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sushipup1

Q about Netflix/DSL

sushipup1
14 years ago

We're looking at a new TV/home theater set-up. We have Direct TV, but might switch to Dish when we get the new set. Our present TV is not hooked up to a telephone line. We use DSL for internet (we are in the boonies, but lucky enough to be close to the village so we can have DSL, cable is not an option.)

So here's the question: If we hooked up the TV to our DSL line, is that fast enough to watch Netflix movies? Have never watched Netflix online before. Or is it futile without a higher speed access?

Thanks.

Comments (8)

  • jimisham
    14 years ago

    Netflix recommends a DSL speed of at least 1.5 Mbps and preferably a speed of 3 Mbps "for best performance and quality".
    I've tested my DSL speed and the best I could come up with was .61 Mbps. So I've given up on the idea.

    Here is a link that might be useful: DSL speed test

  • sushipup1
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Is that test good for cities within 400 or 500 miles from the closest city listed?

    Thank you!

  • jimisham
    14 years ago

    My closest location was Chicago, about 100 miles. That's the one that gave me .61Mbps. I checked Washington and New York to see what I would get and both were worse, about .55 Mbps.
    From what I've read on the internet, it takes quite a while to download a HD movie, even with a high download speed.

  • dadoes
    14 years ago

    Netflix will throttle back the video quality if the connection isn't fast enough to handle HD. How much it can reduce and still stream a picture, I'm not sure. In a few cases, the pictured paused for a while until enough of it (maybe the whole movie) downloaded to continue playing. Non-HD is not bad by my estimation ... but I've not seen an HD stream far as I'm aware, so can't make the comparison.

  • albert_135   39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.
    13 years ago

    I watch old foreign movies from Netflix and my AT&T DSL is fine for this application. I don't know how to test speed.

    If you need more information you might try A Netflix Community. They are a bunch of snarky little b...ards but one may sometimes wrench a useful response from them.

    There are a number of persons at General Dish Network Discussion who are quite knowledgeable. Often someone there may give useful comments on related subjects such as Netflix.

  • sushipup1
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Well, we got the new TV (47" LG LED 24Hz), Samsung Blu-Ray with internet capability, Bose speakers, new DISH, and wireless router all set up this weekend. The Netflix download went perfectly, (2.1 download speed, as tested) so this morning, I changed my account to get Blu-Ray discs when available but only 2 discs at a time, down from 3.

    What we can't believe is the improved quality of the old DVDs now played in the Blu-ray player. Amazing!

    Thanks to all. We now only need to figure out what to do with the remotes. I like the DISH remote a lot more than the old DirecTV one, but Jim wants to use the Harmony remote that we saw in Costco. That will take us a little experimenting to see if we want to go with the other remote. We really only watch movies about twice a week anyway, so we may be fine with the DISH remote plus the speakers remote fr most of the week.

  • albert_135   39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.
    13 years ago

    The Harmony remotes are being discussed over at the Dish users forum linked above. Also, there is a new Harmony coming out that is rumored to be much less expensive. The rumor is that it is WalMart's $79.99 without the little screen and may be less than $40.

  • Pooh Bear
    13 years ago

    I have a computer dedicated to watching NetFlix streaming movies. I can be downloading a file, and both my wife and I on our computers at the same time, and watch a NetFlix movie. If we start using too much bandwidth, the movie will stop and adjust the movie quality to match the available bandwidth. This set up has worked well for us for several months now. We don't have an HDTV and my max DSL speed is 1.5 Mbps.

    Pooh Bear

    Pooh Bear

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