OT: Cable DSL streaming Netflix.

[r-carpenter]

One of these days I decided that, gee it would be nice to stream Netflix like the rest of the civilized world.
And sooo, my DSL is provided by Verizon, set to 1mbps and gives 1.4 in reality, which is not enough for streaming. After a quick phone call to Verizon I found out that FIOS (15mbps) is not available in Brooklyn. DSL spd is also limited to 1.5mbps. Gee Viz.
Optimum Online offers 15mbps with some sort of booster for $29.95 fist year and then it goes up to $50.
What's your experience with cable broadband providers? Is it really 15mbps or is it 2mbps and 15mbps at 5 in the morning then nobody is on? Any horror stories, comments?

[kevinr]

RC;

The tech director at work told me to get no less than 10 MBPS esp. if more than one or 2 devices are online at the same time .
So far that has worked well for me .
He recommended the Linksys L1000

[jinjuku]

One of these days I decided that, gee it would be nice to stream Netflix like the rest of the civilized world.
And sooo, my DSL is provided by Verizon, set to 1mbps and gives 1.4 in reality, which is not enough for streaming. After a quick phone call to Verizon I found out that FIOS (15mbps) is not available in Brooklyn. DSL spd is also limited to 1.5mbps. Gee Viz.
Optimum Online offers 15mbps with some sort of booster for $29.95 fist year and then it goes up to $50.
What's your experience with cable broadband providers? Is it really 15mbps or is it 2mbps and 15mbps at 5 in the morning then nobody is on? Any horror stories, comments?

The speeds you get are theoretical. With cable you are on a node with entire neighborhoods so if the node gets saturated at 6-9pm well you are going to be bandwidth restricted.

I have 8 down 1 up business class and Netflix streams just fine. So you will most likely be ok. The node I sit on rarely hits 77% saturation.

[r-carpenter]

interesting.
Thanks for the responses btw.
Cable guy also was talking about optical cable. I doubt very much that they will run optical in to the residential building and then apartment. Would it be more likely: optical to the Neighborhood node and then coax in to the buildings?
How would you find out saturation levels of the local node prior to making a deal with cable provider?

[rone]

I have 12mb vdsl - ~0.7miles from node - seems to work quite well.

[jinjuku]

interesting.
Thanks for the responses btw.
Cable guy also was talking about optical cable. I doubt very much that they will run optical in to the residential building and then apartment. Would it be more likely: optical to the Neighborhood node and then coax in to the buildings?
How would you find out saturation levels of the local node prior to making a deal with cable provider?

Their actual in-house service techs should be able to give you histogram of the node you are on.

I wouldn't worry about it. It doesn't pay for them to let a node get constantly over saturated.

[JRT]

If you are looking for a new faster wireless router, check out the Asus RT-N56U. There is other good info available at the link.
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanwa.../74-wan-to-lan

edit: removed stale info


.

[nicholas_23]

Im currently getting 20 down and 2 up ... seems to work well for me streaming netflix. Some content gets pixelated when other devices are on the network, but all in all , I cant complain

[wlb]

I have road runner through my cable and it states 100mbps. but I doubt I'm getting that all the time. We have two lap tops and a desk computer in the house and even when all of them are on line at once I can watch Netflix through my Wii without a glitch. They keep advertising FIOS around here , but every time I call them they say not for another 12 months in the city. They have been saying that for tree years. I hear FIOS is the best but it's a lot more complicated to set up. I'm using a Belkin N300 router and it covers the whole house easily.

[rvsixer]

I have road runner through my cable and it states 100mbps. but I doubt I'm getting that all the time.

100mbps is most likely your LAN (local network) speed, not your WAN (cable modem to local network) speed. IIRC current cable modem technology tops out at 50mbps.

Regarding what's required for Netflix, it tops out at a rather low 6-8mbps max stream rate, so as long as your WAN can provide that you are good to go.

[Dirttracker73]

I had Netflix on my 3Mb/sec. DSL and it worked fairly well. Even the HD movies looked OK, although nowhere near BluRay quality. The problem was that after the first week of watching 15 year old TV shows and movies from the 80's I cancelled the service.

[LSV8]

Our cable service provider in the Toledo area offers up to 50mbps residential with their new wideband modems. The modem manufacturer claims speeds exceeding 160mbps if your provider can support it.

(Link for modem and our service provider.)
http://www.arrisi.com/product_catalo...2OCT09_web.pdf

http://www.buckeyecablesystem.com/express/index.html

We currently have the 10mbps package, and even in my large neighborhood, see 10mbps at any time during the day/night. I am not sure how accurate most of the online speed tests are... but at times I will even see slightly higher than 10mbps (10.4mbps or so for example.)

Our 10mbps service is enough to run "HD" content on Netflix or Hulu+ (we have both services) on the two devices we currently have in the house. (More specifically, a Roku HD and an XBOX360.) With both devices streaming content, there are no hiccups... but I do see some lagging if surfing the web at the same time.

Hulu+ in my experience seems to be more sensitive to this. It might be the way it buffers the video... but it will on occasion say "adjusting quality" if someone is on a computer/internet while both devices are streaming. Though the Netflix never seems to mind.

Lastly, I have also used their 4mbps service at another family member's home. The 4mbps service is plenty to stream anything on Netflix... but does lag occasionally when surfing the internet (especially youtube or the likes) on the same network.

Just my experience... hope this helps.

[r-carpenter]

My problem with Verizon DSL is that it tops off at 1.5mbps.
Cable offered 15mbps for $29.95 at this point and they were saying: "it's the actual spd" and for additional $15 something they would bump me up to 50Mbps with some doo-daa digital booster. For a $100 a month with a $300 installation they talked 100mbps which is way faster than I need and I am guessing optical line from the junction box to my apartment.
So, I'll go for 15mbps and see if that's enough. It should be.
Also, sick and tiered of Verizon advertising services that they can't provide!
BTW, thanks for all the responses and suggestions.

[jeff_free69]

FYI I'm surpsied nobody mentioned it here, but netflix just announced a serious price hike yesterday. Looks like they're unbundling the charges for DVD/Bluray and streaming.

"your current $17.99 a month membership for unlimited streaming and unlimited DVDs (including Blu-ray access) will be split into 2 distinct plans:

Plan 1: Unlimited Streaming (no DVDs) for $7.99 a month
Plan 2: Unlimited DVDs (including Blu-ray), 2 out at-a-time (no streaming)
for $14.99 a month

Your price for getting both of these plans will be $22.98 a month ($7.99 + $14.99). "

Since I find myself rarely using the streaming, i may just opt out of that and stick with the BLuray disk option and actually save money. My home hi-speed service isn't fast enough and there's only so much goofing off you can do at work (where the backbone is fantastic) .
..shoot - here comes the boss now! seeya

[carlspeak]

I stream thru my AT&T via Elite DSL service, Linksys modem and Wii. No problems.

That's true about the price increase. Effective 9/1.

I'll probably opt for only the streaming option for 2 reasons.

1) NF is heading in the direction of streaming-only
2) I can always get DVD's from the local RedBox machine.