Australians who have been given a free login to Netflix have struggled to get access to the service during the Easter break.
An investigation by SmartHouse, reveals that there are two fundamental reasons for the slow service, a slow broadband connection due to multiple people turning to streaming and old routers.
During the past few days several Netflix subscribers have contacted Smarthouse claiming that “Netflix was not streaming properly” and that when the they were able to log into a movie they were unable to get a continuous stream. The worst affected appear to be TPG and Telstra customers.
Stephanie Molenaar of Camp Hill Brisbane said that she was unable to log on via a Telstra connection over the Easter period and that when she did manage to connect the download “kept stalling”.
Noel McCrowan from Melbourne said that he also had a Telstra connection and that he had been trying for three days over Easter to get onto Netflix but was unable to get a stable connection.
In both cases the Netflix subscribers were using five year old routers.
According to D Link there is a real risk that old routers will not handshake efficiently with new streaming technology across a wireless network. They claim that what is needed to get “a good Netflix experience” is a new generation router particularly one with AC connectivity.
Global internet infrastructure provider Akamai says Australia is now experiencing the “Netflix effect” that typically occurs when the streaming video-on-demand player enters a market, resulting in big increases in internet data use.
The company says it wants to “put an end to the metered internet in Australia” and is in discussions with Telco’s over its plans to do so.
Global chief marketing officer Brad Rinklin said the internet ?habits of Australians were unique, partly due to capped data plans that made watching video online potentially an expensive exercise. Akamai was working on turning off metering for some content by making it cheaper for Telco’s to ?deliver broadcast quality content across carrier networks.
According to Fairfax Media Netflix and its local competitors’ push into Australia could face significant challenges with a report stating many abandon subscription video-on-demand services after poor viewing experiences.
It comes after iiNet blamed Australia’s biggest telecommunications company, Telstra, for slow internet speeds, which have hit some of its customers since the launch of Netflix Australia last month.
The study from global video quality analytics firm Conviva – whose clients include Viacom, Disney, Bloomberg and Sky – found at least one in four people will switch off their streaming service after four minutes of viewing if the internet connection speed is sluggish or frequently interrupted.
