Verizon DSL → DSL speed while using netflix

I have been trying to understand my connection/speed issues when using netfllix on my DSL. on a normal day i get 2.4MB/600K with a lag of 33 or so using the speedtest. The instant I turn on netflix this will drop to 400K/600K with a lag of 150-200. according to verizon at this point my DSL is running at about 90% of capacity. I have done this using the bandwidth tool on netflix that shows use the usage embedded in the stream and it is running from 350-500K during the test. Netflix will show no buffering or stutter. If i turn on a 2nd netlfix account the speedtest will stay at around the 400K/600K with a lag of 150-200 and the DSL Rep tells me the usage is at about 102%. still no buffering/stutter

The issue usually is that the kid in the house cant play games while this is going on. Verizon claims you need 3mb to play games which seems high. But anyway if we restart the modem usually the game becomes playable, if netflix is being used its about 50/50 whether the game is playable. It doesnt seem to matter what the speedtest says to whether the game is playable or not, it really seems like an issue further down the line, even on days when the dsl is running at max the game is 50/50 as to being able to be played.

sometimes i get good speed test numbers when i system is running at 25% and sometimes when its running at 100%, this seems to point to a bigger issue than just my usage?

I think it's probably more a Wifi problem than a speed problem. I have 3 Mbps DSL and can watch 720p Netflix and a 480p YouTube video at the same time.

Either way, Netflix should adapt to the available bandwidth and change your Netflix quality accordingly.

I don't think you need anywhere near 3 Mbps to play a game, just need a low-ish ping. Contrary to what you might think, very little data is exchanged during gaming, since all of the processing occurs on the local machine.

Any chance of you posting your line stats? Speedtesting you have done indicates an optimized line.... If u have 3m, realistically you should see (on a good connection) 2.78m down and ~710ish Kbps up....

If you are getting a lot of errors with the stream, over interleaving (error correction) MIGHT explains the slow downs... The optimizing system would pick up on those errors and slow your sync rate to compensate...

I've seen some "On and off" issues like this happen from provisioning issues between the DSL port and the Juniper router that causes a buffer overrun condition. Some days the circuit behaves better than others. The days where heavier load was placed onto the Junipers, back when I had that issue, were the days where I'd see 40% packet loss only when streaming or downloading something. Sometimes this would turn into a "Disconnect for 5 seconds" deal due to the packet loss being so high. Other days I could do the same activities and see no loss at all. I don't see any of that with fixed provisioning.

As others have asked, let's get your line stats first to find out what's going on.

what do i need to do to get the line stats?

I have done the speedtest with just my computer plugged into the router so no wifi connections actively being used. I suppose there is some wifi usage if the ipad/cell phones are on the home network but not actually doing anything

What is the brand of your modem? What is the model number?

actiontec gt784wnv

type 192.168.1.1 into a browser. The user name is usually admin and password is password or password1

Then go to "status" at the top, then "WAN Status" on the side and copy and paste what's there.

On really slow lines, pings tend to go up when streaming video because the video must download, and then if it downloads over TCP (rather than UDP, which wouldn't have this problem) it has to send back acknowledgements that the video made it fine, so it's actually using a fair amount of outgoing data as well.

Unfortunately, your options for getting your latency back down into the 30s (which is suitable for gaming, I usually play World of Warcraft at about 150 or so) are to not watch Netflix, or to watch Netflix at such a low resolution that it's almost not worth watching Netflix.

VPI: 0
VCI: 35
Broadband Mode Setting: ADSL
Broadband Negotiated Mode: G.DMT
Connection Status: CONNECTED
Downstream Speed: 2944 Kbps
Upstream Speed: 864 Kbps
Retrains: 0
Retrain Timer: 6 Days, 10H:50M:19S
ATM QoS class: UBR
Near End CRC Errors Interleave: 1083
Near End CRC Errors Fastpath : N/A
Far End CRC Errors Interleave : 82
Far End CRC Errors Fastpath : N/A
30 Minute Near End CRC Interleave : 11328
30 Minute Near End CRC Fastpath : N/A
30 Minute Far End CRC Interleave : 0
30 Minute Far End CRC Fastpath : N/A
Near End RS FEC Interleave : 0
Near End RS FEC Fastpath : N/A
Far End RS FEC Interleave : 0
Far End RS FEC Fastpath : N/A
30 Minute Near End FEC Interleave : 11051917
30 Minute Near End FEC Fastpath : N/A
30 Minute Far End FEC Interleave : 7795
30 Minute Far End FEC Fastpath : N/A
30 Minute Discarded Packets Downstream : 0
30 Minute Discarded Packets Upstream : 0
SNR Downstream : 14 dB
SNR Upstream : 10 dB
Attenuation Downstream : 47 dB
Attenuation Upstream : 25 dB
Power Downstream 18.5 dBm
Power Upstream 11.9 dBm

The modem is reporting allot of errors. Can you hear static on the line?

Example of my modem being on for 8 days:

Connection Status
WAN Status
Routing Table
Firewall Status
ARP Table
LAN Services
NAT Table
Wireless Status
Gateway Utilization
LAN Status
WAN Status
Connection Status
Connection Status
Broadband: CONNECTED
Internet Service Provider: CONNECTED

PPP Status
PPP Parameter Status
User Name: Newdsl
PPP Type: PPPoE
LCP State: UP
IPCP State: UP
Authentication Failures: 0
Session Time: 8 Days, 12H:28M:3S
Packets Sent: 12179817
Packets Received: 20629359

Broadband Status
Broadband Parameter Status
VPI: 0
VCI: 35
Broadband Mode Setting: ADSL
Broadband Negotiated Mode: G.DMT
Connection Status: CONNECTED
Downstream Speed: 7840 Kbps
Upstream Speed: 864 Kbps
Retrains: 0
Retrain Timer: 8 Days, 12H:2M:37S
ATM QoS class: UBR
Near End CRC Errors Interleave: 105
Near End CRC Errors Fastpath : N/A
Far End CRC Errors Interleave : 19
Far End CRC Errors Fastpath : N/A
30 Minute Near End CRC Interleave : 0
30 Minute Near End CRC Fastpath : N/A
30 Minute Far End CRC Interleave : 0
30 Minute Far End CRC Fastpath : N/A
Near End RS FEC Interleave : 0
Near End RS FEC Fastpath : N/A
Far End RS FEC Interleave : 0
Far End RS FEC Fastpath : N/A
30 Minute Near End FEC Interleave : 0
30 Minute Near End FEC Fastpath : N/A
30 Minute Far End FEC Interleave : 0
30 Minute Far End FEC Fastpath : N/A
30 Minute Discarded Packets Downstream : 0
30 Minute Discarded Packets Upstream : 0
SNR Downstream : 19 dB
SNR Upstream : 15 dB
Attenuation Downstream : 26 dB
Attenuation Upstream : 11 dB
Power Downstream 15.7 dBm
Power Upstream 11.9 dBm

yes. verizon has come out to the house half a dozen times the last few years, come inside, done all sorts of testing and then they always end up back at the RT changing something.. i gets good for awhile and they starts failing. last time the tech said my line was too clean and that was causing issues so he changed something because my line kept trying to go higher than what its rated for.

unfortunately, as Wiggie stated, your modem is throwing a ton of errors... 11 million+, and it is also straining to keep you connected (power level is rather high @ 18.9dbm). It all indicates trouble most likely on the physical side of your line. Grounding, stressing (static), possibly even a slightly crossed line. Unfortunately only a tech dpo'd on your line and really test for those things.

To rule out your inside wiring, and this would be difficult in the frozen tundra, you could directly connect your modem to your nid via the test port and see what the modem stats come back at then. Like I said tho, that would be rather difficult @ this time of year.

One thing i noticed yesterday in testing.. if you use netflix the speed drops from 2.4 to 400K.. if you use amazon it doesnt drop at all.. vast difference in how they handle load and buffering

I am thinking about getting a subscription to Netflix, I also have sons that do gaming in my home. in the evening my DSL goes down really slow!! Should I worry about slow streaming on Netflix when my DSL is very slow in the evening?

You shouldn't slow down during prime time unless more people in your home are using the connection. If only one device is using the connection and you get slower speed during prime time that is a problem after the DSLAM, most likely not enough capacity. This requires new capacity between the DSLAM and the wide world of the web as is beyond what a field tech can do.

If you are able document your trace routs comparing prime time with off peak time you may get engineering to do something. I had this problem and with determination was able to convince them to moved me to a less congested loop. I see you are out in the wilds of Pennsylvania so extra capacity may not be readily available.