Netflix Questions

CountryWannabe · #1 08/24/13, 11:25 AM

We have been Netflix subscribers for a fair amount of time. We get the DVDs only. However DH was wondering about the on-demand streaming, so I have 2 questions:

1) what download speed do you need to be able to watch streamed movies? We currently have 6 mbps, but can get up to 12 mbps (at a price, of course

)

2) Are *all* their current DVD content offered as streaming? We mostly watch old TV series and older movies rather than the "modern stuff", though we do occasionally watch a new movie.

We appreciate any input you have.

Thanks,
Mary

SilverVista · #2 08/24/13, 11:33 AM

Our DSL is supposed to deliver 3MBPS, but we're the very last house on the line for our phone company and they admit that the quality diminishes with distance. We have very few problems streaming Netflix even though we have far slower service than what is generally recommended. This summer the phone company is installing fiber optics throughout their area, and the spray markings on the ground indicate they will come right to our property line! We expect to get our full 3MBPS when they finish, and I bet it will feel like our computers are just flying.

calliemoonbeam · #3 08/24/13, 11:34 AM

You only need a minimum of 1.5 Mbps to stream. Of course, higher is good too, I have 15.

But even when I only had 1.5 I never had a problem streaming, and I'm way out in the sticks.

Unfortunately, the streaming content is only a fraction of the DVD content, and after a few months it gets really hard to find anything worth watching. The good news is they're starting to get more old content and lots of TV series, if you like those.

I've had streaming only for a couple of years, and I'm to the point where I'm re-watching stuff for the second, third or even fourth time because there's just nothing else worth watching, thinking seriously about giving it up. Others' views may vary.

Harry Chickpea · #4 08/24/13, 11:52 AM

1) you should have enough speed.
2) no. they only have streaming rights to part of the collection.

We like Brit tv programming, and so subscribed to Acorntv for $30/yr
Because we are on satellite and our bandwidth is capped, I have to stream from our Roku to an old VCR after midnight in the "free zone", watch the stuff the following evening, rinse lather and repeat.

Watching the complete story arch of "Foyle's War" alone is worth the price of admission.

Esprit · #5 08/24/13, 04:58 PM

We are on DSL and have no problems with Netflix. Not sure of our speed but I'm sure it's not that fast (we have the cheapest plan). I'm in Canada and signed up for unblock-us.com which allows me to watch U.S Netflix. You can also change your region so that you can watch Netflix UK etc.
We are out in the country and Netflix is all we have as far as TV is concerned. We love it.

calliemoonbeam · #6 08/24/13, 09:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harry Chickpea

We like Brit tv programming, and so subscribed to Acorntv for $30/yr.

How have I never heard of this? I love British programming, lol! I did try to see if I could somehow get BBC streaming but never found a way. Thanks Harry!

But did you notice it's going up the first of September to $50 a year? Does it still sound like a good deal? I browsed the shows, but didn't see a lot I recognized, have you discovered any new favorites other than Foyle's War? I have watched some of it on Netflix.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Esprit

I'm in Canada and signed up for unblock-us.com which allows me to watch U.S Netflix. You can also change your region so that you can watch Netflix UK etc.

Can you tell me how I'd change my Netflix from US to UK? I Googled it and found some really long, drawn out explanations. Is there a simpler way, or should I just go with those? lol Thanks!

This is why I love these boards!

(Sorry for the thread drift, CW.)

Harry Chickpea · #7 08/24/13, 11:43 PM

"How have I never heard of this? I love British programming, lol! I did try to see if I could somehow get BBC streaming but never found a way. Thanks Harry!

But did you notice it's going up the first of September to $50 a year? Does it still sound like a good deal? I browsed the shows, but didn't see a lot I recognized, have you discovered any new favorites other than Foyle's War? I have watched some of it on Netflix."

Buy now if you can. It is still worth it at $50 a year anyway.

Right now we are watching "George Gently." The fourth episode is a gut wrencher.

Much of my life has been related to movies and imagery in some way, but I can only give a very weak explanation of why it is so extremely important to watch programming from other cultures.

What is fed to U.S. audiences has to pass censorship *YES, THERE IS STILL CENSORSHIP!* Not only does it have to pass one level of censorship, there is a second one as well.

First level censorship is the voluntary continuation of the Hayes Code by the MPAA and television productions. The Hayes code was supposedly implemented to maintain a moral code in America because the flapper era was just too wild for churchgoers in the 1930s. The Fatty Arbuckle scandal is brought up as an example, but there are deeper and darker issues involved with the "journalism" in that scandal that are more sickening than what happened on or off screen.

Movies were *and still are* classified as "opinion makers" by the government (read: propaganda) With rare exceptions, movies that have any meaningful dissent from mainstream values are quashed in the U.S.. There are a few reasons for this, but the bottom line is that there is a limitation on subject matter and outcome.

The second level of censorship is from corporations. Sony, Warner, Fox, and Disney have partners and target audiences to "protect" - as in protecting an income streams and relationships. Again that means the "rough" or real-word material is expunged.

Foreign media also has censorship and bias, but because that is different than U.S. bias, it allows for an exploration of a larger world view, which is something woefully absent in the U.S.

Brit tv is much more willing to pose tough ethical conundrums in story form. In "Foyle's War" an American who murders a Brit inventor is able to escape justice. He IS allowed to do so because his contribution to the war effort will likely save many more lives. No U.S. production would dare do that.

In the Hayes code and its offspring, NO evildoer goes without punishment. If someone is a murderer, they get "justice" in the last ten minutes, or there is an insinuation that they will get justice quickly. The constant repetition of such pablum has resulted in an entire nation of black and white thinkers, one where the public believes that laws must be followed at all cost because they are laws, without any consideration of greater moral consequence. The U.S. coaching of "opinion makers" has had its desired effect on compliant minds.

The world simply does not work that way. If you have been brought up on "Bambi" and American programming, Brit and other foreign films can be troubling and jarring and you very well might not like them for prying you out of a comfortable and safe viewing experience.

Much of Brit programming is longer - each episode in Foyle's War and Gently is a ninety minute movie - there may be three or four sub-plots, and the character development is deeper than U.S. fare. Inane action scenes and chases designed to titillate teens is eschewed in favor of adult plot development.

The influences of commercial forces is far less. You aren't presented with the world according to Pepsi or Nike and fabulous car chases, but with characters holding secrets and living troubled lives.

I watch some U.S. stuff, but other than farces it usually falls flat. We tried watching "Bones" from Netflix (yet another female "Quincy" spin-off) but found the gaffs, simplistic characters, and plot failures just too painful.

Conhntr · #8 08/25/13, 05:59 AM

Netflix does good with a slower connection. It tends to go to a lower resolution (bignblocky pixels) but keep playing when my connection is slow (weeknights). Amazon just stops streming altogether!!

Like others mentioned the catalogmis somewhat limited but if you can find some tv shows you like there are several on there that have 100+ episodes each that will keep you busy for a while!! Try battlestar galactica!! That will give you an hour a night for the rest of the year.

Esprit · #9 08/25/13, 07:58 AM

To get Netflix UK you need to subscribe to a service such as Unblock-Us.com. I pay $4.99 and it allows me to change my "region". You can try a 1 week free trial.
It's very reliable. I've had it for 2 months without any issues.

CountryWannabe · #10 08/25/13, 11:42 AM

Thanks, everyone. We may give it a try - there is a free 1 month trial offer. We mostly get the British TV series - Foyle's War, Inspector Morse, New Tricks, Raising the Dead and so on. I will also check out AcornTV - thanks for that info, Harry, I had never heard of them.

Mary

calliemoonbeam · #11 08/25/13, 11:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Esprit

To get Netflix UK you need to subscribe to a service such as Unblock-Us.com. I pay $4.99 and it allows me to change my "region". You can try a 1 week free trial.
It's very reliable. I've had it for 2 months without any issues.

Thanks Eprit! I thought you were saying you were in the UK and using that to switch to US. I figured I needed exactly the opposite, lol. I'm definitely going to check this out!

Harry....just wow. I don't know that I could have expressed all that as well as you did, but I totally agree with everything you said. The more mature plot lines, more realistic outcomes and different outlook are exactly the reasons I like British programming so much. Plus you just get more educational information and a longer show to enjoy than anything American made.

They have a free trial right now, so I'm signing up today. Thanks again so much! I probably would have never found it on my own.

CW, I'm so glad you posted this thread and thanks for letting me horn in, lol!

CountryWannabe · #12 08/26/13, 10:04 AM

As I read it - if you sign up for the full Acorn TV membership by Sept 2nd, you get it for $30 for this year. I am playing around with it right now, then will probably sign up before then - less than a dollar a week, and hopefully they will have the Android app before too long so I can watch on my tablet or MP3 player as well.

Apparently I can attach my laptop to the TV with an HMDI cable and watch it on there, too.

Mary

Patchouli · #13 08/26/13, 11:34 AM

Netflix does not have a very good list of streaming stuff that is older or a lot of BBC shows. So it probably would be better for you to stick with the DVDs.

o&itw · #14 08/26/13, 03:21 PM

We were part of the group that got the "streaming" free when it was first introduced.

We have 1.5M DSL and the speed was marginal for steaming, it froze occasionaly or would simply stop and take a minute or two for the buffer to catch up, still, it was acceptable.

When they split the service up, we decided we would take only 1 part, and we chose the DVD's over the streaming. The streaming selections are (were at that time) more limited.

tripletmom · #15 08/27/13, 05:06 PM

What if you have limited Internet, 5gb a month? I was told streaming a movie uses about 2gb. Is this true?

haley1 · #16 08/27/13, 07:39 PM

Sucky thing about Netflix is they have 30,000+ movies but you can only browse through a few hundred... how are you supposed to see what they all have? You can search for a name but unless you know a spefic one good luck

MNBobcat · #17 08/29/13, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Esprit

To get Netflix UK you need to subscribe to a service such as Unblock-Us.com. I pay $4.99 and it allows me to change my "region". You can try a 1 week free trial.
It's very reliable. I've had it for 2 months without any issues.

Actually, I suspect that you don't absolutely have to pay a service. You need an IP address that appears to come from the location (Country) in which you want to stream the shows.

So what you would do is find an open proxy server located in the UK. You then go into your browser settings and enter the proxy server address in the field provided for proxy servers in the browser settings. Then when you're on the internet your IP will be that of the proxy server located in the UK and you should be able to view the content.

The trick is find a proxy server fast enough that it will work with the streaming. I guess potentially the proxy server could block a port needed for streaming, too.

I haven't tested the above specifically with streaming services, but there is no reason that I know of that it shouldn't work.

Just wanted to throw that out there as a possible option that might help someone save some money.

MNMamaBear · #18 08/29/13, 09:07 AM

We have NetFlix, streaming only. The movies offered as DVD's are not always offered through streaming (something about the license they purchase) and the selection is poor, in my opinion. It is also difficult to browse - you can't view their entire offering, and the algorithm they use to come up with recommendations is off the mark often. The kids watch it primarily because of cartoons. Amazon Prime selection is much better for grown ups, I think. If you have a Roku then you can also add free channels like PBS, PBS Kids, etc so that is also a really good option.
We have 40mbps and I think you do need a much faster speed then what you've got if you want to stream movies without it constantly freezing up.

Steve in PA · #19 08/29/13, 09:50 AM

I have no problems with 3meg service. The selection is limited; mostly what you would have seen in the back of a video store without going behind a curtain.

We like the streaming TV shows mostly. I will admit their new original programming is pretty good. Love "House of Cards" but have trouble finding time to watch right now.