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zeonstar
join:2006-11-21
Hayward, CA

1 edit

zeonstar

Member

[Connectivity] Can't get Netflix HD/Super HD with Comcast.

Hey all.

First off I have not posted here in years. I actually don't know if I've ever posted here, actually, but I did have an account, amazingly enough.

I have an issue that I did research before coming here to write, and while I do see some similar threads related to my topic, I still thought it best to start from scratch.

So basically I have Comcast Performance Internet (20MB down) and I can not for the life of me get Netflix to Steam in Super HD. I can't even get it to consistently stream in 720. I have tried everything I know. It glancing at the forums, it seems this is simply a Comcast problem? I spend the better part of Saturday trying to reconfigure my router, move it, etc, all to improve my streaming.

We live in a condo, the modem is upstairs along with my router, which is a wrt54g using tomato. The tv I am trying to stream to is directly downstairs, maybe 20 feet away total if that. I'm using a Sony BDP-S590 to stream Netflix.

In my search to get this working, I managed to get ahold of a Linksys 300N router that someone had laying around. I installed tomato on it, replaced my current router with it, and I still could not improve my Netflix.

At one point I even took my modem and router downstairs to the TV, plugged in a wired connecton to the Blu-Ray player and I STILL could not get it to stream in HD.

It was at that point I realized this problem may not be my router setup at all, but Comcast. If that is the case, what, if anything, can I do?

One other thing to note: Last night I was messing with it again and I went into my router and turned off the QoS I had setup. My speed test jumped by about 10 megs after I did that. Not sure if that means I have it configured wrong or what. However I did try netflix with QoS off and had the same results.

Super frustrated with this whole thing. If it's just been an issue with Comcast all this time....Ugh is all I can say.


Edited to add topic group category. Sunny See Profile

tshirt
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA

tshirt

Premium Member

Re: Can't get Netflix HD/Super HD with Comcast.

So far, Netflix Super HD ONLY works on a limited number of devices
I do not believe your bluray is one of them but tech support at Netflix and/or Sony can either confirm or help you make it work.
It is likely not a problem with Comcast broadband.

Netflix now offers Super HD streaming on many devices, include
Apple TV with 1080p
Google Chromecast
Nintendo Wii U
Roku with 1080p*
Sony PlayStation 3
Sony PlayStation 4
TiVo Premiere DVR
Windows 8 App
Blu-Ray Players, Smart TV's, Home Theaters, and Streaming Players with existing Netflix 1080p support*
More devices coming soon!

Please note that Super HD requires an Internet connection speed of at least 5Mb/s, and 7Mb/s for our highest available video quality.

*Note: Although some Super HD eligible devices do not currently display the Super HD logo, we continue to provide Super HD video quality for these devices.
zeonstar
join:2006-11-21
Hayward, CA

zeonstar

Member

I'm pretty sure the player does support it. For one, when I am in Netflix, movies do show the Super HD logo. Also, one time, for whatever reason, it did stream in 1080p. No idea what made that day special, but it worked...for a bit. And I found this: »support.netflix.com/en/node/443

tshirt
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA

tshirt

Premium Member

It looks like it should support it, but likely would do better if always wired.
Netflix often has distribution capacity probelems, especially at busy times of day (or did when I had it) even xfinity stream pix can't serve shows to everyone at certain times (twice last week just before /after 7PM, going to amazon for the same show worked fine, but the opposite was so the week before.
I think currently video CDN's are near/at the limit during most of prime time and mornings before work my wife like s to watch stuff that sometime is unavailable due to server capacity (streampix has a popup you sometimes get admitting it) but an hour later it works flawlessly.
Not the network, it's the servers can't keep up.
zeonstar
join:2006-11-21
Hayward, CA

zeonstar

Member

Even wired into my router directly didn't help though. So it's just a ISP inssue?

tshirt
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA

tshirt

Premium Member

I'm saying it's likely NOT just the ISP or the backbone or even just the CDN serving the show, ALL are likely pushed to the limit at some point because on demand type video is so popular and growing so fast right now.
but if one video service has a problem and at the same time the others do not it's more likely NOT the ISP's network or even "the internet" but most likely the providers(Netflix, amazon, youtube, hulu) servers getting hammered at that time and it changes day to day as end users try different sources.
zeonstar
join:2006-11-21
Hayward, CA

zeonstar

Member

Well I do have amazon prime so I can try that. Ive also rented from Vudu from time to time and it streamed in full HD.
zeonstar

zeonstar

Member

Re: [Connectivity] Can't get Netflix HD/Super HD with Comcast.

I called Comcast and they said they did something, I have no idea what, to fix the issue, but when I later tried Netflix there was no change. It got to 720p for a few seconds but didn't hold it.

This morning I looked on my Comcast account and it shows me as having Blast Internet. I had Performance last I knew..

NathanO
join:2008-08-21
Seattle, WA
Ubiquiti UniFi AP-AC-HD
Ubiquiti UDM-Pro

4 edits

3 recommendations

NathanO to tshirt

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to tshirt

Re: Can't get Netflix HD/Super HD with Comcast.

Netflix has posted some photos/info about their CDN, pretty interesting: »pbs.twimg.com/media/BYom ··· pg:large
Each one of those ASR9922's has 13 36x10GbE (4.68Tbps) linecards fully loaded.. and that's just one site. Each one of those routers can pump out ~2.5Tbps to the Internet. The other 2.5Tbps is connected to SSD based (14x1TB) servers with 3x10GbE in 1U, or massive HDD based servers (likely 100TB+) with 2x10GbE in 4U.
Netflix has these around the word - Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, New York (and Newark), Dallas, Miami, Seattle, London, Dublin, Amsterdam, Stockholm, and Sao Paulo.
»www.nanog.org/sites/defa ··· mkin.pdf

EDIT:
For some other numbers
SuperHD = 5800Kbps
Average = 2020Kbps
SuperLowD = 235Kbps
1 Netflix server = 30Gbps
1 Server = 5,400 SuperHD Streams, 15,500 Average Streams, or 133,860 SuperLowD Streams

1 Router (ASR9922) = 2.34Tbps
1 Router (ASR9922) = 80 Servers
1 Router (ASR9922) = 432,000 SuperHD Streams, 1,250,000 Average Streams, 10,708,800 SuperLowD Streams
1 Super PoP (Pictured) = 864,000 SuperHD Streams, 2,500,000 Average Streams, 21,417,600 SuperLowD Streams
1 Large PoP = 432,000 SuperHD Streams, 1,250,000 Average Streams, 10,708,800 SuperLowD Streams

Netflix has at least 13, but probably closer to 20 PoPs, not including ISP cache boxes.
NetFlix has around 32 million US streaming subscribers.

The average US user consumes 45GB of bandwidth per month, or 18KBps average, if we assume their usage looks like a nice sine wave, then their peak usage is around 36KBps.

Multiply this by the 245 million US internet subscribers and we get 65Tbps of US peak time home subscriber bandwidth.

Sandvine states netflix is over 30% of peak time internet traffic, or roughly 22.75Tbps. This works out to 4,212,000 SuperHD streams, which would be only 13% of their subscribers watching at peak time. If 50% of their subscribers watched at peak time, this number would jump to a whopping 87Tbps!
rody_44
Premium Member
join:2004-02-20
Quakertown, PA

rody_44 to zeonstar

Premium Member

to zeonstar
No its not a ISP problem. Even all that capacity doesnt do shit when you have 5000 people connecting to that server.
zeonstar
join:2006-11-21
Hayward, CA

zeonstar

Member

Re: [Connectivity] Can't get Netflix HD/Super HD with Comcast.

Thanks. So frustrating though.

Mike Wolf
join:2009-05-24
Tuckerton, NJ

1 edit

Mike Wolf to zeonstar

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I am able to get Super HD on Netflix on my PS3 and TiVo at a bitrate of 5800kbps through my Linksys EA4500 so I know Super HD does work.
Mike Wolf

Mike Wolf to zeonstar

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I seriously think it's a subpar router issue. I mean the WRT300N v1 has a 264MHz CPU with 32MB of RAM and 4MB of Flash memory, the WRT300N v1.1 has a 300MHz CPU with 32MB of RAM and 8MB of Flash memory, the WRT300N v2 has 266MHz CPU with 16MB of RAM and 4MB of Flash memory and the WRT54G series routers have very low CPU rates and low amounts of RAM and Flash memory. My EA4500 has a 1.2GHz CPU with 128MB of RAM and 128MB of Flash memory.

redbeard916
join:2011-02-23
Folsom, CA

redbeard916

Member

BTW Linksys sucks and there products have drastically gone down hill.. Go with d- link way better consumer products or netgear
zeonstar
join:2006-11-21
Hayward, CA

zeonstar to Mike Wolf

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to Mike Wolf
I was trying another device I have that thought older, also Does Netflix. I know there is a test video you can run to show your bit rate but I'm having an issue with it. On my newer device, my BD player, the video overlays a yellow text status of the resolution and bit rate. When I run the same video on my older player, there is no overlay at all. Best I can tell, the older device, my samsung tv is doing Hd. It looks way better than video from my BD player. But the BD player is newer with support for 1080p and 5.1. The Samsung can't do either that high. But least it's in HD AT ALL...

Streetlight
join:2005-11-07
Colorado Springs, CO

Streetlight to zeonstar

Member

to zeonstar
Have you checked out the DSLReports.com thread:

»[Speed] Netflix Comcast does not support HD streaming

Folks can't even get regular HD from Comcast and it appears to be a Comcast issue with Netflix. Folks can get very fast downloads matching or exceeding their paid-for speed tier, but when it comes to getting Netflix, many end up with Standard Definition video.

If you haven't read the thread, please do, and the discussion is enlightening.
Expand your moderator at work

Mike Wolf
join:2009-05-24
Tuckerton, NJ

Mike Wolf to Streetlight

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to Streetlight

Re: [Connectivity] Can't get Netflix HD/Super HD with Comcast.

It's so weird how hit-or-miss it is with Comcast users right?

DocDrew
How can I help?
Premium Member
join:2009-01-28
SoCal
Ubee E31U2V1
Technicolor TC4400
Linksys EA6900

DocDrew

Premium Member

said by Mike Wolf:

It's so weird how hit-or-miss it is with Comcast users right?

Not really, it could be a links between Netflix and Comcast are overloaded at specific points.
zeonstar
join:2006-11-21
Hayward, CA

zeonstar

Member

Well I am getting HD with my other device, though it's most likely 720p. But it's consistent.

Anyone know why that test video wont show me the text overlay with my resolution/bitrate when using Netflix Via my Samsung TV?

kevin79
join:2000-01-26
Zeeland, MI

kevin79 to zeonstar

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Where do I get the test video at?
mrschultz02
join:2007-09-10
Wallingford, PA
Asus RT-AC88

mrschultz02 to zeonstar

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to zeonstar
said by zeonstar:

Anyone know why that test video wont show me the text overlay with my resolution/bitrate when using Netflix Via my Samsung TV?

I've noticed that also, certain devices don't show the text overlay. I get it on my Roku HD box, but between my TV, Blu-Ray, and AppleTV only one of them showed it, it's been a while and I don't remember witch one.
said by kevin79:

Where do I get the test video at?

Do a search for "Example Short 23.976"
DanM64
join:2013-01-10
Mokena, IL

1 recommendation

DanM64

Member

Just some advice- the test movie also does sound frequncy tests that are really high pitched, so you may want to turn the volume down or mute it all together
zeonstar
join:2006-11-21
Hayward, CA

zeonstar to mrschultz02

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to mrschultz02
It kind of makes the test video useless, doesn't it? I had though the text was embedded into the video. The irony is it works on my BD Netflix player, where I don't need it since I can just press info and see an overlay in the corner of my current resolution and audio output.

So even though I am getting a better picture with my older device, other threads have left me confused as to weather my issue is my BluRay Player simply being a crappy Netflix device, or an issue with Netflix.
mrschultz02
join:2007-09-10
Wallingford, PA
Asus RT-AC88

mrschultz02

Member

said by zeonstar:

It kind of makes the test video useless, doesn't it? I had though the text was embedded into the video. The irony is it works on my BD Netflix player, where I don't need it since I can just press info and see an overlay in the corner of my current resolution and audio output.

Yeah, I was very confused when it didn't show up on some devices, I also figured it had to be embedded in the different bit rate streams. Maybe it's using subtitles somehow and some devices don't show them?

Just tried it on my PC and the android phone app, get the text on the PC but not on the phone.

Mike Wolf
join:2009-05-24
Tuckerton, NJ

Mike Wolf to DanM64

Member

to DanM64
said by DanM64:

Just some advice- the test movie also does sound frequncy tests that are really high pitched, so you may want to turn the volume down or mute it all together

Good advice. I've always been concerned it could blow out or damage speakers so I always recommend muting the audio. Also discovered that the other audio language tracks don't play the audio sweep you mentioned.
Mike Wolf

Mike Wolf to zeonstar

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to zeonstar
said by zeonstar:

It kind of makes the test video useless, doesn't it? I had though the text was embedded into the video. The irony is it works on my BD Netflix player, where I don't need it since I can just press info and see an overlay in the corner of my current resolution and audio output.

PlayStation 3 does the same thing with the "Display" button so I know what you mean.
Mike Wolf

Mike Wolf

Member

I wonder what other devices have their own display type.
vandergraff2
join:2005-10-17

vandergraff2 to zeonstar

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to zeonstar
said by zeonstar:

Anyone know why that test video wont show me the text overlay with my resolution/bitrate when using Netflix Via my Samsung TV?

You will only see the embedded resolution/bit rate on Netflix players that support adaptive streaming (most newer Netflix players do).

Probably a pretty good indication is if your Netflix player can support 1080P/5.1 Netflix streaming it is using the adaptive stream and you will see the embedded resolution/bit rate.

Another indication that you are getting the adaptive stream is if Netflix starts at low resolution and then ramps up to higher quality (although I have seen adaptive streaming start at highest quality on some players).
zeonstar
join:2006-11-21
Hayward, CA

zeonstar

Member

My BD Player is definitely a more modern netflix player that supports the adaptive streaming and can ramp up. It just doesn't ramp up!