Netflix streaming, is 11.5 mbps enough?

My provider is Centurylink. I have had very poor service and speed issues. I was still able to stream Netflix even down to about 6-7mbps. I have "up to 12mps" but never have gotten that fast service.

ps I have a Roku HD, I think i would get something that lets me surf the net next time I upgrade Apple TV?

That's plenty fast. My service is around 10 Mbps, and the only problems I have are on the Netflix end. Apple TV and Roku are cheap ways to try streaming.

I am now thinking of an Oppo Digital Bdp-93 to use with my Uverse via Ethernet.

Every time I have checked my speed it has read 11.5 mbps which is was more stable than my cable was.

I will look into Apple TV too

thanks guys!

AppleTV has the best Netflix UI by far and the audio and video quality are top-notch. I have a Roku too and I prefer the AppleTV Netflix experience just fine. And yes, 11.5mbps is just fine.

I have 10mbps and stream via roku 2 hd. I get great hd and dd+ on some movies. Watched Black Hawk Down last night on my 120" set up and it looked nice, not BD quality but very good. Netflix says you only need 3to4 megs for hd quality.

I looked at both the Apple and Roku and neither allows you to hook it up to your stereo via RCA plugs, a big downer for me. I will keep looking and may buy an Oppo yet.

If you are looking at RCA then look at the breakout cable that comes with the ROKU. Do you have toslink inputs on your receiver? The AppleTV has toslink out. The other option is take RCA out from your HDMI enabled TV.

If I use the RCA on the Roku I am stuck with the yellow RCA plug for pic because the player only supports one output at a time, if I use the HDMI to TV and then TV RCA out it will degrade the sound (by how much I do not know) but is a better option.

My NAD 326 does not support Toslink

thanks Inernetmin you are very helpful

Internetmin,

Did you compare the pic and sound between the Roku and Apple?

Are they close? Is it about DVD quality on the pic?

I may just buy one or the other and forget about using my stereo so I can have cheap streaming.

thanks again,

Phil

Philojet,

The Apple implementation of the Netflix streaming supports 5.1 audio and their video implementation is among the best that's out there. There was a podcast last year on one of the TWIT networks with Leo Laporte's This Week in Tech that I believe covered them and the consensus was that the AppleTV was at the top or slightly behind VUDU in streaming. That was prior to the 1080p implementation of the AppleTV. I have a choice between the two devices and I always prefer the AppleTV. Is it DVD quality? Yes, it better than DVD or equal to DVD. If it's an HD stream, which most now tend to be, then the picture is even better.

In my simple opinion, if you don't care about doing full blown surround sound, then just grab the HDMI off your TV. I think that the NAD is a simple stereo receiver, so I would opt to just go directly to the TV with HDMI.

There is indeed another option and that is to get an HDMI switch that will decode audio into RCA stereo. That may be your best bet. You can pickup this Monoprice HDMI switch and it will do the trick perfectly for you. You can then feed the analog audio directly to your NAD.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=101&cp_id=10110&cs_id=1011002&p_id=7112&seq=1&format=1#largeimage

Good luck.

Theo

thank you very much Theo,

I finally conceded that I will just plug the HDMI into the TV and use it's sound. If I want I can get the HDMI switch.

I remember Leo from ZDTV (now G4) I hope he cut his ponytail off! ;)

I am sold on the Apple and am off the buy one now.

Will give my two cents at a later date.

all the best,

Phil

Good Luck Phil and have fun with it.

thanks again everyone.

Just a quick update, I have the Apple TV and the picture is quite nice and looks better than my Uverse HD (which is average but decent overall) sometimes the Apple TV looks over saturated or a bit animated but is very enjoyable. I can not comment on the sound as I am using my TV speakers but it is fine. Also I am using a cheap HDMI I bought from Parts Express (flat black cable) that got some good reviews on AA.

Also I thought it was worth noting that I changed service with Uverse and they lowered my internet speed (without telling me) to 2.8 mbps and the Apple TV still worked fine! I got it bumped up to 5.8 now because surfing was too slow and the Apple TV pic did not appear to improve so I thought it pretty amazing that 2.8 worked.

Overall very happy with the purchase of Apple TV and the value provided by using Netflix (despite a very limited film library - where are all the foreign titles I remember when I had the DVD service and the film was only available online?)

all the best and thanks again Theo!

Phil

Phil, gla it's proved to be a great solution for you. Enjoy!