Netflix streaming better than lightbox?

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binarybrother

42 posts

Geek

#167378 11-Mar-2015 21:35

I'm a spark broadband customer on ADSL2+ with decent sync speeds of 11m/1m. I often find lightbox pauses and starts again. I assume it's buffering and is basically unusable. Happens some nights and not others. I'm using apple ipad.

I also have Netflix (unotelly dns not vpn), this on the whole works better and is more reliable. Whenever I experience Lightbox issues I log into Netflix to see if it works ok and yes it streams well with no issues and great picture quality.

Any thoughts on what it might be? The fact my Netflix streaming works better than the local Spark service just doesn't seem right

703

131 posts

Master Geek

#1256696 11-Mar-2015 23:16

Streaming from Lightbox is not local, its done from Sydney.

Talkiet

4792 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1256710 11-Mar-2015 23:40

703: Streaming from Lightbox is not local, its done from Sydney.

As someone that knows _exactly_ how the lightbox data gets from their servers to the CDN to the customers, if you're getting it from Sydney then please let me know what ISP you are using and what DNS servers you are using. It's served from Akamai. Most NZ ISPs of any real size have local Akamai servers.

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

Killerkiwi2005

374 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#1256977 12-Mar-2015 11:43

I use netflix and lightbox both through a desktop on linux, the only difference is the poxy silverlight vs html5 player, maybe just a case of the netflix player is a lot more mature than lightbox?

dclegg

2806 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1256988 12-Mar-2015 11:57

We used to have abysmal Lightbox performance, with it being the worst performer of all three SVOD services we consume (which also includes NetFlix & Hulu).

After a bit of investigation, I found this was probably caused by the terrible WiFi connection we were getting to our PS4 (which is what we view it on). The PS4 doesn't support 5Ghz, so I was forced to connect to our 2.5Ghz network. Diagnostics showed download speeds of approximately 600-800Kb/s. Conversely, NetfFlix & Hulu are consumed via our Apple TV, which connect to our 5Ghz network.

I purchased a set of TP-Link Powrline Ethernet over Power adapters, and now am getting around 7-10 Mb/s to our PS4. This has dramatically increased Lightbox performance, and I'd now rank it as the best performer in our house. Our Internet was performing slower than usual last night (Maxing out at around 5Mb/s), and as a result we were having issues with both NetFlix and Hulu. Netflix was streaming at a far lesser resolution than it can normally manage, and Hulu kept stopping to buffer. Lightbox, OTOH, performed like a champ, with HD video for the entire time we watched it.

sultanoswing

814 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1257678 13-Mar-2015 09:31

I'm not convinced it was anything to do with 2.5Ghz vs 5Ghz. If anything, 2.5Ghz is often better as it has better range / less drop off than 5Ghz, which is really only faster in a direct line of site / over short distances. That said, perhaps something else was interfering on your 2.5GHz channel?

Yeah - I also bought some TP-link powerline adapters & they're great. No substitute for wired of course, or even a direct WiFi connection at close range, but very very handy for getting to places you wouldn't otherwise easily get to, and in many cases preferable to those crappy wifi extenders you see everywhere in NZ big box stores.

dclegg

2806 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1257685 13-Mar-2015 09:37

sultanoswing: I'm not convinced it was anything to do with 2.5Ghz vs 5Ghz. If anything, 2.5Ghz is often better as it has better range / less drop off than 5Ghz, which is really only faster in a direct line of site / over short distances. That said, perhaps something else was interfering on your 2.5GHz channel?

Yeah, thats my current thinking. Lightbox used to perform OK on the PS4, but started degrading. Diagnostics showed that I was getting less than ideal download speeds via WiFi.

Yeah - I also bought some TP-link powerline adapters & they're great. No substitute for wired of course

I'm actually really impressed with how well they work. I'm seeing speeds almost identical to what my wired computers get. Ideally I'd love to wire the house completely, and depending on cost that may actually be an option soon, as we have some other work to undertake on our house. But for now, these Powerline adapters are proving to be an excellent stop gap solution (provided you don't brick them with a firmware upgrade, as I did with my first pair ;-))

sultanoswing

814 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1257691 13-Mar-2015 09:46

I went with the TP-Link TL-WPA4220 Kit - it doesn't have passthrough, which is nice, but does have its own WiFi, which is great.

http://www.warehousestationery.co.nz/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/WFS/WSL-B2C-Site/en_NZ/-/NZD/ViewOfferDetail-Product?ProductRef=216329@WSL-B2C

They were $50 bucks off when I got them a couple of weeks ago, not sure if they're still on special now.

The TL-WPA4230 Kit looks even better - wifi *and* passthrough, but can't see 'em available in NZ plug form yet (UK plug only).
http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/details/?categoryid=2244&model=TL-WPA4230P+KIT

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Lightbox

301 posts

Ultimate Geek

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Lightbox

#1257747 13-Mar-2015 11:11

binarybrother: I'm a spark broadband customer on ADSL2+ with decent sync speeds of 11m/1m. I often find lightbox pauses and starts again. I assume it's buffering and is basically unusable. Happens some nights and not others. I'm using apple ipad.

I also have Netflix (unotelly dns not vpn), this on the whole works better and is more reliable. Whenever I experience Lightbox issues I log into Netflix to see if it works ok and yes it streams well with no issues and great picture quality.

Any thoughts on what it might be? The fact my Netflix streaming works better than the local Spark service just doesn't seem right

Have you tried disabling your DNS service while using Lightbox? Depending on the setup, you could end sending the Lightbox streams across the Pacific and back again before they hit your household, which could easily impact your service quality.

What router are you using?

Lightbox - we are online TV.

robjg63

4096 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#1257778 13-Mar-2015 11:35

Ditto on the suggestion about disabling Unotelly if using Lightbox.
Using different DNS does seem to cause issues with traffic routing - thats for sure.

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

binarybrother

42 posts

Geek

#1258074 13-Mar-2015 19:04

Ok thanks for the advice re DNS. Was working fine for me last night so next time i have problems i'll change the ipad to use the Spark DNS servers

sultanoswing

814 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1258168 13-Mar-2015 22:32

binarybrother: Ok thanks for the advice re DNS. Was working fine for me last night so next time i have problems i'll change the ipad to use the Spark DNS servers

You could try dns4me as your DNS service. That way you can use your own ISP's DNS settings, but still get geo-unblocking. This is accomplished via a custom host file on your router. Bit technical to set up, but hey, this *is* Geekzone, right?

datahawk

251 posts

Ultimate Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1260581 16-Mar-2015 20:07

As a Spark VDSL user, add a plus 1 for not using Unotelly DNS with Lightbox.

I'm very happy with Unotelly DNS service for all our non-local streaming but I have confirmed that Lightbox does not perform well without the Spark DNS settings.

Fortunately, due to owning an HTPC, dual PS3's, dual PS4's, iPads and Apple TV, we are able to have dedicated devices for Netflix and Lightbox with differing DNS settings.

With Spark DNS matched correctly with Lightbox, I cannot agree that Netflix streaming performance is better than Lightbox.

robjg63

4096 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#1260643 16-Mar-2015 21:49

sultanoswing:
binarybrother: Ok thanks for the advice re DNS. Was working fine for me last night so next time i have problems i'll change the ipad to use the Spark DNS servers

You could try dns4me as your DNS service. That way you can use your own ISP's DNS settings, but still get geo-unblocking. This is accomplished via a custom host file on your router. Bit technical to set up, but hey, this *is* Geekzone, right?

Sounds good , but how many routers support having a hosts file?

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

sultanoswing

814 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1260662 16-Mar-2015 22:45

robjg63:
sultanoswing:
binarybrother: Ok thanks for the advice re DNS. Was working fine for me last night so next time i have problems i'll change the ipad to use the Spark DNS servers

You could try dns4me as your DNS service. That way you can use your own ISP's DNS settings, but still get geo-unblocking. This is accomplished via a custom host file on your router. Bit technical to set up, but hey, this *is* Geekzone, right?

Sounds good , but how many routers support having a hosts file?

Lots - in fact any router that can run Tomato or dd-wrt firmware:

Tomato: http://www.flashrouters.com/blog/2013/07/31/best-wireless-routers-for-tomato-firmware/

dd-wrt: http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Supported_Devices

I'm sure there are many other firmware and routers which you can run custom host files on, but these two 3rd party firmwares for SOHO routers *definitely* allow it.

Good luck!