US Cable Support → Bright House Networks > Netflix not streaming in HD most of the time

Netflix not streaming in HD most of the time

Hello y'all,

I've been having a problem with Netflix streaming for as long as I've had it. Several hours speaking with Netflix, XBOX Live, and Brighthouse (including 2 service calls from them where they checked, adjusted, and installed new stuff) and nothing has changed.

My internet speed is 68 Mbps download and 7 Mbps upload.

Most of the time, the quality is 480SD, and occasionally fluctuates between 240SD and 720HD, and sometimes 1080HD. Regardless of whether I'm streaming Netflix on my computer (hardwired), XBOX360 (hardwired), or on my TV (WiFi), it's the same song and dance.

I've gone through all the troubleshooting from all the customer service entities listed above, and nothing solves the issue. The only time Netflix streams HD is very late at night/early morning (2:00 a.m. - 8:00 a.m.). During that time, streaming Netflix jumps right to 1080HD in less than a minute, and stays there the entire time I'm watching it.

Netflix customer service continues to tell me it's a problem with my cable service provider. That really doesn't make sense to me, since Vudu, Hulu, and anything else that streams movies, shows, etc. streams them in HD perfectly fine all the time, but Netflix is the only one that doesn't, most of the time.

It would be really cool to be able to watch stuff in HD on Netflix, as they have a lot more content that I want to watch than any other provider. Because the streaming from Netflix is such low quality most of the time, I rarely want to watch it.

If there is anything that I can do to consistently stream Netflix in HD, please let me know.

This issue has been reported by many others. It seems like Netflix is always blaming the cable provider-ISP Provider for the issue.
»Re: [Tampa] Netflix not streaming in HD
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Taft CA Bright House Customer Since 2003 Lightning 60/5 Motorola SB6141

Yeah, I guess I'm not the only one who gets told by Netflix that it's the internet service provider. They always tell me "for Netflix to stream in HD, it needs a strong, steady connection." I always tell them how good my connection is, and everything else works fine in HD, but they never claim any responsibility for the issue.

I hate to give up on fixing this, although I'm pretty sure that I've tried everything possible, and nothing has changed. There must be something that can be done to fix it, whether it's on Netflix end or not.

If anyone knows of a way to fix it and can let me know, I would really appreciate it.

But NEOBC lets do this. Because we care about our part of the equation lets take a look at your connection and equipment and make sure we're doing everything we can to minimize this impact on you. Open a direct forums thread with your modem MAC and I'll take a look and propose some ideas that may help a bit.

Thanks for the replies and offer to help. I just started a direct forums thread. Please let me know if you think anything can be done to resolve the issue.

I tried using Netflix yesterday (Sunday) at 3:00 p.m. and got a very low quality picture. It was at 480SD for a couple minutes then went to 240SD for several minutes, and I just turned it off. A few hours later, at 11:30 p.m., I turned on the same show, and 30 seconds after starting the show it went to 1080HD and stayed there for the entire length of the show.

Since I live in a condo, would the people in my condo building using the internet at "peak" times affect whether Netflix streams in HD or not, or is it entirely dependent on Netflix' "peak" times?

Got it and responded...

Neo,

Sorry I'm late to the thread but I have a simple question, are you using the default DNS setting provided by the WAN DHCP or have you configured your router to use a different server such as a DNS root server?

If you use the default DHCP/DNS settings then ignore the rest of this post. If you did change the DNS server config on your routers DHCP server then what may be happening is Akamai, the CDN for a large portion of Netflix, cannot determine your location and direct you to the proper edge server which means you are subject to a lot more Internet congestion.

Isn't location information linked to IP address not DNS server?

Yes...

I'm having the same issue as the NeoBC, but I am in Boca Raton, FL. I had ATT Uverse and switched back to Comcast for a few reasons including the faster internet to stream Netflix. However, it's the same issue with Comcast as Uverse. Basically, it seems I can get HD if I'm not watching during peak movie watching times. However, the audio is always screwed up. The bass is delayed vs the rest of the soundtrack. I'll hear an explosion and then the walls will rattle about 2 seconds after it's over. To be clear, this only happens via Netflix. I also can stream HDX all day long via VUDU and CinemaNow with no issues.

So, I ran a trace route to www.netlix.com and time outs all over the place. The trace never completed. I then found this thread via a Google search for "What is Netflix streaming ip address for Florida?" Does anybody know an ip address for Florida that they stream from or do they stream only from www.netflix.com. If so, I will probably cancel until they can get this fixed. Yes, I guess you can say it's the ISP and the route that's causing the problems, but if it happens for every ISP then whose fault is it really? Again, no issues with VUDU and CinemaNow.

Here's a link to their blog site rating the ISP's. I guess if I lived in Kansas I could get Google's internet. Where I'm at, it's ATT or Comcast. »blog.netflix.com/

I would like to add something here.

Last night around 7pm EST I was watching a rerun of Star Trek: Voyager from Netflix streaming at 480p and it kept pausing to buffer, frequently. I got so fed up with it that I turned it off. I then remembered that Star Trek: Voyager is also available from Amazon Prime so I switched to that and it ran beautifully at 720p, no pauses to buffer, no issues at all. I don't think it's an issue with BH. Appears to be a Netflix issue or perhaps the routing in between Netflix and BH. All I know is that Amazon Prime worked perfectly at the same time Netflix wasn't.

I noticed a couple of articles in the news this morning ... "Highest Quality HD Now Available To All Netflix Members"

»variety.com/2013/digital/news/ne···0671376/

»blog.netflix.com/2013/09/highest···html?m=1

I need one of you from each of our markets to reach out to me via IM. Must use Netflix on a regular basis however....

A few days ago Netflix quality was pretty bad with off and on buffering. Last night I watched an episode of The Tudors and the picture was beautiful and no buffering, not even once. Maybe this change is why.

CFL area

Like I said I need one from each of our markets....IM me with your modem MAC and Netflix habits and I will explain the rest later.

I watch Netflix just about every night on my PS3. Noticed I was watching in the New Super HD tonight.. Very cool

Was watching superhd all weekend without issue multiple streams no less...

Same here, got caught up on Sons of Anarchy in superduperHD

Can you watch super HD from netflix on your computer or does it have to be a blu ray player or such device? How do you know when its steaming in super HD ?
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Taft CA Bright House Customer Since 2003 Lightning 60/5 Motorola SB6141

I watched over 3 minutes of Happy Gilmore and it never switched to HD (on my PC). I have allow HD checked. Am I doing something wrong?

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