Topic: All Things Netflix! Coming Soon: The Netflix Experience, Live and In Person!??

[BlackNMild2k1]

No offense, Caliban, but that link was no help. I have no idea why you thought it would.

Here Shyguy, check out OpenVPN.

I'm gonna try it out now if you want to wait and here what I had to do or if it's worth it.

EDIT: Easy as cake my dude. Just follow the directions on their site. I'm about to do some speed tests. I'll get back to this thread when I'm done.

how did it go?

[Caliban]

No offense taken Stogi.

[Stogi]

This is from my phone only, but way slower. I was reaching speeds of 21mbps without it, but with it I barely crossed 2mbps.

[ShyGuy]

So Netflix has given into to Comcast's demands. I expect subscription prices to go up.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57619353-93/netflix-reaches-streaming-traffic-agreement-with-comcast/

Time to fire up the Alternet, the Internet is being taken over by monopolies and corrupt federal communication commisions. I can't wait till the Comcast-too-big-to-fail-government-bailout of 2018.

[UncleBob]

A) No Politics.
B) FCC isn't taking over the internet by being told they're not allowed to regulate aspects of it.
 a) It's not their decision.
 b) Not regulating something is about the exact opposite of "taking over" it.
 c) ISPs need to be turned into "Common Carriers", but it seems no one wants that.

[ShyGuy]

A) No Politics.
B) FCC isn't taking over the internet by being told they're not allowed to regulate aspects of it.
 a) It's not their decision.
 b) Not regulating something is about the exact opposite of "taking over" it.
 c) ISPs need to be turned into "Common Carriers", but it seems no one wants that.

Nothing says hypocrisy like saying "No Politics" then having a 4 point political response in the same post.

[BlackNMild2k1]

From my understanding of the situation this isn't exactly what Netflix wanted, but what Netflix wanted was to get something for nothing, to get something that they were already paying someone else for, for free.

Basically, Netflix currently pays Cogent to peer the Comcast Network, but Netflix has so much one way traffic that Cogent couldn't handle it, resulting in what we all perceived to be"throttling" of Netflix. So Netflix tried to cut out Cogent by going directly to Comcast, and hoped that Netflix was so big, that Comcast would peer with Netflix for Free.
Comcast of course shot that down, but offered an alternative proposal where they can peer directly, eliminating the congestion of going through Cogent, for probably cheaper than what Cogent was charging, since previously Cogent was peering with Comcast for free and selling that bandwidth to Netflix.

So if my understanding of this is correct, then Netflix is better off dealing with Comcast directly and us end consumers get our HD (& 4k!?) streams much faster and without interruption. Win Win situation.

[Stratos]

As frightening as some of this appears to be, I think that the Internet is big enough to not get ruined by a few corrupt companies. Consumers have a great deal of power in this as well.

[BlackNMild2k1]

To simplify my previous post this is how it currently works:

Comcast -> Cogent = Free
Cogent -> Netflix = $$$
(Comcast -> Cogent -> Netflix)

Netflix was congesting the lines between Comcast & Cogent which made our appear that Netflix was being "throttled"
Netflix tried to go to Comcast directly to get the same deal that Cogent had and place their own servers in the Comcast farm. Comcast shot that down and countered with a similar deal to what Netflix has with Cogent, cutting out the middleman.

So now it will go like this:

Comcast -> Netflix = $$

[UncleBob]

Nothing says hypocrisy like saying "No Politics" then having a 4 point political response in the same post.

A) There was only three points.
B) They weren't really political.  Courts said FCC doesn't have the authority to implement Net Neutrality.  That's not politics, that's law.  Now, if we wanted to talk about Congress changing the law to make it so that FCC has the authority to implement Net Neutrality, that's a whole different ball of wax.  Political wax.

[ShyGuy]

The 'B' was a separate thought from your improperly formatted continuing outline of lower-case A B and C.

If they weren't really political then neither was my post, but now we are getting off topic.

[UncleBob]

I can reluctantly see how that could be read as four points.

And the "No Politics" was heading off the discussion that was likely to follow.

[BranDonk Kong]

It's Netflix and Comcast, not Netflix and Steve.

[BlackNMild2k1]

It'll soon be Netflix & Verizon too

but as I said before, this is a good thing, cutting out the restrictive middle man and working directly with the source has greater benefits for all involved... (except for the middle man, who is no longer in the middle)

oh, and I added a poll to the thread.

[BlackNMild2k1]

It appears that Netflix has finally enacted 2 Screen Streaming limit now.

I was boxed out of my own Netflix account last night and it feels bad man.




They really need setup a way to manage the devices on an individual level instead of the only option being to nuke all devices from the account then have to log back in individually.
There should also be a master device or devices that can boot other devices from streaming, so that the person paying the account isn't the one that has to be locked out of Netflix or forced to pay more to watch.


and since I'm in here, Netflix needs to update the Wii U app.
if the Netflix app for Wii can support Profiles, there is no reason that the Wii U app can't too.

[BranDonk Kong]

I thought it was always capped at 2, which I think is already quite fair. 4 screens at once for $12 is still one hell of a deal.

[Stratos]

Good thing my parents just got their own Netflix and Amazon accounts. They were using mine for them and my younger sister. Now it is just my wife and I so we will always be within the 2 screen limit.


I agree the Wii U App needs an upgrade. I would use it more if they included profiles. Though, we use the old Wii as a Netflix Box so I can play games on the Gamepad while we watch TV.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I thought it was always capped at 2, which I think is already quite fair. 4 screens at once for $12 is still one hell of a deal.

Oh, it's fair, it's just that I have Netflix in every room of the house, and sometimes playing in multiple rooms at the same time. Not to mention my ex is on my account and her kids too.... never had a problem until last night. I couldn't even use my own account.

Gonna have to inform her that she needs to pony up cash to stay on, or just get her own account.
Every device got booted at midnight last night. I had to re-logon on most devices this morning. all except the Roku, somehow that survived the boot.

[UncleBob]

Wait - can you only have 2 devices on your account, or only two devices can be watching stuff at once?

[BlackNMild2k1]

Only 2 active streams at once is now being enforced.

It would be a nightmare for only 2 devices.

Up until last night, my Netflix was active on the following devices:
3 Computers
1 Smart TV
1 Smart Phone
3 Tablets
3 Wii
1 Wii U
1 Smart Bluray
1 Roku

being used by upto 6 different people at any given time.

now I'm down to:
2 Computers
1 Smart TV
1 Smart Phone
1 Tablets
1 Wii
1 Wii U
1 Smart Bluray
1 Roku


and only being used by 3 people. 2 streams should never be a problem again.

[marvel_moviefan_2012]

I mostly watch on my PS3 and laptop, sometimes I will have a TV show or movie on one and a video game on the other, I go back and forth because I game on both. I also have my own account I don't share it with other friends or family members they can get their own damn account. I also have five profiles defined by tastes/mood for better sorting and to prevent my suggestions from getting all screwy on me. I am very picky about that sort of thing so I am constantly tweaking my profiles to improve their suggestions. It wouldn't be so bad if the browse feature wasn't broken and the search worked better. I also do have a Roku and a Logitech Revue with Google TV but those devices both suck. I can't stand watching on my iPhone it's too damn small it strains my eyes. Same reason I don't play games on hand held gaming devices.

Recently Netflix has gotten so much better than before it should be a crime not to have it considering how much you get for how little it costs.

[Stratos]

Only 2 active streams at once is now being enforced.

It would be a nightmare for only 2 devices.

Up until last night, my Netflix was active on the following devices:
3 Computers
1 Smart TV
1 Smart Phone
3 Tablets
3 Wii
1 Wii U
1 Smart Bluray
1 Roku

being used by upto 6 different people at any given time.

now I'm down to:
2 Computers
1 Smart TV
1 Smart Phone
1 Tablets
1 Wii
1 Wii U
1 Smart Bluray
1 Roku


and only being used by 3 people. 2 streams should never be a problem again.

I feel like I've said this elsewhere, but they should do it like Apple with iTunes and allow you to authorize and de-authorize each device. I think Amazon does a similar thing for their cloud services.


Also a priority list. Say I have 10 devices for my family of 4 (hypothetical family, thankfully no kids yet for me!). I want MY tech to not be booted from Netflix. Set it up so that my wife and I get priority viewing and then the kids' devices get booted from active service when my wife and I are watching something.


So Dad's computer and Mom's phone get a higher priority than the kids' 3DS or iPad.


Make 'sub accounts log-ins' as well. I'd like to be able to ban individual children from using the service if they have been bad and also restrict mature content from the little guys. Also older kids could use a password to access the stuff of their age.


It could also teach them a lesson in internet security and safety if they give out a password to a sibling and I catch them. Some day I may hack into their emails (if possible and relevant) and change their passwords so they know the dangers associated with it.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Well, right now, after unsuccessfully trying to boot all devices from my account thought the option online twice. I called in and the Customer Service now has the ability to disable individual devices.

Unfortunately it seems even when you boot a device, the apps on certain devices don't always get the boot.

They were not able to confirm when the ability to nuke individual devices from you account would be available to the account holders from the internet.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Looks like Netflix just lost a battle in the streaming war.

Amazon Prime just scored HBOgo for their streaming service.
http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2014/04/23/amazon-and-hbo-ink-exclusive-multi-year-deal-to-bring-award-winning-hbo-programming-to-prime-members/256727/

There is a 3 year delay on shows that air, so probably no Game of Thrones till next year.

List of shows included in deal
Boardwalk Empire
Bored to Death
Eastbound & Down
Enlightened
Treme
True Blood
Band of Brothers
Big Love
CarnivĂ le
Deadwood
Flight of the Conchords
In Treatment
Mildred Pierce
Oz
The Pacific
Rome
Six Feet Under
The Sopranos
The Wire

[Ceric]

I wonder how much that cost them.  I know HBO has been more than a little reluctant to provide any of there content to be streamed by another company.  Its easy to forget that as big as Netflix is it still doesn't have the War chest of a lot of other Video Providers.