Q: Netflix quality HORRID after update

I'm in South Texas (very low population, time warner 15 down) and still having problems. To all in LA, you're not alone.

DanH wrote:

I think the following Ars Technica article ... is the real answer, and explains why some think the problem is "fixed" and others do not.

How does this argument (also supported by jimpal) explain those of us who reliably get device-maximum speeds on all devices (including other iOS devices) except the ATV.  Or the fact that content from nflxvideo is only slow on the ATV.

If you've done multi-device comparisons while monitoring the stream endpoints and bandwidth please share your results.

jimpal wrote:

 

DanH and Middle-Aged Hack (above) both have it right, and their comments are entirely consistent with mine.

...

We are all offering our best opinions. Sooner or later we will all find out who is right.

Well do you all have it right or will we find out sooner or later? 

Just explain how your for many of us (like the OP) only the ATV3 is having generalized problems and only in certain circumstances and hence how the assertion below could possible be true.  By the way do you happen to have special insight into the superHD roll out or are you speculating?

jimpal wrote:

The SuperHD roll-out took some time to gather steam and get going. This problem happened once it was entirely up and running. It's the only explanation that makes sense across the board.

If you log in to your Netflix account, under your name there's "help center" where you can live-chat or phone customer support.  Please, at least do the live chat and explain the problem you're having - or direct them to this thread which seems to encapsulate them all - along with a 50,000-person view count which means that this isn't a localized problem. Ask Netflix (and apple.com/feedback) to escalate this issue and fix it.

Kirby

DanH thanks for sharing the article, very interesting. 

Netflix was originally added to the ATV to increase its content, appeal, and sales...Do you think Apple now sees Netflix as a competitor?  Is Apple "degrading" Netflix on the ATV in an attempt to increase sales of their own iTunes store content, or is this to get people to upgrade to a new version of the ATV soon (due for a refresh)?  Is this about to be another conflict similar to the Google Maps vs iOS....now Netflix vs ATV!?

Why will Apple not even acknowledge the issue?  This is not the first time an update has "broken" a feature or "bricked" a device.  This thread now has almost 50,000 views!

Does Apple's Warranty exclude liability from problems arising from software updates?  Anyone on here having issues running software prior to version 6?  If not, that would confirm it is just not isolated to DNS servers, wouldn't it?

I doubt Apple is degrading anything, not because I'm a fanboi but because the financial incentive to do so is mostly missing. It is possible that the ATV's firmware has some incompatibilities with the Netflix app, but I doubt that is intentional. If you are looking for the "black hats" in this mess, I believe they can be found in the corporate offices where "deals" are negotiated about carrying Netflix content over privately owned portions of the Internet and ISP systems.

As for why I (and others) get good bitrate on other iOS devices but not ATV, it may have to do with where each device is connecting to the Netflix content and what route it takes. Add in some possible bugs in the Netflix app only on the ATV, perhaps bugs which prevent proper negotiation for bandwidth, and the result is that the problem will not affect my iPad, iPhone or iMac when quality on my ATV is horrible.

That said, I've had no issues with my ATV since others began reporting things were "fixed." I worry that this is temporary, however, for all the reasons outlined in the article.

-dan

bizringer wrote:

 

DanH thanks for sharing the article, very interesting. 

 

Netflix was originally added to the ATV to increase its content, appeal, and sales...Do you think Apple now sees Netflix as a competitor?  Is Apple "degrading" Netflix on the ATV in an attempt to increase sales of their own iTunes store content, or is this to get people to upgrade to a new version of the ATV soon (due for a refresh)?  Is this about to be another conflict similar to the Google Maps vs iOS....now Netflix vs ATV!?

 

Why will Apple not even acknowledge the issue?  This is not the first time an update has "broken" a feature or "bricked" a device.  This thread now has almost 50,000 views!

 

Does Apple's Warranty exclude liability from problems arising from software updates?  Anyone on here having issues running software prior to version 6?  If not, that would confirm it is just not isolated to DNS servers, wouldn't it?

I didn't buy my Apple TV until "others began reporting things were fixed" and I am having all of the same problems as the op.

Tried alerting Netflix via their twitter (@netflixhelps) and of course they claim problem is not on their end.

https://twitter.com/Netflixhelps/status/417759828703199233

Thank you Middle-Aged Hack, yes, there are other places besides LA that are nice, in my opinion, nicer even Of course, that is IMHO, I prefer The OC. That's "The Orange County" for those who didn't see the show and aren't familiar with it. We seceded from LA many years ago and shed most of the inner-city look.

Yes, I did have the problem for quite a while, with standard definition coming over from Netflix on my 18 mbps AT&T  U-Verse DSL fiber to the node service. We couldn't watch it as it was horrible on a new 60" plasma TV. Killed Breaking Bad for a good while for the wife and I. Then it started working great, at all hours of the day, including the evening Prime Time hours when it had been at its worst. I did nothing to change that, did not update my ATV firmware, my TV firmware, nor made any other changes on my end ... knowingly at the least. I am a computer tech and would expect to know if I had done anything to my systems. Why Yorba Linda and not LA, or elsewhere, I don't know. But one day after reading that it was working again in some places we looked again, ran the Netflix sample short, and found that we jumped to the full 5800 within a few seconds of starting the test stream and stayed there. Our TV has a Netflix app, but we never tried it even as I prefer my sound going direct from my set top box, PS3, and Apple TV to my home theater receiver via optical TOSLink from all 3. The TV app would mean using the TV speakers, which after years of being accustomed to surround sound on everything ... well, we didn't even bother. However, the Netflix app on the PS3 was no better for us than the ATV as we did try using that, and it also output SD not HD. No, I don't have an answer for you all ... except that there does appear to be some hope at least.

But from the fact that it does work great for some of us, I would not think it was an Apple issue as if they did something, it would affect everyone with an ATV, and therefore not be Apple specific.

Gave my gear another try today after being away for several days and I have no improvements. It's all over the place - ATV 3 bouncing between 1050 and 1750, iPad at 1050 most of the time but also higher and lower, iPhone 5 at 3000. All of this between 5 and 6:30 PM while getting between 50 and 90 Mbps on various speed tests. Where I used to only see problems with ATV and my other devices maxed out, now the problem seems to be spreading to other devices. I am certainly not seeing the ATV problem clear up like many others are reporting. My other streaming services continue to perform as they are supposed to.

I tried Netflix again last night via ATV and the quality was too poor to watch.  Immediatetly turned on the Sony BlueRay and used that Netflix on the same TV and we were good to go.  Clearly this has to be a ATV issue and not a Netflix issue unless Netflix is magically limiting the ATV feed.

Northern VA, FIOS 15/5 (ActionTec MI424WR Rev F), Ethernet, ATV3 - v6.0.2. Prime time 7-10pm ET. Tried this several times.

Played Example Short 23.976 (1080p @5800 kbps). No issues.

Saw the Juggling, Water Running with various font/colours, the Walking Backwards Laptop Guy, The Pompey Diatribe, etc.

It may be worthwhile to collate this post's data by service provider, time-of-day, region, etc., and see if a pattern emerges.

Tools at the external router at the Customer Premises can be used for jitter/latency and bandwidth measurements. IMO, jitter/latency (not BW) is critical to streaming content.

Loner T wrote:

It may be worthwhile to collate this post's data by service provider, time-of-day, region, etc., and see if a pattern emerges.

Some of us have looked pretty hard at this.  For the ATV3 problem the only correlates are contend distribution network (major) and time of day (minor).  According to Netflix they write the client so when Netflix and Apple sort out the details and Apple provides an update with a new client we should see the ATV performance match other clients (except for DD+).

I am in San Diego with TWC and having the same issue.  Did the 5 min reset, but no help. Testing with Example Short 23.967, I drop quickly (within seconds) to 1050 Kpbs at 640x480 and lower. At the same time my iPad holds a steady 4300 Kbps at 1920x1080. 

Since my HBO GO has zero issues streaming in HD, I put this all on Netflix and their ATV app.  Just as I am typing this, now streaming at 750 Kbps. 

So for now I will stream to my iPad, and Airplay it to my ATV.

I did call and report my issue to Netflix CS, and had them add this web page to my report. They said they will investigate. 

And I am in Yorba Linda, a suburban city in north east Orange County a 90 minute drive from San Diego, and have AT&T U-Verse as my ISP. I had the problem pretty much since it started I think, only Netflix affected on mainly my Apple TV, a new toy for me that came shortly before my new TV and shortly after switching to high speed Internet. It would not hold over 1500 kbps for the longest time. I just watched two episodes of Arrow on Netflix in full HD starting at 5:45 PM, and taking a break before watching more. Why did mine start working again a week or so ago, I have no idea? I changed nothing, upgraded nothing to make it do so. I imagine Netflix most likely repaired a routing issue, or maybe AT&T did so.

Speedtest.net just gave me a 21.44 Mbps download on my 18 Mbps rated service. Ditto for speakeasy.net, 2Wire.com says only 6.6 Mbps ... but I do have full HD on a 60" Panasonic plasma TV. This is the same TV that I could not get better than Standard Definition on a couple of weeks ago. I also got the run-around from Netflix that it was not their issue, and from AT&T that they weren't causing it. Someone or something fixed it on my feed, and I'm glad they did. But no one has owed up to it and said "Hey, we got you going." I hope the rest of you who are experiencing this problem get fixed soon as well. I am an old Netflix fan from when they were a small startup company in northern California. They had coupons in these new-fangled DVD players to attract new members and I jumped on the bandwagon and have not regretted it since.

Good luck all, and hopefully a Happy New Year with a better Netflix/ATV experience.