Q: Netflix quality HORRID after update

Agreed.. I think they're finding issues with ISPs and routing and solving them step by step. It appears they're resolving this via the Netflix app which, as someone mentioned, can occur without any Apple TV update. Right now it's 9:42 eastern watching breaking bad and it's super HD with no buffer issues. I've got to believe netflix is aware of the issue. Thanks everyone for making this a productive thread to (hopefully) bring attention to the matter!

jimpal wrote:

 

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.

Do you have an iPad by chance?  Still seeing 235kbps on my iPad Air 7.1 and I'm wondering if I'm alone or it's release related, etc, etc.

boylan wrote:

 

Do you have an iPad by chance?  Still seeing 235kbps on my iPad Air 7.1 and I'm wondering if I'm alone or it's release related, etc, etc.

Yes. You raise an interesting point. My two Apple TV's and my iPhone 5 all give max HD performance now. Yet my iPad Air only provides 235 kbps, even though I installed the Netflix app update a couple of days ago. This doesn't really matter to me because I only watch Netflix movies on my Apple TV's, but it does seem odd that only the iPad Air has this continuing bad performance. I wonder, was Netflix's recent iPad app update deficient?

jimpal wrote:

 

boylan wrote:

 

Do you have an iPad by chance?  Still seeing 235kbps on my iPad Air 7.1 and I'm wondering if I'm alone or it's release related, etc, etc.

 

Yes. You raise an interesting point. My two Apple TV's and my iPhone 5 all give max HD performance now. Yet my iPad Air only provides 235 kbps, even though I installed the Netflix app update a couple of days ago. This doesn't really matter to me because I only watch Netflix movies on my Apple TV's, but it does seem odd that only the iPad Air has this continuing bad performance. I wonder, was Netflix's recent iPad app update deficient?

I don't actually believe that they did anything client side that improved performance.  I think they fiddled their CDN streaming configuration.  If you told me that they fixed the problem by accident and they were just looking at server loads I'd believe it.

I am of the opinion that they don't have their act together when it comes to managing their CDN's. Netflix really doesn't have anything in the way of useful client side tools to diagnose and address problems and I am coming to suspect that they have the same pitiful sort of management tools when it comes to the CDN's.

I say this because that Example Short 23.xxx video hasn't always had the encoding information embedded in it and I realized at some point that their first line reps aren't actually trained to use it - they seem to discover it by word of mouth!!  Which is why some will have you test with Heroes and other vids.  And where is the tool that tries different CDN's and sends diagnostics back to the rep?  It's the first tool I'd make even if all they could say is "the network you connect to is congested, you're best off streaming with an XXX device."  I mean, how many people on this thread have returned a brand new ATV in the last month?  Or two?  Wasted a stupid number of hours on this problem?

I also find it telling that no where on the net can I find ANY suggests about blocking CDN's or trying different CDN's.  Implies that the tech people aren't on top of the problem and aren't backdooring the info to their friends.  Yet, clearly it can be done and it has an impact.  Positive impact.

BTW, those of you who are still having problems and aren't in the position to firewall the Netflix CDN to work around the problem might consider signing up for the free trial of Hide My A** Pro VPN which will allow you to "move" your location and potentially get a different feed.  I'd try the usual hi-cap interconnect locations: LA, Chicago, etc.  The HMA Pro VPN has a tool to find the fastest vpn location (apparently, I've used HMA but not their tool) that would seem useful.  The one gotcha is that the ATV doesn't a VPN configuration page so you'd need either to put it in your router - or iPad/computer and use AirPlay or Chromecast.

On my blu-ray player it doesn't have the encoding info the xxxxkbps or any of that when watching the example short.

Netflix has been rather scattered. Hosting their content themselves then switching to Amazon S3. Them renaming highest quality streams as Super HD disabling them for others and hosting their content once again.  Now it's like they just use everyone and the kitchen sink to host their content.

Maha66 wrote:

Should I call netflix and/or apple and ask them to walk me through the blocking process?

As of late last night blocking nflxvideo is no longer working (for me anyway).  AirPlay streams appear to stick to the CDN so if you're having problems and if you have an AirPlay device and it has a good source then that is still a work-around.

The good news is you don't have to worry about figuring out blocking.

rgoldd2 wrote:

Now it's like they just use everyone and the kitchen sink to host their content.

Netflix signed overlapping multi-year contracts with Limelight and Level3.  In 2012 they began deploying their own network (nflixvideo.net).  If that works as planned it's expected that they will stop using other CDNs in the US.

Netflix still uses Amazon and Akamai for infrastructure (DNS, authentication, routing decisions etc.).  Their DNS infracture is particularly robust.  It's discussed in their technical blog.

Airplay on my ipad2 is a viable work around (thank God!) but the kids are not too happy about me hogging the ipad every night. How about campy guys suggestion on switching to Google DNS? Is that easy to do and will it work? Thanks again.

ATV has the worse sensitivity as it drops quality on the slightest sign of congestion. Other devices can handle congestion better.

Maha66 wrote:

How about campy guys suggestion on switching to Google DNS? Is that easy to do and will it work? Thanks again.

I'd like to see some motivation for that.  I don't see many DNS queries and none that resolve the stream sources. It wouldn't surprise if they don't push the IP address of the CDN ingress.

More to the point are the early problem reports; they're proximate in time to an ATV3 update.  People have done any number of things to try and resolve the problem, including changing DNS resolvers, without any reliable success.

I see EXACTLY the same as you are seeing, with my ATV3 versus Roku 3, right down to Apple starting off at 5800 and bumping down, then inching back up to 3000. However, if I leave the clip running, after a minute or two the bitrate drops down to 235 and stays there, which explains why I can be watching a show that is seemingly fine and suddenly realizes my HD video looks like crummy 8-bit art from 1984.

I'm lucky enough to simply have the option of watching on Roku where you get reliable quality and a super nice interface. If I were stuck with Apple I'd be pretty unhappy, rather than just sad for how this once awesome little device no longer gets any love from the people who made it.

Message was edited by: nerfTractor

I've been on Google's DNS servers before and during the recent Netflix quality issues. I can confidently say it's not a DNS issue.

Columbus, Ohio, Time Warner Cable, 15 mbps download speed. Was also getting the retchid Netflix quality for the past month and a half. Quality yesterday (maybe the day before?) seemed to magically improve. Watched a couple Mad Men episodes in prime time, consistent HD quality. I'm streaming the Test Short right now (8 PM EST) at a consistent 3000 kbps (I have a 720p TV so it's maxed out there). So, they are obviously doing something to fix the problem because this was never happening for the past couple weeks that I have been monitoring the situation.

My GF is 6'2" with black belts in karate and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Keeping her happy is my motivation. QED. Do what you want.

I am still experiencing problems with my Tivo but my ATV is working fine still, using Google DNS. My ATV is working great today - she's on her way here and she wants to watch a movie. That's my motivation. I don't care who's playing with what, I'm only interested in what works right now - that's partly why I have multiple DNS settings saved, partly since DNS servers stop working from time to time.

I fired up my Tivo, it didn't work so great - nothing better than fuzz and 1750kbps. Fired up my ATV, great picture and 5800kbps. A week ago it was a different story. Go play with your whatever. I stopped posting a long time ago because of tools on this forum and I'm back to read-only mode for some time to come. I've got a movie to enjoy and a cute chick to have fun with - please go on to debating a need for motivation. Sheesh.

Mine is better than it had been, but I am now clearly having my problems during prime time hours. I get 5800 consistently any time I check until around 7 or 8, and then it almost magically shoots up to 5800 again at 11:00. In between, it's between 1050 and 3000 or so. I now see this on all my devices, as well. It's possible I always had this issue before the ATV-specific issues popped up, and just never really noticed it that much since I wasn't running the stupid test clip 8 times a day. Anyway, I have a feeling my ATV issues have gone away and now I just have general Netflix problems that hit all my devices equally. And I never get that kbps resolution anymore that never made it out of the hundreds on the ATV - that was the worst.

BobUrban wrote:

I've been on Google's DNS servers before and during the recent Netflix quality issues. I can confidently say it's not a DNS issue.

I suspect the confluence of things like Unblock Us and the high profile Netflix gives their DNS service has led to misunderstandings.  The overall quality of Netflix is sufficiently fluid that you can change almost anything and then see a performance variation just as you can change nothing (except time passing) and still see a change in performance.

In any case I would agree that the recent ATV3 specific problem has nothing to do with DNS in general.