Q: Netflix quality HORRID after update

After not working again last night I tried again this morning. Started at 1000 Kbps and climbed steadily to 5800 within a few minutes. Holding steady at 5800 as I type. Hope it holds because the only thing I really understand in this forum is "does it work" and "does it not work". Praying I don't need to post tomorrow, "Can you explain that fix in laymens terms and preferably step by step?" If I don't, thanks again for everyone's hard work. My fingers will be crossed tonight!

How do you apply the filter to the ATV?

BTW I reconnected the ATV again and I really would like it to work as when I do get HD it is the best PQ and it does not have post play which is a big plus.

This seems to have improved within the past week - did Netflix make an adjustment on their end? I think the apple tv is still on 6.0.2.

Not working again. The frustration is endless. I'll try again tonight.

Thanks to everyone that nagged to Apple and Netflix for help.. as issue seems to be fixed..

I turned in 2 units at the local Apple store while waiting for Netlfix, mainly to get their act together.. and now it appears to have happened.

Getting full 5800 kps on sample video.. hopefully will stay that way!

Tony Ramirez wrote:

 

How do you apply the filter to the ATV?

BTW I reconnected the ATV again and I really would like it to work as when I do get HD it is the best PQ and it does not have post play which is a big plus.

You apply a filter in your router in the firewall settings. Judging from your posts on AVS you are using an Asus router.

You will probaly see a Network Services Tab and then options to for Network Services Filter Table showing Source IP Port Destination IP Port etc. Per Bodosom you probably only want to block access to the suggested IP range from your Apple TV.

Note people seeing improvements should ignore this post. I have been getting reliable access to Super HD from my Apple TV for the last few days without the need to make any changes.

Tony Ramirez wrote:

 

How do you apply the filter to the ATV?

If you don't already know how to do this you probably shouldn't try.  Minor errors can have significant consequences.

This is a typical iptables rule to reject packets from my ATV to nflxvideo.net:

-A FORWARD -s 192.168.0.117 -d 108.175.32.0/20 -p tcp -j REJECT

Do you have any suggestions as to what I should do? Should I call netflix and/or apple and ask them to walk me through the blocking process? I've all ready called both regarding the general problem but not specifically about blocking to resolve the problem. Thanks again.

Maha66 wrote:

Do you have any suggestions as to what I should do? Should I call netflix and/or apple and ask them to walk me through the blocking process?

I'm completely sure they won't be able or willing to help you.  If you don't know how to configure you ingress device(s) to do this and you're still having ATV specific problems I suggest waiting.  I think the routing/dispatch changes I suspect were made by Netflix may not work instantaneously so given time that might resolve things.  Otherwise I'm confident an update will be made to the ATV that will resolve this issue.

I should also add to my comment above I am using the assuswrt-merlin build on my router. While it is built on the Asus firmware the firewall options may be different.

bodosom's advice is good. If you don't know how to do this you shouldn't try.

Netflix seems to be working fine now without doing any blocks via the router.

Ditto. I have been having good luck for the past couple of days. No rebuffer at 4-6 seconds in which was a telltale sign. I didn't do anything. It just started to work better. I think the issue was on Netflix' end rather than something in the ATV but it certainly was directly related to the ATV. Not sure how or why. Would like to know out of curiosity if it's ever revealed or even admitted to.

Thanks to everyone here for making lots of noise. I have no doubt we got their attention. Normally stuff like this is just blamed on the customer and nothing ever gets done.

It's been a long time since I visited these forums, and I found this one thread and I've been following it for several days. My interim solution was to use my base Tivo Roamio for Netflix until that started acting up a few days ago (it still is). I read all of the posts and had a bit of time to kill, and was able to watch a few shows last night without issue. Several days ago, I discovered how to get my Roamio and VZW 3rd Gen iPad working best to get my Netflix fix. This afternoon, home for the holidays, I found that there are still some ATV issues and a fix that works for me.

Cutting to it: switch your DNS to Google DNS, with OpenDNS as a back up. Reboot your router and your ATV. Keep your fingers crossed.

My system configuration: Comcast Premier Business Class (50/17); Motorola SURFBoard SB6141; 5th Gen Airport Extreme; ATV R0 and Roamio connected via WiFi (wired didn't change anything); VZW 3rd Gen iPad 64GB. The ATV is running 6.1 Beta 2, and my iPad is running 7.1B2 - the beta firmwares didn't make a difference with Netflix - I checked. I also have a Panasonic Blu-ray player with a Nexflix app but it's a real pain to use the app. My ATV/Tivo/DVD player are connected to a 7-year-old Bravia over HDMI, and connected to my AE via wifi.

There were two numbers that were sticking with me while watching the Test Video on the ATV - 235 and 560kbps. I strongly believe that Level3 is the culprit. Before I discovered the Text Video, my test was the first half of Season 1, Episode 3 of "My Cat From H*ll" - the freckles, tattoos, motion, and color gave me a pretty good comparison!

I have several AE configurations stored on an SD card. I read about the Test Video elsewhere and again here. Over the past 10 days or so:

• Using the stock Comcast IPv6 settings, I encountered SD > HD > CD on my ATV, bottoming out at 560 or 375 (what I call "cr*p definition, and I'll stick with that) like so many others on my ATV, but my Roamio was generally seeing 3850+ and my iPad 3450.
• Using regional Comcast IPv6 settings (for Oregon), I encountered SD > HD > CD on my ATV, bottoming out at 560 or 375. Ditto for my Roamio and iPad.
• Using OpenDNS (I used the IPv4/IPv6 settings) or Hurricane Electric DNS Settings, my ATV fluctuated between SD > HD > CD, bottoming out at 560 or 375 after starting out at 1750. Ditto for my Roamio and iPad.
• Switching to Google DNS (I used the IPv4/IPv6 settings), my ATV would start out at 1750 and generally ramp up to 3850 and stay there. I found that my Roamio was seeing 5800, so I continued using my Tivo.
• Switching to Level3 DNS hit the bedrock motherlode - it started out and stayed a rock solid 560kbps for all 4 of my test devices.

Until yesterday, all of the above were generally consistent, except for the Tivo. I was able to duplicate the above results at will. For the Tivo, handshakes between bandwidth rates were causing cutoffs and black "holes" that are now being discussed in the Tivo Community. I find it interesting that the Tivo's NF app picture has looked great while the ATV was terrible, and now it's the other way around...

This afternoon, I rotated between the various DNS services and checked my Tivo and ATV. I haven't used my iPad for this today. For the ATV:

• I started out with Google DNS and my ATV started out at 5800 and stayed at 5800.
• Comcast settings yield a startup of about 1750 then ramp to 3450/3850 and hold those latter numbers.
• OpenDNS and Level3 start around 1750 and ramp up to 5800 and stays at 5800.
• Hurricane Electric starts around 1750 and ramps up to 3000 and stays at 3000.
• Google DNS starts at 5800 and stays there. I checked again just before finishing this and it's looking good!
• I couldn't get any of the above DNS servers to get above 3000 on my Tivo. What I do notice on my Tivo is the test sounds that don't get broadcast over the ATV - that's never changed.

I'm sticking with Google DNS IPv4/IPv6 for now. For me, a DNS swap is a few clicks away. I did subscribe to and use Unblock-Us, but that service wasn't working any more for me or the ATV so I discontinued that service. All of my other streaming services - StreamPix, ESPN, Hulu Plus - worked perfectly the entire time. Netflix customer service has been useless IMO. Many thanks for the contributors to this thread. Cheers.

Or you can just wait for Netflix and the ISP's to sort out their routing issues and all will return to the way it was about a month ago when the Apple TV always worked fine. That has pretty much happened here in Minneapolis and all is well.

Yeah...mine's not working either. It's a little better than it used to be, but getting 1750 when it should be 5800 *****.

Maha66 wrote:

 

Not working again. The frustration is endless. I'll try again tonight.