US Cable Support > Comcast HSI > Netflix Super HD and alternatives

Netflix Super HD and alternatives

I don't think 6Mbps is sufficient for Netflix Super HD bitrates. Even if it were only streaming at 5-6 Mbps, I think it would buffer quite a bit and be quite annoying.
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"I drank what?" -Socrates

Could very well be but I would like to try it fist before increasing the speed.

I think unblock-us.com is a little different than just a straight VPN. It's hard to tell from their site, but I think they use a combination of altered DNS data and custom proxy services to offer something that differs from a regular VPN. unblock-us only works with services (e.g. like Netflix) that they have specifically coded for.

It may be something like the following: you enter Netflix.com into your browser: their DNS servers direct you not to the normal IPs for Netflix.com, but to a custom IP address, which is unblock-us's proxy for Netflix. They apparently proxy just a part of the communication with Netflix (perhaps the authentication), providing a US-based IP to the real Netflix service. The remainder of the communication, the actual streaming, happens direct, without have to go through their proxy. The advantage is that the Netflix communication goes at the speed of your internet connection and is not slowed by unblock-us's proxy/vpn service.

More details on how unblock-us actually works would be helpful, but they are keeping the information under wraps.

This link provides a bit of information on unblockus: »www.damonkohler.com/2012/03/unbl···ity.html

Seems like it'd be prone to breakage if/when Netflix changes, well, anything on their end. And you'd still have to be tunneling the traffic through their servers, otherwise I don't see how it would work.

Sounds like when it works, it's great, but I question if it would work for everyone (depending on their datacenter presence) or how reliably it would work.

If I were the OP, I would not make an internet speed upgrade decision based on a week of trying this service, but that's just me.
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"I drank what?" -Socrates

According to netflix.com, superhd requires 5Mbps minimum and 7Mbps for highest quality stream.

Realistically, I'd say that you'd want a sustained rate of 8-10Mbps, for the superHD stream plus your normal background bull-roar.

reply to wchillman
I'd put the $4.99 towards a speed upgrade.

Careful about saying you would pay for upgrade... lol

Next thing you know Comcast will charge 7.99 for the feature to get SuperHD Netflix! lol

reply to wchillman
I signed up for a free trail at unblock-us.com. I can now get SuperHD on my roku via Comcast.

Since this is not a VPN service I dont need to worry about extra congestion points. I ran some tools to determine that the actual video payload data was coming directly from the Netflix CDN.

To use unblock-us.com all I had to do was change my DNS servers. I can confirm that this works with Roku and Comcast.

traceroute to 108.175.38.96 (108.175.38.96), 64 hops max, 72 byte packets
 1  10.66.122.1 (10.66.122.1)  3.083 ms  0.795 ms  0.693 ms
 2  71.205.80.1 (71.205.80.1)  30.889 ms  23.862 ms  30.395 ms
 3  xe-10-3-0-32767-sur01.birmingham.mi.michigan.comcast.net (68.85.48.41)  10.535 ms  10.683 ms  108.110 ms
 4  te-0-11-0-1-ar01.pontiac.mi.michigan.comcast.net (69.139.254.17)  14.324 ms  12.920 ms  12.063 ms
 5  he-4-5-0-0-cr01.350ecermak.il.ibone.comcast.net (68.86.90.221)  21.509 ms  28.234 ms  23.632 ms
 6  be-12-pe03.350ecermak.il.ibone.comcast.net (68.86.84.190)  17.942 ms  16.422 ms  18.929 ms
 7  173.167.57.126 (173.167.57.126)  20.191 ms  21.759 ms *
 8  as2906.ae12.ar1.ord1.us.nlayer.net (69.31.111.142)  31.538 ms  29.433 ms  29.129 ms
 9  ipv4_1.lagg0.c041.ord001.ix.nflxvideo.net (108.175.38.96)  28.711 ms  57.989 ms  29.325 ms
 
 

I don't need to pay an extra $4.99 a month for the 'unblock-us.com' service:

Open Connect on Sonic.net

reply to wchillman
unlock it for us comcast people. come on comcast ha

Hmm.. So Netflix is just going by DNS hits... I dunno if this is good or bad.

Wonder how this will impact the long term use of third party DNS like google or OpenDNS... For now they seem not to work...

I dont think they are going just by DNS hits. I feel like unblock-us is modifying some DNS packets, but I have no data to support this.

This morning I wasn't getting the same high bit-rates on my roku that I did yesterday morning. I know know if it was a fluke or netflix is working to stop this or what.

reply to AnonMan

reply to AnonMan

I have been using it for the last couple of days (taking advantage of their 7 day free trial). It is somewhat hit or miss whether you get the Super HD servers. Sometimes I do sometimes I don't.

One way to check is if you are able to play the 'Example Short 23.976' then you are connected to the SuperHD servers. You can see the streaming rate within the title and should ramp up to 5800 kbps if you have the bandwidth.

Another way to check is if your router is connecting to nflxvideo.net domain then you are connected to the Super HD servers.

When I do get Super HD it looks good on real titles. If this was reliable it might be worth 4.99 a month to get Super HD with Comcast - but for now (at least in my experience) it only works some of the time.

We've been discussing the use of Unblock-US for getting Netflix Super HD video encodes in a thread at AVS Forum starting with this post. I've come up with a procedure which works for getting them with any 1080p-capable Netflix player that I have and posted it here. It's a PITA but do-able by the hardcore and determined .

reply to wchillman
I know this is kind of an old thread, but just how do we convince Comcast to sign up when it will compete with their services? I do not see it happenning. Netflix needs to come up with a way to allow anyone to connect to this service. I understand there are technical limitations involved in order to try and guarentee a good experience. But I just do not see Comcast signing on.