Netflix quality HORRID after update

Is it possible my ISP can tell when I'm streaming directly through the Apple TV? That they throttle my bandwidth then?

The trailer app on the Apple TV works in perfect HD. Sky News, however, was atrocious.

I think it is possible, but I don't know how the internet providers operate. They sure do throttle you back if you pay less and have a lower speed though, don't they? I have Charter internet and it is the worst company I've ever had to deal with. My theory is that the cable companies are ******** because people are dropping the cable TV subscriptions. But they still have a monopoly pretty much on the high speed internet. Cable companies are going out of business soon I bet. They are just to stupid to evolve, give customers what they want. The content creators (TV shows, movies) are waking up to it real fast.

We need more competition in internet providers. The high speed cable internet companies are making the rules right now, because they don't have any competition.

My cable says that my *minimum* speed for international downloading is 20mbps. In Singapore the average is 60-100mbps.

20mbps should be easily enough for super HD.

I really can't say if it's my ISP or the Netflix app or the Apple TV.

This thread seems to be pointing at the Apple TV but plenty of people are also accusing Netflix.

What a shame they can't just sort it out.

All I want is say a bigger version of Netflix. I'll pay three to four times as much for proper HD streaming, and I want Netflix to have *everything* ever made.

No more crappy cable channels which I'm forced to subscribe to but which never have anything I want to watch. But also I reject Apple's utterly rip off £13 to buy a movie which isn't even a physical thing I can own, and which costs less than that in the shops.

I think the main problem is the ATV. The adaptive streaming that is used is way more sensitive compared to other devices like the Roku 3 & Chromecast.

This the one and only Apple TV I have ever tried or used. I can get Netflix on every other device, including XBOX, with no difficulty but cannot get it to work on Apple TV. What gives? I would rather return this item than continue to use it-is there a fix in the near future?

Forgive me if this is a repeat, no one has time to read 83 pages of replies.

I have a new apple tv 3, first time playing netflix was really pixelated and bad (but mirroring from mac was fine). It resolved after going to the settings and chaning the resolution form auto to 1080p.

Auto detect must be making it think it was lower resolution.

Return it while you can unless you can.

I don't think it's the ATV.

I've spent hours today with my internet provider, Charter, and Netflix.

My internet speed is 15+ Mbs.

The problem persists:

- when I restart the modem or the router;

- when I replace my Apple Time Machine router with my old router;

- when I try a WiFi connection rather than my usual Ethernet connection to my home theatre system;

- when I change my Netflix preferences from "auto" to "high" download speed;

- when I use my 6-year-old LG Blu-Ray / Network Player instead of my ATV3.

What's left to try? I'm out of ideas.

Update to the above: the Netflix tech rep had said that Crackle was a true streaming operation like Netflix (and unlike YouTube or Smithsonian) so I signed up with Crackle and found a Super HD video to stream: Wow! Sharp and crisp and high-def! Then I immediately switched back to Netflix and began olaying the "Example Short" video: Terrible! Something like a 750 Kbps bitrate, and horribly pixilated. (this with an ATV3 and Apple Time Machine router.) -- So, does this prove that the problem is really with Netflix?

Add me to the list of people experiencing terrible quality streaming Netflix on my ATV. I've had Netflix and this same ATV for over a year now and it never was an issue until recently.

I thought maybe ethernet hookup would help but it didn't. I switched ATV resolution to 720p and that seemed to help, but why should I have to do that when my tv is 1080p and Netflix has "SuperHD"?

Others like PBS and Hulu streaming quality are just fine for me...

I tried doing speed tests to several servers in the US from Singapore. Most of them I get a connection of 2mbs to 6mbps using my 100mbps line.

Maybe that's where the bottleneck is.

Either Netflix is limiting their speeds deliberately to put pressure onto the ISPs to force them to improve their infrastructure or there's some kind of blockage going on.

Also, I've discovered that different Netlix programmes stream at different speeds - and I'm not talking about SD v HD etc.

The Example Play video often only streams at 540kbps for me while the TV show Breaking Bad streams at (my guess) 1050kbps.

Any explanation from anyone?

I am in the same boat. About two months ago, Netflix started performing horribly on ATV (both on my 2 and 3).

Strangely, it streamed fine on the iPads and on the MacBooks but was just as bad on the iMac as on ATV.

I tried moving the router around and that didn't do anything.

I figured out I could stream to an iPad and then send to ATV via Airplay and get nice HD quality. But recently that has stopped working reliably. As in, it would just refuse to send the content to the ATV. Even now, trying to play straight from the ATV Netflix app prompts the "there was an error loading this content" message.

I just tested the app on my Bluray player and it works fine. So it's definitely not JUST my internet connection. Yet at the same time, my cable connection in general has been acting goofy the past few weeks, so I wonder if there is some issue with the signal that could be causing a problem on the Netflix app (could it be more sensitive to signal idiosyncrasies there than other versions?) on ATV and not necessarily elsewhere.

It's all been monumentally frustrating. Everything used to work fine. Now I get to points where I'd sooner cancel all of these services and not have to deal with the hassles.

HAD THE SAME PROBLEM AS SO MANY BACK IN MID NOV.,2 OR 3 WEEKS LATER IT STARTED WORKING GREAT.I THINK THE NETFLIX APP WAS THE PROBLEM WHEN THEY WENT TO SUPER HD. NETFLIX HAS ALWAYS HAD A PROBLEM FOR ME FOR SEVERAL YEARS NO MATTER WHAT I USED TO STREAM WITH USING MY SAMSUNG BLU-RAY OR MY HIGH END SAMSUNG TV. ISP SPEED SEEMED TO NOT MATTER MUCH, EVEN TRIED A ROKU BUT NO DIFFERANCE.THE PIX WOULD ALWAYS VARY SOME. THE APPLE TV WORKS THE BEST AS COMPAIRED TO OTHER DEVICES. NOW WHEN I DO A BIT-RATE TEST IT GOES RIGHT TO 5800 ALL THE TIME, WHEN I USED MY BLU-RAY, SMART TV, OR A ROKU THE BIRATE TEST HAS TO RAMP UP FOR A FEW SECONDS TO REACH 5800 & EVEN DROP BACK TO 3000 THAN BACK UP. MY APPLE TV GOES RIGHT TO 5800 & STAYS. APPLE TV IS THE ONLY DEVICE I USE NOW BECAUSE OF THE SUPEIOR PIX QUALLITY & WI-FI.I TOOK THE THE ROKU BACK A LONG TIME AGO & ONLY USED IT FOR 1 DAY. ANYBODY STILL HAVING TROUBLE SHOULD 1ST SIGN OUT OF NETFLIX & BACK ON, IF THIS DOESNT FIX YOUR PROBLEM YOU NEED TO HAVE A LONG TALK WITH YOUR ISP TECH BECAUSE ITS ON THEIR END.EVEN MY 2011 I-MAC HAS TO RAMP UP & THE BEST IT GETS IS 3000.THE APPLE TV WORKS DIFFERENT THAN OTHER DEVICES.I HAD A LONG TALK WITH MY ISP TECH(NOT JUST A OPPERATOR) & REPROVISIONED MY MODEM & POWER CYCED MY AIRPORT & HAS WORKED GREAT FOR A LONG TIME NOW.

Just for laughs I tried the ATV but I know it will be crap.

Yep playing Fringe in glorious SD.

Off to the PS3 then I am going to try the S5100 wish me luck.

After a few restarts Super HD on the PS3 in 30 seconds. Let's see if it can stay there.

Stayed there the entire program.

I have been complaining for a month or so about the Netflix silly "HD" quality. This may have started after I upgraded the AppleTV. It had been nagging for a long time to do the upgrade and then finally I did it.

Last night I happened to start a video on my Macmini. The picture was much better than on the AppleTV. I restarted the Apple TV, but the picture was still bad. Then I found this thread and started the 'Example Short 23.976'. It never went over 1050kbit/s.I tested it on my mac. After a while it wad playing at 3000kbit (max available for Mac). I tested back and forth for hours, restarting the AppleTV fiddling with the settings, restarting my ADSL router etc etc.

They are all on the same network and cabled (nothing wireless). My 24Mbit ADLS internet is very stable and testing download last night proved it by stable downloading at 22Mbit/s.

*******

LASTLY I started the 'Example Short 23.976' on both my Macminis and the AppleTV SIMULTANEOUSLY. The Mac minis both reached full 3000kbit/s, but the AppleTV stayed at 1050kbit/s.

Something is fishy with the Apple TV and Netflix. Thats for sure.

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