Why is Netflix so poor on ATV?

Well, this thread is pretty eye opening. I'm glad I don't have any of the issues described here because the Apple TV has become my go-to for Netflix streaming.

The interface is better than Xbox or my Blu Ray, and unlike my Xbox, the device is silent. Picture quality is top notch. My wifi setup is using a FiOS router.

Just adding my contribution again, I have both ATV2 and PS3 wired through a gigabit switch directly to a Time Capsule - so I would not bother trying changing routers...

Also tried using wireless through an airport express connected to the time capsule, wirelessly connecting directly to the time capsule...

In all situations, PS3 is EXTREMELY better at netflix, with no chance for comparison. Already gave up a long time ago on ATV2 for netflix, it is really broken - my brother ATV2, in a different setup, shows the same problem, as well as my mother's ATV3.

All of this in 20mbps connections in different points of the city. That is why I am amazed at how many people keep getting full HD like quality in their Apple TVs - maybe the three I have available for testing are all from a wrong batch hehe

PS: I would REALLY like to use Netflix on ATV - less power, less noise, better interface - if anyone may have a suggestion, I would be glad to try it

Apple TV + Netflix (Brazil)

Apparently, this problem is worldwide. I'm currently using my Apple TV 2 with Netflix in Brazil. I started using the service about a month ago and everything was running smoothly, but last sunday the ATV started to pause the movie a lot of times to buffer.

At the same time, I checked my ISP on a speed test website and got 35mbps.

Yesterday I was having the same problem and switched my streaming to the PS3. The movie played just fine.

I feel really sad, since it looks like there is no solution.

Frederico Luna said:

Apparently, this problem is worldwide. I'm currently using my Apple TV 2 with Netflix in Brazil. I started using the service about a month ago and everything was running smoothly, but last sunday the ATV started to pause the movie a lot of times to buffer.

At the same time, I checked my ISP on a speed test website and got 35mbps.

Yesterday I was having the same problem and switched my streaming to the PS3. The movie played just fine.

I feel really sad, since it looks like there is no solution.

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Wow, this thread really makes me wonder what's going on.

I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum. My family watches a couple of hours of streaming Netflix content a day without so much as a hiccup. We have one TV upstairs running an ATV2 that's on a WiFi connection and a 2nd TV downstairs with an ATV3 hardwired. Both stream flawlessly.

I changed to the ATV from a PS3 specifically because the streaming was so much better and the "user experience" was incomparable. My wife would never put up with the PS3's interface, but she and my 4yo daughter use the ATV's w/o complaint.

I thought it was just me but Netflix looks much better on my PS3 than on my ATV, then again at this point I don't care since I'm just ripping my Blu Rays and integration with iTunes is awesome.

I tried that one week trial of Hulu Plus and noticed issues with it as well. Seems streaming in general is hit and miss for me on the ATV 3. It'll run ok for a while, then rebuffer and go low-res.

Mine looks great with Netflix! I'm using a 2012 51" Samsung Plasma 1080 and the atv3. Must be your Internet connection or your setup.

buffering issue - possible fix.

Hi all,

For what it's worth, my parents have been experiencing many issues with netflix frequently pausing and buffering video on their ATV3, even though the internet connection has plenty of headroom (confirmed with network monitoring).

I haven't experience any issues on my ATV3 so got to work examining differences.

After some investigation it transpires that the buffering issue (at least in our case) was resolved by restoring the standard screensaver (national geo), rather than photos via home sharing, and then rebooting the ATV.

I surmise that for some reason the caching logic in the ATV prioritises images for the screensaver (something that can be confirmed in that the screensaver still displays, even when the network source of the images is offline). I'd guess that if you have enough images in your screensaver it starts to impact the available cache for applications like netflix.

It might not solve everyone's problems, but I definitely think it might be at least worth looking at what might be chewing up cache.

Cheers,

Matt

Good job! Trying it out now, so far so good.

I'd like to know if others having the issue had changed the screen saver? I had mine set to my photo stream.

Tawmus said:

Hm. Maybe OpenDNS?

208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220

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I found OpenDNS to be so much slower, so I switched back to my ISP's DNS servers.

Geckotek said:

Good job! Trying it out now, so far so good.

I'd like to know if others having the issue had changed the screen saver? I had mine set to my photo stream.

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Any luck Geckotek - did it seem to help at all?

Netflix File Quality

Haven't read thru all the posts, so forgive me if it was mentioned.

Some service providers (I'm in Canada) limit your download GB's per month, so Netflix set up 3 different file qualities so that people could watch as much as they want and not be charged for "extra" GB's of data. You need to go into your Netflix account on-line and see where you are at; can;'t remember the settings, but there are three, choose the best one and then try again. It may take some time to kick in or could start right away.

I signed up for the free first month and was surprised & disappointed about the quality. I did some digging on the internet and figured this out.

It did stream better to my iPad when I selected the 'best' option, but did not try my TV before I cancelled.

I cancelled because selection is very poor in Canada.

Bill.the.Cat said:

Netflix looks great in HD on my 56" LCoS RPTV. Cox cable internet, 25-28Mbps downstream via speedtest.net to ATV2 over hard-wired Cat6.

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blah blah blah

netflix looks great on my big screen tv. using 20mbits internet, wired.

karter16 said:

Any luck Geckotek - did it seem to help at all?

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The first program I watched was good, but the second paused a lot. I think it may have been network congestion in the building.

Tonight I've streamed several episodes of The Peep Show without only one pause. Overall it seems to have made an improvement.

glad i found this post!

I cant go 5 minutes of watching Breaking Bad on my jailbroken ATV2 without getting that an error has occured message!! Ahhhh! Lol alll i use it for is Breaking Bad at the moment i wish it worked. Netflix works perfect on my ipad 3 but i dont like wear ear buds in the house. This sucks and its the only apple product that is giving me issues.

Had Netflix on Apple TV since it was launched in the UK. Never had a single problem streaming at highest quality.

For the last week it's fallen apart.

Resolution changing to bad.
Sound getting out of sync with pictures.
Picture getting stuck on one frame while sound continues.
Stopping and rebuffering.
Can't pause and expect it to start properly again.

Have 40mb fibre so get at least 22mb at all times.

If this continues I will cancel which will be disappointing but not putting up with it.

Anybody know why this would start?
Apple tv is up to date and no recent updates


EDIT

Phoned Netflix who seem to have good customer service which surprised me.

They said there is a widespread problem with BT ISP. They are attempting to resolve it with BT. Doesn't surprise me too much, though I didn't suspect BT as everything else works ok. Hope this is not a deliberate problem by BT. Have never had an ISP deliver even remotely close to what they advertise, which is not what they contract if you read the fine print i.e "you are entitled to a reasonable expection of a broadband service" rather than xx mb/s. They use OFCOMs definition of broadband which used to be something like 1 mb/s.

Mine is freezing up a lot tonight. Video stalling and rebuffering. Not sure if it's network or what.

Switching to Xbox. I'll let you know if it continues.

Nvm - gotta renew XBL. grrrrrr. Anybody got any coupons to share?

Ezra923 said:

I cant go 5 minutes of watching Breaking Bad on my jailbroken ATV2 without getting that an error has occured message!! Ahhhh! Lol alll i use it for is Breaking Bad at the moment i wish it worked. Netflix works perfect on my ipad 3 but i dont like wear ear buds in the house. This sucks and its the only apple product that is giving me issues.

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If you want reliability from your Apple devices, stop jailbreaking them.

I always, always, always blame comcast when it looks like crap because it is 99.5% of the time

NetFlix uses adaptive streaming, it can vary the data rate of the stream according to your Internet connection speed. If you have a slow Internet connection speed this will result in a lower quality movie.

Did you read ANY of the posts in this thread?

I saw what i think people are talking about here for the first time, this weekend. When I rewound then hit play, the show I was watching reverted to SD for about 15 seconds. It then went back to HD, though.

I dont get why the user interface is so poor compared to ps3..

-too many steps
-its fracking SLOW.. "acessing netflix" between menu pages.
-dosent return me to episode list after ep finshed
-inconsistent episode marking after watching an episode and pressing back to episode list.

ps3 netflix is ****ing tits

Demerzel said:

I dont get why the user interface is so poor compared to ps3..

-too many steps
-its fracking SLOW.. "acessing netflix" between menu pages.
-dosent return me to episode list after ep finshed
-inconsistent episode marking after watching an episode and pressing back to episode list.

ps3 netflix is ****ing tits

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I didn't like it at first either. It actually like it better now than PS3 as the playback is far better and more consistent for me. (Although the rewinding and fast forwarding sucks.) I found out that at the full list of episodes, you can just press play instead of hitting enter then play. In doing this, it will automatically go to the next episode in the list after watching the episode. Hope this tip helps as much as it did for me.