Netflix is slow lately on FIOS

[glugglug]

For the past few weeks I am intermittently getting only 1-2 bars on the bandwidth meter for the XBOX Netflix app, which I think means it is ~1-2Mbps.

I have a 35/35Mbps plan with FIOS, so it should be getting HD all the time. (it used to until recently).

Are others having this problem lately?  Is it a FIOS issue or is Netflix downgrading their service for any customers not on OpenConnect ISPs?

[BigMemory]

My Netflix has been very slow here in the Washington DC Area, i used to be able to stream HD all the time. Now it steps down to 2 or 3 bars.  I've heard that Verizon is throttling Netflix, is this true?

[anonFios]

Looks like there may be a very solid reason to switch away from Fios to Comcast now:
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/02/netflix-may-have-gained-direct-connection-to-c...

Meanwhile, on Verizon...
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/02/netflix-packets-being-dropped-every-day-becaus...

[garyalex1]

Verizon says they're not throttling Netflix traffic.  This graph from Netflix says otherwise.  I don't know who's telling the truth here.  I just think that eventually this will be fixed but we'll end up paying for it.

[tns2]

I

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@garyalex wrote:

Verizon says they're not throttling Netflix traffic.  This graph from Netflix says otherwise.  I don't know who's telling the truth here.  I just think that eventually this will be fixed but we'll end up paying for it.

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Its a matter of definition.  Verizon is not throttling, which is artificially limiting traffic.  Of course they don't have enough servers in place to handle traffic, claiming that the other provider is not a peer and so must pay for the cost to upgrade connections.

Eventually new rules will be written, Verizon won the court case on the old rules.  And it hopefully will be clear on who has to bear the costs of such upgrades.  Bad news is the final costs always goes to the users.

[SteveVi]

Have a look at this page for a good laugh: FiOS Quantum Internet - The Fastest Internet Plans for You

Look at the description for the 50/25 Mbps service:

Upload and download in a flash. Plus, play games and stream videos virtually lag-free—ideal for watching Redbox Instant titles.

As has been alluded to before this really smells at a ploy to get people to switch to Redbox.  I smell an Anti-trust suit about to happen.

[SteveVi]

Curious to see how performance is during non-prime time (Sunday afternoon at 1:30PM Eastern Time) I started watching Terminator 2 in SuperHD.  IE reports bitrates ranging from 560kbps to 1750kbps with speeds mostly in the 1050kbps range. 

My Netflix enabled Bluray player displays resolution info rather the bitrate and it's showing resolution ranging from 388P to 480P--not even close to HD quality. 

Verizon; if you're listening you are about to lose a long standing customer to Comcast.  I've been a FiOS customer since 2006 and currently speand over $150 per month on triple play.  If you continue to **bleep** me off you'll lose my wireless business as well (currently over $225 per month).  So keep playing your silly little games and let's see just how many customers you lose over these greed motivated strong arm tactics.

[Sava333]

Looks like Neflix blinked first:

http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/02/netflix-is-paying-comcast-for-direct-connection-to-network-w...

This is exactly what Verizon was looking for, seems to all be coming to a head finally. Hopefully an agreement will be reached between Verizon and Netflix soon also.

[MarathonDoug]

I have 30 Mbps FiOS Internet service, FiOS TV, and Verizon/Redbox. Why has Netflix throughput gotten so bad lately? Why would I pay for 50 Mbps service if I can't get acceptable speed now? Verizon is obviously playing games. If you are going to do this you should not do it a customer that has ALL of your home services. There is still Comcast coax coming to my house and I will use it if this nonsense does not stop.

[back2back]

I agree with you. I upgraded to FIOS Qunatum and the results were worse when I had the 25 Megs. What a rip off! Now they're trying to get us to pay erven more with 75 Megs and their latest and greatest router for another $100.00. Keep it up Verizon, soon you will get some big competition and when that time comes you'll be nothing more than when you strated off.

[ASHDUMP]

Netflix has been working flawlessly for the past 1.5 years and now all of a sudden it barley works. All I have from Verizon is 15/5 and no television or phone. I use our internet occasionally because I'm never home. When I am home, I like to watch 1 or 2 movies or TV shows on Netflix.... Now I can't.

This is blackmail if I've ever seen it. One day everything works well and the next it doesn't work at all. I just switched over to Verizon from Comcast not long ago.

Verizon probably thinks that most people will just give up on Netflix however I think the adverse will happen. People are going to give up on Verizon.....

[netflixtooslow]

Comcast just cut a deal with Netflix this past weekend, so Comcast subscribers can finally get a decent picture. If FIOS doesn't in the next month, I will be switching to Comcast for sure!  Finally, thanks to the WSJ report last week (but NO thanks to FIOS), this information about how FIOS has been intentionally slowing Netflix for a long time is out there and confirmed.  Nowhere left for Verizon to try to hide this from its subscribers and tell us we don't know what we are talking about.  What are you going to do Verizon?  How many subscribers do you want to lose over this?

[FrankGrimey]

I'm considering just not paying anymore and going back to Cablevision. The speeds weren't as good, but wasn't bad either. I wouldn't pay an ETF either. Netflix is absolutely fine over my mobile broadband connection with T-Mobile. It was initially absolutely fine with FiOS when I got it a bit over a year ago. Then all of a sudden, the past few days, I'm watching 21 minutes of 42 minutes of pixellated shows on a 75/35Mbps connection!

My speed tests are consistently 85 down and 35 up regardless of the time of day yet Netflix ever-so-conveniently chokes to complete **bleep**? It's blackmail and it should be illegal! Shame on you Verizon! We seriously need more competition in the market to discourage these anti-competitive/blackmailing practices.

[SoNi67]

I am using now as DSN server the unlocator.com . They are free (for now) and they help getting "arround" Verizon blocking of netflix.

[watcher321]

I use FIOS to watch Netflix.

If FIOS cannot deliver Netflix then I do not need netflix.

Maybe time to switch back to Xfinity

[SteveVi]

For those of you sick of dealing with this problem and tired of Verizon's complete and total lack or action and acknowledgement that this is an issue, I have created a public petition addressed to Lowell C. McAdam, Verizon's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.  The petition is located here:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/869/336/946/verizon-intentionally-crippling-netflix-streaming-over-it...

Take action and sign the petition!

 EDIT: If you're on FaceBook and Twitter and other social media sites, let your followers know about the petition and ask them to sign.  Verizon seems content to ignore us on it's own forums.  Maybe some public attention is what they need.

Thanks -- Steve

[DFGalletta]

I found a device-dependence issue here!

I have a Sony Blu-Ray BDP-S-770 and an XBox 360. When I try Amazon streaming on the Sony, it works without buffering at all, no matter when we try it. Netflix is horrendous, buffering a minute after every 45 seconds of play, at its worst. HOWEVER, I found that using the XBOX 360 for streaming Netflix, it actually works without repeated buffering, albeit at poor video quality. We tried a PC and it also worked without repeated buffering. Those of you who are really interested in the program you're watching (House of Cards, anyone?) might be able to get the plot fix if you switch to a different device.

I signed the petition above and got myself even more upset at Verizon. I pay them $30 each for data plans for 3 cell phones plus $40 a month for FiOS Internet. I also have Verizon home phone and FiOS TV and subscribe to all mainstream premium channels. Total bill per month is over $500. What else could Verizon want from me to allow me to watch Netflix?

[SteveVi]

My guess is that each device implements the video buffer at bit differently.  A Larger buffer allow the device to compensate if the network connection functuation.  The device has a larger portion of the stream in its buffer and can continue playing the videoif the connection temporarilly degrades.  The downside is that the initial video playback takes longs since the device must fill its larger buffer before starting playback.

Regading monthly payments to Verizon; yup same boat.  I have TV, Phone and Internet, that with equipment costs me over $170 per month plus 4 smart phones on a wireless and data plan that runs me close to $250 per month.  Up until the Netflix crap I was happy enough with Verizon that I wouldn't have considered changing providers.  I am now so upset that I WILL CHANGE at the first possible opportunity.  I've spent more money with Verizon over the past 15 years than I care to think about and the Netflix debacle is unforgivable.

[dgrothe2]

I agree.  We have paid through the nose for a service we are NOT receiving.  THEY are to deliver the service we have paid for but they are NOT.  Time to drop them and go back to Comcast.  Also, I have called them and they will NOT admit they are playing this greedy game with Netflix when it is everywhere in the newspapers.  GREEDY!!!!! and intentional poor customer service.

[SteveVi]

Clearly Verizon doens't take us serious and could give a crap about its' customers.  Looks lke they a little a little incentive to get off their butts so I just filed complaints with the Better Busines Bureau (BBB), the Federal Trade Commision (FTC), the Federal Communications Commision (FCC) and my State's (MA) Attorney General office.  I urge everone to do the same.  Here are the links for your convenience:

Better Business Bureau

Federal Trade Commision

Federal Communications Commission

AG: Google "attorney general" and your state's 2 letter abbreviation

The process is easy and should take you 30 minutes to do all of them.  Here's what I submitted if you need a starting point for your complaint.  Some of the sites (FCC and my AG's office) limit the complaint to 1000 characters so I've included 2 versions below.

SHORT VERISON:

On 1/20/14 I renewed my Triple Play contract for TV, Internet and Phone. Early 2/14 I started having problems with Netflix streaming video.  It’s been widely publicized  the Verizon & Netflix  are in a peering dispute over the amount of Netflix traffic Verizon is handling and that Verizon is intentionally crippling Netflix video streams in order to force a financial agreement.

It’s gotten so bad that Netflix is unusable from 6PM-1AM, during which Netflix HD (1080P) video streams playback at extremely low bitrates and unwatchable resolutions of 384P and lower, with frequent stoppages and buffering.  I pay Verizon for 50Mpbs internet speeds (8X faster than required to playback Netflix HD content).  During these hrs, I see Netflix stream speeds of 584Kbps; 1/85th of the speed I’m paying Verizon for.

What Verizon is doing is wrong yet I am bound to a 24 month contract. If Verizon won’t fix this problem, I shouldn’t be held to my contract and should be allowed to find another provider. 

LONG VERSION:

I've been a FiOS customer since 2006.  I renewed my Triple Play contract “TV, Internet and Telephone” on January 20, 2014 with a 24 month term contract.  At the time of the renewal I upgraded my broadband internet speed to 50Mbps download / 25Mbps upload service.  I pay over $130 per month for this bundle

In early February I started experiencing significant problems with streaming video services from Netflix.  After a bit web searching it became apparent that the issue had nothing to do with Netflix but was instead the result of a widely publicized “peering” dispute between Verizon and Cogent Communications (the company used by Netflix for content delivery) over the amount of Netflix traffic Verizon is handling.  There is substantial evidence that Verizon is intentionally crippling Netflix video streams by allowing it's peering ports to saturate to 100% of capacity in order to force a financial agreement with Netflix.  Verizon has yet to acknowledge that this is the cause of the issue and routinely blames the customer’s equipment or equipment configuration as the source of the issue.

The problem has gotten so bad that I can no longer use Netflix after 6PM on weekdays and 3PM on weekend because the video quality is terrible.  During these periods,  Netflix HD (720P) and Super HD (1080P) video streams playback at an unwatchable resolutions of 384P and lower and at extremely low bitrates.  The streams also frequent pause and buffer.  This is particularly frustrating because I pay Verizon for broadband internet service with access speeds of 50Mpbs which is more than 8 times faster than the speeds required to playback Netflix Super HD video streams (Super HD streams require 6Mbps of bandwidth).  However, during the peak usage hours noted above, I routinely see Netflix stream speeds of 584Kbps; that’s 1/85th of the 50Mbps speeds I’m paying Verizon for.

Ironically, Verizon continues to market it’s faster FiOS Quantum service (50Mbps and higher) as “lag-free—ideal for watching Redbox Instant titles”.  Redbox, in case you’re not aware, is Verizon’s own video streaming service and is a direct competitor to Netflix.  

What Verizon is doing is wrong and it affects a huge number of their customers.  We should not be held as ransom while Verizon tries to force Netflix into a settlement.  Verizon is holding me to a 24 month contract but they are doing something to purposefully negatively reduce my delivered bandwidth to under 2% of their advertised values.  If Verizon fails to fix this problem, I should not be expected to be held to my end of the contract. 

 Please take the time to file a complaint.  If nothing else, you'll feel better about having done something.

--Steve

[bbinnard]

Thanks for publishing your formal complaint messages.  I have already filed my complaint with the FCC; I had not thought about the other places but I expect they may be able to help.

In addition, here is something that may also help:

http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/04/att-copies-google-names-100-cities-where-it-could-offer-giga...

The situation with Verizon & Netflix has reached the point of utter absurdity and has gone unanswered and unacknowledged for far too long.  Obviously what people post in this forum is not helping, and likely never will help.  So we need to raise the stakes and start writing to the people who control the industry and make the laws.

If you are reading this then stop readring and start writing.

[jwillum]

My contract is up in November.  If this Verizon/Netflix squabble is not over by then, I will be going to cable.  It's ridiculous to be paying for 75mbps speed and not even be able to stream video.  Shame on Verizon for obviously not caring about their customers and shame on any Verizon employee who would state that there is no problem.