Q: Netflix quality HORRID after update

bodosom wrote:

 

boylan wrote:

There are some on this thread that have or had experienced the reverse of what I'm experiencing - every other device except their ATV works great and claim it's proof of an ATV bug.  NOT.  It just means that your ISP/CDN/device mapping is different (and better) than mine.

I typically stream from nyc001.ix.nflxvideo.net, usually ipv4_1.lagg0.c033.nyc001.ix.nflxvideo.net but sometimes ipv4_1.lagg0.c045.nyc001.ix.nflxvideo.net.  One is 30ms away the other 40ms.  I can get 5800 on my PS3 or TiVo from either one.  My ATV3 can get up to 1750 from the closer one and 1050 from the further.  30ms is not too bad, my IX first-hop is 19ms away (the head-end is much closer).  My Limelight and Level3 ingres points are a bit closer than the nflxvideo.  Closer helps the ATV but has no effect on the other clients.

 

How does this fit with "ISP/CDN/device mapping"?

Do you think the latency makes any difference?  I can't imagine why it would on a streaming service.

Does ipv4_1.lagg0.c033.nyc001.ix.nflxvideo.net always resolve to the same ip address?

I find your results quite interesting.  Is there a correlation between nflxvideo.net ip/device and performance?  Are you factoring out any time of day issues?  Don't know your isp, etc. but obviously you know there are some locales with time of day performance problems.

boylan wrote:

Do you think the latency makes any difference?  I can't imagine why it would on a streaming service.

I don't know the internals of the Netflix "dynamically adaptive" streaming system but some people think latency is part of it.

boylan wrote:

Does ipv4_1.lagg0.c033.nyc001.ix.nflxvideo.net always resolve to the same ip address?

Yes.  Although I don't think DNS is involved in connecting to the stream servers.

boylan wrote:

Is there a correlation between nflxvideo.net ip/device and performance?

I'm not sure what you mean.  I've described the first order contribution -- is it an ATV or is it something else.

boylan wrote:

Are you factoring out any time of day issues?

Yes.

Turned on my Apple TV tonight to test the quality; the video played at 1750 for a few minutes, now it's down to 375, PLUS there's no audio! This has happened before, too. It's not the ATV because the menus click when I change icons. It's a streaming issue with netflix... this is frustrating! I have to reboot the ATV to get audio from anything on netflix...

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I can't imagine an implementation scenario where latency would make any difference unless it was just monster since it has nothing at all to do with throughput.  The normal model would be you start with small blocks and increase as necessary and sufficient.

Unfortunate that the names resolve to the same ip address consistently.

I'm assuming you can control your name resolution - have you tried resolving  ipv4_1.lagg0.c045.nyc001.ix.nflxvideo.net (which I interpreted from your post to be the "far" server) as

....c033..... to see if 1) it'll work and 2) it'll improve your ATV throughput as a test?

Ok, well does anyone have this issue with no audio at all, from any service? Trailers, music, YouTube, vevo, and netflix; not one of those will play any audio at all. If I reboot my ATV3, they'll work. Putting it to sleep and awake again doesn't do anything. I even tried plugging in Ethernet and no difference. This is seriously ****** up.

boylan wrote:

 

I can't imagine an implementation scenario where latency would make any difference

40 vs 400 vs 4000 might matter.  I don't know but they seem obsessive about a lot of things.

boylan wrote:

Unfortunate that the names resolve to the same ip address consistently.

As I suggested I don't think it works like that.  I see no attempt to resolve CDN nodes.  I think the requisite IP address is computed as part of the subsession (at aws) and pushed to the client along with some glue that keeps you from moving freely about the cabin.

boylan wrote:

 

have you tried resolving  ipv4_1.lagg0.c045.nyc001.ix.nflxvideo.net (which I interpreted from your post to be the "far" server) as

....c033..... to see if 1) it'll work and 2) it'll improve your ATV throughput as a test?

See above regarding glue.  I as said I did block acces to nflxvideo.  That worked for about 24 hours and then stopped.  Rather dramatically on some clients.  If I felt like fiddling further I'd do something like the circumventing DNS providers and "move" to the west coast.

But since I prefer the Neflix cinema interface I'm done fiddling.  Apple/Netflix can fix it or not since I didn't get the ATV to watch Netflix.

Guys I just contacted netflix support, they gave me the usual story about this issue is news to them and no other users are reporting it.

So I urge you all to please report your problem to netflix support, and if you are on twitter to send them a tweat. They will not take action unless they see lots of complaints coming in from users.

Netflix support does not have access to outside websites so they can not see this discussion, they will only take action if users contact them direct.

Thanks

Brian

OK during my chat with netflix support they acknowleged the problem. Reading between the lines they were blaming apple, you can never tell who is telling the truth in these situations but what I do know is the more people who complain to netflix and apple the sooner we will get this issue fixed so please do contact support.

The form to send apple tv feedback is here, please do fill it in: http://www.apple.com/feedback/appletv.html

Brian

-------UGH!!

update

happier news the issue with my iPad Air has been fixed (235 before | now 4300).

I'm in chicagoland, ISP-Comcast.

Apple Tv was fixed mid December and still looks good.

In the evening we watch a few esposides of 'Leave to Beaver' because the humor is timeless for us as parents and our 8yr is actually learning some lessons.  She'll often pause the show to discuss 'lesson' with us.

'Leave to Beaver' is now "Super HD" in yellow letters according to Netflix (started maybe a week ago for us).  *** unless they had access to the actual film how could it be Super HD.  However I did notice last night that on a close up of Beaver (face about 1/8 of screen) the sharpness was incredible - it seemed you could see actual strands of hair.

Netflix's reply to me was basically "it's not us, it's your connection."  Which is unfortunate because apparently the 61,000 people reading this thread also suddenly have a problem with their connection.   Since the 6.0.2. ATV update. Even though everything else (HBO, PBS, YouTube, Vimeo, Disney Channel, etc) all work at full 1080p.

Keep sending support requests. Eventually I guess they'll listen. Or, maybe if 61,000 people cancel their Netflix streaming accounts all at once.

Sigh.

Kirby

EastcoasterWestcoaster wrote:

 

Keep sending support requests. Eventually I guess they'll listen. Or, maybe if 61,000 people cancel their Netflix streaming accounts all at once.

 

Sigh.

 

 

Service cancelled.  I got a refund for the last month of crappy service. I told them to contact me when it's fixed and I'll try them again. 

the other possability is that it's simply your ISP throttling your service... they can actually discern which bits come from where with deep packet inspection... and their goal might have been this outcould i.e. to get you to cancel Netflix and go back to cable...

The ISP isn't throttling anything. All other apps on the Apple TV are streaming at full HD (HBO GO, vimeo, etc.) - the only problem is Netflix, and this has been a problem since the OS update to 6.0.2 just over a month ago. The same individuals who can't get Netflix via their ATV's can then switch to Netflix via Blu-Ray player, laptop, or iPad, and can get full normal-quality streaming video.

The problem isn't the ISP or the traffic or the bandwidth or the router or the wifi. The problem is Netflix's app for Apple TV since the 6.0.2. update.

Kirby

Not an ISP problem.  Been in my current home 2 years with reliable internet from TWC.  As others have stated the problem started with a recent update to AppleTV.  I can stream fine on my PS3 and iPad yet my Apple TVs all have had major problems with Netflix.   My Apple TV has no problems with YouTube, iTunes, Podcasts, ESPN, etc. 

The problem is with the Netflix App on the Apple TV. 

Same: been using Netflix without a problem via Apple TV (ATV2 and now ATV3) for 2+ years without ever a single snag or outage or loss in resolution. Update to 6.0.2. and bingo, it chokes.

It's not an ISP issue.

Kirby