Disclaimer: The information provided on this page is for general guidance and suggestion purposes only. While we strive to ensure that the details are accurate and up to date, we cannot guarantee any specific results or outcomes. Life Fitness and its affiliates are not liable for any differences in results or any issues that may arise from following these suggestions. Please use your discretion and consider your specific circumstances when implementing any advice provided here.