AfterDawn: News

Netflix confirms it throttles streams on mobile apps

Netflix has admitted this week that they throttle streams for mobile users, following a report by the Wall Street Journal that claimed they downgraded the quality specifically for AT&T and Verizon customers.

The company had also allegedly said that T-Mobile and Sprint have much "more consumer-friendly policies," and therefore Netflix kept the quality in full for the carriers.



In response, Netflix said that they limit video quality for all mobile users, capping the video at 600kb/s, in order to save consumers from crushing their data caps in quick order.

Additionally, the company says they will soon introduce a data-saver feature for mobile that will give you better control over quality and data usage.

Source:
WSJ

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 27 Mar 2016 16:34

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• 8 comments

• Jemborg

  Is that for real? It's a bit nanny-like.
  

  Its a lot easier being righteous than right.
  
  
  DSE VZ300-
  Zilog Z80 CPU, 32KB RAM (16K+16K cartridge), video processor 6847, 2KB video RAM, 16 colours (text mode), 5.25" FDD

  28.3.2016 00:53 #1

• SoTired

  I'm happy that Netflix is not chewing up more of my data plan than necessary, but it is nice that they'll start giving us control.

  28.3.2016 01:43 #2

• KillerBug

  Originally posted by Jemborg: Is that for real? It's a bit nanny-like. Without the controls, it is a godsend. Hopefully they will add controls for PC so when using a tethered laptop you can set the stream rate easily.
  

  
  

  28.3.2016 19:33 #3

• Bozobub

  Originally posted by KillerBug: Originally posted by Jemborg: Is that for real? It's a bit nanny-like. Without the controls, it is a godsend. Hopefully they will add controls for PC so when using a tethered laptop you can set the stream rate easily.
  You can force a particular stream bitrate manually, actually, including forcing HD as long as you have HD available with your specific membership (not all do) and the content is available in HD. Once the stream has started, hit CTRL-ALT-SHIFT-S, and a dialog with bitrate options for will pop up.
  
  Hopefully, this will be of some use to you.
  
  Note: Different browsers have different limits on the video resolution, as well.

  29.3.2016 01:10 #4

• Jemborg

  Originally posted by Bozobub:
  You can force a particular stream bitrate manually, actually, including forcing HD as long as you have HD available with your specific membership (not all do) and the content is available in HD. Once the stream has started, hit CTRL-ALT-SHIFT-S, and a dialog with bitrate options for will pop up.
  
  Hopefully, this will be of some use to you.
  
  Note: Different browsers have different limits on the video resolution, as well. It is, thanks.
  
  (I'll pass it onto my brother as my internet is too crappy for Netflix and it's like. Besides, in Oz Netflix is nowhere near as good as the US's. Here people recommend a streamer called "Stan".)
  
  Which browser would you recommend anyway Bub?
  

  Its a lot easier being righteous than right.
  
  
  DSE VZ300-
  Zilog Z80 CPU, 32KB RAM (16K+16K cartridge), video processor 6847, 2KB video RAM, 16 colours (text mode), 5.25" FDD

  29.3.2016 02:09 #5

• Bozobub

  I prefer Pale Moon, a Firefox variant. But if you mean for watching HD video on Netflix, Firefox variants are limited to 720p, while good ol' Internet Explorer can run 1080p. Edge (for Windows) and Safari (for Macs) are the only 2 other "mainstream" browsers that will run Netflix in "true" HD, sadly; Chrome, Firefox, and Opera all are stuck with 720p.
  
  Additionally, even with IE11/Edge, some content will still refuse to play in 1080p, unless you get the Netflix Windows Store app - which requires Windows 10 - and play content with that.
  
  The reason for this odd dichotomy is due to the limitations of moving away from Silverlight (which handles 1080p just fine, along with offering many more options) and the simple fact that the DRM portion of HTML5 hasn't been fully standardized yet; as usual, M$ feels free to forge on ahead, standards be damned ^^' .
  
  By the way, that key combo only works in windowed mode, apparently. Any changes do persist while the video is active, but you can't see the dialog in fullscreen mode.

  29.3.2016 02:58 #6

• hearme0

  This is not surprising and totally fair and understandable!
  
  HD and/or massive data streaming is absolutely unnecessary for mobile phones......PERIOD!

  30.3.2016 11:54 #7

• Bozobub

  Absolutely false. You ARE aware a lot of people tether their phones to their PCs, correct?

  30.3.2016 13:05 #8