Netflix Problems

I'm currently working with a apple senior adviser on this issue. I went to the apple store to try using netflix on their network and I was still only pulling 0.9 mbs. The genius I was working with had an atv at home, so I had him call netflix on his account and he'd only been pulling 0.9 at the most. He was surprised.

The senior adviser has put in a request with engineering to research this issue and he should be back with me in a few days. I'll let you all know how it goes.

Did you know you can call netflix and have them check the bandwidth you're getting on your devices? My atv had never gotten over 0.9 at best, but my iMac and laptop are getting 7-20 mbs. Netflix recommends a minimum of 1.5 and 3.0 for HD content.

Call and find out what you're getting on your different devices and post it here!

craig,

how do you find your ATV2 speed?

Call netflix and ask them what you're getting. They have a 2-3 day record of all the different devices you use.

Go to netflix.com and sign in. Upper right-hand corner, click on "your account and help". Scroll to the bottom and click "contact us". Then click on "call customer support" and follow the instructions. They can tell you what bandwidth you're pulling, even if you're watching something currently.

Message was edited by: craigmag143

Mine just started acting up last night. Had no problems since I picked it up a few weeks ago...

Just called Netflix. I have a 30/5 internet connection and my Apple TV is wired to a gigabit ethernet switch (as are all my devices). The Netflix representative identified the Apple TV as the slowest device on my account.

Apple TV:
Highest: 1.4 MB/s
Lowest: 1.04 MB/s

Xbox 360:
Highest: 15.8 MB/s
Lowest: 14.3 MB/s

I opened an Express Lane support ticket with Apple to record my issue before my 90 days of support expires. I'd recommend everyone do the same to help elevate this issue on Apple's radar.

Been trying to watch Battlestar Galactica Season 4. Freezes up every minute; it's un-watchable. Switched to Wii and it is fine. This is a wired, 25 Mbps connection. Lower-def things like kid's cartoons work fine, but BSG4 is consistently bad.

Call Netflix and see what speeds you're getting with the Apple TV and the Wii, then post your findings here. I'm interested to see if we're all getting 1 mbs or less on our apple tv's.

Called Netflix. ATV2 varied between 0.2 and 1.1 Mbps; Netflix said this was bad. They don't have enough data on the Wii since I only enabled it last night.

My Slackware Linux box is also my firewall so I installed bwmon to monitor bandwidth. For BSG4 episode 2, the ATV2 jumps from 0.4 to 4 Mbps, averaging (by my eye) about 1 Mbps or less. The ATV then froze up for at least 1 minute, when the BW dropped to about 20 kbps, sometimes spiking to 200 kbps. I then just exited the ATV2.

The Wii jumps between 2.5 and 4 Mbps, yielding an average, consistent 3 Mbps. No freeze ups whatsoever for the entire 45 minutes.

This is definitely an ATV2 problem.

I'll working on piping the bwmon results to a file and plotting a graph to compare the two, generating some useful statistics.

madengr wrote:
Called Netflix. ATV2 varied between 0.2 and 1.1 Mbps; Netflix said this was bad. They don't have enough data on the Wii since I only enabled it last night.

My Slackware Linux box is also my firewall so I installed bwmon to monitor bandwidth. For BSG4 episode 2, the ATV2 jumps from 0.4 to 4 Mbps, averaging (by my eye) about 1 Mbps or less. The ATV then froze up for at least 1 minute, when the BW dropped to about 20 kbps, sometimes spiking to 200 kbps. I then just exited the ATV2.

The Wii jumps between 2.5 and 4 Mbps, yielding an average, consistent 3 Mbps. No freeze ups whatsoever for the entire 45 minutes.

This is definitely an ATV2 problem.

I'll working on piping the bwmon results to a file and plotting a graph to compare the two, generating some useful statistics.

Do they all use the same TCP/UDP ports? May be ISP traffic shaping (Comcast vs. bit torrents as an example). Just wondering....

These are my benchmark results tonight watching The League.

Yikes!
Xbox(wireless)-9.16mbps
*Apple TV*(wired)-0.29mbps

Netflix gave me an Apple number because they said it's a hardware problem.

I watched 12 Hours of Sebring on the XBox/ESPN3 a couple weeks ago without a glitch.

Just got off the phone with netflix.
ATV2 1.05 - .16 - 1.1 MBPS

The ATV2 got as low as .16 mbps

Wii 15.0 - 16.0 MBPS

According to Netflix my ATV2 is not receiving enough bandwidth at all. Tech guy told me that they have been getting alot of calls about the ATV2.

YOu want to call in and get your bit rate to your ATV.

Your TV will say 720p but doesn't mean the content of the signal is 720p.

YOu can see this on network television where the signal says 1080i but the show is a 20 yr old sitcom in SD.

Similar with sound. It could say 5.1, but is the mix really 5.1 and of highest quality?

Remember Netflix upgrades/downgrades the picture according to bandwidth available.

So call in to Netflix, (takes a few minutes,) and ask for your streaming rates to your ATV. They'll have a record of them for the past few days.

That's good they're starting to get more phone calls. Are you within 90 days to open a case with apple? we need as many people to call as we can.

It seems everyone is getting these bandwidth issues. Anyone getting 3.0 or better? Anyone?

trip1ex wrote:
YOu want to call in and get your bit rate to your ATV.

Your TV will say 720p but doesn't mean the content of the signal is 720p.

YOu can see this on network television where the signal says 1080i but the show is a 20 yr old sitcom in SD.

Similar with sound. It could say 5.1, but is the mix really 5.1 and of highest quality?

Remember Netflix upgrades/downgrades the picture according to bandwidth available.

So call in to Netflix, (takes a few minutes,) and ask for your streaming rates to your ATV. They'll have a record of them for the past few days.

Yes, it's 720 and looks as good as an HD digital copy I send from my iPad over AirPlay, and 2) the receiver would switch to pseudo-surround if it is not. Just because others are experiencing issues, doesn't mean mine haven't been resolved. I've got an XBox360, WII, MBP, Mac Pro, 3D DVD player, and another high-end system with some of the components used at Lucas Skywalker Ranch to compare things with. I think I know what I'm talking about with over 40 years in the industry. Hope your issues are resolved. Mine originated from my ISP and older cable modem. Peace out!

I do not have any issues actually. But I called Netflix to check the bit rates to my ATV because of a theory I read that even customers without problems are getting low bit rates to their ATV.

Sure enough. I'm getting much lower bit rates to my ATV than even my Wii which as 3x the bit rate to it.

Take a few minutes and call up Netflix and post the numbers they give you. It would be interesting to see. Very informative for everyone.

Number is on their website under Contact us at the bottom then by clicking Call Customer Service.