# Netflix Streaming Problem



## AndyNorris1974 (Jun 21, 2006)

I have a Tivo HD Series 3. I have the Netflix streaming thingy and FIOS with a huge amount of bandwidth...20Mbps in 10 out...My connection to the router is wireless....just cannot run cable easily....and sometimes the shows roll no problem....but sometimes I am getting the "wait" notice whilst it catches up and downloads the next bit. Here is what is killing me...it will start a program with full bars in HD...then it keep stopping and buffering all the time...and it SOMETIMES down shifts to lower quality and plays fine...GOOD RIGHT....but other times it REFUSES to acknowledge the fact that it is stoping ever 90 second for 20 second to catch up....point blank will not shift down...and DAMN IT I WANT TO BE ABLE TO FORCE IT TO LOWER QUALITY so that I can watch my show....but no...the software is supposed to be smart enough...and helpdesk said "your ISP should be able to help get better connectivity" which I have tested and is INCREDIBLE so no issue there...and surely most people have their connection wirelessly...so MAKE IT CLEVER ENOUGH THAT IF THE SHOW PAUSES TO CATCH UP MORE THAN THREE TIMES IN 10 MINUTES IT SHIFTS DOWN REGARDLESS....
Sorry for all the caps but it is infuriating!!!!

Any help out there?


----------



## bluetex (Apr 24, 2005)

This feature has been pretty flaky in general. I have similar bandwidth and can get Netflix streaming to my Series 3 OR my Xbox360. Both are wireless G connections to my Linksys Wireless Router.

More times than not, the Tivo streams HD then rebuffers, rebuffers... over and over. We'd switch to Xbox and it'd be flawless.

Why? *shrug*... better hardware, better implementation of the streaming. Dunno.. but Xbox has KILLED Tivo for this feature. Yeah, it's convenient having the Netflix on the Now Playing List -- but it's not worth it.


----------



## wheever (Dec 14, 2009)

Andy, I noticed the same thing.

When it DOES downshift in quality, it works fine. But most of the time it *insists* on stay in HD, and consequently has the constant rebuffer problems. There needs to be a way to force Tivo/netflix to use lower quality at times like that. Or the software needs to be smarter about it.

Who do we yell at?


----------



## gweempose (Mar 23, 2003)

The bottom line is that Netflix implementation on the TiVo pretty much sucks. I have a 50/10 connection with an all hardwired network, and I still have problems streaming from time to time. Not to mention the fact that Netflix often causes the TiVo to spontaneously reboot. Oh well, I'm sure they'll have it figured out by the time they roll out the S4's.


----------



## schipperke (Dec 12, 2004)

Yes, if it goes HD for me, the same problem. Have not had problem so far with standard definition. Guess I'll start wiring again and put the Roku back. Easier for the kids anyway. One thing Tivo does not do, is rollover on menus.
What I mean is, if you have a large netflix list and have reached bottom, it stops, will not just start at #1 again, you have to scroll back up.


----------



## wheever (Dec 14, 2009)

There MUST be a way to force it to use lower-quality on the streaming. *sigh.* Most of the time it works pretty well, anyway.


----------



## Ready4TiVo (Sep 16, 2004)

This seems to be a, ahem, step up from the screen-freeze and hard drive crashes when this option was first introduced. I recently watched two films a few days apart that stayed HD for the entire two hours each - but I dared not to pause either of them. 

Has anyone else recently had the "pink (or whatever color) screen of death" when pausing a streaming Netflix film via TiVo? I am afraid to test it to see.

One small nit-picking thing too: if in your Netflix folder you have an "Instant" queue longer than what can be seen on your screen, moving to the next page is stupidly sloooowwwww...

I've had a TiVo HD Series 3 for two years and never had a hitch with anything - no missing shows etc. - except the above.

If TiVo can't get this right.... Any recommendations for a Blu-Ray player for Netflix, or is Roku the best option?


----------



## pl1 (Jan 18, 2007)

Ready4TiVo said:


> If TiVo can't get this right.... Any recommendations for a Blu-Ray player for Netflix, or is Roku the best option?


I bought a Samsung BD-P1600 which includes Netflix. I've been extremely happy with the BD-P1500, so I feel pretty confident about the BD-P1600. Now at least, if I have issues with Netflix, it won't crash my TiVo. Yesterday, I came home only to find my cableCARD was unauthorized. A restart fixed it, but I'm not using Netflix on my TiVo any more. Last thing I need is another Comcast truck roll.


----------



## mchief (Sep 10, 2005)

I also have the 1600 and the Netflix viewing (HD) has been great. No pauses or rebuffering so far.

I have only watched a half dozen movies.


----------



## pl1 (Jan 18, 2007)

mchief said:


> I also have the 1600 and the Netflix viewing (HD) has been great. No pauses or rebuffering so far.
> 
> I have only watched a half dozen movies.


I just set up my new BD-P1600. The menu interface is MUCH better than wiith TiVo. You get a half screen Video Cover for each item in your que. And the picture quality appears to me to be much better than with the TiVo. You also get MUCH more feedback when rewinding or fast-forwarding. It now appears to me that the TiVo, at least the original S3 and (I'm guessing the S2), was a preliminary attempt at making this work. Maybe the THD's are better, but this Samsung with Netflix is way better than with my TiVo S3.


----------



## coxric (Sep 11, 2009)

Yesterday I tried to stream a film on Netflix. It streamed at full HD and stuttered constantly. It never downshifted to a lower resolution. I spent all evening optimizing my router and wireless connection until I had 100&#37; signal strength. I downloaded a TV show from Amazon and the TiVo reported 6.92 MB/S, which isn't overly fast but seemingly fast enough to stream Netflix at full HD. My laptop on wireless (farther from the router than the TiVo) reaches around 9 MB/S downstream, 3 MB/S upstream on Speed Test and Speakeasy.

Today I tried streaming another film, and this one was either not available or never reached HD resolution. It was full bars just below HD. It also stuttered constantly, and I believe this is the 1.5 MB stream, which should be easily reachable with my broadband connection and wireless speed.

I have a Linksys WRT54G 2.0 with the latest firmware. I'm considering a new router but I'm not sure that's where the problem is. I also rebooted the TiVo and reset the router. Any suggestions on how I can test my setup before I purchase a new router? Are there variables I'm not considering? Also, I have an Apple AirPort Express which repeats the router signal and which allows me to reach 100% signal strength. It's very near the TiVo wireless adapter. Without it I can only get 65 - 70% signal strength from the router.


----------



## pl1 (Jan 18, 2007)

coxric said:


> Yesterday I tried to stream a film on Netflix. It streamed at full HD and stuttered constantly. <snip>Today I tried streaming another film, and this one was either not available or never reached HD resolution. It was full bars just below HD. It also stuttered constantly, and I believe this is the 1.5 MB stream, which should be easily reachable with my broadband connection and wireless speed.<snip>.


If it helps any, first of all, it does not sound like it is your end at all. It could be their server. Second of all, not all movies come in HD. So, even though you might have a 50Mbps pipe, it will not be in HD at all times. But, from what you have described, it does not sound like an issue on your end, IMHO.


----------



## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

I'm certainly no wireless expert, there are lots of things which can influence the quality of a wireless signal which would not necessarily be seen by someone casually surfing.

I would have a similar issue from time to time, outside of the capacity issues on friday/sat pm. I went to hardwire and have have not a single problem since.


----------



## orangeboy (Apr 19, 2004)

coxric said:


> Yesterday I tried to stream a film on Netflix. It streamed at full HD and stuttered constantly. It never downshifted to a lower resolution. I spent all evening optimizing my router and wireless connection until I had 100% signal strength. I downloaded a TV show from Amazon and the TiVo reported 6.92 MB/S, which isn't overly fast but seemingly fast enough to stream Netflix at full HD. My laptop on wireless (farther from the router than the TiVo) reaches around 9 MB/S downstream, 3 MB/S upstream on Speed Test and Speakeasy.
> 
> Today I tried streaming another film, and this one was either not available or never reached HD resolution. It was full bars just below HD. It also stuttered constantly, and I believe this is the 1.5 MB stream, which should be easily reachable with my broadband connection and wireless speed.
> 
> I have a Linksys WRT54G 2.0 with the latest firmware. I'm considering a new router but I'm not sure that's where the problem is. I also rebooted the TiVo and reset the router. Any suggestions on how I can test my setup before I purchase a new router? Are there variables I'm not considering? Also, I have an Apple AirPort Express which repeats the router signal and which allows me to reach 100% signal strength. It's very near the TiVo wireless adapter. Without it I can only get 65 - 70% signal strength from the router.


I think it's best summed up in this post's last 2 sentences


----------



## coxric (Sep 11, 2009)

pl1 said:


> If it helps any, first of all, it does not sound like it is your end at all. It could be their server. Second of all, not all movies come in HD. So, even though you might have a 50Mbps pipe, it will not be in HD at all times. But, from what you have described, it does not sound like an issue on your end, IMHO.


Thanks. I assume if a movie isn't available in HD, Netflix doesn't use their highest bandwidth stream? I read somewhere their max stream is 3.8 MB/S, and the next one down is 1.5 MB/S. So if a movie isn't displayed in HD, I would expect it to stream fine. Even with poor wireless performance I would expect I could at least get 1.5.

I forgot to add that I've been using Netflix somewhat regularly since September and except for a few spotty issues watching The Office at peak viewing times, I've never had a problem. My router is several years old, though, and I'd be willing to replace it if I thought it would make a difference. I have great signal strength (repeating the wireless signal with the AirPort), but maybe the router has some other problem that I don't understand.


----------



## coxric (Sep 11, 2009)

orangeboy said:


> I think it's best summed up in this post's last 2 sentences


I suppose if my performance doesn't improve, I'll have to hardwire it. What's frustrating is I've enjoyed good performance for more than three months and I'm not sure why it would suddenly be so terrible. Maybe there is some new source of interference? I've tried a variety of wireless channels, and that changes the signal strength somewhat, but at 100% you would think interference isn't really an issue.


----------



## Videodrome (Jun 20, 2008)

I have noticed the problem is movie specific. One HD movie will play without an issue, go to another one, starts and stops. So i think the play settings are set by movie, not by the service. Netflix should ask to play in HD , or SD.


----------



## rocko (Oct 29, 2002)

coxric said:


> I suppose if my performance doesn't improve, I'll have to hardwire it. What's frustrating is I've enjoyed good performance for more than three months and I'm not sure why it would suddenly be so terrible. Maybe there is some new source of interference? I've tried a variety of wireless channels, and that changes the signal strength somewhat, but at 100% you would think interference isn't really an issue.


You should double check overall network activity. I was downloading a mega-torrent one day and it completely killed any attempt at Netflix streaming. Also, someone else reported problem when _uploading _large amounts of data.

FWIW, I have been using WIndows Media Center in Windows 7 - connected to my Sammy 32" LCD via HDMI - to watch Netflix. Works pretty good.

Other TiVos are pretty much trouble-free when the network is idle.


----------



## pl1 (Jan 18, 2007)

coxric said:


> Thanks. I assume if a movie isn't available in HD, Netflix doesn't use their highest bandwidth stream? I read somewhere their max stream is 3.8 MB/S, and the next one down is 1.5 MB/S. So if a movie isn't displayed in HD, I would expect it to stream fine. Even with poor wireless performance I would expect I could at least get 1.5.


Sorry, I don't know any of those specifics. Makes sense though. And like another poster said, I do see different results with different movies as well.

Another thing I found is that the lip sync has been TERRIBLE with my TiVo lately. I was watching with the Samsung Blu-Ray last night and the lip sync was close to perfect.


----------



## mr_smits (Dec 17, 2009)

coxric said:


> I suppose if my performance doesn't improve, I'll have to hardwire it. What's frustrating is I've enjoyed good performance for more than three months and I'm not sure why it would suddenly be so terrible. Maybe there is some new source of interference? I've tried a variety of wireless channels, and that changes the signal strength somewhat, but at 100% you would think interference isn't really an issue.


I'm having the same problem: wireless (HD) streaming on Tivo Series 3 causes buffering every 40 seconds that makes it impossible to watch a movie. I've tested and non-hd seems to stream fine. I have 70-85% signal strength. I use a Tivo g wireless adapter with WPA2 encryption. I did not have this problem up until recently. I've streamed 20+ hours of HD without this problem. There would be an occasional buffer, but nothing like this.

I don't have is a problem streaming to a wired laptop or a wireless laptop. Both stream HD shows without a problem.

So, before I take the step of hard wiring ethernet to Tivo, I'd like to know if hard wiring it has solved the problem for any of you?


----------



## orangeboy (Apr 19, 2004)

mr_smits said:


> I'm having the same problem: wireless (HD) streaming on Tivo Series 3 causes buffering every 40 seconds that makes it impossible to watch a movie. I've tested and non-hd seems to stream fine. I have 70-85% signal strength. I use a Tivo g wireless adapter with WPA2 encryption. I did not have this problem up until recently. I've streamed 20+ hours of HD without this problem. There would be an occasional buffer, but nothing like this.
> 
> I don't have is a problem streaming to a wired laptop or a wireless laptop. Both stream HD shows without a problem.
> 
> So, before I take the step of hard wiring ethernet to Tivo, I'd like to know if hard wiring it has solved the problem for any of you?


Yes. I went from wireless (and much cursing) to powerline adapters (and less cursing) to MoCA adapters (no cursing).


----------



## comedygirl24 (Dec 14, 2009)

orangeboy said:


> Yes. I went from wireless (and much cursing) to powerline adapters (and less cursing) to MoCA adapters (no cursing).


Can you elaborate ? Thanks


----------



## mr_smits (Dec 17, 2009)

I did a quick wire of cat5e to my Tivo3, and I just got through testing: Netflix streaming HD works again! My best guess is that neighbors turned on wireless and crowded the space. I can see 8 different networks nearby. SOLUTION: use ethernet


----------



## orangeboy (Apr 19, 2004)

comedygirl24 said:


> Can you elaborate ? Thanks


I live in a loft, so my "office" where the cable modem is is upstairs, with no walls to contend with (just a railing), but I have several neighboring wireless networks around. I tried different channels but could never get a consistent signal. I've tried 2-3 different Linksys (WRT54G) wireless routers (versions 2, 5, and 6), and a Netgear (WNR3500) wireless router that is still in place, but always no luck.

I borrowed my brother-in-law's PowerLine ethernet adapters, but I think since the cable modem is upstairs, there was one too many circuits to deal with to get a consistent signal downstairs to my TiVos.

Finally I decided to go MoCA, utilizing the existing coaxial cable run that was already in place. I did very little research and ended up buying a Netgear MCAB1001 MoCA adapter. Had I known then what I know now, I probably would have saved some money with Motorola NIM100's. Either way, the MoCA adapters have been rock solid.

Now make me laugh, Comedy Girl!


----------



## Revolutionary (Dec 1, 2004)

Videodrome said:


> I have noticed the problem is movie specific. One HD movie will play without an issue, go to another one, starts and stops. So i think the play settings are set by movie, not by the service. Netflix should ask to play in HD , or SD.


I've noticed this, too, and not just on HD. I had one occasion where one SD show was stuttering to the point that it literally was unwatchable (*one second* of playback followed by 10 seconds of buffering, repeat 400 times...), but I switched to another show and it played without a hiccup. Switched back to the original -- same deal. At the time I thought Netflix must prioritize playback bandwidth by popularity or something (the super slow-poke was a fairly obscure movie)...


----------



## pl1 (Jan 18, 2007)

Revolutionary said:


> I've noticed this, too, and not just on HD. I had one occasion where one SD show was stuttering to the point that it literally was unwatchable (*one second* of playback followed by 10 seconds of buffering, repeat 400 times...), but I switched to another show and it played without a hiccup. Switched back to the original -- same deal. At the time I thought Netflix must prioritize playback bandwidth by popularity or something (the super slow-poke was a fairly obscure movie)...


I had one movie that was playing only one audio track. The sound overall was very low, but one channel was was almost inaudible. I was able to adjust the volume balance to account for it on my headphones. And, there are some movies that I've gotten that had no sound or picture and when I tried fast forwarding, the movie WAS there after all. Very strange behavior, and I do not really rely on Netflix streaming. (Maybe that's why?  Or, maybe it could be the lousy selection of movies..)


----------



## jdmass (Dec 1, 2002)

Revolutionary said:


> I've noticed this, too, and not just on HD. I had one occasion where one SD show was stuttering to the point that it literally was unwatchable (*one second* of playback followed by 10 seconds of buffering, repeat 400 times...), but I switched to another show and it played without a hiccup. Switched back to the original -- same deal. At the time I thought Netflix must prioritize playback bandwidth by popularity or something (the super slow-poke was a fairly obscure movie)...


Ditto. I've found that netflix is very hit or miss, and have seen the stop-start (mostly stop) behavior described. It then tried watching the exact same movie from my PC with no problems at all. It seems to be a Tivo specific issue.

The other night I was watching a foreign film (forgot the title) and it simply stopped 1 hour and 27 minutes in on my S3. I tried to continue watch on my Tivo HD and got the stop-start behavior described above. Then I finished watching on my pc with no problems.

What a !$!$#@!###@@ pain in the a$$


----------



## drcordon (Nov 28, 2009)

I've got 20/10mbs internet, all my network is hard wired. I have no issues watching netflix on my tivo, except that a couple times the breaker flipped off that serves my modem and router (due to heaters, not TV stuff). When this happens and I'm watching a netflix movie, the movie pauses, the screen goes gray for about 5 minutes, then there is a message that playback was interrupted, press select to go back. Only the whole time my tivo is frozen and I can't access any features with the remote. I can still work the TV of course, but I have to pull the plug on my tivo to unfreeze and get it working again. 

I'm wondering whether this would happen for any network interruption, and if there's another way to unfreeze the tivo.


----------



## zenful6219 (Mar 11, 2007)

mr_smits said:


> I did a quick wire of cat5e to my Tivo3, and I just got through testing: Netflix streaming HD works again! My best guess is that neighbors turned on wireless and crowded the space. I can see 8 different networks nearby. SOLUTION: use ethernet


I'm not sure it's that simple. I've tried the same thing, but still have the frequent stops and starts. I have a FIOS 20/10 connection. My tested download speeds are almost at 20, so the connection is not a problem. I spoke with Netflix and the first thing they did was suggest I "restart my network" meaning power down all connected devices and the router/modem, which I did. It didn't fix anything. Non-HD Netflix movies stream fine, but HD not so fine. The really odd thing is this worked two days ago. By that I mean the HD movie would start at HD quality, but would throttle back to non-HD quality. I just don't understand why this can't happen ALL the time. If HD won't work, I'd at least like the TIVO to throttle back to something usable.


----------



## morac (Mar 14, 2003)

I'll just mention a few things that can affect Netflix streaming that most people wouldn't think about.

If you use a 3rd party DNS server such as OpenDNS or Google's new DNS servers that can affect your Netflix streaming (and things like YouTube, Amazon, etc). Netflix can use either Akamai or Limelight Networks (preferred) to deliver content. The specific server used when connecting to Akamai or Limelight is determined by your DNS. It is normally supposed to be geographically depending such that if you are using your ISP's DNS server, you should be routed to a local (geographically) content server. If you use something like OpenDNS (which is in California) you will be routed to content servers in California. That works well if you live in California, but not so well if you live on the East Coast.

Even if you use your ISP's DNS server, there can be issues with routing to or from the local Netflix servers. For about 6 months I had an issue when streaming or downloading from LimeLight Network servers (used by Amazon and other video providers) where I would literally get speeds of around 200 *k*bps downloading Amazon content from local Limelight servers while non-local servers gave me around 12 mbps. It turned out to be a routing problem on the return path from Limelight to me. Diagnosing problems like this is time consuming though and requires the ability to measure network traffic over time on your TiVo box.


----------



## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

Note that you should not assume the problem is always a network issue. I have run into several Netflix titles that just don't decode properly period on my original S3 TiVos. THD units are better but also not immune to decoding issues either. There are specific titles that ALWAYS cause problems. For example, Season 1 of Heroes the 1st few episodes play without issue, then episodes 8-13 have issues, then subsequent episodes play OK. MI-5 seasons 1 & 2 have no issues, but none of the episodes in season 3 will play back on original S3s, but play back fine on THD units.
For titles that don't work I have to resort to using PC playback instead.


----------



## gweempose (Mar 23, 2003)

moyekj said:


> MI-5 seasons 1 & 2 have no issues ...


A little off topic, but I've heard that show is pretty good. What's your take?


----------



## rocko (Oct 29, 2002)

gweempose said:


> A little off topic, but I've heard that show is pretty good. What's your take?


One of my favorites. I was disappointed when it was discontinued.


----------



## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

gweempose said:


> A little off topic, but I've heard that show is pretty good. What's your take?


 It has its ups and downs but gets pretty addicting after a while. It takes some time to get used to accents without help of closed captioning though.
Following the TiVo/Netflix issues with it I stopped watching in middle of season 3 and haven't picked it up again and now I'm busy with Heroes marathon over Christmas break (I never watched/recorded that show from TV). I'm probably going to run way over the Cox internet monthly quota for this month, but so far I don't think they are enforcing the limits...

EDIT: Just had a TiVo freeze right at start of Heroes season 1 episode 21. Internet access was still fine at the time as it is now. Remote control unresponsive as were front panel buttons. Had to pull the plug to reset it. This rather flaky TiVo/Netflix solution is really getting aggravating...


----------



## DougAdPA (Dec 22, 2009)

I just bought a new TIVO HD which I have hooked up to an Airport Express (Apple wireless device). I've just done multiple tests trying to use Netflix streaming (of Star Trek Season 1 shows). It always starts in "HD" and then every few minutes pauses to re-buffer. Eventually it shifts to a lower quality and then works fine for the remainder of the episode.

When I unplug the network from the TIVO and plug it into my ROKU box and then watch the exact same show it always works flawlessly (no re-buffering and in HD the entire time).

I've come to the conclusion that the TIVO is just inferior to the ROKU for Netflix streaming. I'll probably return the TIVO.


----------



## orangeboy (Apr 19, 2004)

DougAdPA said:


> I just bought a new TIVO HD which I have hooked up to an Airport Express (Apple wireless device). I've just done multiple tests trying to use Netflix streaming (of Star Trek Season 1 shows). It always starts in "HD" and then every few minutes pauses to re-buffer. Eventually it shifts to a lower quality and then works fine for the remainder of the episode.
> 
> When I unplug the network from the TIVO and plug it into my ROKU box and then watch the exact same show it always works flawlessly (no re-buffering and in HD the entire time).
> 
> I've come to the conclusion that the TIVO is just inferior to the ROKU for Netflix streaming. I'll probably return the TIVO.


OK.


----------



## pl1 (Jan 18, 2007)

moyekj said:


> EDIT: Just had a TiVo freeze right at start of Heroes season 1 episode 21. Internet access was still fine at the time as it is now. Remote control unresponsive as were front panel buttons. Had to pull the plug to reset it. This rather flaky TiVo/Netflix solution is really getting aggravating...


Since purchasing the Sanyo BD-P1600, I have had absolutely ZERO issues with Netflix. Maybe it is just a cooincidence, maybe not.

I believe the freezing on my TiVo also caused problems with my cableCARD. I had to get Comcast to re-hit the card and it has been fine ever since. Again, maybe it is just a cooincidence, but since it is such a PITA to meet with a Comcast truck roll, I'm not ever using Netflix on my TiVo again.

They need to address this in my opinion. If there is a problem of any kind, it should not lock up my TiVo, PERIOD.


----------



## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

pl1 said:


> Since purchasing the Sanyo BD-P1600, I have had absolutely ZERO issues with Netflix. Maybe it is just a cooincidence, maybe not..


Amazon user reviews of this have a lot of problems with firmware updates bricking the unit, and these are recent too. Any comments?



pl1 said:


> They need to address this in my opinion. If there is a problem of any kind, it should not lock up my TiVo, PERIOD.


My experiences and many others posted on these forums show the TiVo design is simply not robust to either video signal or internet glitches. I'm afraid we're just going to have to live with it. I don't think they're putting much emphasis on perfecting the Series 3 models.


----------



## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

Following my Netflix/TiVo freeze it booted up fine after pulling the plug and I streamed a few more titles without any problems. However after exiting Netflix and going to live TV video froze after a few seconds requiring another cold boot. Prior to using Netflix extensively I didn't have any issues on that unit. So while I can't say for sure the problem is Netflix related it is my prime suspect at this point and I'll hold off using it for now to see if the problem continues.
Prior to this point I had used Netflix/TiVo on occasion but not very extensively and never had much trouble (other than titles that wouldn't play), but this freezing/booting nonsense has totally changed my opinion of TiVo's implementation.


----------



## pl1 (Jan 18, 2007)

dlfl said:


> Amazon user reviews of this have a lot of problems with firmware updates bricking the unit, and these are recent too. Any comments?


I based my purchasing decision of the BD-P1600 unit after having used the BD-P1500 for 8 months trouble free. I have updated both units successfully and I have not had a disc on either unit that failed to play. To be honest, I did not do a lot of research on it. I bought it from Bestbuy and the reviews there seem pretty good. But, mostly because of my positive experience with the BD-P1500.


----------



## DaveLessnau (Nov 10, 2000)

Since this thread has withered away, I assume no one has yet found a way to force the TiVo to play the Netflix stream at a lower resolution.?.


----------



## ohboy710 (Jun 30, 2008)

DaveLessnau said:


> Since this thread has withered away, I assume no one has yet found a way to force the TiVo to play the Netflix stream at a lower resolution.?.


I guess there is no solution.


----------



## turbobuick86 (May 3, 2002)

Netflix switches to HD at ~5mb. Based on your bandwidth, you could run other networked machines streaming stock ticker, radio/tv, or other live streams. They need to eat enough bandwidth to keep your feed to Netflix below 5mb.

There is software like Netlimiter that will throttle bandwidth, but I am not familiar with any of them to recommend one.


----------



## rmassey (Sep 5, 2002)

I recently downgraded my HSI from Concast (16MB) to Quest (1.5MB) to save some money ($70 vs $23). I then notice NF does not work well on the Tivo and thought the lower bandwidth was the cause. After reading a few these NF threads, it appears it just the Tivo implementation that is to blame. I can in fact watch a program that stalls on the Tivo via the PC using the 1.5MB quest connection with no issues. 

Perhaps it's time to just buy another NF enabled device and bypass the Tivo....

Tivo should ask the Pandora dev team to fix the NF code. Pandora works well on the Tivo, NF not so much.


----------

