Vudu vs Itunes US

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geekiegeek

2513 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#600740 27-Mar-2012 14:56

BuzzLightyear: ATV2 with US content is fine in NZ without VPN.

So just need the VPN for Netflix then. Spose I could drop the VPN when I use iTunes and see if that speeds things up.

BuzzLightyear

411 posts

Ultimate Geek

#600864 27-Mar-2012 18:00

Correct. Although running ATV2 over VPN slowed down the streaming performance so I ended up just cancelling my netflix account and using the ATV content alone. Netflix was good value but by the time you factor in the VPN cost/hassle and performance degradation I couldnt be bothered. There is good content on US Itunes and they tend to have all the blockbusters which is all I'm after + TV shows.

jake18

51 posts

Master Geek

#600866 27-Mar-2012 18:06

BuzzLightyear: Correct. Although running ATV2 over VPN slowed down the streaming performance so I ended up just cancelling my netflix account and using the ATV content alone. Netflix was good value but by the time you factor in the VPN cost/hassle and performance degradation I couldnt be bothered. There is good content on US Itunes and they tend to have all the blockbusters which is all I'm after + TV shows.

thats why i never bothered with the whole VPN connection/crap performance issue and went with the unblock-us.com service where the performance is based on your connection (all you change is the dns settings to the unblock-us servers on the devices that you want to use for hulu/netflix/vudu etc)

BuzzLightyear

411 posts

Ultimate Geek

#600941 27-Mar-2012 19:53

I tired unblock-US but it didn't work for me. I think it was something to do with my ISP doing a reverse proxy lookup. I'm on Telecom.

geekiegeek

2513 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#600949 27-Mar-2012 20:05

I have an ISP with a reverse proxy also. TCL.

I found VPN speed seems to have a lot to do with the device you are using to create the VPN. Using an older WRT54GL was really slow (2Mbps) but it only has a 200Mhz processor. Went to a E4200 with a 450Mhz and even that wasn't much better. I now use a PC with a quad-core and internet connection share the VPN - this gives 6-8Mbps which results in good clean netflix streams.

Seems the overhead of decrypting the packets really slows things down.

lchiu7

6476 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#601052 27-Mar-2012 23:09

A couple of points.

TCL's transparent proxy breaks unblock-us only in certain areas.

For Netflix its affects access over port 80 (so trying to get to your account etc.). But for viewing on devices like the PS3, GoogleTV, Roku, Android phones etc, it's fine since they don't use port 80 and TCL leaves the traffic untouched.

Hulu is interesting. I can watch Hulu on my PC even with TCL's transparent proxy but it can be hit or miss. Often I get the sorry we had a problem playing this video or something like that but if I close the browser and try again I can get through. I never get the sorry cannot view this content in your country. But if I go to abc.com to watch some streaming video, I will get the out of country message.

No problems with Hulu+ since that is client based and works on the PS3 and many Android devices and once again does not go via port 80.

Finally there is some strange thing going on with Roku. I cannot watch Netflix on the Roku but there is no error message, it just hangs trying to display the list of shows. But when I tried out one of the VPN services (can't remember which one it was) and loaded the OpenVPN code in my router flashed with DD-WRT, the Roku worked fine. I haven't continued with this since I can watch Netflix on so many other devices it didn't matter. But the Roku can do Amazon Instant Video and I use that occasionally since I have access to an Amazon account with Amazon Prime so the video streaming is free.

To get back to the original topic I have only ever watched one movie on Vudu and that was to burn up my $5 credit. I streamed in HD mode on my PS3 (no point doing HDX sinc I was watching on a 720p TV) and I got no buffering throughout the 100 minute movie. The PS3 is connected to the router via a 200Mbs (advertised) Powerline adapter.

But it was a Sunday morning so I can't comment on what else was going on TCL's network at the time.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

BuzzLightyear

411 posts

Ultimate Geek

#601108 28-Mar-2012 09:51

My experience with Netflix, Telecom and UnblockUS was hit and miss on ATV. More miss than hit. I get the comments RE optimal VPN setup but I just can't be bothered. ATV as a standalone device running a US account meets 90% of my requirements and the kids can use it without need for any explanation. Family hasnt been to a video store in at least 2 years. The moment I need to start explaining technology to the rest of the family it becomes a pain. Lets hope Quickflix or similar get a service up and running in NZ to give us some choice. I still think its crazy we have no good legal means to stream quality movies in NZ but thats another topic.

I am keen to hear if anyone has got Netflix working without a VPN service via TNZ.

Sharesies

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lchiu7

6476 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#601428 28-Mar-2012 17:29

BuzzLightyear: My experience with Netflix, Telecom and UnblockUS was hit and miss on ATV. More miss than hit. I get the comments RE optimal VPN setup but I just can't be bothered. ATV as a standalone device running a US account meets 90% of my requirements and the kids can use it without need for any explanation. Family hasnt been to a video store in at least 2 years. The moment I need to start explaining technology to the rest of the family it becomes a pain. Lets hope Quickflix or similar get a service up and running in NZ to give us some choice. I still think its crazy we have no good legal means to stream quality movies in NZ but thats another topic.

I am keen to hear if anyone has got Netflix working without a VPN service via TNZ.

I dont know much about ATV and Netflix. Is there a specific client for ATV or is just browser based?

As I noted earlier TCL's transparent proxy (and I suspect TNZ also) breaks unblock-us if you are using a client that uses port 80 but otherwise it's fine. An easy way to check is to use an Android phone and install the Netflix client on that. If that works in your network with umblock-us then you know. I think there is also an IOS client so if you can get hold of an IPAD or iPhone or even iPod Touch (my kids use them) you can check.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

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