Verizon Throttling Netflix Traffic as Part of Temporary Video Optimization Test

[Apple_Robert]

But this is a big deal and a lie of omission is still dishonest. Verizon stated when you sign up for the plan, your video would not be throttled, you would only be throttled once you'd hit a bandwidth limit AND were on a congested tower, and that's not what happened. Yes, it's testing, and I'm fine with them doing testing. But not telling customers they are doing this is both dishonest AND a violation of the terms they specified.

I don't see where Verizon dishonored its user agreement. There is nothing in the terms of use that states, that Verizon cannot conduct network testing or that it has to tell subscribers ahead of time about said testing.

What Juli Clover did with her article, is paint a negative picture of Verizon by including information that had nothing to do with the actual subject at hand. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been anything to really write about past Version did some in house testing. Other networks do the same kind of thing from time to time. In legal terms, Julie was leading the witness (the reader) to paint the kind of story that would influence the jury the way she wanted. Given the replies thus far, I would say that Julie has been very successful.

Bad journalism, in my opinion. The alphabet networks do the same kind of thing all the time and they aren't called on it when they should be.

 

[FelixDerKater]

Stop with this Newspeak language manipulation. Don't call this optimization!

 

[bugeats]

So will a VPN bypass this ?

Sorta. It is possible that Verizon would decide to throttle all known VPN endpoints, punishing anyone who dares to try and use one.

Even if network traffic is encrypted (which Netflix does), it's still possible to infer what kind of traffic it is. Verizon could decide to throttle any traffic that matches a certain behavior (rotating endpoint encrypted streams in the case of Netflix).

 

[G.McGilli]

Get ready! From now on THROTTLING is called OPTIMIZING...

 

[2298754]

I couldn't agree more. On T-Mobile, I don't have to deal with the majority of the nonsense that comes from Verizon.

Yes, T-Mobile's network isn't as good as Verizon, but there is no way Verizon would match the $56/month I'm currently paying T-Mobile with their ONE plan.

You are aware that T-Mobile throttles their Netflix to 480p right? They even have the audacity to charge $10 extra for HD streaming. Something that is already included with VZW.

 

[2298754]

This sounds dodgy to me. Verizon agreed to unlimited data plans that could be throttled after 22GBs or so. If they are throttling people on these plans prior to that, than they are not living up to the agreement--even if it is temporary.

Sprint, AT&T, and TMobile already throttle video traffic on their unlimited plans.

Why is this suddenly an issue?

VZW said you can have unlimited HD video streaming and 10mbps is more than enough for that.

 

[hotgril]

Are they doing caching? There are tricks to reduce network load without impacting anything such as caching data on the network edge and sending MD5 hashes of chunks when the internet gateway knows the edge has it cached. Fun stuff.
[doublepost=1500665888][/doublepost]

You are aware that T-Mobile throttles their Netflix to 480p right? They even have the audacity to charge $10 extra for HD streaming. Something that is already included with VZW.

I haven't heard of this. You sure you aren't just referring to Binge On, which gives you 480p Netflix for free but everything else at the regular data rate?

Either way, it's a minor violation of net neutrality, which isn't too bad but IMO is a slippery slope to be avoided (and is also something everyone on the Internet complains about without understanding it whatsoever). And I think a lot of mobile ISPs are guilty of similar things.
[doublepost=1500665962][/doublepost]

I couldn't agree more. On T-Mobile, I don't have to deal with the majority of the nonsense that comes from Verizon.

Yes, T-Mobile's network isn't as good as Verizon, but there is no way Verizon would match the $56/month I'm currently paying T-Mobile with their ONE plan.

Too bad T-Mobile's coverage is bad. Bandwidth isn't of any use when you don't have signal. The #1 priority for the average user has to be receiving <1KiB Facebook/Whatsapp/whatever messages timely and reliably.

 

[_Refurbished_]

Personally, I'd rather them throttle to 10mbit to ensure a properly running network. 10mbit is PLENTY for mobile network video streaming. Mobile carriers have been "optimizing video" for their networks since day one. This isn't new.

The same people complaining about this also complain that their cable internet is slow at 10pm. I wonder why that is?

The real solution is to have an "intelligent" network that lets you stream at full quality, if available. During congested times, the network will "intelligently" throttle to ensure a good experience for everyone. The whole idea that you pay more for more resolution is corperate sham.

 

[2298754]

I haven't heard of this. You sure you aren't just referring to Binge On, which gives you 480p Netflix for free but everything else at the regular data rate?
y.

That's exactly what I'm referring you. T-Mobile throttles Netflix/YouTube and other video sites down to 480p (around 1.5 mbps or so) and then charge you extra for HD.

The only difference here is that Verizon doesn't use a cute marketing slogan, like "Binge On" to mask what it really is.

 

[max2]

I am glad I don't stream.

 

[cyanite]

What does this have to do with Apple, Mac or iPhones and their OS’s? Pretty much nothing. Sure, it affects those as well, but this isn’t a general news site.

 

[talkingrain]

That's exactly what I'm referring you. T-Mobile throttles Netflix/YouTube and other video sites down to 480p (around 1.5 mbps or so) and then charge you extra for HD.

The only difference here is that Verizon doesn't use a cute marketing slogan, like "Binge On" to mask what it really is.

Binge On was part of their old plan model, and you could opt out of it if you wanted to.

Their only offering now is the T-Mobile One plan. You are correct that they charge extra for HD streaming, however, around the time that the other carriers began offering unlimited data they allowed their customers to switch to the HD-inclusive plan for no extra charge. Of course that promotion ended, so there are people that don't have the HD for free, but a vast majority of their customers that were interested in unlimited likely have the HD including in their plan for free.

 

[dampfnudel]

Is it a test or something else, financially related? With Verizon, it's more likely the latter.

 

[max2]

Local content ftw! 512 GB iPad + and onwards!

 

[Bawstun]

Oh its a huge deal.

It is my connection I pay for.

It really isn't, though. Cricket Wireless "throttles" to 8mbps (Verizon was testing at 10) and I've never noticed anything. I stream Netflix all day, Spotify, download large album files in zip formats, it all only takes seconds. 10mbps is not slow and you don't need anything higher on a mobile device, you just don't.

 

[Michael Scrip]

First they had unlimited for a flat fee.

Then they pushed everyone to buckets of data at various price points. The more data you want... the more you pay.

Now they're offering so-called "unlimited" which might throttle you if you go over 22GB for the month. But we don't know when it will happen.

There are no additional plans.

So what else can they do? They've done everything. There's nothing else they can charge you for.

Or is there? Could they possible have a "no bull$hit" plan that doesn't have any of this nonsense throttling or optimizing?

I just want my bits. Let me pay for them.

I understand that if I use more data... I will be charged more money.

A person who uses 78GB of data on a mobile connection should pay more than someone using 10GB a month.

Hell... that's the way it used to be back when they had the buckets of data. You pay for what you use. I think that makes the most sense to people.

 

[tzm41]

Where are those people claiming Net Neutrality is nothing but a non-story from content providers?

 

[dwsolberg]

So I'm confused. If the throttling has no effect, then what's the point? If Netflix is only sending down 9 MB/s and Verizon throttles at 10 MB/s, then nothing happens.

This reminds me of when my little brother would be riding in my parents car. There was a dividing line between my sister's seat and his. He'd get right up to the edge, my sister would complain, and he say, "But I wasn't crossing the line!" As soon as my sister would accept that, he'd go a little farther, just to see what he could get away with, then he'd say, "I was barely crossing the line, and she wasn't using that space anyway!"

As you could guess, it would eventually end in tears.

 

[Count Blah]

VZW said you can have unlimited HD video streaming and 10mbps is more than enough for that.

And 640k ought to be enough for anybody, right?

 

[Nueve]

Once Netflix resumes paying Verizon to not be throttled, those costs will be passed on to us.

 

[Zmiloch]

Some Verizon Wireless users this week began noticing throttled streaming speeds when watching content from streaming services like Netflix and YouTube, and Verizon today confirmed to Ars Technica that it has indeed been throttling speeds as "part of a temporary test" of a "new video optimization system."Reports of throttled speeds first surfaced on reddit earlier this week, after Verizon users noticed that Netflix's speed test site was returning streaming speeds limited to approximately 10Mb/s, while other speed test tools, like Ookla Speedtest, were returning normal results. Similar throttled speeds were also seen when using YouTube and the actual Netflix service.

It wasn't clear what was going on until this morning, when Verizon told Ars Technica that it was conducting a temporary test of a new optimization system. According to Verizon, the optimization test did not impact actual quality of video, which is true in most cases, but some YouTube users noticed downgraded quality resolved through using a VPN. Other video services, including Verizon's own Go90 video service, are also impacted.

With Netflix, the 10Mb/s limit doesn't impact Netflix video quality when watching on a mobile device, but it has the potential to be an issue when tethering and watching on a device that can stream Netflix's Ultra HD 25Mb/s video. According to Verizon, the video optimization limits are used regardless of whether a user is tethering.When Verizon introduced its unlimited streaming data plan in February of 2017, the company said it would not throttle video or manipulate data, and Verizon was noncommittal when asked by Ars Technica if the alleged "temporary test" marked a change in policy. "We deliver whatever the content provider gives us," the company said. "We're always looking for ways to optimize our network without impacting our customers' experience."

As The Verge points out, what customers experienced appeared to be more of a hard cap than network optimization, raising some questions about Net Neutrality.

Verizon says its testing should be completed shortly, after which speeds will presumably go back to normal.

Article Link: Verizon Throttling Netflix Traffic as Part of Temporary Video Optimization Test

Verizon has a super fast 4glte network and they have to make sure there is a enough speed between the other costumers or else the network gets congested fast. I think verizon should throttle permanetly for netflix users and youtube users. Even if you pay your bill and stuff you still shouldnt have the right to sit on your phone and be couch potatoes all day and watch netflix. If your lives are that boring get a job and make some $ i love verizon and have been with then for 15 yrs today. So take your negativity and go get wifi and stream all u want

 

[star_nerdy]

I'm glad I ditched Verizon earlier this year for T-Mobile and locked in my One plan at $56 a month. Yes their network isn't as good as Verizon's but at half the cost I can hold out until T-mobile gets their 600mhz network up and running.

Must be nice. I had t-mobile and if I was outside I'd have 2 bars. Then, I'd close the door and go to no service. I drove cross country and had I broken down, I would have been screwed royally.

I was actually at a shopping center across the street from a T-mobile store and had no service. T-mobile's price is nice. But their coverage is awful.

 

[WRChris]

Some Verizon Wireless users this week began noticing throttled streaming speeds when watching content from streaming services like Netflix and YouTube, and Verizon today confirmed to Ars Technica that it has indeed been throttling speeds as "part of a temporary test" of a "new video optimization system."Reports of throttled speeds first surfaced on reddit earlier this week, after Verizon users noticed that Netflix's speed test site was returning streaming speeds limited to approximately 10Mb/s, while other speed test tools, like Ookla Speedtest, were returning normal results. Similar throttled speeds were also seen when using YouTube and the actual Netflix service.

It wasn't clear what was going on until this morning, when Verizon told Ars Technica that it was conducting a temporary test of a new optimization system. According to Verizon, the optimization test did not impact actual quality of video, which is true in most cases, but some YouTube users noticed downgraded quality resolved through using a VPN. Other video services, including Verizon's own Go90 video service, are also impacted.

With Netflix, the 10Mb/s limit doesn't impact Netflix video quality when watching on a mobile device, but it has the potential to be an issue when tethering and watching on a device that can stream Netflix's Ultra HD 25Mb/s video. According to Verizon, the video optimization limits are used regardless of whether a user is tethering.When Verizon introduced its unlimited streaming data plan in February of 2017, the company said it would not throttle video or manipulate data, and Verizon was noncommittal when asked by Ars Technica if the alleged "temporary test" marked a change in policy. "We deliver whatever the content provider gives us," the company said. "We're always looking for ways to optimize our network without impacting our customers' experience."

As The Verge points out, what customers experienced appeared to be more of a hard cap than network optimization, raising some questions about Net Neutrality.

Verizon says its testing should be completed shortly, after which speeds will presumably go back to normal.

Article Link: Verizon Throttling Netflix Traffic as Part of Temporary Video Optimization Test

Why would they have to cap speeds for these services to optimize speeds for these services?

Seems like they capped it and now that they have been asked by news outlets why that is, it will be resolved today. Seems like they were pulling a fast one and got caught.
[doublepost=1500675315][/doublepost]

It really isn't, though. Cricket Wireless "throttles" to 8mbps (Verizon was testing at 10) and I've never noticed anything. I stream Netflix all day, Spotify, download large album files in zip formats, it all only takes seconds. 10mbps is not slow and you don't need anything higher on a mobile device, you just don't.

Then why do we have higher speeds achievable on a mobile network? You can't tell people what they do or don't need.

If we only need 10down for video we should only need 5down for web right? Just get rid of lte all together since YOU don't need it.

 

[Flojomojo]

This is just their cellular network, not fios, right?

 

[litmag01]

Verizon says its testing should be completed shortly, after which speeds will presumably go back to normal.

Master Blaster runs Barter-town!