NetFlix unusable during prime time in Wilmington Delaware
jobear512
Newbie

NetFlix from our Sony Blu-Ray was fine six months ago.  During prime time it might pause to buffer once during a movie.  However, over the past months it is unbearable, pausing ever two minutes to buffer.  This is during prime time TV hours.  We are forced to switch over to the Wii where the picture quality is much lower, but at least it streams without interruptions.  

The Wii is wifi, and the Blu-ray is wired (100 Mbps).

So what changed with Verizon FiOS that NetFlix streaming for higher quality streams is unwatchable during prime time?  

I have 35 Mbps down and up.  Measured down speeds are actually slightly higher at 42 Mbps.  That is more than enough.

Everything works fine during the day, but fails during prime time.  There is nothing else in this house that would be competing with the Netflix traffic.

Very disappointing to see this just as I keep getting bombarded by Verizon to spend another $10 month for FioS Quantum (for faster speed).  Hmmm, will that return my Netflix streaming back to normal...if I pay them more?  It makes you think something is not quite on the level.  

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Re: NetFlix unusable during prime time in Wilmington Delaware
Namronorman
Contributor - Level 2

It won't. I'm 75/35 and Netflix sucks. It only takes 3mbit for the highest tier of HD on a non Open Connect CDN.

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Re: NetFlix unusable during prime time in Wilmington Delaware
Namronorman
Contributor - Level 2

I'm not saying www.internethealthreport.com is the report that shows the state of major internet providers in the US, but it's still fun to look at Verizon -> Cogent and Cogent -> Verizon.

I was watching The Trip this evening on my Roku and it loaded in HD. About 45 minutes in, it stops playing and spends a couple of minutes to re-buffer. Once it does re-buffer, it's on the 2nd lowest setting. Immediately after this happens, I try to reload the with no success. I then try on my PC with no success. I'm sick and tired of this, it's **bleep**.

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Re: Netflix Streaming quality degraded over last few months in Plano, Tx?
anonFios
Contributor - Level 2

You should look at what other service options are available and consider canceling Fios. That's what I'm doing now.

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Re: Netflix Streaming quality degraded over last few months in Plano, Tx?
Namronorman
Contributor - Level 2

@anonFios wrote:

You should look at what other service options are available and consider canceling Fios. That's what I'm doing now.


Unfortunately, it's Comcast. But you know what? All of my friends in the area with Comcast have better ping times and zero Netflix issues. I'm just fighting Verizon on the ETF at the moment. Their retention department is full of a bunch of mouth breathers so I've escalated via other means.

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Re: Netflix Streaming quality degraded over last few months in Plano, Tx?
Namronorman
Contributor - Level 2

Looks like I'm stuck at streaming 235Kbit on Netflix again and other services are suffering as well... Any word on whether there is a resolution in sight?

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Re: Netflix Streaming quality degraded over last few months in Plano, Tx?
tns2
Community Leader
Community Leader

As far as Verizon is conerned, its netflix and COGENT's problem and they will do something when they get some bucks from them to handle the traffic.

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Re: Netflix Streaming quality degraded over last few months in Plano, Tx?
Namronorman
Contributor - Level 2

@tns_2 wrote:

As far as Verizon is conerned, its netflix and COGENT's problem and they will do something when they get some bucks from them to handle the traffic.


And in the mean time, I just get to have terrible service? It's more than just Netflix. Cogent is used for a ton of web hosts, services such as Steam, and much more.

If Verizon is going to allow its services to degrade, then I'd like to leave as a customer and not have to pay an ETF.

By the way, this started in May. I highly doubt the traffic between Verizon and Cogent shot up in May enough to cause these issues. I think it has more to do with Redbox Instant and less to do with increased traffic.

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Re: Netflix Streaming quality degraded over last few months in Plano, Tx?
wBud
Enthusiast - Level 2

To show how you feel about this business problem of Verizons, I recommend dropping your speed, pay verizon less - seems senseless to pay for High Speed interfnet when you can't get High Speeds.

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Re: Netflix Streaming quality degraded over last few months in Plano, Tx?
Namronorman
Contributor - Level 2

@wBud wrote:

To show how you feel about this business problem of Verizons, I recommend dropping your speed, pay verizon less - seems senseless to pay for High Speed interfnet when you can't get High Speeds.


It's not just Cogent. I see constant congestion on Level3, NTT, and Savvis as well. What gives?

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