O Canada! > Canadian > Shaw > [AB] BB50 and shaw a waste of time if you want to use netflix?

reply to knoot

Re: [AB] BB50 and shaw a waste of time if you want to use netfli

reply to knoot
use upnp? then you don't have to forward ports??

dug this one up because i'm having the same issue since switching to shaw.

Forwarding ports as a solution doesn't make sense for 2 reasons... #1, you are not hosting anything... you are accessing a service, no ports need to be forwarded. Can you imagine if all netflix users had to piss around forwarding ports to get it to not be complete garbage???

#2, I didn't have this issue with my past ISP using netflix for the last year with them...

I almost wonder if shaw is somehow degrading the netflix service in order to make it's own offering look more attractive :S

reply to knoot
Well tried it again now at 7am local time... night and day difference, works flawless on all 3 netflix players (TV, blu-ray, and PC)

I didn't provide more info because I was fairly sure the problem was at shaw's end... and seeing others with the same issue now i'm quite certain.

My hardware can be ruled out as I stated i did not experience this EVER with my last ISP... the only thing that changed was moving to Shaw and replacing a DSL modem with their cable modem.

Standard Shaw DNS, and speeds and latency are both awesome (that speed boost makes it test at 25mbps down). If I decide to test it using a large download like a service pack from microsoft... it slows down after about a minute to 10 - 12mbps.

You say you can stream on 3 devices without issues. I'm curious what bitrate you're getting, and what time this works for you... cause last night it was complete garbage, and now works great. If it's doing it again tonight I'll make a youtube of it.

reply to knoot
Shaw doesn't provide a modem only device anymore. They supply you with an all-in-one device that does modem, NAT, Wifi. We've had nothing but issues with them, which is why I asked which hardware you had. It should be either Cisco or SMC.

reply to familypizza
I am having the exact same issues. Prime time is horrible for some reason. Oddly enough when I run a pingplot to the netflix.com servers I have only about 100ms latency and very little packet loss. If I plot to the content servers that netflix is using everything goes to shit.

reply to rustydusty
It's a Motorola surfboard cable modem, not a home gateway.

I also explained the problem happens at peek periods, and the problem is not with the connection itself (as other services work fine and speeds are not an issue)

It's quite possible that the problem isn't even on shaw's network... but with a provider that they peer with. I'll tracert tonight to the content servers (providing it happens again) to see what I can see... although it's nice to see that i'm not the only one experiencing this.

reply to familypizza

reply to vitiate

Same thing tonight... but pinging the content server with ping plotter doesn't really reveal anything.

The content server I was hitting was. ipv4_1.lagg0.c035.sea001.ix.nflxvideo.net which resolves to 198.45.53.144

Tomorrow i'll bring my work laptop home to prove a point... i'm guessing I'll have the same problem on that laptop... until I fire up my VPN connection to work. So i will still be using my connection to Shaw, but the traffic will be routed to my work before getting to netflix. (they don't use shaw at work)

reply to familypizza

Just for curiosity, what DNS is everyone using. I was using open DNS up until yesterday. After I flipped back to shaw's dns servers I got a different content provider and performance got a lot better. The issue was the most prevalent on my Apple TV2's and the issue is still not fixed but it is better. Youtube is still horrible though.

reply to knoot
I too have a similar problem with Shaw. Most of the time it looks my quality on Netflix is at the best NON-HD quality, in other words it doesn't look bad, but its not HD, and it will never even TRY to buffer HD.

I get irritated when I see the advice some people give, so I'm going to go ahead and convince everyone there is nothing else I can do about it.

First of all routers... You will have to have a pretty darn old, pretty damn shitty, or just straight up broken and old worn out router OR BLAZINGLY fast internet for this to be your bottleneck. I'm not sure why going out and buying a new router was even recommended for the original poster considering he mentioned several times he has devices directly plugged in. I too have devices plugged in, and also have wireless devices, there is not a single difference between any of them when it comes to using the internet. And if that isn't enough then I will go ahead and mention my Cisco cable modem/wi-fi router is bridged to the best Netgear router money can currently buy. Not because I thought it would help, but because a customer (I work for another ISP) was getting rid of it since it didn't give him the range he needed, and was going to throw it out if someone didn't take it off his hands. My new router has not made a single difference with my internet experience, but my home-networking abilities are pretty awesome now.

I really didn't think changing DNS servers would make a difference, but a couple people have mentioned it, and I'm willing to try anything to get Netflix to perform better so I did it anyways. I set my primary to 8.8.8.8 and secondary to 8.8.4.4, there was not a shred of difference before and after. Still not sure why it helps some people, it is just a Domain Name Server, even if you had completely wrong DNS settings, you would still be able to access places by typing in IP addresses. I fully admit to not knowing all this stuff works, but I don't think all traffic gets routed through DNS servers considering a DNS server can be completely down, but that won't affect a file you are already downloading.

An interesting note is, I have tried logging into my VPN at work from home, and while I don't get consistent HD quality from Netflix it does continuously buffer HD and attempt HD, and switches back and fourth from non-HD to HD quality. It isn't worth doing it that way because of the inconsistency and also I shouldn't be using my work's bandwidth for Netflix.

I have good speed tests on every server I try, even in the US. I have no idea what the bottleneck is but I sure would love to know. I'm tired of Netflix telling me its my ISP, and I'm tired of Shaw telling me its a Netflix problem and not even taking it a step further.

I HIGHLY suspect that if I upgraded my plan (I am on BB20) I would see that all the sudden it works fine, and I wonder what Shaw's explanation would be for that, since it would rule out Netflix being a problem.

Yes I realize that according to Shaw's terms and conditions they do not throttle download speeds, but you know it wouldn't be the first time an ISP was caught breaking its own Terms and Conditions, and aside from getting caught, Shaw has EVERY reason to throttle something like Netflix. Netflix usage right now is HUGE, it accounts for probably 15% of all internet traffic in the US. Netflix is now producing its own shows "House of Cards". People are realizing they can use the internet for their entertainment means. Cable TV is subsidizing the price of internet, and TV is in trouble, TV networks are going to be cutting out the middle man (Shaw) and selling content directly to the consumer. Bandwidth usage is sky-rocketing, faster than it can be provided, internet cost is going to go up as a result. The internet is going to be the go to medium for everything, phones, movies, TV, and companies that provide those services have a LOT to lose.

reply to knoot
make sure u go into your netflix on your computer, hit the YOUR ACCOUNT button at the top and go down to where it says manage video quality towards the left side, make sure u have best selected

reply to knoot
Not only is it hard to get a SB5102 these days, but if you do have one it could be the source of your problems.

The SB5102 is a DOCSIS 2 modem and they have far more problems with primetime congestion than DOCSIS 3 modems.

reply to Connor M
Damn, I forgot to mention I've already done that in my original post.

reply to ruiner
Well then I guess its good I don't have one of those.

reply to dwonda
Are you on a promo of any kind?

If you do have the Cisco and are not on a promo, try BB50 for a couple days to test the theory.

--
Yes, I am not employed and looking for IT work. Have passport, will travel.

reply to knoot
I'd like to see some data before anything. Speedtests, tracerts, etc.