How much speed do I need ??

[rtate]

I'm thinking about upgrading my internet service...
I was wondering how much speed is required to run the Boxee
efficiently...
I am currently at 14 Mbps and can move to 20Mbps for a small
increase in $$
Right now I get some bffering when watching movies. I'm still pretty
new at this an I'm trying to work out the bugs.
Will the increase for 14 to 20Mbps make a difference in my Boxee
experience ??

[a_team]

Hi:

Netflix claims to only need 4.8 for HD streaming, however, I was on a 10 plan and found that it took a long time to buffer and start a movie as well as navigate the movie page.

http://techblog.netflix.com/2011/01/...-networks.html

Where I found HD streaming was too SLOW at 10 Mb/s was when attempting to stream from TV providers like CTV, Global, etc... It was constantly going in and out of HD.

I upgraded to a 20 Mb/s plan and find that it's a lot better now. I was on a 100 Mb/s plan as part of some promotion and was never using it. The 20 is more than enough.

If you Torrent heavily just use the scheduler (uTorrent has one) to slow your download rates during the hours that you're at home watching TV. If you're tech savy (or have your router manual online), log into your router and setup your Boxee to have High QoS (Quality of Service) so that it will always get bandwidth priority. Then you don't need to worry about other computers slowing it down.

[a_team]

I am currently at 14 Mbps and can move to 20Mbps for a small
increase in $$

I would suggest trying an HD Cartoon show like Family Guy and watch it from a TV-Show provider at 14 to see if it goes in and out of HD. Call your internet provider, upgrade to 20, unplug your modem, plug it back in (some need to reboot to download the new speed caps), and try it at 20 for a couple days.

If you realize after a few days that you don't need the 20-package, just go back to 14 and you won't need to pay for a full month's worth.

[rtate]

Thanks a_team, my provider is cogeco so I am also concerned about "throttling" as the buffering seems to be time of day related as well...
How do you tell if it's going in and out of HD ?

[a_team]

How do you tell if it's going in and out of HD ?

No Problem, I use to be with Cogeco when I lived in Northern ON. Watch Family Guy on Global in the browser window (leave minimized, and if it maximizes, click back -> Go to browser). Here in the bottom right of the play window you can mouse over and see what quality you're getting. You can also see quality difference and pix elation of low quality video easily since it's an animation.

ex: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B2l...lmYTgwNjkzOTQ1

You shouldn't be experiencing throttling during peak hours, you pay for 14 Mb/s and you should get that anytime of day. Throttling is normally a tactic used by ISP's if you download past your monthly amount. You should jump on your PC and run a speed test if you think you're getting hozed in your service (http://www.speedtest.net/). I'm currently with Shaw and they don't do throttling or charge if you go over your monthly download limit. You should call up Cogeco and see if they do?

You might be interested in:
http://forums.boxee.tv/showthread.php?t=52215

and service from www.unblock-us.com if you haven't discovered it yet

[defenderbob]

I'm on 5 Mbps down and do not really have any issues buffering etc. Just the typicaly 720p buffering through youtube that sometimes crops up - though I do not belive it to be line speed because the PC's in the house do not have an issue.

[rtate]

Thanks guys, The tech. on the cogeco help line says that they use "throttling" to ensure all the customers on my street receive
"good" service and that may mean some throttling during peak hours.
His sales pitch to me was that by going to 20Mbps I would be getting
a new higher level modem that would ensure that I get better through put...
My main issue is specificallly with hbo programs (entourage) that seem to buffer every minute or so...regardless of the source as I have tried many..
I can watch movies and other things uninterupted for hours at a time...