US Streaming sites slow

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › US Streaming sites slow

Reanalyse

381 posts

Ultimate Geek

#150516 25-Jul-2014 10:30

Over the last two weeks, on both a VDSL and ADSL connection (both Henderson, Auckland area) we have noticed that streaming of USA sites (Vimeo and others) has been slow and intermittent, with breakup and pixelisation.

Speedtest on the VDSL circuit seems OK. Plans are capped so should not be subject to traffic management.
Has anyone noticed anything similar ?

Thanks and Regards

PeterReader

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#1095460 25-Jul-2014 10:30

Hello... Our robot found some keywords in your post, so here is an automated reply with some important things to note regarding broadband speeds.

If you are posting regarding DSL speeds please check that

- you have reset your modem and router

- your PC (or other PCs in your LAN) is not downloading large files when you are testing

- you are not being throttled by your ISP due to going over the monthly cap

- your tests are always done on an ethernet connection to the router - do not use wireless for testing

- you read this topic and follow the instructions there.

Make sure you provide information for other users to help you. If you have not already done it, please EDIT your post and add this now:

- Your ISP and plan

- Type of connection (ADSL, ADSL2, VDSL)

- Your modem DSL stats (do not worry about posting Speedtest, we need sync rate, attenuation and noise margin)

- Your general location (or street)

- If you are rural or urban

- If you know your connection is to an exchange, cabinet or conklin

- If your connection is to a ULL or wholesale service

- If you have done an isolation test as per the link above

Most of the problems with speed are likely to be related to internal wiring issues. Read this discussion to find out more about this. Your ISP is not intentionally slowing you down today (unless you are on a managed plan). Also if this is the school holidays it's likely you will notice slower than usual speed due to more users online.

A master splitter is required for VDSL2 and in most cases will improve speeds on DSL connections. Regular disconnections can be a monitored alarm or a set top box trying to connect. If there's an alarm connected to your line even if you don't have an alarm contract it may still try to connect so it's worth checking.

I recommend you read these two blog posts:

- Is your premises phone wiring impacting your broadband performance? (very technical)

- Are you receiving a substandard ULL ADSL2+ connection from your ISP?

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kiwipeter

211 posts

Master Geek

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#1095485 25-Jul-2014 10:55

Hi,

All good down here in Christchurch. Watched a couple of TV shows in Super HD (Netflix) last night and all good. No stuttering etc. Also iTunes trailers played without a hitch.

I'm sure it's only a temporary thing.

Peter

1101

3122 posts

Uber Geek

#1095646 25-Jul-2014 14:28

Reanalyse:
Has anyone noticed anything similar ?

Thanks and Regards

Yep, for some years now.
You-tube usually streams just fine.
Occasionally its so bad its unwatchable. Happens all the time.

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
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#1095775 25-Jul-2014 17:40

Your plan is capped... Sure you haven't gone past the cap and being slowed down?

Are you using WiFi or ethernet? If you just started using WiFi can you test again on ethernet?

Reanalyse

381 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1095786 25-Jul-2014 17:58

Thanks for your reply, well within CAP (it's 150G plan and only at some 30G at the moment).

Speed-test is OK to LA , it's some 13M down and 10M up on the PC nearest the VDSL Modem, on a further away PC it's some 10M down and 8M up- as at 5pm on a Friday night.
Streaming should be fine but quite ofter USA video streaming sites are very slow (alongside news-sites Washington Post, Gawker/Gizmodo/iO9 and USA based web-comics (PennyArcade)).

May be as these sites are on the opposite coast of the USA to where the South Pacific Fibre terminates and latency across the USA is causing issues.
May be a perception thing- I noticed that a paid US streaming service on a Tablet (Wifi connection) pixalated more when the movie was a widescreen- probably more display processing required.

So the feeling from the family is that things (especially Netflix) are running slower than they used to, but very hard to quantify hence this topic.

datahawk

251 posts

Ultimate Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1096002 26-Jul-2014 11:10

Yes, the last couple of days of Netflix performance on our connection has also been less than impressive.

Yesterday was particularly bad where 720 was the max I could get (even when using the Netflix test video, House of Cards or Orange is the new Black as reference movies) and 480 or less was common most of the day. I don't think I made it to Super HD at any time, even near midnight using my normal hard wired PS4 player which has been great up until now.

I have a rock solid error free Telecom VDSL2 connection - Actual 46.60 Mbps down, 9.50 Mbps Up on a 500GB plan.

It could just be a Netflix heavy traffic period, but it was a consistent slow down from my normal results. I'll thrash it again today to see if it persists.

datahawk

251 posts

Ultimate Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1096188 26-Jul-2014 15:45

Update - Our maximum 720p Netflix issue was resolved by deleting and reinstalling the PS4 Netflix app. We have two PS4 consoles and both were tested before and after reinstall and streaming issues are resolved.

I suspect a recent update to the PS4 Netflix app was the cause of the corruption which restricted streaming quality.

Therefore, our issue is unrelated to our Telecom connection or this forum.

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Jarsky

142 posts

Master Geek

#1096350 26-Jul-2014 21:27

My VDSL2 has been perfectly fine since that last international issue that affected Twitch.
I stream Youtube & Twitch content almost daily and no problems.

Also tested my ADSL2+ connection in another part of Auckland and also fine.