# Netflix and Tivo



## zexel (Aug 4, 2012)

Is tivo ever going to fix their netflix app.It is very frustrating to have purchased two tivos to use with OTA, netflix and hulu and then have to deal with the apps not working 90% of the time. Having to reboot the tivo and hoping the app will work. It is not my internet connection, it works fine on my roku. Yes I could use my roku but I bought two tivos for a one box solution. Tivo does not seem to care about their customers problems with these apps. They try to blame netflix and netlflix blames them. They have been less than helpful when I have contacted them. Tivo unless you want to get a less than favorable reputation in the industry you need to take these problems seriously and not just blow off your paying customers.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Everyone does not have these issues. The Netflix and hulu apps work 99% of the time on my Elites.


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## Yorkshireexile (May 28, 2003)

I have the same problem. When watching Netflix some 20% of the time the picture freezes, the TiVo is completely unresponsive and after a few minutes it reboots. I turned the Netflix quality down, but that does not seem to help. Have just ordered 2 Moca adapters with the Stream. Let's hope that fixes it. 

Tim


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## ciscokid (Jan 14, 2003)

Maybe your internet connection is NOT up to par? Huh?


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## Yorkshireexile (May 28, 2003)

Maybe not, but in that case it should just wait for buffering while collecting input. A slow Internet connection is no excuse for freezing and rebooting.


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## pmiranda (Feb 12, 2003)

I tried it once a couple months ago and it stuttered and skipped every couple minutes on my premiere. Same hardwired Gb Ethernet as my older-than-my-S3 HTPC which plays fine.


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## compnurd (Oct 6, 2011)

can say i have never had a single issue with the netflix app


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## Yorkshireexile (May 28, 2003)

Here is some more information. I used to watch Netflix on my TiVo HD system. On occasion that would pause while buffering more input, (and saying so on the screen) then resume. That is OK, an indication that my wireless internet was not fast enough. 
With the Premiere we have a different situation. I cannot say that it is triggered by an empty buffer, but that may well be the cause. The picture freezes and the TiVo will not respond to any inputs from the remote. The light does not go on when pressing pause, will not return to the main menu. It is as though the code is in a tight loop and no interrupts are getting through. After several minutes it just reboots.

So we have a regression from previous versions and crashing customer systems. I work in software for a large company and we consider that a high priority bug. I believe that TiVo support does monitor this forum. I would like some acknowledgement that they know of this problem and are working it.


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## Balzer (Nov 12, 2006)

Fortunately, the Netflix app works great on both of my Premieres.


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## Scottie99 (Sep 24, 2008)

Not really up for Moscow dating lines.


While netflix may take about 30 seconds more to load on my Premiere than it did on my TiVo HD its actually more stable when up and running.

I have had one crash on about 100 viewings.


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## abqdan (Aug 29, 2012)

This is a common problem with the Tivo apps - netflix and Hulu. The V301 error is a curse for many users. I have the following ways to access streamed content: Tivo apps, PC, WDTV Live, Wii game console and Sony HD TV apps. The ONLY one that ever fails is Tivo. The others work perfectly on my network, with average download speeds (tested using two different speed test programs) of 25Mbps.

The original poster is correct - Tivo know this is an issue (just talk to a Tivo support rep to hear that from them) but they don't appear to be working on the issue at all. 

Like this poster, I bought the Tivo box for OTA plus the apps, so that I'd have a single box to work with. I'd say the Netflix app works 90% of the time, and the Hulu app maybe 40%. When those fail, I switch to the WD box to watch the same shows, and it just works - no fuss, no errors. 

There have been suggestions that Tivo's boxes just don't have the processing power for these apps; which is strange, considering the WD box only costs $89. You'd think if they can do it right at that price, Tivo could too.


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## moedaman (Aug 21, 2012)

I would suggest to everyone having problems with Netflix on their Tivo, to spend $50 and get a Roku player. I have three and don't have any problems streaming with them.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Yes they work well but if you want 5.1 audio the Roku2 will only send DD+. Although I can't control it, at least the TiVo sends DD 5.1 half the time instead of DD+. Otherwsie the receiver I have that Elite and my second Roku2 box connected to has to use the stereo audio tracks since it can't decode DD+.


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## moedaman (Aug 21, 2012)

aaronwt said:


> Yes they work well but if you want 5.1 audio the Roku2 will only send DD+. Although I can't control it, at least the TiVo sends DD 5.1 half the time instead of DD+. Otherwsie the receiver I have that Elite and my second Roku2 box connected to has to use the stereo audio tracks since it can't decode DD+.


True, but I'm not suggesting this to people who have Netflix working just fine on their Tivo. I would rather get stereo sound with my video than stuttering video or no video at all.


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## abqdan (Aug 29, 2012)

Roku, WDTV, Wii, XBox, PCs, smart TVs - they all work for HuluPlus and Netflix. That's not really the point here, since this is a Tivo board. The point is Tivo is selling their boxes with the marketing that this is the 'one box' that you need for all of your media needs, and it just isn't so. What Tivo really is, is a good DVR. And that seems to be about it.


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## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

The 'one box' idea left town shortly after the box was shipped, and hasn't been seen since.


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## dsnotgood (Aug 26, 2010)

Sometimes when Netflix doesn't load for whatever reason, I open up youtube. After youtube loads, I get out of it and then reload Netflix and it works.


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## sehale (Jun 28, 2007)

Yesterday I noticed my son watching Netflix on the Sony Blu Ray player - not our Tivo Premiere. I asked him why? He said that the Netflix on the Tivo lags, freezes up, etc. but is fine on the Sony. Both units are on connected via Ethernet to the home network. Doesn't matter to me much but thought I would throw in our experience.


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## HockeyFan (Oct 9, 2010)

I no longer use the Sony apps and ps3 for Netflix . Have no problems with the TiVo .
Have no desire to purchase additional devices to just watch Netflix . A projector and 140" screen may improve Netflix enjoyment but not going that route just yet.


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## HIHZia (Nov 3, 2004)

I bought a Roku because my Series 3 HD tivo sucked at netflix, then when I got a premiere I tried the netflix app on it and it sucked as well. My Roku is wireless and works great and I couldn't get either tivo to produce a decent picture wired or wirelessly.


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## mr_smits (Dec 17, 2009)

Due to the problems I've had with Netflix on Tivo PRemieres, I rarely use it for streaming Netflix titles. It has caused spontaneous rebooting the last few times I used it.


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## 241705 (Mar 9, 2010)

I've been running Netflix on my Premiere pretty heavily over the past couple of weeks, over wireless G (haven't finished running wired yet). No issues at all.


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## jschrader666 (Aug 15, 2009)

My netflix app on Tivo sucks! When I am watching a show, I cannot exit back to my queue without exiting the entire app and going back in. Then, last week I was watching a movie and about 75% the way through it kept freezing on a screen. I could hear the audio continue to play, but the picture was frozen. I tried rebooting and it kept doing the same thing. I use the MoCa adapter and my internet connection is about 25Mb, so it's not my connection


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Why can't you exit back out to the queue? I have no problem exiting back to my Netflix queue on my Premieres. Are you using the correct button?


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## compnurd (Oct 6, 2011)

jschrader666 said:


> My netflix app on Tivo sucks! When I am watching a show, I cannot exit back to my queue without exiting the entire app and going back in. Then, last week I was watching a movie and about 75% the way through it kept freezing on a screen. I could hear the audio continue to play, but the picture was frozen. I tried rebooting and it kept doing the same thing. I use the MoCa adapter and my internet connection is about 25Mb, so it's not my connection


It could be your connection. Just because you have a high limit of speed does not mean everything will be perfect. There is still DNS servers to account for and such


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## pmiranda (Feb 12, 2003)

DNS shouldn't make any difference. TiVo's just seem to be more sensitive to disruptions in latency, probably because of a lack of buffering. I might try playing with my router settings sometime to see if I can make a difference.


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## compnurd (Oct 6, 2011)

pmiranda said:


> DNS shouldn't make any difference. TiVo's just seem to be more sensitive to disruptions in latency, probably because of a lack of buffering. I might try playing with my router settings sometime to see if I can make a difference.


DNS will make a difference. There are several people on here who have changed there DNS servers and had no issues after


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## jschrader666 (Aug 15, 2009)

Besides the freezing problem the app in general is not very user friendly


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## cook (Aug 12, 2010)

I can confirm that changing DNS settings helped me. Netflex app works great on my Tivo Premier since I made the change.


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## abqdan (Aug 29, 2012)

Anyone know why DNS matters? DNS simply translates a name to an IP address. Once that's done, and a session established, DNS should not be used again in a transaction, so I don't see how that can be a problem during the streaming of a show.


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## compnurd (Oct 6, 2011)

Some DNS servers are very slow to translate. Some also are not updated as often and point you in the wrong direction. this is very common with most ISP DNS servers My ISP DNS servers point to the wrong Apple server... So i can not update my IOS with them.. once I changed to public ones, no issues


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## slacker9876 (Sep 1, 2004)

I just took advantage of a 199 lifetime sub because my Sony BRP was buffering Netflix too much. I know my internet is golden (comcast biz class) and I can pull bonded channels now for a total of 6MiB per second.

On DNS if you are not using 8.8.8.8 & 4.2.2.2 in your config, you should be.

Can the buffer cache be tweaked for Netflix / Hulu?


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

There should be no need for it to be tweaked. It should stream without issue. I have no problems streaming at home, but I'm on a FiOS 150/65 tier. But even at my girlfriends with a 1.25Mb/s DSL connection, streaming is solid on the Premiere. OF course it can only stream SD at those speeds.


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## mr_smits (Dec 17, 2009)

cook said:


> I can confirm that changing DNS settings helped me. Netflex app works great on my Tivo Premier since I made the change.


You changed your DNS from what to what? For example, from your provider's DNS servers to OpenDNS or Google (8.8.8.8)?


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## abqdan (Aug 29, 2012)

Comcast doesn't seem to like me changing the DNS info - I changed it on my router, but when the router reboots, Comcast enforces its own DNS entries. I'm sure there's a way around that, but I'll have to think about it.

In any case, I'm still wondering why, with my current DNS settings, Roku, WDTV, Wii, my Sony TV and my PC all connect and stream 100% reliably from HuluPlus, but the TiVo box doesn't. What is Tivo doing that is different to these other devices?


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## jschrader666 (Aug 15, 2009)

aaronwt said:


> There should be no need for it to be tweaked. It should stream without issue. I have no problems streaming at home, but I'm on a FiOS 150/65 tier. But even at my girlfriends with a 1.25Mb/s DSL connection, streaming is solid on the Premiere. OF course it can only stream SD at those speeds.


I agree. I shouldn't have to screw with my settings for their product to work properly. They need to make the feature better


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## compnurd (Oct 6, 2011)

jschrader666 said:


> I agree. I shouldn't have to screw with my settings for their product to work properly. They need to make the feature better


Oye People. It is not there product. It is actually your ISP's DNS Servers... You could even go further and it may be a Netflix issue..

I suppose when a light bulb burns out the company producing the power for your electric company is at fault?


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## jschrader666 (Aug 15, 2009)

compnurd said:


> Oye People. It is not there product. It is actually your ISP's DNS Servers... You could even go further and it may be a Netflix issue..
> 
> I suppose when a light bulb burns out the company producing the power for your electric company is at fault?


Not the same thing... Tivo partnered with netflix to make this app, so who actually created it?? That's the company at fault. As a customer u shouldn't have to go through a bunch of settings to make it work, and FYI netflix works just fine on my computer and iphone. My main complaint is the feel of the netflix software on tivo. It is not user friendly a all


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## compnurd (Oct 6, 2011)

jschrader666 said:


> Not the same thing... Tivo partnered with netflix to make this app, so who actually created it?? That's the company at fault. As a customer u shouldn't have to go through a bunch of settings to make it work, and FYI netflix works just fine on my computer and iphone. My main complaint is the feel of the netflix software on tivo. It is not user friendly a all


And if you read the earlier threads, this is a 100% Netflix created App. Same with the new Youtube App is a 100% Google product


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

Actually, it is almost the same thing. The utility delivery company owns the wires (e.g. the Tivo box) while the generator creates the electricity (e.g. the app and content). Only the light bulb part does not fit, but as Tivo only delivers the netflix app, you would need to complain about the app's operations to netflix. 

Netflix for my Premiere and HD units works great. It would be nice if the look and feel of tivo was more utilized in the premiere, but I don't expect it to change.


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## cook (Aug 12, 2010)

mr_smits said:


> You changed your DNS from what to what? For example, from your provider's DNS servers to OpenDNS or Google (8.8.8.8)?


I swapped out my isp DNS (TW cable or Road Runner) to OpenDNS and my internet speed as a whole is a lot better including the Netflix app. It's easy to do if you know how to log in to your router. Give it shot.


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## jschrader666 (Aug 15, 2009)

compnurd said:


> And if you read the earlier threads, this is a 100% Netflix created App. Same with the new Youtube App is a 100% Google product


Whatever tivo should not put a crappy app on their system. I shouldn't have to be a computer geek to get my damn netflix to work properly


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## compnurd (Oct 6, 2011)

jschrader666 said:


> Whatever tivo should not put a crappy app on their system. I shouldn't have to be a computer geek to get my damn netflix to work properly


To each there own. I have no issues with the app.. it works fine for me


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## HockeyFan (Oct 9, 2010)

compnurd said:


> To each there own. I have no issues with the app.. it works fine for me


I second that. Much improvement over
previous UI.


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## Yorkshireexile (May 28, 2003)

I recently upgraded my router from a linksys to a more powerful ASUS and am pleased to report that the TiVo rebooting problem on Netflix has stopped. It has been trouble free for a few weeks.


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