Q: Netflix quality HORRID after update

There absolutely is an apple tv specific problem. It is well documented in this thread and there is an excellent video posted a few pages back that clearly demonstrates the problem many people are having and the reason for this thread. If you are not having the specific problem documented in that video then you are in the wrong thread.

To recap, many people have demonstrated that Netflix will play perfectly fine on their network on any device EXCEPT the apple tv using the native apple tv netflix app. There are undoubtedly many other issues related to netflix quality but the specific problem being discussed here is the issue that is confined to the apple tv.

5,800 kbps on my Apple TV 3 at 8:45 pm in Minneapolis for the first time in weeks. Hope it lasts.

Brian65PLS has it right. Netflix and Comcast have reached some kind of agreement, and now Comcast has provided a "larger pipe" for Netflix. No ATV software update, and nothing else has changed here. Same 70/10 as always.

iPhone 5 providing its max of 3,000 kbps.

Oddly, even with today's updated iPad app, Netflix is still stuck at 235 kbps on my iPad Air. Looks like they still need a bigger pipe for that stream. Maybe tomorrow?

boylan wrote:

 

You're missing the point - you're wrong.  It's not an Apple TV specific problem which is what I it appeared to be initially which is why we all ended up here.

 

Think I'm wrong?  Prove it.

What I and many others in this thread are seeing is definitely an ATV problem. I will repeat again 'My Chromecast (and Apple TV using Airplay and Rokus) all continue to get Super HD on Comcast.

Since 11 November my Apple TV native Netflix app never gets above 1750 and normally a lot less. It is hard to see that how could be anything other Apple TV specific problem

Now you may be seeing something else - general network congestion in your area or whatever - and that's fine - but please don't draw conclusions about the very specific and repeatable Apple TV Netflix issue I and many others in this thread have reported.

Also getting real HD on ATV and Comcast! Started Example Short at 4300 kpbs, then it ramped up to 5800 within an minute and has been holding steady. First time that I have seen that since the problem began in November. This at about 10:00 Eastern. Maybe it's fixed???

Vandergraff wrote:

 

What I and many others in this thread are seeing is definitely an ATV problem.

Which (fingers crossed) may be fixed as others are reporting.

At about 7.15 PST (so prime time) my Apple is starting at 5800 kbps (no ramp up at all) and holding it throughout the 'example short'.Something it has not done since around 11 November.

Looking at the real-time bandwidth on my router I can see it start downloading at the full 16 Mbps of my connection for about the first 30 seconds and then 'sawtooth' between 16 Mbps and 0 Mbps through the rest of the clip (as it fill and empties its buffer). Again a return to the pre-11 November behavior.

Hopefully it will stay this way and the Apple TV can return to being my primary Netflix streaming device.

If it is really fixed we'll probably never know what happened - but my guess would be a fix to the Netflix native Apple TV application. This was certainly what an Apple second level tech support told me some weeks ago was the issue. Netflix/Apple TV can update this app without any of us knowing.

Looking good. 7.45 PST

10 minute download average per my router is 7Mbps on 'Pirates of the Caribbean - The Curse of the Black Pearl'

That is definitely 5800 kbps Super HD and looks great! Again......

Mine still *****...  235kbps at 11:15pm. 

10 minute average from Skyfall also Super HD. Looks great as well.

So it looks like - at least for this evening - I am consistently getting Super HD again on my Apple TV

Edit around 8:20 PM PST

Working great again. Test video showed 5800 Kbps using the native Netflix app on Apple TV. 11pm eastern time.  hope it lasts!

I see a variety of rates on the ATV.  None above 3000 though.  The PS3 and TiVo continue to deliver superHD.

11:45 pm eastern time (indiana), just checked booted right to 5800,no lag right to 5800, tried a movie, right to super hd. Went back to bitrate test again right to 5800.Everbody keep your fingers crossed.

Very consistent for me.

Trying Super 8 now and again the 10 minute router average shows I am getting Super HD (and the first 30 seconds or so are downloaded at full - for my connection - 16 Mbps) at around 8:45 PST.

Everything (Example Short, Pirates of the Caribbean, Skyfall and now Super 8) I have tried this evening is getting Super HD on my Apple TV (native) Netflix app. Nothing I tried since 11 November until this evening ever got above 1750 kbps.

Edit - Example Short is consistently starting at 5800 kbps. This was what I really loved about the Apple TV before (11 November) - it would start at high quality vs my Roku's which started at low quality and then ramped up (sometimes slowly) to the best quality.

Well, as the poster of the now infamous YouTube example video I'm happy to report that I am, right now (8:45pm PST), getting rock solid 5800kbps video!  It started at 5800, dropped to 4300 for about 5 seconds, then jumped back up to 5800 and has stayed there since.  Completely different behavior from what we've seen for the last month. Good timing too as this thread had begun to go off the rails as a general Netflix problem thread rather than the specific issue we were all seeing and I made the video for. 

I'm going to leave the video up (220 views ain't bad) but will edit the comments to indicate that it appears to be fixed.  If we see this performance continue for a few days I'll take the video down. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXpNOLgABLE

As an interesting side note, when I booted up Netflix just now it hung on "Accessing Netflix" for MUCH longer than it normally does...can we assume it was updating the app?  Once it loaded I backed out and went in again and it loaded immediately.  They must have done something!  As we proved many pages ago, despite all the recent Comcast posts this was not an ISP issue.

I hope I never have to watch that fountain and the dude moonwalking with this laptop ever again... 

Thanks all!

Chris Brestle wrote:

 

Well, as the poster of the now infamous YouTube example video I'm happy to report that I am, right now (8:45pm PST), getting rock solid 5800kbps video!  It started at 5800, dropped to 4300 for about 5 seconds, then jumped back up to 5800 and has stayed there since. 

Thank you - we'll never know but the speed this was fixed soon after you posted the 'infamous video' probably isn't coincidental.

Vandergraff wrote:

 

Chris Brestle wrote:

 

Well, as the poster of the now infamous YouTube example video I'm happy to report that I am, right now (8:45pm PST), getting rock solid 5800kbps video!  It started at 5800, dropped to 4300 for about 5 seconds, then jumped back up to 5800 and has stayed there since. 

Thank you - we'll never know but the speed this was fixed soon after you posted the 'infamous video' probably isn't coincidental.

It definitely seems like once this thread got really heated, the video went up, and people started tweeting and emailing news sites we got resolution fast.  Issue started 11/11-ish, nothing for a month, video went up 12/13, issue (hopefully) fixed 12/17!