Is Netflix putting caps on computer-based Watch Instantly users?
by Tim Stevens 
posted Mar 16th 2009 at 7:10AM
Depending on your choice of computing platform, possession of dedicated streaming hardware, and love of otherwise forgettable '80s films, Netflix's Watch Instantly service is either a godsend or a gimmick. Regardless, nobody likes arbitrary bandwidth caps, and that's what Riyad Kalla at The "Break it Down" Blog claims to have spotted, finding that Watch streams on his Xbox take multiple minutes to buffer, but that those on his PC (using the same connection) can take hours -- if they work at all. Doing a little snooping he found he was being capped to about 50 KB/sec per download thread on his PC, but if he spawned ten such threads he was able to get over 700 KB/sec. Something, it seems, is issuing a per-thread cap, but is it really Netflix? Or, rather, is it his Qwest DSL line doing a ham-fisted job of managing bandwidth? We've seen similar issues intermittently, but nothing consistent, so we're not quite ready to call this an internet-wide conspiracy just yet, but would love to hear about your streaming experiences lately.
Update: Based on the volume of "It's working just fine for me" comments both here and elsewhere it seems safe to say that if there is a conspiracy at work here, it's not Netflix's.
[Via Slashdot]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Doc @ Mar 16th 2009 8:44AM
Honestly, aside from wanting more A list movies I have had no issues at all. Also I watch netflix on my 360, I've never tired to watch it on my pc so I can't speak for that side of this issue.
zeagus @ Mar 16th 2009 9:04AM
This is absolutely a non-story as the commenters at /. rightly point out. Its alarmist and nonsense. The guy didn't prove it wasn't his network or (just as likely) his ISP, also its not 48kps, he said it was .48mbps which is kinda 480kbps, which is a drastic difference. He also equates latency to bandwidth and thus loses at the internet.
Dan @ Mar 16th 2009 7:36PM
I haven't had this problem with Netflix, but I am having this problem with Amazon VOD. With Safari, I have 2 tabs open, one for SpeedTest.net and the other was a Rental from Amazon VOD. SpeedTest.net says I was getting 3000 kbs down and Amazon VOD connection was giving me 900 kbs down.
Does this sound normal to anyone?
eric f. @ Mar 16th 2009 10:13AM
next headline should be "We'll make up fake news about anything... even some dude with a lame DSL connection."
ArgyllTech @ Mar 16th 2009 10:14AM
I noticed when I have a desktop and a laptop hooked up to my Internet at the same time and try to do an MS Update on both PC's simultaneously, my Internet connection gets dropped everytime. I have Comcast in the Chicagoland area. I do PC support and low voltage as well as Home Theaters, so I'm pretty well versed in technology and I have a good 14 years of experience.
Eric @ Mar 16th 2009 10:43AM
This story really shows the weakness of such news reporting. People don't even bother to check the facts before throwing out all sort of crazy rumors that can actually hurt businesses. In this economic climate, I suspect we'll be seeing more lawsuits claiming stock manipulation "Jim Kramer" style.
In Journalism 101, on the first day of classes, they said something that has stuck with me throughout my career: "Your mother says she loves you? Check it out."