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In business, just like in real life, the biggest guys are often the slowest. If recent speculation that Comcast hopes to acquire Time Warner are true, then two 800-pound gorillas are about to become a 2-ton King Kong in cable and entertainment.
Many believe it’s a strategic move to combat the trending growth of services like Netflix and Apple TV. But keep in mind that both Comcast and TWC already stream Netflix through their bandwidth, directly to customers, practically serving as Netflix’s personal entertainment butler.
So let me get this straight: the quicker Comcast delivers bandwidth to consumers, the better their Netflix experience, which in turn helps their competitor’s? Comcast shouldn’t be able to throttle (purposefully slow down) Netflix service, and I’m not suggesting they are, but this is at the heart of the net neutrality debate you’ve been hearing so much about since 2010.
It affects customers. That’s why Netflix puts out a monthly speed report that rates Internet Service Providers in the USA, transparently listing AVG speed they bring to consumers in Mbps. So where do you think media powerhouse – Comcast – sits on that list?
Comcast ranks 14th out of 17 with a miserable 1.41 Mbps. Their recent flirt buddy, TWC, might actually be the one in control, boasting a #6 ranking with 2Mbps. But alas, Google Fiber is the clear #1 favorite at 3.78 Mbps. Unfortunately, Google Fiber is only available in a very select number of cities: Kansas City, Austin (TX), and Provo (UT).
The bottom line? Comcast customers have speed problems with Netflix. If when chatting it up with friends, you’ve got way more “buffering” and “cannot connect” complaints than them, you’ve probably got Comcast. They’ve probably got 1 of the 13 providers that are better. And at times, way better.
I’m obviously over generalizing: dynamics change from market-to-market, neighborhood-to-neighborhood, and building-to-building. As a Comcast customer myself, I find their service leaves a lot to be desired. Unfortunately, Verizon FIOS is not yet available in my area (Baltimore) and our city lost the original bid to attract Google Fiber.
So I’m stuck with Comcast because they’re the only decent option. Meanwhile, the industry continues to consolidate, soon to offer even less options.. Time Warner might rank #6 on that speed list right now, but how far do you think they’ll fall once Comcast gets ahold of them?
Do you have Comcast, Time Warner, or Google Fiber service? Let us know about your speeds and experiences in the comments!
Side note: how many people run Netflix on their phone or tablet with a mobile network connection and Chromecast to their TV?
Also. This:
http://i.imgur.com/7xKDbFr.jpg
I thought that the Chrome cast still uses your existing Home Wi-Fi, no your mobile data. Am I wrong? This would mean that it shouldn’t matter. Slow home connection means slow Chromecast.
Damnit you’re right. All the interwebz are belong to Comcast.
although i haven’t tried it yet I have considered trying to connect my chromecast and laptop via foxfi, #verizonunlimitedgrandfathered4life
Yea but then the question is… is your network provider purposely slowing down chrome cast or can they tell what you are streaming through chrome cast
I live in Western Maryland (Frostburg), and our only cable provider is Comcast. Speeds depend on the time of day. Friday and Saturday nights are the worst, and I end up having buffering issues. Lately, connections are dropping all of the time and buffering sits at 0% on Netflix. It’s only after a total reboot of my router that I’m able to get it going again.
While I don’t stream Netflix, I do stream UFC/WWE events and Tornado Chasers on my Chromecast. I have Charter and it does good as long as I don’t opt for the HD streams. HD streams buffer too much still, despite having 30Mbps internet.
I have never had trouble with it vary odd .. never heard of us throttling one service
Comcast is slow no matter what your doing on the internet. I couldnt play call of duty because the lag was so bad it made me look like a horrible player.
Ha Ha. I just really AM a horrible player.
Well as long as ur havin fun its ok. lol
You can only have fun for so long while getting your tail whooped by a 12 year old skipping school. LOL
Haven’t had any issue. I’m in Chicago. Knocks on wood.
Comcast offers a variety of speed options. Most people don’t even realize that, much less have the modems that can handle the speeds they are paying for.
Then again, so does TWC. Yet they’re faster. So I wonder how Netflix gathers their data. Is it from all tiers of speed options and they average it out from there? Or is it from paticular packages?
Netflix gathers their data by collecting info regarding ISP and speed per customer. It doesn’t matter what tier internet speed you pay for. It’s all averaged out.
right so the data isn’t just showing whats possible, its also what speeds people are offered/pay for
I’m in a Google Fiber market. The difference between them and TWC is practically night and day (though there has been a hiccup here and there) I’m glad I had the choice to switch when I did.
Incredibly jealous. How long have you had Fiber? Do you use the Google Fiber Android App? I’ve always wondered exactly what that was all about… unfortunately I have no use for it myself!
Comcast sucks way over priced for poor quality service and sometimes my sprint 4G LTE is faster just like you they are the only decent provider for me as well
You must live next to a sprint tower. Lol
cut the cord all you want Comcast will own your data, cap you at 300gb and make you pay thru the nose.
Seriously? 3,78 for the top average… Guess Sweden is really spoiled. Was just thinking if i should switch from 100 to 250Mbps, but could get 1Gbps if i wanted. Curious what you pay for ISP over in the States. I pay $50 for my 100, 250 cost $58, 1Gbps cost $140 a month. Up speed caped at one tenth of the down speed, no caps on download amount.
I pay 45$ plus tax for a max of 15mb typically i’ll get 10mb down and 1mb up. And I only have 1 choice for isp.
Thanks for the info, have lots of options but only two in my housing. Fiber in the wall and over the TV cable. Not really a hard choice..
I pay $30/mo for Charter Cable internet. 30Mbps down/5Mbps up. During peak times, I’ve had speed tests return about 20Mbps down/3.3Mbps up. A lot faster than AT&T DSL and Uverse.
The u.s. is crazy expensive, but also remember that this isn’t max speed its average speed, and there is a maximum, i.e. if everyone was streaming super hd and had zero buffering that would probably be something like 9mbps regardless of if you had a 50mbps, (even if you were streaming multiple streams on the same connection, netflix statistics isn’t accounting for that, in fact if you had a week speed netflix would double count 2 streams against each other (say you had 3.0mbps and were streaming 2 streams in different rooms, they would count that as 2 1,5mbps avg)
It’s their bandwidth, their infrastructure, their company. They can do with it as they choose. If Netflix doesn’t like it, open their own ISP. If the consumer doesn’t like it, there are other ISPs that may better fit your needs.
Nice try, Mr. troll who doesn’t understand why net neutrality is good for EVERYONE in the long run.
Even if they are or are not allowed to do that (debate still rages), they are required to disclose all their “bandwidth management” to the public: i.e., if they throttle Netflix traffic then they are required, by FCC 10-201, to tell the public that they throttle Netflix traffic.
But they don’t, they just pass the buck.
Except for the many areas that only have one option. And the fact that these companies use public infrastructure to deliver their product.
The fact that other ISPs exist doesn’t help you if you only have access to one or two where you live
yes it is their infrastructure but in a lot of countrys the thing they are (most likely) doing is considered illegal.
And i can not understand why it isnt illegal in the US.
Aslong as the customer isnt doing anything illegal and doesnt go over their data limit (if they have any) there is absolutlely no legal reason for them todo what they are doing.
Whats next? Google Fiber disabling people form visiting the Bing page?
So how does it fell to work for Comcast….
Don’t like Comcast much but in my area they have the best as I’ve tried them all and back with them. Now no contract and guarantee price for 2 years, 3 DVR HD boxes, HBO and 50mbps down speed $98 month (that’s including tax). Think it’s very good from where am standing.
LOL! I can’t even get 50 mbps service for that price where I live.
I have Comcast just west of Chicago. Netflix never steams better than 480p. If I connect to my VPN service first and then stream Netflix through that on the exact same home router, I get full HD. Proof that Comcast throttles Netflix.
I dropped them. They’re the worst cable company ever.
I freaking HATE Comcast. We’re waiting for AT&T U-Verse to kick in in our area to make the switch.
Though we don’t stream much Netflix, we do stream Amazon Prime and it holds up mid movie sometimes while Netflix buffers quite a bit at the beginning. All these monopolies suck.
ATT UVERSE sucks way worse then Comcast. Being an AT&T customer is enough to keep me from having uverse
I started noticing this Q3 of last year being a Concert customer. My actual connection is 50mbps++ but somehow Netflix went from streaming in HD/SUPERHD to SD at times. It had to be throttling because when this happens My connection is speed everywhere else is at or better than advertised. ATT is an option here, but then I lose the 35/mo discount I get through the HOA. Everything else dreams fine though, and I noticed in the last month it had been better, at least steaming content in HD a vast majority of the time now. I’m just waiting for the letter asking customers to pay extra for Netflix priority streaming, haha
I have not been able to steam Netflix in HD since late November. In the two years prior I’ve never had a problem getting an HD steam with no buffering. One night the service went out and since then I only get the lowest quality available.
The may not be throttling but they have manage to trick Netflxs QOS check into thinking I have a .5 Mbps connection when I pay for 30Mbps. Hulu (owned by Comcast/NBC) streams HD no problem.
All requests to customer service have been ignored. I think the only policy Comcast follows is Deny Everything.
Worst Company Ever.
isnt there somekind of watchdog that you can report these problems to?
In the Netherlands we have the OPTA and they keep an eye on all the providers and drag them to court when they think something is wrong.
Happily such a thing is illegal in the Netherlands :)
It’s USA the one with the money is always right.
My cable provider is RCN in NYC and it doesn’t show up on their list. Never had a hiccup, though. (25/2mbps connection).
I’m on rcn also. No problems with Netflix
Google Fiber, plz?
Comcast is awful in general. I would switch at the drop of a hat if there were another broadband/fiber optic provider. Unfortunately, it’s a monopoly here.
TWC customer here, pay $80 dollars a month for 50mbps down and 5mbps up. No issues with buffering here, though their prices are sky high. Too bad they have a monopoly here. Though I’d much rather deal with them than Comcast.
We have Cox where we live and I have a 50Mb connection. Sadly though Netflix as well as Vudu will constantly buffer or drop from being streamed in HD,
As a Comcast customer I total agree, my kids perfer to watch netflix on my cell phone over the Comcast network because of all the issues. Sadly I live in an area where Comcast has no real competition so I have to live with it.
must just be a Netflix issue, we have Comcast/xfinity and even at the farthest point from the router speeds never drop below 5Mbps
I have 30/3 mbps with time warner for around 50 a month, and it handles pretty much everything I throw at it, google play music 320kbps, Netflix HD etc. streaming in the highest quality possible is always a must for me, and its been pretty good about buffering, and if it ever is just a bad night (whole neighborhood is on Netflix I assume hah) then it might have a few hiccups. Im actually really nervous about the possible comcast-time warner merge. Id blow through a cap like nothing… But that’s why I have my backup WiFi, unlimited internet with Verizon and I get 15 mbps at my house with LTE. :P Cap free is the way to be!
I have Google fiber, my download speeds are outstanding.
I can watch YouTube on 1080p without even waiting for it to load.
I can download games from steam/origins in less than 3-8min.
so jealous.
My condo building (KC) is getting hooked up now, looking forward to it. Every unit gets the ‘free’ Google 5Mbit service with option to upgrade to Gbit if you’d like. TWC in KC is screwed. A friend has 5M Gfiber and gets very solid 720p Netflix experience even with 2 other laptops browsing at same time. I work from home so looking forward to Gbit experience into work network, especially uploading files. Will essentially be like being in the office.
Articles like this are good so that corporations like Comcast, if they were thinking about throttling certain traffic, realize that people will find out and are not going to stand for it.
Though on the other side of the coin, way too often when people have slow speeds they think back to articles like this, blame the internet provider as evil and don’t look at the other easily correctable possible causes, continuing to curse their lack of choice and paying through the frustration.
I have never had a problem streaming Netflix with Comcast, though I have had two friends who did. Both suffered with it for months before doing anything. My friend Joe finally took the time to call in late one night and Comcast found the signal levels to his house were bad and sent a tech. The tech determined the line from the poll to the house was about 20 years old, the insulation rotted and filled with water which let in interference to the line, causing data to be corrupted. After they replaced the cable line at no charge everything was fine.
My friend Rachel called Comcast and they said the signals to her modem were fine and there was nothing they could do. She was streaming Netflix to her laptop using wifi and it turns out her router was set to channel 6, as was just about everyone else’s in her apartment building. After changing the channel to 1 which was much clearer her speed tests showed an increase from 2 Mbps to the full 15 she was paying for.
My point is, don’t just blame the cable company, they may be evil and worthy of your hatred, but any slow speeds should be correctable with a call and a little troubleshooting. Find a few minutes to try them or Google things to check on your end and eliminate the frustration you feel when things don’t work right.
I have TWC and Netflix is not always great. Now I’m horrified to learn that after comcast buys it it’s gonna be even worse. My other option ATT is not any better. I thought I was living in a developed country. So much for the USA being the best and the biggest if they let companies rule the country instead of the people.
Please sign to stop the comcast/TW merger: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/stop-comcasttimewarner-cable-merger-and-require-more-competition-cable-industry/ym52vbd4
and here
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/stop-comcast-potential-buyout-time-warner-cable/jVR8WxGS
The government may not even approve of the mergeal
and Comcast here in the Portland Oregon area seems fine with 50mps internet. In fact I got my 70 year old grandfather to cut cable TV and just have internet and phone. He uses an Apple TV now with netflix….
The point isn’t how much bandwidth you’re getting. It’s how much bandwidth you’re getting while streaming Netflix. The ISP is throttling the connection when you’re streaming their service.
Where’s your evidence? If they were throttling, they’d be breaking one the conditions the government put on approving their merger with NBC.
The problems are only during peak hours, which indicates it’s either a) not enough bandwidth from Netflix’s CDNs to Comcast to handle peak hours, or b) due to overselling, Comcast can’t handle the traffic in peak hours, or c) a combination of both.
Firstly if the problem was the CDN then the bottleneck should be the same throughout regardless of the bandwidth of the ISP. Here we see a clear discrepancy in the speeds with different ISPs. Secondly even during peak hours when I’m struggling to stream Netflix I still pull a decent 20Mbps via speediest.net and have never gotten a connection lower than 10Mbps yet I still struggle to streaming HD. Comcast has always tried to play dirty e.g. this article from the LA Times, also about net neutrality issues. http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-comcast-merger-net-neutrality-20140213,0,5436655.story#axzz2tYnn4hUs
The bandwidth between the CDN (and remember Netflix uses multiple) and Comcast is what is likely at issue. Another ISP with a faster connection to the CDN (or using a different one) would get better results.
The LA Times link you posted explains the consent decree that prevents Comcast from throttling:
Quote:
Comcast agreed to abide by the principle of net neutrality — meaning, it would treat all online traffic equally and not give preferential treatment to its own video — as a condition of its 2011 acquisition of NBCUniversal.
The consent decree, which is designed to protect competition, extends through the end of 2017. Time Warner Cable would also be subject to these same terms, if the merger is consummated.
:End Quote
This means if they want to throttle Netflix, they’d have to throttle every video service (including their own) equally.
You still haven’t provided any evidence that they are throttling Netflix. Poor performance during certain times of day doesn’t prove anything… like I said it’s more likely an indication of congestion.
I have Comcast. No issues here. Netflix never buffers.
Same here.. no problems on my roku 2 or ps3.
I have Comcast, but maybe it’s because we pay the extra fee for speed boost, but Netflix doesn’t generally have too many problems, the main annoyance is when my roommates are using my account on the TV and then I watch on my phone it takes about twice as long for it to start streaming, once it gets going though I don’t have any issues.
Do you have any idea how painful it is that I live only 30 miles away from being able to have Google Fiber…I would never live anywhere other than Salt Lake if I stay in Utah though so I just need to learn to deal with this pain in my heart… :/
That speedboost thing is CRAP…Just a blatant money grab ploy from their customers who just don’t know better….SIGH….
Well obviously it’s a rip-off, but it’s not “crap” because we didn’t sign up for it until a month after we activated and our speeds increased at LEAST by 2x, and if I torrent it can get up to 1.2 mb per second versus where it would usually top out at around 727 kb/s
Actually the speedboost is a nice way someone to upgrade their speed tier without significantly raising their monthly cost. Double your speed for $10/month is a pretty low cost option. Actually right now Comcast is offering a free speed tier upgrade when you sign up for a new double or triple play. Sounds like you are the one that doesn’t k ow any better.
while this list does give you good general comparative ideas, there are quite a few variables all being accounted for in that one number Netflix’s methodology spits out. for instance people using super hd (i.e. 1080p streams) will raise up the number drastically, but to get super hd you have to be using a super hd compatible device, on a provider that supports it in your neighborhood, and pay for enough internet bandwidth. speaking of paying for bandwidth, cable companies will usually rate higher since, they rarely offer a super low tier internet speed like dsl companies do. that said when i lived in cablevision area my speeds were amazing, uverse is close, but only once i paid way more for speed. router choice also has a lot to do with it, better routers drastically improve your netflix speeds,especially if you are running multiple streams
Central Jersey…..Comcast….Nothing else…..running…Netflix buffers……constantly.
Maybe I should be watching Netflix between 5 and 7 in the AM, but at 9 or 10 at night it’s a nightmare.
So, I live in the self-declared hi-tech capital of the world: San Francisco!
Here is what I get:
A so-so connection through Comcast – officially 25MBit downstream and 5MBit up. Never happens.
My alternative is DSL via AT&T – officially 3MBit down 1MBit up. Never happened as long as I had it.
After 7.30pm Netflix is almost unusable.
Same for Amazon.
Both get better at around 10.30pm again.
Here is what I pay:
Am in the second year of my promo and pay $60 incl. tax.
Next year, I will pay $80 per month.
Used to have a 25MBit DSL(!) connection in Germany for EUR29 would have been EUR19.90 had I taken out a contract. Add EUR5 and speed would have been up to 50MBit. All including tax.
Same with mobile tariffs as well btw.
When I lived in Austria I had a contract that gave me 1000min, 1000SMS and 1000MB data for EUR12.
Here, I pay $70 for less.
Just looks like competition is not working in this country.
Until they get ‘too big to fail’
I have cox. Mine no matter what time is great quality. Live in Louisiana.
On Cox in RI here and couldn’t be happier with them. I’ve used them pretty much as long as broadband has been available, and never had an issue. A bit pricey compared to some other options, but worth it!
Bottom line, everyone that has cable should switch to Dish or DirecTV if you have a clear view of the sky. Comcast has been, and always will be awful.
I have had both and both seem to play Netflix just fine for me. I don’t like the monthly usage limits or them dicking around with speeds or access to what you watch. If it wasn’t for my kids and GF I would cut all of this crap out and just use T Mobile for whatever I watch. People should be out walking, moving instead of sitting in front of TV.
People are out all day, walking, moving, working. Why can’t they come home and sit in front of a TV to relax and watch their favorite shows/movies?
Nothing wrong with it.
All the Americans complaining… where I live? 8 mg download and 900 kb upload. And this is the ‘fast’ connection option.
There are some rural parts of the United States where 5Mbps down/512kbps upload speeds are the only alternative to either expensive satellite internet or 56kbps dial up. Even then, my Aunt has only 2.5Mbps down/512kbps upload on her DSL. No other alternatives in her area.
yeah… but I live in the second biggest city in Canada (montreal, 3.5 million), faster speeds should be available :(
Here in TN, we have EPB Fiber Optics, which is 100MBps down for $57.99/mo with an option of 1GB/mo for $69.99. The 100MB plan is certainly fast enough. Streaming Netflix in HD is no problem – I didn’t realize people still had buffering when using their home networks. https://epbfi.com/enroll/packages/#/
I have Comcast’s “Extreme 105” package on which I’ve been tinkering with speed tests over the last few days just because… Those tests regularly indicated throughput at 120 Mbps down and 22 Mbps up, so you’d think that Netflix would fly through it no problem, right? Well, as this article seems to indicate, that’s not the case… Yesterday, I watched about 8 episodes of “House of Cards” in an effort to get caught up, and was nearly driven mad by frequent buffering towards the end, and many occasions where the picture was simply blurry. I checked the throughput on my router, and it tended to stay in 200-300 Kbps range while streaming Netflix. I think Comcast’s support department is going to be hearing from me today.
What time of day did you have problems?
I was getting occasional buffering between 2 pm (Eastern) and 11 pm. The frequent buffering was after 11 pm.
It’s hilarious… I have AT&T DSL and I stream Netflix just fine off my Xbox 360. Only thing is that I use an Ethernet cable so that’s always going to be better than WIFI
A lot of factors are in play for data speeds. Distance from router/modem, use of either WiFi or wired connection are the main issues we experience in slowing of data speeds. I actually saw an increase in data speeds and maintaining peak signal by switching from a USB network adapter to a PCIe adapter.
The net neutrality debate died a few weeks ago. A Federal Court ruled that the FCC had no business governing data rates and struck down the only ruling protecting us. This is just the beginning of trouble.
Not really applicable to Comcast. As a condition of their merger with NBC, they must handle all Internet traffic equally, at least until 2018. That’s separate from the FCC rule that was struck down.
Have Comcast blast 50/10 and is pretty much flawless except for Netflix during primetime hours. I have no issues with any other streaming service (vudu, amazon, youtube, hulu, etc) no matter what time. My first thought was, is comcast throttling netflix,…but having talked with many other users it’s not only comcast users with netflix primetime issue. Still doesn’t fix anything.
Could anyone explain that netflix speed chart a little better…? If I’m reading it right those avg speed values are Mbps…So a 1000Mbps google fiber…avg (primetime)=3.78Mbps, Isn’t FIOS around 100Mbps..? avg (primetime)=1.82Mbps…….that can’t be right
The average speeds in the chart are the average speeds that consumers from each ISP experiences while streaming from Netflix servers. Basically, the lower your ISP is on the chart, the more likely you are to experience buffering and/or may not be able to stream HD videos.
I’ve had the same experience with Comcast Blast. No problems whatsoever with Super HD streams, but I don’t use it during peak hours.
Netflix’s statistics are kind of misleading. They changed their statistics to only measure prime-time streaming in October, prior to that it was all hours, so comparing an ISPs numbers from before October to October and later is an apples to oranges comparison. They also started allowing everyone to get Super HD streams back in September, prior to that only people with ISPs that accepted Netflix OpenConnect equipment could get Super HD. Naturally ISPs that don’t have OpenConnect are seeing even heavier traffic in prime-time with Super HD, so the numbers are falling.
The numbers in the chart are not connection speeds. They are the average speeds of Netflix streams to subscribers of those ISPs. Super HD is about 5Mbps, so that’s the absolute highest possible. Because some show and movies on Netflix are only available in standard definition, that pushes the numbers lower, even when the connection could handle HD or Super HD.
I have Charter and I use Netflix a lot during prime time, never seen a buffering screen…
I love how everyone is so quick to blame the ISP, especially Comcast. I especially love how the people who do not even have Comcast love to trash them. Its fun to pick on the biggest and best. The fact of the issue is that while it could be your ISP that is the issue (old plant or old lines) there are other issues that cause slow speeds. Nobody wants to blame Netflix and their servers. It seems that there are an overwhelming large number of people that are coming home from work and getting on the internet between the hours of 6-10 every evening. That amount of traffic can throttle speeds in and of itself. Then when you consider the number of those people that are accessing Netflix leads to the logical conclusion that you might experience some buffering. So one reason regardless of your ISP can be found by simply looking in the mirror. Although where is the fun in that? Another issue is your equipment, but then again there is no fun in that either. So let’s just keep on trashing Comcast and the like so that we may all not lose this source of entertainment.
Well I can tell you this, I’m having the same issue along with another person I know. I can’t stream anything at all in HD through Netflix but hulu and YouTube run perfect. My lines are fine, no noise, loose fittings or anything else that may cause a slow down in speeds. I have a brand new xb3 dory and I’m hard wired to my TV. The kicker to this all is that when I stream Netflix on my phone or tablet using my cell data it streams just fine. I’m not really sure what else the problem could be. If it were a Netflix issue you would assume that it would have been taken care of since they have the most to lose.
Just so you know, xbox 360 does not support Super HD (1080p) so the highest you’d see is 720p, phones/tablets vary, but for the most part stick with 720p obviously if the screen is less than 1080p there’s no reason to support super hd.
In case anyone was wondering windows 7 also doesn’t support super hd.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Netflix_compatible_devices
That’s cool, I also stream on a ps4 same issue.
What speeds do you pay for? what speeds do you get when you run a speedtest? What kind of router are you using? what kind of wireless card or ethernet cable are you using? (I assume you have comcast)
50/10 I get between 45 and 49 down and my up is always good. Yes I have Comcast and I will say I am also a Comcast technician so I am in a very unique position to be able to test the quality of the rf signal as well as the signal strength and the transmit levels. I am using oneof Comcast’s new xb3 Cisco gateways and I’m hard wired. My buddy who is also having issues is also a technician. Very frustrating.
Seems like comcast needs to add (or add another) netflix server near you.
As someone who’s been in the carrier business for years, I can honestly say that you don’t know what the fu€k you’re talking about
And you sir are douche and I use the term sir very loosely. There are always numerous factors involved in anything except for your case….you are just a douche plain and simple. You can’t pose an intelligent argumemt so you result to the use profanity. Well played idiot.
And you met them on equal ground by resorting to profanity. So by your logic you’ve moved down to not being able to pose an intelligent comeback.
As far as your statements about ISP’s… Comcast OWNS NBC Universal and also has their own streaming service. This was the reason the FCC tried to smack them and Verizon with sanctions based on Net Neutrality but since their approach failed for now. It sure as hell is the ISP that is to blame.. throttling at the core router ie. their peering point is absolutely a factor. You have no idea what’s involved.. you just took the losing side of an argument and became arrogant about it.
I am exempt from my own arguments. How’s that for arrogant? Actually there are two factors involved and guess what…ISP throttling isn’t one of them. Netflix cannot handle the amount of peak traffic they are generating through the popularity of their own product. Then there is the topic of the Open Connect Program. The top companies on the list included in the article all participate in the program and they are only marginally faster than those that don’t. Not a great argument for participation if you ask me. If you take my confidence and sarcasm for arrogance that is not on me.
As I said I’ve been in the carrier business for a long time. I have over 10 years of experience, half of that in senior management. I promise you, I have worked with dozens of carriers and had plenty of 3:00AM phone calls where a carrier turned up new peering with Netflix, Hulu, whoever and it wreaked havoc on the connectivity of an entire region. I have lived and breathed this industry for my entire adult life. So the notion that “faulty equipment” or “old lines” are to blame, instead of the tactics of one of the most corrupt corporate entities on Earth, is asinine. I’ve been there, I’ve been in the NOCs, I’ve been in meetings, I’ve worked with the engineers, and I assure you where there’s smoke there is fire. “Old lines” aren’t doing a damn thing here (and I’m not going to go into the technical — error correction, etc. — details here, you can research it on your own and I shouldn’t have even dignified this as much as I have but your contention is just patently false). I stand by my original statement, classless profanity included.
Thinly veiled sarcasm aside, what is your industry expertise?
I said that you don’t know what you’re talking about in your post. You passed judgement on my intelligence and about me as a human based on one post. Good work. You’ve further reinforced my point that you don’t know what you’re saying.
I’ve made my argument and you result to profanity instead of civilized commentary on the issue. Why don’t you provide us with some insight into the topic if you are such an expert? Come and enlighten us all.
Every ISP has to to deal with evening congestion, so that is relatively equal. I expect my ISP to provide near Max promised speeds even during peak hours. Also the way Super HD works is based on ISP’s installing distributed netflix servers on their mainlines. So ISP’s that refused to install the netflix servers, drastically increase ping times and buffering, so it’s still the ISP’s fault.
The equipment I will give you definitely affects actually end user experience, although how much it would affect netflix’s speed testing I’m not sure. Wirless N-300+ is the way to go, and if you live somewhere congested and your equipment can handle it definitely go for the 5ghz band.
you have no idea what youre talking about. If it were netflix you would see slow speeds across all ISPS. the 6-10 rush would likewise affect all carriers equally. Pretty much everything you pointed at as being a cause for slow speeds would affect all carriers equally given a large enough sample. If all other things are equal, and Comcast is the “biggest and best” they would have equal or better speeds than all other carriers.
It’s pretty safe to assume that Comcast doesn’t attract a higher than normal amount of people who watch netflix 6-10, or use their own crappy equipment. Throw in the fact that comcast did surreptitiously throttle netflix specifically, and the fact that net neutrality went out the window recently, it’s hard to not draw conclusions.
In fact the only other valid possibilities for slower comcast speeds on netflix than all other isps all point to comcast as the offender anyway. Either throttling, those speeds are the norm for all services on comcast, or the equipment they provide isn’t great. Either way Comcast is the issue there.
It’s time to move to Korea or Japan. Or have an atlantic underground cable straight to my house.
Oh gee, the 8000th article about Comcast and Verizon’s falling numbers in Netflix’s misleading statistics. This relates to Android how?
To answer your question at the end, I have Comcast and have no problems whatsoever with Netflix. Super HD streams with no buffering at all. Granted, I don’t typically watch it during peak hours, which is where Comcast and Verizon seem to be struggling.
i have comcast in the midwest. we receive about 53mbps down and about 11 mbps up…at any given time. morning, afternoon or evening. we have never really had any issues with speed. we recently cancelled our cable because it is a waste of money. everything we watch is available on hulu plus or netflix for 5% of the cost. of course we have up-to-date PCs, an xbox one and a very nice router to quickly deliver and manage our data. we can watch HD video, play online games, chat, email, stream, etc. all at the same time with no problem. after FINALLY getting out of the retail sector as a PC technician, i can tell you that after visiting thousands of customer homes the problem often is NOT the isp. the vast majority of people have ancient PCs, wireless G or the bottom line N routers, outdated modems, hundreds of viruses and then they wonder why their 12 year old router can’t handle 11 devices at the same time. i dealt with a family once who had 3 macs…they were swearing up and down at their router we sold them, then complaining to the cable company. those 3 macs had so much spyware and viruses they could barely boot properly. we had to completely restore them and then go through the all to present conversation of …. yes, despite what you may think, macs can get viruses and malware. there are some areas where service sucks. no company is perfect. i’m sure there are plenty of people who will chime in explaining in detail how their comcast service is terrible. but in most major metro areas, it is quite fast….its the people who are slow ;-)
That may be partially true, but it’s often the network too. I’m on FiOS which is doing even than comcast, and I watch netflix primarily on my PS3 with a gigabit ethernet connection directly into my actiontec router, which also has an separate wireless n 5Ghz wireless bridge connected to it, Everything in my apartment even my smartphone gets the full 50mbps speed. Yet I struggle with low quality 240 and 384 SD encodes all day, not just during peak periods. I don’t know exactly where you live but the midwest is generally a less densely populated area. I live on the East Coast and everyone I know verizon or comcast, complains about netflix quality. Denser areas are just more likely to see this kind of issue I think.
I agree most of the time its some old device slowing things down but I’m not so sure in this instance. Right now I can’t stream anything in HD using my my internet connection that is hardwired to my ps4 and smart TV. Neither will work properly. Also as I stated below I am a cable technician and have been able to check everything that could possible slow my connection down and no problems found. Hulu plus and YouTube run flawlessly. Either something is being throttled or Netflix is jacked up which I doubt because itS working fine with other isp’s
I have 50/25 service from Verizon FiOS and while I generally don’t have problems with netflix working, it doesn’t have to rebuffer ever. I am plagued with low quality 240 and 384 SD encodes which look horrendous on my HD TV even during off peak periods. It’s really been pissing me off lately,I’ve done speed tests while watching these really low quality streams and my connection is still 50/25 so the problem must be maxed out peering points, because the internal Verizon network and connection to other sites is as fast as ever.
But the only other game in town is Comcast actually so on Verizon I stay, but a bit disgruntled since they claim the reason I pay slightly more than cable is for their superior network. I guess it is superior to comcast, but as this article shows, that isn’t saying much.
You should check go to the help settings on netflix and navigate to playback settings and make sure it’s set to auto or high, it sounds like you accidentally set it to low(to conserve bandwidth).
Also…
This only works on computers, but when you are playing a movie on netflix click shift +alt + left mouse click anywhere on the screen, an options menu comes up, select stream manager and you can manually force Netflix to any stream you like. (So for instance if you don’t mind waiting for a long buffering on a slow connection you can still watch hd, or vice versa you can cut the quality down to buffer quicker) I wish they would allow this on devices one day too.
also run on a speedtest on http://www.speedtest.com and check your link speed to see how your router is working (54mbps is perfect wireless g, 150-600 depending on how good of N router you might have)
Did you read my post? I’ve checked my speed and I’m always getting the full 50mbps I am subscribed to, on my 5 Ghz Wireless N network I get a real local transfer speed of ~200 mbps and my PS3 is connected directly to my verizon router on a 1 Gbit port. (I watch netflix on my PS3 mostly
and sometimes on a LG bluray player that is connected via a 100Mbps ethernet link.)
Netflix is set correctly, that’s not the issue occasionally I do actually get 1080p and even Super HD, but more often than not I’m lucky to get up to 480p on Super HD titles.
Do you work for ISP’s? that’s the only reason I could see why you defend them so much lol.
I apologize for going out of my way to try to help you solve your problem.
Actually I’m pretty anti-big ISP’s. We definitely need the justice department to stop the time warner acquisition! I’ve just never heard of anyone having those kinds of problems with netflix. Usually i’d say call and complain to your isp, but if you are getting good speeds, I don’t even know how you would even start to complain, because they are just going to blame netflix if that’s your only problem. The only other thing I could think is check your router settings and make sure your quality of service settings aren’t favoring something over netflix (or your neighbors aren’t borrowing your wifi). I will say my friends ps3 sometimes struggled the last few months and when he got a ps4 magically the problem solved itself and he always has 1080p now. (also double check you aren’t on wifi on your ps3 maybe?) #conspiracytheory sony wants you to buy a ps4 lulz
I was getting super hd and it would fall to 720p on uverse on a 6mbps wireless G connection before i upgraded to 18mbps/wireless n (stable superhd). so really maybe your fios is just really far from a netflix server or something.
since fios is all FTTH there’s really no reason they would bother to throttle you, since they have more than enough capacity, unlike comcast which has lots of reasons to throttle.
I unfortunately have Comcast. Not because I want comcast, but because I have no other choice unless I want to go DSL. Not only is Netflix severely throttled, but so is YouTube and other major video streaming sites.
Im just waiting patiently for SureWest to come to my neighborhood.
My Uncle Zachary recently
got a 9 month old Mercedes-Benz CL-Class CL63 AMG only from working off a home
pc… go now CashDuties.ℂom
See this thread.. http://forums.comcast.com/t5/Basic-Internet-Connectivity-And/Netflix-cover-up/td-p/2015859
Comcast. Absolutely wretched.
The Century Link guy will be to my house tomorrow, to turn on 40mb DSL. Reading other boards, I expect a much better Netflix experience, not to mention cost savings.
Have Comcast, pay extra for faster downloads and can’t play HD mode from Netflix. Great service.. GOOGLE FIBER where are YOU!!
Wow comcast. Dicks to you.