Anyone stream Netflix?

[Spudman***]

I'm considering streaming Netflix.

We have a Wii that is connected to the computer via the wireless router. My questions are: does it stream well and fast enough not to be glitchy when watching movies? Do movies stream smoothly into the computer?

I'm just wondering how consistent the service quality is and what potential issues to expect. Your input is much appreciated.

[Beerman***]

My son's been home from college for Christmas break and brought his Xbox 360 home and it's connected to our Wireless G (not N) network. He's using his roomates account while he's out of the country and has had no trouble at all. I was very surprised that it worked so well wirelessly on a simple G network.
He did nothing out of the ordinary as far as set up.

I tested Netflix using W7 Media Center for Microsoft early last year for just a few weeks and it worked fine on my computer. I don't use it so I cancelled my trial but streaming was not a problem for me.

[pedalbuilder***]

I use it pretty regularly, and it's fine with my connection (wireless DSL connection to an XBOX 360). The only thing you may want to be aware of is the movie selection is pretty lacking - if you already know that, and just want to know about the streaming quality, then I'd say there's no problem at all. I have only very rarely had anything I've been watching be interrupted even momentarily - much less often than as with DVDs due to scratches or whatnot.

[mjk123]

We use it on the Wii at home. It's great.

[Katastrophe]

We just signed up, and intend to get rid of cable.

For $15.00 a month, you get unlimited movie streaming, and 2 DVDs at a time to your door.

Quality is good, depending on the speed of your connection. With our current crappy service, it pauses to adjust once during the movie, then usually runs fine for the rest of the movie for us.

The current price for us right now is $8.00 a month with no extra DVDs.

We don't watch any network TV, and keep up with the news online. We're both movie hounds, so this will fit our needs perfectly, and save a good chunk of money every month.

[Commodore 64***]

We stream via the Wii. Quality on some movies is low, especially cartoons that the girls like to watch. The Wii isn't HD, so I'd be interested to hear about the quality of those streaming using something higher resolution.

[Retro Hound]

We have a slower connection and stream wireless to our Blu-ray player. What we do is start the movie, then pause it, let it load a bit, then we can usually watch no problem. Our local ISP is our weak link, not Netflix.

[sunvalleylaw]

Yep, but I typically have just watched on the iMac as it has a big enough screen for now, and our tv is old. When we replace the TV, we will set it up to stream to the larger screen. It seems to play the movies just fine on my iMac.

[FrankenFretter***]

I stream Blockbuster through my Blu-Ray, which is pretty much the same thing. We have DSL, and it's not that fast, but I've had no problems streaming movies. I just wish they'd have them in HD, but I imagine even with the compression, my DSL wouldn't be quite fast enough.

[marnold***]

In November (I think) Netflix came out with a native PS3 app. I tried it and we liked it enough that we have basically canceled our cable. We only have local channels. I've got a 3 megabit cable connection and there's never been a single problem with pausing during a playback. I haven't watched a ton of HD content with it (at least not stuff where HD would make a huge impact, like action movies, etc.) but the stuff we have watched looks great, e.g. the BBC's Top Gear. It's probably not has high quality as if you had it on Blu-Ray, but that's not troubling to me.

I've got a huge list of stuff in my instant-watch queue, including: Faulty Towers, Hitchhiker's Guide (the BBC version), Red Dwarf, Kids in the Hall, Top Gear, etc. I've heard that Netflix is offering the major networks ungodly amounts of money to get brand new shows on their service. We'll see if that happens. DVDs come very quickly. I mailed one out today. I should have another one from my list on Saturday.

You get a free month trial, so you can try it for yourself to see if you like it. Just make sure to cancel before the month is over.

[bigoldron]

I've got a huge list of stuff in my instant-watch queue, including: Faulty Towers, Hitchhiker's Guide (the BBC version), Red Dwarf, Kids in the Hall, Top Gear, etc. I've heard that Netflix is offering the major networks ungodly amounts of money to get brand new shows on their service. We'll see if that happens. DVDs come very quickly. I mailed one out today. I should have another one from my list on Saturday.

You get a free month trial, so you can try it for yourself to see if you like it. Just make sure to cancel before the month is over.

We've had it for a few months and have really enjoyed it. Not only do we watch it on the Wii (3 mb DSL connection), but my youngest daughter watches lots of tv shows on her laptop. I can only remember one time that it drug a little, but that was only for a few seconds. It's worth the $9.99!

Oh, and Marnold, I LOVE Fawlty Towers! John Cleese at his best! I've even got the DVD collection of all the shows.

[progrmr]

I've been using netflix for about 3 months now and I can't tell you how many hours I've logged using the streaming. I've not used the Wii app, but I have used the XBox360 app and my blue ray player app.

The XBox360 app is GREAT - if you start streaming and your connection slows down, it will slightly degrade the quality automatically so you can continue watching uninterrupted. If your connection gets better it will also increase the quality automatically.

My blu ray doesn't do that - it will stream, but if the connection slows it will pause, load ahead a few seconds, then play, then pause...can get annoying but it's not Netflix's fault is the connection.

I have 15Mb road runner but it does slow down at times. Overall the experience has been fantastic and the number of hours I've logged watching movies/shows makes it well worth the money. I can also have 1 DVD out to me at any given time because not everything is available on the streaming. I can usually get 2 movies a week if I watch them the day I get them in the mail.

[warren0728]

ok i have a q about netflix....can you watch two/three different movies on two/three different devices at the same time?

[Spudman***]

ok i have a q about netflix....can you watch two/three different movies on two/three different devices at the same time?

That's a really good question.

[Katastrophe]

That is a good question... I don't really see why not, though.

Wouldn't it be the same as if two computers on the same home "network" watch two different YouTube vids at the same time?

[marnold***]

ok i have a q about netflix....can you watch two/three different movies on two/three different devices at the same time?

I'm not sure. Unfortunately I can't test it for you either. Netflix doesn't support Linux, which is the only thing on all of my computers. I'm guessing that I would run into bandwidth issues on my Internet connection pretty quickly.

[warren0728]

Wouldn't it be the same as if two computers on the same home "network" watch two different YouTube vids at the same time?

yes but i was thinking netflix might limit you to only one stream per account? that would be a deal breaker for me....

[Spudman***]

yes but i was thinking netflix might limit you to only one stream per account? that would be a deal breaker for me....

I called them and you can stream multiple episodes at the same time to different units. Cool.

[Spudman***]

I just tried it and it does work to stream to 2 different units at the same time.

Thanks to everyone for their input too. I went ahead and am now 2 hours into my free 30 day trial and all I have to say is .... WHEEE!