On Tue, Aug 16, 2011 at 3:24 PM, Joe Hass <[email protected]> wrote: >> Help me understand this as it stands now. >> >> Let's say I have a Netflix account. In my house, I have three boxes (a >> computer, a Roku box, and a Wii). Right now, I could register each box >> under my single account. Does this mean I could watch three movies at >> the same time on each box? Could I only watch something on one box at >> a time?
On Tue, Aug 16, 2011 at 1:42 PM, David Risner <[email protected]> wrote: > I am pretty sure you're limited to two simultaneous streams at this > time, but you can use any two of the three at any one time. > The policy on multiple streaming is a little bit more complex and fuzzy than this, and it is not yet clear how this will change when they go to streaming only options. Right now, if you are on the single disc plan, you are guaranteed one stream per household at any one time (but this stream can come on any unit, originating at any physical address). The number of guaranteed streams is tied to the number of discs on the plan you are paying for (i.e., 2 streams for the 2 disc plan, 3 streams for the 3 disc plan). As a practical matter, Netflix usually makes one extra stream available to users (2 for 1 disc plans, 3 for 2 disc plans, etc), but this bonus stream can be denied during high volume periods. So, if you are on a single disc plan, right now, most of the time, you could probably stream two different programs on any two of your three devices simultaneously (but during high volume periods, probably only 1). At the start of the summer I increased my plan from 1 to 3 discs to ensure access to three simultaneous streams (I found over the summer, with kids out of school, we were fairly frequently getting limited to just the one stream, and several phone calls with Netflix support suggested that the only way to guarantee access to 3 simultaneous streams was to pay for 3 discs. This has proven to be the case, as once we upgraded we never once were denied access to a stream - and there have been times when I am sure we have been using 4 simultaneous streams this summer). I probably could have gotten by with guaranteed access to two streams, since most of the time we could have had 3, but it was not that much more for the third disc, and having 3 discs has been nice, as we have been able to watch several series and films quickly this way. I have always planned on returning to the 1 disc plan at the beginning of September - now this will be a return to the streaming only option. What I have not been able to find out is, how many simultaneous streams will we have access to once the streaming only plans begins. Will they continue their previous practice of making 2 simultaneous streams available during all but the highest volume periods? Will there be a way to pay extra for access to more streams? The fact that the previously very helpful Netflix support people are unable to answer this question has been a red flag for me. The AP story linked to in this thread makes me even more suspicious that, at the very least, they will no longer be making simultaneous streams available at all (at least for the basic price), and may in fact be moving to charge extra for additional non-simultaneous streaming to devices other than the primary device. -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
