Re: Netflix is slow lately on FIOS
db909
Contributor - Level 3

Well it is good to know that you can get a business account and bypass all this nonsense.  At least until FIOS starts throttling business accounts also.

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Re: Netflix is slow lately on FIOS
Sava333
Enthusiast - Level 3

Same issue here, noticed for the past month or two seemingly right after the Net Neutrality debacle, Netflix has been pretty much unusable. I'm interested to see the January results listed on Netflix's ISP rankings:

http://ispspeedindex.netflix.com/usa

If only Google Fiber would expand more rapidly. Seriously considering switching back to Optimum though I prefer Fios TV, Optimum internet seems to be better.

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Re: Netflix is slow lately on FIOS
db909
Contributor - Level 3

Here is an interesting article, FIOS is not analyzed but I think it is pretty clear what is going on from reading the article.

http://gigaom.com/2014/02/06/theres-something-rotten-in-the-state-of-online-video-streaming-and-the-...

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Re: Netflix is slow lately on FIOS
Sava333
Enthusiast - Level 3
Re: Netflix is slow lately on FIOS
db909
Contributor - Level 3

@Sava333 wrote:

Fios falls another notch on Netflix ISP rating:

http://ispspeedindex.netflix.com/usa

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/02/netflix-performance-on-verizon-and-comcast-has...


"In response to Netflix's rankings, Verizon gave Ars this statement:

How the Internet works can be complicated..."

Seriously?

"Google Fiber, Cox, and Cablevision in particular have been impressive. The comparisons to better performing ISPs place Verizon and Comcast in a bad light."


How about they just fix it and catch up to their competitors?

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Re: Netflix is slow lately on FIOS
dniq
Newbie

There's nothing complicated about how internet works.

Simple truth: direct streaming from NetFlix of a sample movie (http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Example_Short_23.976/70136810), while also streaming another movie from NetFlix on my Apple TV - 560 kbit/sec maximum. Here's the traceroute to the server from which it's being streamed:

dniq-mba:~ root# traceroute 108.175.42.142

traceroute to 108.175.42.142 (108.175.42.142), 64 hops max, 52 byte packets

 1  192.168.1.1 (192.168.1.1)  2.695 ms  1.551 ms  0.965 ms

 2  l100.nwrknj-vfttp-96.verizon-gni.net (98.109.218.1)  7.524 ms  6.214 ms  6.285 ms

 3  g0-13-2-0.nwrknj-lcr-21.verizon-gni.net (130.81.109.116)  10.986 ms  7.362 ms  8.094 ms

 4  ae0-0.nwrk-bb-rtr1.verizon-gni.net (130.81.209.154)  7.664 ms

    ae1-0.nwrk-bb-rtr1.verizon-gni.net (130.81.209.146)  6.032 ms  4.657 ms

 5  0.xe-10-1-0.br1.nyc1.alter.net (152.63.18.225)  10.493 ms

    0.xe-5-0-0.br1.nyc1.alter.net (152.63.16.61)  7.052 ms

    0.xe-10-1-0.br1.nyc1.alter.net (152.63.18.225)  39.672 ms

 6  * * ae11.edge2.newyork.level3.net (4.68.62.41)  42.052 ms

 7  4.34.146.66 (4.34.146.66)  52.443 ms  49.003 ms  47.555 ms

 8  ipv4_1.lagg0.c033.nyc001.ix.nflxvideo.net (108.175.42.142)  49.647 ms  49.635 ms  47.286 ms

And then I connect to my work VPN (all traffic now goes via the VPN) - suddenly the speed becomes 3000 kbit/sec. And here's the traceroute again:

dniq-mba:~ root# traceroute 108.175.43.165

traceroute to 108.175.43.165 (108.175.43.165), 64 hops max, 52 byte packets

 1  10.11.0.36 (10.11.0.36)  11.397 ms  12.910 ms  10.537 ms

 2  10.11.0.1 (10.11.0.1)  9.074 ms  12.515 ms  11.629 ms

 3  12.130.81.133 (12.130.81.133)  9.830 ms  12.855 ms  13.381 ms

 4  mdf016c7613r0001-tge-10-4.nyc2.attens.net (63.240.24.105)  15.201 ms  12.380 ms  14.328 ms

 5  12.122.251.41 (12.122.251.41)  9.978 ms  11.212 ms  12.649 ms

 6  cr2.n54ny.ip.att.net (12.122.130.94)  15.857 ms  16.380 ms  14.606 ms

 7  igs3.n54ny.ip.att.net (12.122.115.89)  14.208 ms  14.022 ms  14.550 ms

 8  ae-15.r05.nycmny01.us.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.9.205)  13.816 ms  18.349 ms  13.998 ms

 9  ae-3.r06.nycmny01.us.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.4.205)  13.600 ms  14.362 ms  13.881 ms

10  ae-1.netflix.nycmny01.us.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.198.114)  54.818 ms  56.614 ms  54.739 ms

11  ipv4_1.lagg0.c075.nyc001.ix.nflxvideo.net (108.175.43.165)  48.449 ms  44.598 ms  47.986 ms

And then I disconnect from the VPN again, and stop streaming the movie on Apple TV - suddenly the speed in my web browser improves to 3000 kbit/sec!

So two devices streaming video from NetFlix over the same connection are limited to around 3500 kbit/sec. When I connect to my VPN - Apple TV streams directly from NetFlix, while web browser streams via the VPN. Verizon can no longer see that I have the second stream from NetFlix, therefore not limiting the bandwidth for the VPN one.

If this is not the evidence of Verizon throttling the speed - I don't know what is.

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Re: Netflix is slow lately on FIOS
Sava333
Enthusiast - Level 3

Well it's technically not 'throttling'. Allowing peering connections to become saturated is what's happening. Lucky for you, your VPN is bypassing those problematic connections, probably somewhere in the ALTER.NET and LEVEL3 areas. I ran a similar tracert and got mostly timeouts.

I know Google Fiber and Cablevision are part of Open Connect, pretty sure Cox is also which is why their Netflix quality is so great. Imagine if Verizon signed up, the splashes they'd make, the happy customers they'd have and the amazing press they'd get. We could all go on bragging about how their network really is 'pristine' again. Not sure what the problem would be with that.

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Re: Netflix is slow lately on FIOS
Namronorman
Contributor - Level 2

@Sava333 wrote:

Well it's technically not 'throttling'. Allowing peering connections to become saturated is what's happening. Lucky for you, your VPN is bypassing those problematic connections, probably somewhere in the ALTER.NET and LEVEL3 areas. I ran a similar tracert and got mostly timeouts.

I know Google Fiber and Cablevision are part of Open Connect, pretty sure Cox is also which is why their Netflix quality is so great. Imagine if Verizon signed up, the splashes they'd make, the happy customers they'd have and the amazing press they'd get. We could all go on bragging about how their network really is 'pristine' again. Not sure what the problem would be with that.


Posturing for Redbox Instant.

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Re: Netflix is slow lately on FIOS
AfriShutah
Newbie

I recently upgraded my Verison FIOS service and now have a 50/25 Mb pipe. Sadly, I cannot tell any difference when trying to watch Netflix movies. It can take up to 5 minutes before a movie starts streaming, especially if the qulity of the connection is indicated with the bars as "high" (this is pretty counter-intuitive). 

I have contacted Verizon, Netflix and the manufacturer of my Blu-Ray device (Samsung) and done everything that is possible. Verizon and Netflix keep blaming each other. Although I have no proof that Verizon is throttling delivery of Netflix content, I do find it curious that I am recenly bombarded with more and more emails and ads for Verizon's own content (movies).

I almost dropped Verizon (I have been a loyal customer since 2008) last week, in frustration over ever higher monthly fees and poorer service. I reluctantly accepted their offer to upgrade to a 50/25 Mb connection (my original connection was 20/5). Alas, it seems to have been for naught.

We may be going separate ways, after all ... and btw. I will also be dropping Nextflix until I can get a better connection.

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Re: Netflix is slow lately on FIOS
Sava333
Enthusiast - Level 3

Yeah, when I initially spoke to Verizon support about this, they suggested my wireless signal was the cause, not strong enough. So I went and bought a range extender, even though my network hadn't changed at all. 

Two problems with this now. One, the range extender wasn't needed in the first place, if I'd known about all these network issues before I bought it, I wouldn't have bothered. Two, Actiontec routers have issues with range extenders and the thing doesn't even work past 24 hours due to the DHCP lease. I have to restart it once a day to get it to work properly.

Do you think Verizon will reimburse me the cost of the now useless range extender? My Magic 8-ball just told me that it's sources say no.

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