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USA ISP Speed Index

ispspeedindex.netflix.com

11–20 of 67 posts

Re: USA ISP Speed Index

#11

Why no latency measurements?

My guess is because latency is not relevant when it comes to streaming videos from Netflix. A consumer will not be able to notice their video took 40 milliseconds longer to start streaming. They will, however, notice when the video stops to buffer every 10-15 minutes because their ISP can't keep up with the throughput.

Re: USA ISP Speed Index

#12

How is ClearWire considered "fixed"? Anyway it's not called that anymore. I guess this info might be useful for public policy, but there's so much variability within a single provider that you wouldn't want to choose an ISP based on this alone.

I think it's "fixed" as opposed to "over time". You can view the latter by clicking the little button on the right that looks like a chart.

EDIT: I'm wrong. It still says fixed when you use the "over time" view.

Re: USA ISP Speed Index

#13

hmm. comcast dropped from 2.17 to 1.63 mbps YOY. awesome. luckily, speedtest.net shows me a lot higher than that... 25mbps, to be precise. Edit: I see Netflix has tweaked their results to use 'Prime Time' readings only. I guess I should retest this evening as well.

Remember this is the speed (in theory) that you get from Netflix on that ISP. Netflix is not measuring your total ISP bandwidth. They can only measure how much bandwidth the ISP provides you for Netflix.

Re: USA ISP Speed Index

#16
post #12

How is ClearWire considered "fixed"? Anyway it's not called that anymore. I guess this info might be useful for public policy, but there's so much variability within a single provider that you wouldn't want to choose an ISP based on this alone.

I think it's "fixed" as opposed to "over time". You can view the latter by clicking the little button on the right that looks like a chart. EDIT: I'm wrong. It still says fixed when you use the "over time" view.

I just assumed that "fixed" was in contrast to "mobile". Anyway it seems a bit too generous to the actual "fixed" providers to compare their performance with a WISP.

Re: USA ISP Speed Index

#17
I have Comcast home internet in the bay area (Speedtest is around 30mbit down/8 mbit up) and every time I try to watch anything on Netflix it buffers for a minute and the resolution usually stays unacceptably low (320p?!) while usually having to buffer again every 2-5 minutes, sometimes for the whole run time of the show. Meanwhile, Comcast's own XFINITY streaming service delivers instantly (no buffering) at full HD resolution.

I actually never understood what the whole net neutrality discussion is about, as it's very obvious that we're already getting screwed over by ISPs.

Re: USA ISP Speed Index

#19

hmm. comcast dropped from 2.17 to 1.63 mbps YOY. awesome. luckily, speedtest.net shows me a lot higher than that... 25mbps, to be precise. Edit: I see Netflix has tweaked their results to use 'Prime Time' readings only. I guess I should retest this evening as well.

I care about my bandwidth to Netflix a lot more than I care about my bandwidth to speedtest.net.
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