Re: Netflix is slow lately on FIOS
bzoum
Enthusiast - Level 1

It's worst and worst for me !

Each time I contact Verizon support, they said to me "everything is OK from our part, see with your video provider" !!

I hate verizon. I will leave as soon as my 2 year agreement is finished !

It's a shame paying for 75mbits and not capable of watching my movies !

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Re: Netflix is slow lately on FIOS
dgrothe2
Newbie

I agree.  We have paid through the nose for a service we are NOT receiving.  THEY are to deliver the service we have paid for but they are NOT.  Time to drop them and go back to Comcast.  Also, I have called them and they will NOT admit they are playing this greedy game with Netflix when it is everywhere in the newspapers.  GREEDY!!!!! and intentional poor customer service.

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Re: Netflix is slow lately on FIOS
SteveVi
Enthusiast - Level 3

Clearly Verizon doens't take us serious and could give a crap about its' customers.  Looks lke they a little a little incentive to get off their butts so I just filed complaints with the Better Busines Bureau (BBB), the Federal Trade Commision (FTC), the Federal Communications Commision (FCC) and my State's (MA) Attorney General office.  I urge everone to do the same.  Here are the links for your convenience:

Better Business Bureau

Federal Trade Commision

Federal Communications Commission

AG: Google "attorney general" and your state's 2 letter abbreviation

The process is easy and should take you 30 minutes to do all of them.  Here's what I submitted if you need a starting point for your complaint.  Some of the sites (FCC and my AG's office) limit the complaint to 1000 characters so I've included 2 versions below.

SHORT VERISON:

On 1/20/14 I renewed my Triple Play contract for TV, Internet and Phone. Early 2/14 I started having problems with Netflix streaming video.  It’s been widely publicized  the Verizon & Netflix  are in a peering dispute over the amount of Netflix traffic Verizon is handling and that Verizon is intentionally crippling Netflix video streams in order to force a financial agreement.

It’s gotten so bad that Netflix is unusable from 6PM-1AM, during which Netflix HD (1080P) video streams playback at extremely low bitrates and unwatchable resolutions of 384P and lower, with frequent stoppages and buffering.  I pay Verizon for 50Mpbs internet speeds (8X faster than required to playback Netflix HD content).  During these hrs, I see Netflix stream speeds of 584Kbps; 1/85th of the speed I’m paying Verizon for.

What Verizon is doing is wrong yet I am bound to a 24 month contract. If Verizon won’t fix this problem, I shouldn’t be held to my contract and should be allowed to find another provider. 
LONG VERSION:

I've been a FiOS customer since 2006.  I renewed my Triple Play contract “TV, Internet and Telephone” on January 20, 2014 with a 24 month term contract.  At the time of the renewal I upgraded my broadband internet speed to 50Mbps download / 25Mbps upload service.  I pay over $130 per month for this bundle

In early February I started experiencing significant problems with streaming video services from Netflix.  After a bit web searching it became apparent that the issue had nothing to do with Netflix but was instead the result of a widely publicized “peering” dispute between Verizon and Cogent Communications (the company used by Netflix for content delivery) over the amount of Netflix traffic Verizon is handling.  There is substantial evidence that Verizon is intentionally crippling Netflix video streams by allowing it's peering ports to saturate to 100% of capacity in order to force a financial agreement with Netflix.  Verizon has yet to acknowledge that this is the cause of the issue and routinely blames the customer’s equipment or equipment configuration as the source of the issue.

The problem has gotten so bad that I can no longer use Netflix after 6PM on weekdays and 3PM on weekend because the video quality is terrible.  During these periods,  Netflix HD (720P) and Super HD (1080P) video streams playback at an unwatchable resolutions of 384P and lower and at extremely low bitrates.  The streams also frequent pause and buffer.  This is particularly frustrating because I pay Verizon for broadband internet service with access speeds of 50Mpbs which is more than 8 times faster than the speeds required to playback Netflix Super HD video streams (Super HD streams require 6Mbps of bandwidth).  However, during the peak usage hours noted above, I routinely see Netflix stream speeds of 584Kbps; that’s 1/85th of the 50Mbps speeds I’m paying Verizon for.

Ironically, Verizon continues to market it’s faster FiOS Quantum service (50Mbps and higher) as “lag-free—ideal for watching Redbox Instant titles”.  Redbox, in case you’re not aware, is Verizon’s own video streaming service and is a direct competitor to Netflix.  

What Verizon is doing is wrong and it affects a huge number of their customers.  We should not be held as ransom while Verizon tries to force Netflix into a settlement.  Verizon is holding me to a 24 month contract but they are doing something to purposefully negatively reduce my delivered bandwidth to under 2% of their advertised values.  If Verizon fails to fix this problem, I should not be expected to be held to my end of the contract. 

 Please take the time to file a complaint.  If nothing else, you'll feel better about having done something.

--Steve

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Thanks Steve - maybe there is some hope for us
bbinnard
Contributor - Level 3

Thanks for publishing your formal complaint messages.  I have already filed my complaint with the FCC; I had not thought about the other places but I expect they may be able to help.

In addition, here is something that may also help:

http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/04/att-copies-google-names-100-cities-where-it-could-offer-giga...

The situation with Verizon & Netflix has reached the point of utter absurdity and has gone unanswered and unacknowledged for far too long.  Obviously what people post in this forum is not helping, and likely never will help.  So we need to raise the stakes and start writing to the people who control the industry and make the laws.

If you are reading this then stop readring and start writing.

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I will be dropping as soon as my contract is up
jwillum
Newbie

My contract is up in November.  If this Verizon/Netflix squabble is not over by then, I will be going to cable.  It's ridiculous to be paying for 75mbps speed and not even be able to stream video.  Shame on Verizon for obviously not caring about their customers and shame on any Verizon employee who would state that there is no problem.  

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Re: Netflix is slow lately on FIOS
SoNi67
Contributor - Level 1

I did file a complaint. I received an answering machine message stating the name of some guy and a phone number to call (corporate?) if I want, and also he said that somebody from local office will contact me in 48 hours.

It's been over a week now, nothing happend.

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Re: Netflix is slow lately on FIOS
SteveVi
Enthusiast - Level 3

Well that was quick; I just got a call from "Verizon's Executive Office" to let me know that they had received my BBB complaint and my case was being forwarded to an Escalation Manager.  I expect the EM will pretend they've never heard of the Netlix streaming issue and will try to get me to open a support ticket.  Not gonna happen; at this point all I want is Verizon to release me from my contract.

I'll post again when I have more info.

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Re: Netflix is slow lately on FIOS
SteveVi
Enthusiast - Level 3

SoNi67,

If you file a complaint directly with Verizon they have zero accountability fi they don;t get back to you.  If you file with the FCC, FTC, BBB, and AG's office, it's a matter of public record and most companies will contact you and make an attempt to resolve the issue is good faith. 

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Re: Netflix is slow lately on FIOS
SteveVi
Enthusiast - Level 3

I received the following response from Verizon to my Better Business Bureau complaint:

The customer was contacted by Verizon’s Fiber Solutions Center. We are aware of the potential for congestion at certain times of day on certain network connections between Verizon and Cogent. Traffic flows between the two networks are significantly out-of-balance at the moment as a result of increased traffic coming from Cogent's network. Verizon has made proposals to Cogent for ways to address the situation, and will continue to pursue commercial discussions with Cogent regarding appropriate alternative arrangements if Cogent anticipates that it will not be able to satisfy the requirements of our peering arrangement requiring roughly balanced exchange of traffic. Verizon has made proposals to Cogent for ways to address the situation but at the moment there is no time frame for resolution.

I responded as follows:

I’m not really sure how to respond to this.  Simply stating that there’s a problem without offering a solution serves little purpose.  I pay Verizon for 50Mbps internet access.  This service has 8 times the bandwidth required to stream Netflix’s highest resolution SuperHD programming which streams at approximately 6Mbps.  Yet during the hours of approx. 6PM until 1AM I’m lucky if I see stream bitrates of 584Kbps; 1/85th of the speed I pay Verizon for.

Frankly, I don’t care if you’re in talks with Cogent; I pay Verizon for internet access, not Cogent.  Further, it’s a common practice for ISPs to monitor their peering ports and open additional ports as traffic reaches 50% of capacity.  Verizon is allowing its ports to reach 100% of capacity and taking no action to remedy the situation.  Verizon has the resources and equipment in place to prevent this from happening but chooses not to in order to force a financial agreement with Cogent.  

This problem has been going on for months now. Either fix the problem or release me from my contract.
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Re: Netflix is slow lately on FIOS
Namronorman
Contributor - Level 2

Steve,

I love that Verizon continues to point its finger at Cogent when it's much more than Cogent that is being used to deliver content to Verizon Netflix subscribers. I see streams from mostly Level 3 but also from NTT as well. Cogent, Level 3, and NTT are all congested with Verizon. Centurylink/Savvis is used for Amazon. That also goes downhill in the early afternoon/evening.

The above listed transit providers are all Tier 1 - just like Verizon. They all have major congestion issues with Verizon. If I use one of my office's connection - Above.Net/Zayo - I don't have ANY issues with those providers even during peak hours. Verizon is just pretending to be a martyr while pointing its massive red finger at everyone else. This whole thing is a joke and a sham to get other tier 1s to pay Verizon.

At the end of the day, if you pay for Verizon internet, you're actually paying for the privilege to be the product, not the customer. Verizon is using all of its subscribers as leverage against other ISPs - including tier 1s - to extract as much money as possible from both ends. Verizon's peering is terrible. The only difference I see between Verizon and Cogent is that Verizon is significantly more expensive than Cogent.

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