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Netflix performance on Verizon and Comcast has been dropping for months

arstechnica.com

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Re: Netflix performance on Verizon and Comcast has been dropping for months

#41

Post by wting »

icebraining wrote: post #33
benmac wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Be very wary of signing up for Comcast business service. They have an auto-renewal policy that renews your contract every year even though you thought you'd signed up for a single year (with the expectation of month-to-month). When you come to leave Comcast Business they will charge you 75% of the outstanding balance you have on the current year ($485 for 10 months in my case) and they'll fight tooth-and-nail to get…

I don't get it, what would happen if you simply hadn't paid the $485?

They sell your debt to collection agencies who harass you until the end of time.

Re: Netflix performance on Verizon and Comcast has been dropping for months

#42

Post by acdha »

hayksaakian wrote: post #31
tzakrajs wrote: post #19

The problem here is that Comcast and Verizon don't want to pay for the upstream bandwidth to the Netflix Open Connect CDN which means that as Netflix increases quality and gains additional subscribers, the time-weighted bitrate (TWBR, the metric they use to compare ISP performance) will continue to plummet. This isn't to say that all Comcast and Verizon customers will feel this pain, some markets have better performa…

Could there be an opportunity for small ISPs who peer well with Netflix? Or does the fact that they usually operate using the Big Boys cables remove any advantages this may bring? Instead of Comcast's TV + Phone + Internet, I would be willing to buy Small ISPs NetFlix + AmazonPrime + Internet package if I knew I could get high quality streams without slowdowns.

There definitely seems to be – my local ISP runs ads like this: http://rcn.com/j/rcn-supercharges-your-netflix-experience

Since I live in a neighborhood where FIOS, Comcast and RCN are all competing this is particularly attractive – we get rock-solid HD quality on Netflix and the Comcast customers are usually complaining about quality. I'm hoping this strategy proves successful…

Re: Netflix performance on Verizon and Comcast has been dropping for months

#43

Post by jamroom »

samstave wrote: post #10
dangrossman wrote: post #4

I'm on Verizon FiOS in Pennsylvania, with the standard residential 15/5 service, it's 10:44PM, and Netflix is streaming at a steady 3-4Mb/s. I guess I'm lucky? http://i.imgur.com/akih9HA.png

You're on FIOS and you're getting 3-4MB/s and you're feeling lucky? How sad.

Just because someone has a 15Mbps connection doesn't mean Netflix will eat it all up - Netflix will use the minimum bandwidth needed to stream the quality of video being watched. Sounds like it is working great in this case.

Re: Netflix performance on Verizon and Comcast has been dropping for months

#44

Post by michaelt »

tzakrajs wrote: post #19

The problem here is that Comcast and Verizon don't want to pay for the upstream bandwidth to the Netflix Open Connect CDN which means that as Netflix increases quality and gains additional subscribers, the time-weighted bitrate (TWBR, the metric they use to compare ISP performance) will continue to plummet. This isn't to say that all Comcast and Verizon customers will feel this pain, some markets have better performa…

How is that consistent with the sudden drop in bandwidth shown in the article's graph http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/netfli... - which is in mbps so if netflix increased their quality, you'd expect it to remain level.

Which do you think is more likely, Verizon gained 15% more users after demand was level for months, or Verizon acted in their own self-interest, doing something they have publicly said they want to do?

Re: Netflix performance on Verizon and Comcast has been dropping for months

#45

Post by aroch »

RKearney wrote: post #25
tzakrajs wrote: post #19

The problem here is that Comcast and Verizon don't want to pay for the upstream bandwidth to the Netflix Open Connect CDN which means that as Netflix increases quality and gains additional subscribers, the time-weighted bitrate (TWBR, the metric they use to compare ISP performance) will continue to plummet. This isn't to say that all Comcast and Verizon customers will feel this pain, some markets have better performa…

It should be noted that having a Netflix OpenConnect Hardware Appliance is 100% free of charge for ISPs. The device itself is free, but I suppose you could factor in the cost to power the 4U server and the rack space used by it but those costs are negligible compared to the additional peering bandwidth used by not having one. From the FAQ[0] >What does the appliance cost my organization? > The appliances (and any nec…

It's also worth noting that a 10ge flatrate port to Cogent isn't going to cost them that much either -- and then they don't have to deal with any additional hardware, just a crossconnect. But for some reason, paying an additional ~$6K a month so that millions of your subscribers have better service is too high a price to pay

Re: Netflix performance on Verizon and Comcast has been dropping for months

#46

Post by notlisted »

I have a theory... (based on personal experience). The issue for many is (was) with Apple TV, and not Verizon.

I updated my Apple TV in november (shortly after Netflix introduced its SuperHD mode). For a long time after that, Netflix performance was abysmal (dropping down to sub 480p at times, especially during the night time).

I complained to netflix and verizon. The latter suggested I try connecting to netflix on a PC connected to the modem. I did and experienced no problems. No problems on my Android device or chromecast either. Only my Apple TV box had issues. Ultimately I found a thread on the forums which suggested a hard boot (power down) of the Apple TV device. Once I did that, the problems went away. If you have Verizon and use Apple TV to watch netflix, give it a shot.

I would love to see ars/netflix display a bandwidth graph by device.

Re: Netflix performance on Verizon and Comcast has been dropping for months

#47

Post by badman_ting »

beedogs wrote: post #22

Lesson: don't get your internet service from a company that also tries to sell you entertainment content. They're going to fuck you over both ways.

Too bad there are no other reasonable options. Not sure what the lesson is there - move, I suppose

Re: Netflix performance on Verizon and Comcast has been dropping for months

#48

Post by twoodfin »

aroch wrote: post #45
RKearney wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It should be noted that having a Netflix OpenConnect Hardware Appliance is 100% free of charge for ISPs. The device itself is free, but I suppose you could factor in the cost to power the 4U server and the rack space used by it but those costs are negligible compared to the additional peering bandwidth used by not having one. From the FAQ[0] >What does the appliance cost my organization? > The appliances (and any nec…

It's also worth noting that a 10ge flatrate port to Cogent isn't going to cost them that much either -- and then they don't have to deal with any additional hardware, just a crossconnect. But for some reason, paying an additional ~$6K a month so that millions of your subscribers have better service is too high a price to pay

10 gigabit can't come close to covering the growing demand, no?

During primetime hours, Netflix represents some substantial fraction of total U.S. internet traffic. If you're Comcast, running 25% of the U.S. broadband market, you're seeing a big chunk of that traffic. What if Netflix decides to double their max streaming rate? Or quadruple it? We can argue again about what it means that Comcast sells you a 20Mbit-max connection, but as a practical matter, it will cost them a lot more than $6K/month to keep up with Netflix's growth in subscribers, average daily viewership and stream quality.

Re: Netflix performance on Verizon and Comcast has been dropping for months

#49

Post by exelius »

RKearney wrote: post #25
tzakrajs wrote: post #19

The problem here is that Comcast and Verizon don't want to pay for the upstream bandwidth to the Netflix Open Connect CDN which means that as Netflix increases quality and gains additional subscribers, the time-weighted bitrate (TWBR, the metric they use to compare ISP performance) will continue to plummet. This isn't to say that all Comcast and Verizon customers will feel this pain, some markets have better performa…

It should be noted that having a Netflix OpenConnect Hardware Appliance is 100% free of charge for ISPs. The device itself is free, but I suppose you could factor in the cost to power the 4U server and the rack space used by it but those costs are negligible compared to the additional peering bandwidth used by not having one. From the FAQ[0] >What does the appliance cost my organization? > The appliances (and any nec…

Other CDNs (Akamai, Level3, etc.) pay Comcast/TimeWarner to host boxes in their datacenters, and to support interconnects to their private CDN networks.

If they start giving it to Netflix for free, how do they continue to charge other companies for the same service? The thing to note is that the established precedent is for companies to pay, because they see value in it. Netflix is trying to get something for free that other companies pay for. Oh, but they slapped the word "Open" on the front of it, so it's about free speech!

The ISPs don't give a shit about downstream bandwidth consumption because they get paid by the CDNs for that. What they do care about is last-mile bandwidth; i.e. the bandwidth between their datacenter and the customers' homes. It's not unlimited and there are constraints. That problem doesn't get solved (in fact, it gets worse) with OpenConnect.

Re: Netflix performance on Verizon and Comcast has been dropping for months

#50

Post by broseph »

jorgeleo wrote: post #38
CamperBob2 wrote: post #7

Hint: never use Comcast for residential service. Sign up for business service, even if you're just one person in an apartment. You get better support, less BS, and (likely) improved immunity to copyright-trolling law firms. They will still route about 10% of your packets via the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, of course, but that's just the nature of the beast.

Last week we try to install comcast business in our church. They would not give us a wireless router unless we accepted her installation of a publics hot spot too. This is against the church policy because it will allow someone watching porn in the sanctuary with no knowledge for us. They would not relent. We end up putting our own wireless router. Speed is ok, but I didn't like that comcast pushed her policies to th…

Couldn't someone just use a cellular network? Or a magazine?
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