[RTC List] NetFlix, download speeds, Roku boxes and X-Box 360's

[Kevin Nelson]

I have been viewing NetFlix movies on my laptop, hooked up to an AT&T
supplied ADSL modem, over a 802.11g network. My download speed maxes out at
about 1.3 megabits, which is fine for me on most things. Most of the movies
have shown well, though some of the B and C rated stuff has really bad
sound/picture coordination. 

 

My laptop screen is a 1440x900 pixel 17" screen. The movies show up at an
estimated 1440 x 750 or so resolution. The movie Next didn't even seem
slowed down at all in steamed video.

 

So. don't worry so much about your connection speeds for much of that.
NetFlix will run a speed test at the beginning of each movie. Most of the
good stuff is already adjusted for 1.0 megabit showing if things get bad for
your connection.

 

If you have an X-Box 360 and an X-Box Live account, you don't need that Roku
box to watch NetFlix Movies.

 

Downloaded movies that are watched later should have no speed issues at all.

 

Kevin Nelson

 

From: Dave Thewlis [mailto:dave at dcta.com] 
Sent: Sunday, February 22, 2009 8:10 AM
Cc: list at redwoodtech.org
Subject: [RTC List] Follow-up on Suddenlink broadband speeds and Roku
Netflix box

 

A few weeks ago I posted a query about whether Suddenlink was offering 8
Megabits/second or 8 Megabytes/second, and what the actual requirement of
the Roku "Netflix" box was. The query engendered a quick flurry of
discussion and a variety of opinions.  Here is what has happened since then.

1.  I called Suddenlink technical support and sales/marketing on four
separate occasions.  Their sales people and their tech support people all
insisted that they were offering 8 megabytes per second even though what I
measured was about 7400 kilobits/second.  So I asked for a someone to come
out and check my installation because something was apparently wrong.

2. The guy who came out knew his stuff but when I asked him about megabits
versus megabytes he didn't know - he guess megabytes but said all he ever
told people was "8 megs".  So he called his supervisor.  The supervisor
confirmed that it was megabits and apologized for the confusion.

3.  The guy on site also talked about the problems they were having with
speed due to upstream limitations and that they finally expected to have the
issue resolved by the end of February (he added that the necessary stuff had
been on order for months, but that it was coming from a competitor (guess
who) which might explain all the delays).  

(I have noted in the last couple of days that my download speed as measured
by the Speakeasy speed test is now very close to the promised 8 megabits a
second so perhaps the fixes have happened happened.)

4.  Finally, the guy on site confirmed that they do offer faster speeds, and
that it's just a matter of changing the speed limit on the cable modem.  But
he recommended against bothering until their planned speed fixes have all
happened and Suddenlink confirmed it as he doubted it would make any
difference until then.

5.  I called Roku technical support (which appears to be in Bangalore or
Hyderabad) and asked whether their recommended minimum speed requirement was
1.2 megabytes or megabits per second and this guy flatly said it was
megabytes per second and that in reality it needed more like 1.5
megabytes/second.  

6.  I then emailed Rolu's online technical support who replied it was 1.2
megabits per second and that it should work fine with an 8 megabit/second
service.  They also apologized for their telephone support which puts them
one up over most companies who have outsourced their support.  

So it is all megabits as inferred, though the documentation was ambiguous,
and the companies themselves seem not to know the difference.  

Dave Thewlis

-- 
Dave Thewlis, DCTA Inc.
+1 707 840 9391 (voice) . +1 707 498 2238 (mobile)
http://www.dcta.com . dthewlis at dcta.com 

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