# 3 Mbps enough for Netflix (non-HD content)



## blupupher

I am looking at dropping Comcast and switching to DSL.
Is 3 Mbps enough bandwidth for streaming Netflix, Hula, MS internet TV and such?


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## Lige

It should be. It all depends on the ISP to be honest. Whether they provide a decent backbone, infrastructure and decent equipment.

Personally, I can sometimes watch youtube, and sometimes I can't. No idea why, though I am sure it is somewhere on my ISP's or Google/Youtube's side of things.


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## blupupher

I know one of my neighbors has DSL, but not sure what speed. I may go ask and see if I can check it out first.

One of the deciding factors to get rid of cable TV is due to the abundance of shows available online now, but if I have to get the 6Mbps DSL, it is about the same price as cable internet @ 12 Mbps.


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## Coma

Quote:


Originally Posted by *GH0* 
It should be. It all depends on the ISP to be honest. Whether they provide a decent backbone, infrastructure and decent equipment.

Personally, I can sometimes watch youtube, and sometimes I can't. No idea why, though I am sure it is somewhere on my ISP's or Google/Youtube's side of things.

It's almost always your (consumer) ISP. If you connect with a server (meaning it has a dedicated connection in a data center - high quality), this _never_ happens, and you will struggle to get less than 5MB/s from YouTube.

And yes, I mean MB, not Mb.

You could run all your bandwidth through a server in a local datacenter (consumer ISPs only have datacenter-quality connections to nearby areas). 1TB to 3TB of bandwidth a month is standard for dedicated servers, and you can get some cheap Celeron which will run you only about $50-$100 a month.

A good way to locate a datacenter near you with a direct connection to your ISP is finding those game servers that give you like 10ms, then looking up its IP address and renting a server from the company that owns it.


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## bluedevil

Plenty. I used Netflix in a hotel in Chicago when I was training for VZW. I think the speed was around 1mb. In fact, I watched the whole season of Legend of the Seeker.


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## Seeing Red

I have Northland Cable which is probably one of the worst ISPs, but it's the only thing available. I get 2Mbps DL and watch Netflix comfortably so you should be fine.


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## blupupher

Thanks Bluedevil.
I am going out to my mom's Monday to set her DSL up and will try it there, since she has 768 Kbps service.
If it works there, 3Mbps will be fine.

edit: and looking on her DSL providers website (Century Link) it states:

Quote:

*Up to 1.5 Mbps:*
Best for downloading photos and streaming videos on YouTube™ and Hulu™ - even video chat online.
but mine (Consolodated) says:

Quote:

*3 Mbps $28.95/mo**
Ideal for sharing photos with your family and friends

*6 Mbps $51.95/mo**
Ideal for watching media-rich content, movies & gaming
This is why I asked.

It looks like 3Mbps will be just fine. Thanks all.


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## phantomgrave

I've used Netflix and Hulu on my 3Mbps DSL connection and both ran smoothly so you shouldn't have a problem.


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## Nelson2011

Runs fine on my 2Mbps DSL


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## Coma

http://blog.netflix.com/2008/11/enco...streaming.html

WMV player:

Quote:

We encode most content at 500, 1000, 1600, and 2200kbps VBR, but some titles whose source quality merits it have also been encoded at 3400kbps.
Silverlight player:

Quote:

so we are currently encoding VC1AP at slightly lower birates: 375, 500, 1000, and 1500kbps
So it's enough for most videos on the WMV player, and all on the Silverlight player, but if your ISP's bad (or a lot of people are online through your ISP), then you might struggle to get even 500Kbps.


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## blupupher

I am at work right now and almost any site that Netflix in the title is blocked.
Thanks


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## GigaByte

3Mbps is slightly pushing it, 3Mbps DSL is really pushing it. If you are heart set on DSL make sure its a fast path service, NOT interleaved. There are very few interleaved ISPs that manage a decent service (ask me about bad DSL... oh %^$&$ bad DSL..). To make this short if you go DSL you will most likely end up fighting with your ISP to get decent service (even when you are very close to the DSLAM, again ask me about bad DSL lol...), remember I said most likely not "always"


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## e_dogg

Slight necro-bump...

What about for HD programming? Is 3mbps DSL enough?


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## e_dogg

Quote:


Originally Posted by *e_dogg* 
Slight necro-bump...

What about for HD programming? Is 3mbps DSL enough?

I've answered this myself...I decided to just give Netflix a call and see what they recommended.

They said that 3mbps is fine for streaming but for HD content the minimum is 5mbps.


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