4 ms·

same - we torrent content we have access to on Netflix and Amazon because, for some unknown reason, those services regularly degrade their video quality to 420p

by neumann 11y ago

same - we torrent content we have access to on Netflix and Amazon because, for some unknown reason, those services regularly degrade their video quality to 420p while torrents download at 1.4mb/s.

trvz 11y ago
The problem is probably your ISP, check http://ispspeedindex.netflix.com/ http://ispspeedindex.netflix.com/.
- soylentcola 11y ago
  Not surprising. We pay for cable (ugh, not my call) as well as Netflix and Amazon Prime. The cable box version of on-demand video is terrible because it's a cable box. The apps and websites are usually OK...except when they're not because Comcast is throttling or Amazon doesn't include Chromecast support in the mobile app so you have to cast the whole fullscreen browser tab. When I don't just plug the damn laptop in, I tend to just connect through VPN and despite the fact that it slows my connection down considerably, I can stream any of the shows I've paid for through Popcorn Time or any other streaming torrent client. A typical hour-long episode is usually finished downloading within the first few minutes of the show and it's all accessible in a single interface. My personal dream is that Comcast or one of these awful companies decides that they need to do a better job of pleasing customers and starts offering a legal PopcornTime/Netflix-style web interface to browse and stream all of the content you're already paying for. That is something I would actually want to subscribe to. Instead I pay, rarely torrent anything I don't have legal access to, and stream/download illegally just because it's easier and works better. I haven't gone as far as some friends who set up auto-downloaders for usenet or torrents so they always have the latest episodes sitting on their NAS as soon as they go up. But I've considered it.
gcb0 11y ago
> unknown reason it's called greedy ISP
kaybe 11y ago
For us Netflix refuses to play the high quality because the beamer is not to the liking of their copyright protection.

by neumann 11y ago

same - we torrent content we have access to on Netflix and Amazon because, for some unknown reason, those services regularly degrade their video quality to 420p while torrents download at 1.4mb/s.

trvz 11y ago

The problem is probably your ISP, check http://ispspeedindex.netflix.com/ http://ispspeedindex.netflix.com/.

soylentcola 11y ago
Not surprising. We pay for cable (ugh, not my call) as well as Netflix and Amazon Prime. The cable box version of on-demand video is terrible because it's a cable box. The apps and websites are usually OK...except when they're not because Comcast is throttling or Amazon doesn't include Chromecast support in the mobile app so you have to cast the whole fullscreen browser tab. When I don't just plug the damn laptop in, I tend to just connect through VPN and despite the fact that it slows my connection down considerably, I can stream any of the shows I've paid for through Popcorn Time or any other streaming torrent client. A typical hour-long episode is usually finished downloading within the first few minutes of the show and it's all accessible in a single interface. My personal dream is that Comcast or one of these awful companies decides that they need to do a better job of pleasing customers and starts offering a legal PopcornTime/Netflix-style web interface to browse and stream all of the content you're already paying for. That is something I would actually want to subscribe to. Instead I pay, rarely torrent anything I don't have legal access to, and stream/download illegally just because it's easier and works better. I haven't gone as far as some friends who set up auto-downloaders for usenet or torrents so they always have the latest episodes sitting on their NAS as soon as they go up. But I've considered it.

gcb0 11y ago

> unknown reason it's called greedy ISP

kaybe 11y ago

For us Netflix refuses to play the high quality because the beamer is not to the liking of their copyright protection.